I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1343 

To provide immunity from civil liability to first responders engaged in lawful 

efforts to prevent acts of terrorism, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 5, 2009 

Mrs. MYRICK introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To provide immunity from civil liability to first responders 

engaged in lawful efforts to prevent acts of terrorism, 

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 ‘‘First Responders 

5 Fighting Terrorism Protection Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. IMMUNITY FROM CIVIL LIABILITY FOR ENGAGING 

7 IN LAWFUL EFFORTS TO PREVENT ACTS OF 

8 TERRORISM. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—A first responder who takes rea10 sonable action to prevent an act of terrorism, or who obVerDate Nov 24 2008 01:03 Mar 07, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1343.IH H1343

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1 serves, or receives a report of, covered activity and takes 

2 reasonable action to respond to such activity shall have 

3 qualified immunity from civil liability for such action, con4 sistent with applicable law in the relevant jurisdiction. A 

5 first responder not entitled to assert the defense of quali6 fied immunity shall nevertheless be immune from civil li7 ability under Federal, State, and local law if such first 

8 responder acted in good faith and on objectively reason9 able suspicion and took reasonable action to prevent ter10 rorist activity or in responding to the reported or observed 

11 covered activity. 

12 (b) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this Act shall af13 fect the ability of a first responder to assert any defense, 

14 privilege, or immunity that would otherwise be available, 

15 and this Act shall not be construed as affecting any such 

16 defense, privilege, or immunity. 

17 (c) ATTORNEY FEES AND COSTS.—A first responder 

18 found to be immune from civil liability under this Act shall 

19 be entitled to recover from the plaintiff all reasonable costs 

20 and attorney fees. 

21 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

22 (1) The term ‘‘first responder’’ means any Fed23 eral, State, or local law enforcement agent, prosecu24 tion agent, border agent, immigration agent, transVerDate Nov 24 2008 01:03 Mar 07, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1343.IH H1343

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1 portation security agent, fire fighter, or emergency 

2 medical service provider, including— 

3 (A) any agent of the Department of Jus4 tice, the Office of the Director of National In5 telligence and constituent agencies, the Depart6 ment of Homeland Security, the United States 

7 Capitol Police, the Park Police, and the Intel8 ligence and Criminal Investigation Divisions of 

9 each military department; 

10 (B) a State or Commonwealth attorney, an 

11 officer or agent of a State police department, 

12 an agent of a State Bureau of Investigation, an 

13 agent of any State Parks Commission police, 

14 State and federalized National Guard per15 sonnel, and any uniformed officer of Wildlife 

16 Fish and Game Commissions; and 

17 (C) a county or municipal district attorney, 

18 an agent of a county sheriff’s department or 

19 municipal police department, an agent or officer 

20 of a county or municipal fire department, volun21 teer fire departments under contract with a 

22 State, county or municipality, or a county or 

23 municipal emergency service department. 


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1 (2) The term ‘‘act of terrorism’’ means an act 

2 of domestic or international terrorism as defined in 

3 section 2331 of title 18, United States Code. 

4 (3) The term ‘‘covered activity’’ means any sus5 picious transaction, activity, or occurrence that indi6 cates that an individual may be engaging, or pre7 paring to engage, in a violation of law relating to an 

8 act of terrorism. 

9 (4) The term ‘‘reasonable action’’ means a law10 ful effort made in good faith and includes, but is not 

11 limited to, conduct involving— 

12 (A) the investigation of suspicious behavior 

13 or suspected violations of law relating to an act 

14 of terrorism; 

15 (B) the arrest, detention, or interrogation 

16 of individuals engaging in suspicious behavior 

17 or suspected of engaging in, or preparing to en18 gage in, a violation of a law relating to an act 

19 of terrorism; and 

20 (C) the administration of or enrollment in 

21 counterterrorism training and research pro22 grams designed to prevent violations of law re23 lating to an act of terrorism. 


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1 SEC. 3. APPLICATION OF ACT. 

2 This Act shall apply to all activities and claims occur3 ring on or after the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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