II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3602 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to penalize false communications 

to cause an emergency response, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 17, 2024 

Mr. SCOTT of Florida (for himself, Mr. TUBERVILLE, and Mr. ROUNDS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to penalize false 

communications to cause an emergency response, and 

for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Preserving Safe Com5 munities by Ending Swatting Act of 2024’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FALSE COMMUNICATIONS TO CAUSE AN EMER7 GENCY RESPONSE. 

8 Section 1038 of title 18, United States Code, is 

9 amended— 


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•S 3602 IS

1 (1) by striking subsection (a)(1) and inserting 

2 the following: 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Whoever engages in any 

4 conduct with intent to convey false or misleading in5 formation— 

6 ‘‘(A) under circumstances where such in7 formation may reasonably be believed and 

8 where such information indicates that an activ9 ity has taken, is taking, or will take place that 

10 would constitute a violation of chapter 2, 10, 

11 11B, 39, 40, 44, 111, or 113B of this title, sec12 tion 236 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 

13 U.S.C. 2284), or section 46502, the second sen14 tence of section 46504, section 46505(b)(3) or 

15 (c), section 46506 if homicide or attempted 

16 homicide is involved, or section 60123(b) of title 

17 49; or 

18 ‘‘(B) using the mail or any facility or 

19 means of interstate or foreign commerce, under 

20 circumstances where such information may rea21 sonably be expected to cause an emergency re22 sponse and the information indicates that con23 duct has taken, is taking, or will take place that 

24 constitutes a crime under State or Federal law 


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•S 3602 IS

1 or endangers public health or safety or the 

2 health or safety of any person, 

3 shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not 

4 more than 5 years, or both. If serious bodily injury 

5 results, the defendant shall be fined under this title 

6 or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both, and 

7 if death results, the defendant shall be fined under 

8 this title or imprisoned for any number of years up 

9 to life, or both.’’; 

10 (2) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the 

11 following: 

12 ‘‘(b) CIVIL ACTION.—Whoever engages in any con13 duct with intent to convey false or misleading informa14 tion— 

15 ‘‘(1) under circumstances where such informa16 tion may reasonably be believed and where such in17 formation indicates that an activity has taken, is 

18 taking, or will take place that would constitute a vio19 lation of chapter 2, 10, 11B, 39, 40, 44, 111, or 

20 113B of this title, section 236 of the Atomic Energy 

21 Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2284), or section 46502, the 

22 second sentence of section 46504, section 46505 

23 (b)(3) or (c), section 46506 if homicide or attempted 

24 homicide is involved, or section 60123(b) of title 49; 

25 or 


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•S 3602 IS

1 ‘‘(2) using the mail or any facility or means of 

2 interstate or foreign commerce, under circumstances 

3 where such information may reasonably be expected 

4 to cause an emergency response and the information 

5 indicates that conduct has taken, is taking, or will 

6 take place that constitutes a crime under State or 

7 Federal law or endangers public health or safety or 

8 the health or safety of any person, 

9 is liable in a civil action to any party incurring expenses 

10 incident to any emergency or investigative response to that 

11 conduct, for those expenses.’’; and 

12 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(e) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘emer14 gency response’ means any deployment of personnel or 

15 equipment, order or advice to evacuate, or issuance of a 

16 warning to the public or a threatened person, organiza17 tion, or establishment, by an agency of the United States 

18 or a State charged with public safety functions, including 

19 any agency charged with detecting, preventing, or inves20 tigating crimes or with fire or rescue functions, or by a 

21 private not-for-profit organization that provides fire or 

22 rescue functions.’’. 

Æ 


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