I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1080

To provide penalties for terrorist attacks against mass transportation.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 11, 1999

Mr. BLUMENAUER (for himself, Mr. INSLEE, Mrs. MEEK of Florida, Mr. NEY,

and Mr. QUINN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To provide penalties for terrorist attacks against mass

transportation.

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

3 SECTION 1. TERRORIST ATTACKS AGAINST MASS TRANS4 PORTATION.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 97 of title 18, United

6 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol7 lowing:

8 ‘‘§ 1994. Terrorist attacks against mass transportation

9 ‘‘(a) GENERAL PROHIBITIONS.—Whoever willfully—
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1 ‘‘(1) wrecks, derails, sets fire to, or disables a

2 mass transportation vehicle or vessel;

3 ‘‘(2) places or causes to be placed any destruc4 tive substance in, upon, or near a mass transpor5 tation vehicle or vessel, without previously obtaining

6 the permission of the mass transportation providers;

7 ‘‘(3) sets fire to, or places any destructive sub8 stance in, upon, or near any garage, terminal, struc9 ture, supply, or facility used in the operation of, or

10 in support of the operation of, a mass transportation

11 vehicle, knowing or having reason to know such ac12 tivity would likely derail, disable, or wreck a mass

13 transportation vehicle used, operated, or employed

14 by a mass transportation provider;

15 ‘‘(4) removes appurtenances from, damages, or

16 otherwise impairs the operation of a mass transpor17 tation signal system, including a train control sys18 tem, centralized dispatching system, or rail grade19 crossing warning signal;

20 ‘‘(5) interferes with, disables, or incapacitates

21 any driver or person while they are employed in op22 erating or maintaining a mass transportation vehicle

23 or vessel, or any ticket and fare collection activities,

24 while that driver or person is engaged in the duties

25 of that employment, with intent to endanger the
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1 safety of any passenger or employee of the mass

2 transportation provider, or with a reckless disregard

3 for the safety of human life;

4 ‘‘(6) commits an act intended to cause death or

5 serious bodily injury to an employee or passenger of

6 a mass transportation provider on the property of a

7 mass transportation provider;

8 ‘‘(7) conveys or causes to be conveyed false in9 formation, knowing the information to be false, con10 cerning an attempt or alleged attempt being made or

11 to be made, to do any act which would be a crime

12 prohibited by this subsection, except that this para13 graph does not prohibit any lawfully authorized in14 vestigative, protective, or intelligence activity of a

15 law enforcement agency of the United States, a

16 State, or a political subdivision of a State, or of an

17 intelligence agency of the United States; or

18 ‘‘(8) attempts, threatens, or conspires to do any

19 of the acts prohibited in paragraphs (1) through (7);

20 shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than

21 20 years, or both, if such act is committed on or against

22 a mass transportation provider engaged in or affecting

23 interstate or foreign commerce, or if in the course of com24 mitting such act, that person travels or communicates

25 across a State line in order to commit such act, or trans-
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1 ports materials across a State line in aid of the commis2 sion of such act. Whoever is convicted under this section

3 shall also be subject to imprisonment for life if the mass

4 transportation vehicle or vessel was carrying a passenger

5 at the time of the offense.

6 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITIONS ON THE USE OF FIREARMS AND

7 DANGEROUS WEAPONS.—(1) Except as provided in para8 graph (4), whoever knowingly possesses or causes to be

9 present any firearm or other dangerous weapon on board

10 a mass transportation vehicle or vessel, or attempts to do

11 so, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more

12 than one year, or both, if such act is committed on a mass

13 transportation provider engaged in or affecting interstate

14 or foreign commerce, or if in the course of committing

15 such act, that person travels or communicates across a

16 State line in order to commit such act, or transports mate17 rials across a State line in aid of the commission of such

18 act.

19 ‘‘(2) Whoever, with intent that a firearm or other

20 dangerous weapon be used in the commission of a crime,

21 knowingly possesses or causes to be present such firearm

22 or dangerous weapon on board a mass transportation vehi23 cle or vessel, or in a mass transportation passenger ter24 minal facility, or attempts to do so, shall be fined under

25 this title or imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both,
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1 if such act is committed on a mass transportation provider

2 engaged in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, or

3 if in the course of committing such act, that person travels

4 or communicates across a State line in order to commit

5 such act, or transports materials across a State line in

6 aid of the commission of such act.

7 ‘‘(3) A person who kills or attempts to kill a person

8 in the course of a violation of paragraph (1) or (2), or

9 in the course of an attack on a mass transportation vehicle

10 or vessel, or a mass transportation passenger terminal fa11 cility involving the use of a firearm or other dangerous

12 weapon, shall be punished as provided in sections 1111,

13 1112, and 1113 of this title, except that the penalty of

14 death may not be imposed with respect to a killing made

15 an offense by this section.

16 ‘‘(4) Paragraph (1) does not apply to—

17 ‘‘(A) the possession of a firearm or other dan18 gerous weapon by an officer, agent, or employee of

19 the United States, a State, or a political subdivision

20 thereof, while engaged in the lawful performance of

21 official duties, who is authorized by law to engage in

22 the transportation of people accused or convicted of

23 crimes, or supervise the prevention, detection, inves24 tigation, or prosecution of any violation of law;
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1 ‘‘(B) the possession of a firearm or other dan2 gerous weapon by an officer, agent, or employee of

3 the United States, a State, or a political subdivision

4 thereof, while off duty, if such possession is author5 ized by law;

6 ‘‘(C) the possession of a firearm or other dan7 gerous weapon by a Federal official or a member of

8 the Armed Forces if such possession is authorized by

9 law; or

10 ‘‘(D) an individual transporting a firearm on

11 board a mass transportation vehicle or vessel (except

12 a loaded firearm) in baggage not accessible to any

13 passenger on board the vehicle or vessel, if the mass

14 transportation provider was informed of the presence

15 of the weapon prior to the firearm being placed on

16 board the vehicle or vessel.

17 ‘‘(c) PROHIBITION AGAINST PROPELLING OB18 JECTS.—Whoever willfully or recklessly throws, shoots, or

19 propels a rock, stone, brick, or piece of iron, steel, or other

20 metal or any deadly or dangerous object or destructive

21 substance at any mass transportation vehicle or vessel,

22 knowing or having reason to know such activity would like23 ly cause personal injury, shall be fined under this title or

24 imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both, if such

25 act is committed on or against a mass transportation pro-
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1 vider engaged in or substantially affecting interstate or

2 foreign commerce, or if in the course of committing such

3 acts, that person travels or communicates across a State

4 line in order to commit such acts, or transports materials

5 across a State line in aid of the commission of such acts.

6 Whoever is convicted of any crime prohibited by this sub7 section shall also be subject to imprisonment for not more

8 than 20 years if the offense has resulted in the death of

9 any person.

10 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section—

11 ‘‘(1) the term ‘dangerous device’ has the mean12 ing given to that term in section 921(a)(4) of this

13 title;

14 ‘‘(2) the term ‘dangerous weapon’ has the

15 meaning given to that term in section 930 of this

16 title;

17 ‘‘(3) the term ‘destructive substance’ has the

18 meaning given to that term in section 31, except

19 that—

20 ‘‘(A) the term ‘radioactive device’ does not

21 include any radioactive device or material used

22 solely for medical, industrial, research, or other

23 peaceful purposes; and

24 ‘‘(B) the term ‘destructive substance’ in25 cludes any radioactive device or material that
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1 can be used to cause a harm listed in sub2 section (a) and that is not in use solely for

3 medical, industrial, research, or other peaceful

4 purposes;

5 ‘‘(4) the term ‘firearm’ has the meaning given

6 to that term in section 921 of this title;

7 ‘‘(5) the term ‘mass transportation’ has the

8 meaning given to that term in section 5302(a)(7) of

9 title 49, except that the term also includes school

10 bus, charter, and sightseeing transportation;

11 ‘‘(6) the term ‘serious bodily injury’ has the

12 meaning given to that term in section 1365 of this

13 title; and

14 ‘‘(7) the term ‘State’ has the meaning given to

15 that term in section 2266 of this title.’’.

16 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections

17 at the beginning of chapter 97 of title 18, United States

18 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new

19 item:

‘‘1994. Terrorist attacks against mass transportation.’’.

20 SEC. 2. INVESTIGATIVE JURISDICTION.

21 The Federal Bureau of Investigation shall lead the

22 investigation of all offenses under section 1994 of title 18,

23 United States Code. The Federal Bureau of Investigation

24 shall cooperate with the National Transportation Safety

25 Board and with the Department of Transportation in safe-
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1 ty investigations by these agencies, and with the Treasury

2 Department’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms

3 concerning an investigation regarding the possession of

4 firearms and explosives.

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