[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 130 (Thursday, September 19, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S11027]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   CARJACKING CORRECTION ACT OF 1996

  A bill (H.R. 3676) to amend title 18, United States Code, to clarify 
the intent of Congress with respect to the Federal carjacking 
prohibition, was considered.
  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I rise in strong support of the Carjacking 
Correction Act of 1996, a bill I introduced earlier this year in the 
Senate, the companion of which, H.R. 3676, has now come over from the 
House. This bill adds an important clarification to the Federal 
carjacking statute, to provide that a rape committed during a 
carjacking should be considered a serious bodily injury.
  I am pleased to be joined in this effort by the ranking member of the 
Judiciary Committee, Senator Biden. He has long been a leader in 
addressing the threat of violence against women, and demonstrates that 
again today.
  I also want to thank Representative John Conyers, the ranking member 
of the House Judiciary Committee, who brought this matter to my 
attention, and has led the effort in the House for passage of this 
legislation.
  This correction to the law is necessitated by the fact that at least 
one court has held that under the Federal carjacking statute, rape 
would not constitute a ``serious bodily injury.'' Few crimes are as 
brutal, vicious, and harmful to the victim than rape by an armed thug. 
Yet, under this interpretation, the sentencing enhancement for such 
injury may not be applied to a carjacker who brutally rapes his victim.
  In my view, Congress should act now to clarify the law in this 
regard. The bill I introduced this year, S. 2006, and its companion 
House bill, H.R. 3676, would do this by specifically including rape as 
serious bodily injury under the statute.
  I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and anticipate its swift 
passage.
  The bill (H.R. 3676) was ordered to a third reading, was read the 
third time, and passed.

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