[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 16 (Thursday, February 26, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H645]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          PERSONAL EXPLANATION

  Mrs. NORTHUP. Mr. Speaker, on Roll Call Vote no. 25, I was 
unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted aye.
  Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 368, I call 
up from the Speaker's table the Senate bill (S. 493) to amend section 
1029 of title 18, United States Code, with respect to cellular 
telephone cloning paraphernalia, and ask for its immediate 
consideration in the House.
  The Clerk read the title of the Senate bill.
  The text of S. 493 is as follows:

                                 S. 493

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Wireless Telephone 
     Protection Act''.

     SEC. 2. FRAUD AND RELATED ACTIVITY IN CONNECTION WITH 
                   COUNTERFEIT ACCESS DEVICES.

       (a) Unlawful Acts.--Section 1029(a) of title 18, United 
     States Code, is amended--
       (1) by redesignating paragraph (9) as paragraph (10); and
       (2) by striking paragraph (8) and inserting the following:
       ``(8) knowingly and with intent to defraud uses, produces, 
     traffics in, has control or custody of, or possesses a 
     scanning receiver;
       ``(9) knowingly uses, produces, traffics in, has control or 
     custody of, or possesses hardware or software, knowing it has 
     been configured for altering or modifying a 
     telecommunications instrument so that such instrument may be 
     used to obtain unauthorized access to telecommunications 
     services; or''.
       (b) Penalties.--
       (1) Generally.--Section 1029(c) of title 18, United States 
     Code, is amended to read as follows:
       ``(c) Penalties.--(1) In general.--The punishment for an 
     offense under subsection (a) is--
       ``(A) in the case of an offense that does not occur after a 
     conviction for another offense under this section, which 
     conviction has become final--
       ``(i) if the offense is under paragraph (3), (6), (7), or 
     (10) of subsection (a), a fine under this title or 
     imprisonment for not more than 10 years, or both; and
       ``(ii) if the offense is under paragraph (1), (2), (4), 
     (5), (8), or (9), of subsection (a), a fine under this title 
     or imprisonment for not more than 15 years, or both;
       ``(B) in the case of an offense that occurs after a 
     conviction for another offense under this section, which 
     conviction has become final, a fine under this title or 
     imprisonment for not more than 20 years, or both; and
       ``(C) in any case, in addition to any other punishment 
     imposed or any other forfeiture required by law, forfeiture 
     to the United States of any personal property used or 
     intended to be used to commit, facilitate, or promote the 
     commission of the offense.
       ``(2) Applicable Procedure.--The criminal forfeiture of 
     personal property subject to forfeiture under paragraph 
     (1)(C), any seizure and disposition thereof, and any 
     administrative or judicial proceeding in relation thereto, 
     shall be governed by subsections (c) and (e) through (p) of 
     section 413 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 
     853).''.
       (2) Attempts.--Section 1029(b)(1) of title 18, United 
     States Code, is amended by striking ``punished as provided in 
     subsection (c) of this section'' and inserting ``subject to 
     the same penalties as those prescribed for the offense 
     attempted''.
       (c) Definition of Scanning Receiver.--Section 1029(e) of 
     title 18, United States Code, is amended--
       (1) in paragraph (6), by striking ``and'' at the end;
       (2) in paragraph (7)--
       (A) by striking ``The'' and inserting ``the''; and
       (B) by striking the period at the end and inserting a 
     semicolon; and
       (3) in paragraph (8), by striking the period at the end and 
     inserting ``or to intercept an electronic serial number, 
     mobile identification number, or other identifier of any 
     telecommunications service, equipment, or instrument; and''.
       (d) Applicability of New Section 1029(a)(9).--
       (1) In general.--Section 1029 of title 18, United States 
     Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
       ``(g) It is not a violation of subsection (a)(9) for an 
     officer, employee, or agent of, or a person under contract 
     with, a facilities-based carrier, for the purpose of 
     protecting the property or legal rights of that carrier, to 
     use, produce, have custody or control of, or possess hardware 
     or software configured as described in that subsection 
     (a)(9): Provided, That if such hardware or software is used 
     to obtain access to telecommunications service provided by 
     another facilities-based carrier, such access is 
     authorized.''.
       (2) Definition of facilities-based carrier.--Section 
     1029(e) of title 18, United States Code, as amended by 
     subsection (c) of this section, is amended by adding at the 
     end the following:
       ``(9) the term `facilities-based carrier' means an entity 
     that owns communications transmission facilities, is 
     responsible for the operation and maintenance of those 
     facilities, and holds an operating license issued by the 
     Federal Communications Commission under the authority of 
     title III of the Communications Act of 1934.''.
       (e) Amendment of Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Wireless 
     Telephone Cloning.--
       (1) In general.--Pursuant to its authority under section 
     994 of title 28, United States Code, the United States 
     Sentencing Commission shall review and amend the Federal 
     sentencing guidelines and the policy statements of the 
     Commission, if appropriate, to provide an appropriate penalty 
     for offenses involving the cloning of wireless telephones 
     (including offenses involving an attempt or conspiracy to 
     clone a wireless telephone).
       (2) Factors for consideration.--In carrying out this 
     subsection, the Commission shall consider, with respect to 
     the offenses described in paragraph (1)--
       (A) the range of conduct covered by the offenses;
       (B) the existing sentences for the offenses;
       (C) the extent to which the value of the loss caused by the 
     offenses (as defined in the Federal sentencing guidelines) is 
     an adequate measure for establishing penalties under the 
     Federal sentencing guidelines;
       (D) the extent to which sentencing enhancements within the 
     Federal sentencing guidelines and the court's authority to 
     impose a sentence in excess of the applicable guideline range 
     are adequate to ensure punishment at or near the maximum 
     penalty for the most egregious conduct covered by the 
     offenses;
       (E) the extent to which the Federal sentencing guideline 
     sentences for the offenses have been constrained by statutory 
     maximum penalties;
       (F) the extent to which Federal sentencing guidelines for 
     the offenses adequately achieve the purposes of sentencing 
     set forth in section 3553(a)(2) of title 18, United States 
     Code;
       (G) the relationship of Federal sentencing guidelines for 
     the offenses to the Federal sentencing guidelines for other 
     offenses of comparable seriousness; and
       (H) any other factors that the Commission considers to be 
     appropriate.


                    Motion Offered by Mr. Mc Collum

  Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to the rule, I offer a motion.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Mr. McCollum of Florida moves to strike out all after the 
     enacting clause of the Senate bill, S. 493, and insert in 
     lieu thereof the text of the bill, H.R. 2460, as passed by 
     the House.

  The motion was agreed to.
  The Senate bill was ordered to be read a third time, was read the 
third time, and passed.
  The title of the Senate bill was amended so as to read: ``A bill to 
amend title 18, United States Code, with respect to scanning receivers 
and similar devices.''

  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
  A similar House bill (H.R. 2460) was laid on the table.

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