I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2580

To guarantee a republican form of government to the States by preventing

paramilitary violence.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

NOVEMBER 2, 1995

Mr. SCHUMER (for himself and Mr. CONYERS) introduced the following bill;

which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To guarantee a republican form of government to the States

by preventing paramilitary violence.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Republican Form of

5 Government Guarantee Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds that—

8 (1) section 4 of article IV of the Constitution

9 provides that the United States shall guarantee a re10 publican form of government to the States;
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1 (2) organized criminal actions are an increasing

2 threat to the republican form of government in some

3 States;

4 (3) people who are responsible for upholding

5 the laws of the United States and the several States,

6 or people who assist them, have been threatened,

7 harassed, and assaulted because of these activities;

8 (4) this violence is having a chilling effect on

9 the democratic process because Americans are afraid

10 to participate in town hall meetings, express their

11 views publicly, or take part in the political process;

12 (5) most victims are targeted solely because of

13 their views or activism on controversial political is14 sues such as gun control, abortion, environmental

15 matters, or the role of government in society;

16 (6) this violence is causing a breakdown of law

17 and order in many parts of the United States;

18 (7) this violence has increased in part because

19 of unfounded exaggerations about the impact of re20 cent firearms laws such as the Brady Law and the

21 ban on assault weapons, as well as baseless conspir22 acy theories regarding the government; and

23 (8) the climate of violence created by these

24 criminals threatens to undermine republican govern25 ment in some States.
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1 SEC. 3. PROTECTION AGAINST ASSAULT.

2 Section 111(a) of title 18, United States Code, is

3 amended—

4 (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘who is an

5 officer or employee of any State or local government,

6 is assisting such an officer or employee in the per7 formance of official duty, or is’’ after ‘‘any person’’;

8 and

9 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘designated in

10 section 1114’’ and inserting ‘‘described in paragraph

11 (1)’’.

12 SEC. 4. INCREASED PENALTIES.

13 (a) ASSAULT.—Section 111 of title 18, United States

14 Code, is amended

15 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘shall, where’’

16 and all that follows through the end of the sub17 section and inserting ‘‘shall be punished as is pro18 vided in subsection (b)’’; and

19 (2) so that subsection (b) reads as follows:

20 ‘‘(b) PENALTIES.—Whoever is convicted of an offense

21 under this section shall be fined under this title and im22 prisoned not less than 2 nor more than 3 years, except

23 that—

24 ‘‘(1) in the case of a second or subsequent of25 fense the maximum term or imprisonment shall be

26 not more than 5 years; and
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1 ‘‘(2) in the case of an offense committed with

2 a deadly weapon, the offender shall be imprisoned

3 not less than 8 nor more than 10 years.’’.

4 (b) EXTORTION AND THREATS.—

5 (1) INTERSTATE COMMUNICATIONS.—Section

6 875 of title 18, United States Code, is amended in

7 subsection (c), by striking ‘‘not more than five years,

8 or both’’ and inserting ‘‘not less than 2 nor more

9 than 5 years’’.

10 (2) MAILING THREATENING COMMUNICA11 TIONS.—Section 876 of title 18, United States Code,

12 is amended in the third undesignated paragraph, by

13 striking ‘‘not more than five years, or both’’ and in14 serting ‘‘not less than 2 nor more than 5 years’’.

15 SEC. 5. RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN A REPUBLICAN FORM

16 OF GOVERNMENT; ENFORCEMENT.

17 (a) REAFFIRMATION OF RIGHT.—Each person not

18 otherwise disqualified, barred, or disabled by State or Fed19 eral law shall have the right to participate in a republican

20 form of State government free from interference from un21 lawful violence and the reasonably perceived threat of un22 lawful violence.

23 (b) RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE DEFINED.—As used in

24 subsection (a), the term ‘‘right to participate in a repub25 lican form of State government’’ means the right to—
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1 (1) carry out the duties of a State, county, or

2 local office to which the person has been duly elected

3 or appointed;

4 (2) lawfully assist any duly elected or appointed

5 person described in paragraph (1) in carrying out

6 such duties;

7 (3) run for elective office, campaign for such of8 fice on one’s own behalf, or campaign on behalf of

9 another’s candidacy, in accordance with applicable

10 State and local laws;

11 (4) initiate and campaign for any initiative, ref12 erendum, petition, or similar political exercise, in ac13 cordance with applicable State and local laws;

14 (5) assemble peaceably to petition the Federal,

15 State, or local government, or to attend any public

16 forum concerning such Federal, State, or local gov17 ernment; and

18 (6) exercise the rights guaranteed under article

19 IV of the Constitution of the United States, and the

20 1st and 14th amendments thereto.

21 (c) ENFORCEMENT.—

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—A person whose right under

23 subsection (a) is violated by any person or organiza24 tion may bring an action in any United States dis25 trict court against such other person or organization
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1 for damages, injunctive relief, and such other relief

2 as the court deems appropriate.

3 (2) GOVERNMENT REMEDY.—The chief execu4 tive officer of any State may bring an action in any

5 United States district court located within that State

6 for damages, injunctive relief, and such other relief

7 as the court deems appropriate against any organi8 zation wherever located which unlawfully violates or

9 which conspires, attempts, aids, or abets another

10 person or organization to unlawfully violate the right

11 under subsection (a) of any resident of that State.

12 (3) AUTHORITY TO AWARD A REASONABLE AT13 TORNEY’S FEE.—In an action brought under para14 graph (1) or (2), the court, in its discretion, may

15 allow the prevailing plaintiff a reasonable attorney’s

16 fee as part of the costs.

17 (4) STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.—An action may

18 not be brought under paragraph (1) or (2) after the

19 5-year period that begins with the date that the vio20 lation described in paragraph (1) is discovered.

21 SEC. 6. LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAINING.

22 The Attorney General, in consultation with the Sec23 retaries of Treasury, Agriculture, and the Interior, shall

24 develop and implement a training program for Federal law
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1 enforcement personnel to enable such personnel to deal

2 more effectively with politically motivated violence.

3 SEC. 7. FEDERAL PAYMENTS WITHHELD.

4 (a) COMPLAINT.—If an agency determines that in

5 any county any of that agency’s employees or agents is

6 being unlawfully physically prevented or impeded, by em7 ployees or agents of a State, county, or local government,

8 from carrying out lawful duties, the agency may file a

9 complaint with the Attorney General.

10 (b) ESCROW.—The Attorney General shall investigate

11 the complaint, and if the Attorney General finds the com12 plaint is meritorious, the Attorney General may place in

13 escrow any payments that otherwise would be made to

14 that county under the Payments in Lieu of Taxes Act of

15 1976 (31 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.), until such time as the At16 torney General is satisfied that such interference has

17 ceased.

18 (c) RULES.—The Attorney General shall make rules

19 governing the procedures used to carry out this section.

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