I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 156 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide for enhanced penalties 

for the transmission of misleading or inaccurate caller identification 

information with the intent to trigger an emergency response. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 3, 2019 

Mr. ENGEL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each 

case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 

the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide for 

enhanced penalties for the transmission of misleading 

or inaccurate caller identification information with the 

intent to trigger an emergency response. 

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 ‘‘Anti-Swatting Act of 

5 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TRANSMISSION OF MISLEADING OR INACCURATE 

2 CALLER ID INFORMATION WITH INTENT TO 

3 TRIGGER EMERGENCY RESPONSE. 

4 Section 227(e)(5) of the Communications Act of 

5 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227(e)(5)) is amended— 

6 (1) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘Any per7 son’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in subpara8 graph (C), any person’’; and 

9 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(C) ENHANCED PENALTIES FOR VIOLA11 TION WITH INTENT TO TRIGGER EMERGENCY

12 RESPONSE.— 

13 ‘‘(i) CRIMINAL VIOLATION.—Any per14 son who violates this subsection with the 

15 intent to trigger an emergency response in 

16 the absence of circumstances requiring 

17 such a response shall— 

18 ‘‘(I) be fined under title 18, 

19 United States Code, or imprisoned not 

20 more than 5 years, or both; or 

21 ‘‘(II) if serious bodily injury re22 sults, be fined under title 18, United 

23 States Code, or imprisoned not more 

24 than 20 years, or both. 

25 ‘‘(ii) REIMBURSEMENT.— 


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•HR 156 IH

1 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The court, in 

2 imposing a sentence on a defendant 

3 who has been convicted of an offense 

4 under clause (i), shall order the de5 fendant to reimburse any entity de6 scribed in subclause (I), (II), or (III) 

7 of clause (iii) that incurs expenses in 

8 making or incident to the response de9 scribed in clause (i) for such expenses. 

10 ‘‘(II) LIABILITY.—A person or11 dered to make reimbursement under 

12 this clause shall be jointly and sever13 ally liable for such expenses with each 

14 other person, if any, who is ordered to 

15 make reimbursement under this clause 

16 for the same expenses. 

17 ‘‘(III) CIVIL JUDGMENT.—An 

18 order of reimbursement under this 

19 clause shall, for the purposes of en20 forcement, be treated as a civil judg21 ment. 

22 ‘‘(iii) EMERGENCY RESPONSE DE23 FINED.—In this subparagraph, the term 

24 ‘emergency response’ means any action to 

25 protect life, health, or property by— 


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1 ‘‘(I) a law enforcement agency of 

2 the United States, a State, or a polit3 ical subdivision of a State; 

4 ‘‘(II) an agency of the United 

5 States, a State, or a political subdivi6 sion of a State, or a private not-for7 profit organization, that provides fire, 

8 rescue, or emergency medical services; 

9 or 

10 ‘‘(III) a public safety answering 

11 point (as defined in section 222).’’. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS