    [United States Statutes at Large, Volume 134, 116th Congress, 2nd Session]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    Public Law 116-309
    116th Congress

    An Act

    To amend title 18, United States Code, to clarify the criminalization of
    female genital mutilation, and for other purposes. <>

    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 ``Strengthening the Opposition to
    Female Genital Mutilation Act of 2020'' or the ``STOP FGM Act of 2020''.
    SEC. 2. <>  CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS AND
    PURPOSE.

    The Congress finds the following:
    (1) Female genital mutilation is recognized internationally
    as a human rights violation and a form of child abuse, gender
    discrimination, and violence against women and girls. Female
    genital mutilation is a global problem whose eradication
    requires international cooperation and enforcement at the
    national level. The United States should demonstrate its
    commitment to the rights of women and girls by leading the way
    in the international community in banning this abhorrent
    practice.
    (2) Congress has previously prohibited the commission of
    female genital mutilation on minors. Female genital mutilation
    is a heinous practice that often inflicts excruciating pain on
    its victims and causes them to suffer grave physical and
    psychological harm.
    (3) Congress has the power under article I, section 8 of the
    Constitution to make all laws which shall be necessary and
    proper for carrying into execution treaties entered into by the
    United States.
    (4) Congress also has the power under the Commerce Clause to
    prohibit female genital mutilation. An international market for
    the practice exists, and persons who perform female genital
    mutilation in other countries typically earn a living from doing
    so.
    (5) Those who perform this conduct often rely on a
    connection to interstate or foreign commerce, such as interstate
    or foreign travel, the transmission or receipt of communications
    in interstate or foreign commerce, the use of instruments traded
    in interstate or foreign commerce, or payments of any kind in
    furtherance of this conduct.
    (6) Amending the statute to specify a link to interstate or
    foreign commerce would confirm that Congress has the affirmative
    power to prohibit this conduct.

    [[Page 4923]]

    SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO CURRENT LAW ON FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION.

    Section 116 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
    (1) by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

    ``(a) <>  Except as provided in subsection (b),
    whoever, in any circumstance described in subsection (d), knowingly--
    ``(1) performs, attempts to perform, or conspires to perform
    female genital mutilation on another person who has not attained
    the age of 18 years;
    ``(2) being the parent, guardian, or caretaker of a person
    who has not attained the age of 18 years facilitates or consents
    to the female genital mutilation of such person; or
    ``(3) transports a person who has not attained the age of 18
    years for the purpose of the performance of female genital
    mutilation on such person,

    shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 10 years, or
    both.'';
    (2) by amending subsection (c) to read as follows:

    ``(c) It shall not be a defense to a prosecution under this section
    that female genital mutilation is required as a matter of religion,
    custom, tradition, ritual, or standard practice.'';
    (3) by striking subsection (d); and
    (4) by adding at the end the following:

    ``(d) For the purposes of subsection (a), the circumstances
    described in this subsection are that--
    ``(1) the defendant or victim traveled in interstate or
    foreign commerce, or traveled using a means, channel, facility,
    or instrumentality of interstate or foreign commerce, in
    furtherance of or in connection with the conduct described in
    subsection (a);
    ``(2) the defendant used a means, channel, facility, or
    instrumentality of interstate or foreign commerce in furtherance
    of or in connection with the conduct described in subsection
    (a);
    ``(3) any payment of any kind was made, directly or
    indirectly, in furtherance of or in connection with the conduct
    described in subsection (a) using any means, channel, facility,
    or instrumentality of interstate or foreign commerce or in or
    affecting interstate or foreign commerce;
    ``(4) the defendant transmitted in interstate or foreign
    commerce any communication relating to or in furtherance of the
    conduct described in subsection (a) using any means, channel,
    facility, or instrumentality of interstate or foreign commerce
    or in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce by any means
    or in manner, including by computer, mail, wire, or
    electromagnetic transmission;
    ``(5) any instrument, item, substance, or other object that
    has traveled in interstate or foreign commerce was used to
    perform the conduct described in subsection (a);
    ``(6) the conduct described in subsection (a) occurred
    within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the
    United States, or any territory or possession of the United
    States; or
    ``(7) the conduct described in subsection (a) otherwise
    occurred in or affected interstate or foreign commerce.

    ``(e) <>  For purposes of this section, the term
    `female genital mutilation' means any procedure performed for non-
    medical reasons

    [[Page 4924]]

    that involves partial or total removal of, or other injury to, the
    external female genitalia, and includes--
    ``(1) a clitoridectomy or the partial or total removal of
    the clitoris or the prepuce or clitoral hood;
    ``(2) excision or the partial or total removal (with or
    without excision of the clitoris) of the labia minora or the
    labia majora, or both;
    ``(3) infibulation or the narrowing of the vaginal opening
    (with or without excision of the clitoris); or
    ``(4) other procedures that are harmful to the external
    female genitalia, including pricking, incising, scraping, or
    cauterizing the genital area.''.
    SEC. 4. <>  REPORT.

    Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act,
    and annually thereafter, the Attorney General, in consultation with the
    Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of
    Health and Human Services, and the Secretary of Education, shall submit
    to Congress a report that includes--
    (1) <>  an estimate of the number of women
    and girls in the United States at risk of or who have been
    subjected to female genital mutilation;
    (2) the protections available and actions taken, if any, by
    Federal, State, and local agencies to protect such women and
    girls; and
    (3) the actions taken by Federal agencies to educate and
    assist communities and key stakeholders about female genital
    mutilation.
    SEC. 5. <>  SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of the Congress that the United States District
    Court for the Eastern District of Michigan erred in invalidating the
    prior version of such section 116 (See United States v. Nagarwala, 350
    F. Supp. 3d 613, 631 (E.D. Mich. 2018)). The commercial nature of female
    genital mutilation (hereinafter in this section referred to as ``FGM'')
    is ``self-evident,'' meaning that the ``absence of particularized
    findings'' about the commercial nature of FGM in the predecessor statute
    did not ``call into question Congress's authority to legislate''
    (Gonzales v. Raich, 545 U.S. 1, 21 (2005)). Nevertheless, the Congress
    has elected to amend the FGM statute to clarify the commercial nature of
    the conduct that this statute regulates. But, by doing so, Congress does
    not hereby ratify the district court's erroneous interpretation in
    Nagarwala.
    SEC. 6. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS.

    The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of complying with
    the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, shall be determined by
    reference to the latest statement titled ``Budgetary Effects of PAYGO
    Legislation'' for this Act, submitted for printing in the

    [[Page 4925]]

    Congressional Record by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee,
    provided that such statement has been submitted prior to the vote on
    passage.

    Approved January 5, 2021.

    LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--H.R. 6100:
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    HOUSE REPORTS: No. 116-506 (Comm. on the Judiciary).
    CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 166 (2020):
    Sept. 21, considered and passed House.
    Dec. 15, considered and passed Senate.