I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6194 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to regulate the use of cell-site 

simulators, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 2, 2023 

Mr. LIEU (for himself and Mr. MCCLINTOCK) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition 

to the Committees on Intelligence (Permanent Select), Energy and Commerce, and Armed Services, 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 title 18, United States Code, to regulate the 

use of cell-site simulators, 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 ‘‘Cell-Site Simulator 

5 Warrant Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON CELL-SITE SIMULATOR USE. 

2 (a) PROHIBITION.—Chapter 205 of title 18, United 

3 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘§ 3119. Cell-site simulators 

6 ‘‘(a) PROHIBITION OF USE.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in sub8 section (d), it shall be unlawful— 

9 ‘‘(A) for any individual or entity to know10 ingly use a cell-site simulator in the United 

11 States; or 

12 ‘‘(B) for an element of the intelligence 

13 community to use a cell-site simulator outside 

14 the United States if the subject of the surveil15 lance is a United States person. 

16 ‘‘(2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

17 paragraph (1) shall be construed to authorize a law 

18 enforcement agency of a governmental entity to use 

19 a cell-site simulator outside the United States. 

20 ‘‘(b) PENALTY.—Any individual or entity that vio21 lates subsection (a)(1) shall be fined not more than 

22 $250,000. 

23 ‘‘(c) PROHIBITION OF USE AS EVIDENCE.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para25 graph (2), no information acquired through the use 

26 of a cell-site simulator in violation of subsection 


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1 (a)(1), and no evidence derived therefrom, may be 

2 received in evidence in any trial, hearing, or other 

3 proceeding in or before any court, grand jury, de4 partment, officer, agency, regulatory body, legislative 

5 committee, or other authority of the United States, 

6 a State, or a political subdivision thereof. 

7 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION FOR ENFORCEMENT.—Infor8 mation acquired through the use of a cell-site simu9 lator in violation of subsection (a)(1) by a person, 

10 and evidence derived therefrom, may be received in 

11 evidence in any trial, hearing, or other proceeding 

12 described in paragraph (1) of this subsection relat13 ing to the alleged violation of subsection (a)(1) in 

14 connection with such use. 

15 ‘‘(d) EXCEPTIONS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

17 ‘‘(A) WARRANT.— 

18 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a)(1) 

19 shall not apply to the use of a cell-site sim20 ulator by a law enforcement agency of a 

21 governmental entity under a warrant 

22 issued— 

23 ‘‘(I) in accordance with this sub24 paragraph; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) using the procedures de2 scribed in, and in accordance with the 

3 requirements for executing and re4 turning a warrant under, the Federal 

5 Rules of Criminal Procedure (or, in 

6 the case of a State court, issued using 

7 State warrant and execution and re8 turn procedures and, in the case of a 

9 court-martial or other proceeding 

10 under chapter 47 of title 10 (the Uni11 form Code of Military Justice), issued 

12 under section 846 of that title and in 

13 accordance with the requirements for 

14 executing and returning such a war15 rant, in accordance with regulations 

16 prescribed by the President) by a 

17 court of competent jurisdiction. 

18 ‘‘(ii) REQUIREMENTS.—A court may 

19 issue a warrant described in clause (i) (ex20 cept, with respect to a State court, to the 

21 extent use of a cell-site simulator by a law 

22 enforcement agency of a governmental en23 tity is prohibited by the law of the State) 

24 only if the law enforcement agency— 


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1 ‘‘(I) demonstrates that other in2 vestigative procedures, including elec3 tronic location tracking methods that 

4 solely collect records of the investiga5 tive target— 

6 ‘‘(aa) have been tried and 

7 have failed; or 

8 ‘‘(bb) reasonably appear to 

9 be— 

10 ‘‘(AA) unlikely to suc11 ceed if tried; or 

12 ‘‘(BB) too dangerous; 

13 ‘‘(II) specifies the likely area of 

14 effect of the cell-site simulator to be 

15 used and the time that the cell-site 

16 simulator will be in operation; 

17 ‘‘(III) certifies that the requested 

18 area of effect and time of operation 

19 are the narrowest reasonably possible 

20 to obtain the necessary information; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(IV) demonstrates that the re23 quested use of a cell-site simulator 

24 would be in compliance with applica25 ble provisions of the Communications 


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1 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) 

2 and the rules of the Federal Commu3 nications Commission. 

4 ‘‘(iii) CONSIDERATIONS.—In consid5 ering an application for a warrant de6 scribed in clause (i), the court shall— 

7 ‘‘(I) weigh the need of the gov8 ernment to enforce the law and appre9 hend criminals against the likelihood 

10 and impact of any potential negative 

11 side effects disclosed by the govern12 ment under subparagraph (C); and 

13 ‘‘(II) not grant a request for a 

14 warrant that would put public safety 

15 at risk or unreasonably inconvenience 

16 the community. 

17 ‘‘(iv) PERIOD OF INITIAL AUTHORIZA18 TION.—No warrant described in clause (i) 

19 may authorize the use of a cell site simu20 lator for any period longer than is nec21 essary to achieve the objective of the au22 thorization, nor in any event for longer 

23 than 30 days. 

24 ‘‘(v) EXTENSIONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—A court may 

2 grant extensions of a warrant de3 scribed in clause (i), but only upon 

4 application for an extension made in 

5 accordance with clause (i) and the 

6 court considering the factors described 

7 in clause (iii) and determining the re8 quirements under clause (ii) are met. 

9 ‘‘(II) PERIOD OF EXTENSION.— 

10 The period of an extension of a war11 rant shall be no longer than the au12 thorizing judge determines necessary 

13 to achieve the purposes for which the 

14 extension was granted, nor in any 

15 event for longer than 30 days. 

16 ‘‘(vi) TERMINATION PROVISION.— 

17 Each warrant described in clause (i), and 

18 each extension thereof, shall contain a pro19 vision that the authorization to use the cell 

20 site simulator shall be executed as soon as 

21 practicable and shall terminate upon at22 tainment of the authorized objective, or in 

23 any event in 30 days. 

24 ‘‘(vii) START OF 30-DAY PERIODS.— 

25 The 30-day periods described in clauses 


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1 (iv), (v)(II), and (vi) shall begin on the 

2 earlier of— 

3 ‘‘(I) the date on which a law en4 forcement agency first begins to use 

5 the cell site simulator as authorized 

6 by the warrant, or extension thereof; 

7 or 

8 ‘‘(II) the date that is 10 days 

9 after the warrant, or extension there10 of, is issued. 

11 ‘‘(B) EMERGENCY.— 

12 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause 

13 (ii), subsection (a)(1) shall not apply to the 

14 use of a cell-site simulator by a law en15 forcement agency of a governmental entity, 

16 or use of a cell-site simulator as part of as17 sistance provided by a component of the 

18 Department of Defense or an Armed Force 

19 to such a law enforcement agency, if— 

20 ‘‘(I) the governmental entity rea21 sonably determines an emergency ex22 ists that— 

23 ‘‘(aa) involves— 


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1 ‘‘(AA) immediate dan2 ger of death or serious phys3 ical injury to any person; 

4 ‘‘(BB) conspiratorial 

5 activities characteristic of 

6 organized crime; or 

7 ‘‘(CC) an immediate 

8 threat to a national security 

9 interest; and 

10 ‘‘(bb) requires use of a cell11 site simulator before a warrant 

12 described in subparagraph (A) 

13 can, with due diligence, be ob14 tained; and 

15 ‘‘(II) except in an instance in 

16 which the governmental entity is try17 ing to locate a lost or missing person, 

18 locate someone believed to have been 

19 abducted or kidnapped, or find vic20 tims, dead or alive, in an area where 

21 a natural disaster, terrorist attack, or 

22 other mass casualty event has taken 

23 place— 

24 ‘‘(aa) there are grounds 

25 upon which a warrant described 


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1 in subparagraph (A) could be en2 tered to authorize such use; and 

3 ‘‘(bb) the governmental enti4 ty applies for a warrant described 

5 in subparagraph (A) approving 

6 such use not later than 48 hours 

7 after such use begins, and takes 

8 such steps to expedite the consid9 eration of such application as 

10 may be possible. 

11 ‘‘(ii) TERMINATION OF EMERGENCY

12 USE.— 

13 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—A law en14 forcement agency of a governmental 

15 entity shall immediately terminate use 

16 of a cell-site simulator under clause 

17 (i) of this subparagraph at the earlier 

18 of the time the information sought is 

19 obtained or the time the application 

20 for a warrant described in subpara21 graph (A) is denied. 

22 ‘‘(II) WARRANT DENIED.—If an 

23 application for a warrant described in 

24 clause (i)(II)(bb) is denied— 


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1 ‘‘(aa) any information or 

2 evidence derived from use of the 

3 cell-site simulator shall be— 

4 ‘‘(AA) subject to sub5 section (c); and 

6 ‘‘(BB) promptly de7 stroyed by the applicable law 

8 enforcement agency; and 

9 ‘‘(bb) the applicable law en10 forcement agency shall serve an 

11 inventory on each person named 

12 in the application. 

13 ‘‘(C) DISCLOSURES REQUIRED IN APPLICA14 TION.—In any application for a warrant au15 thorizing the use of a cell-site simulator under 

16 subparagraph (A) or (B), the governmental en17 tity shall include the following: 

18 ‘‘(i) A disclosure of any potential dis19 ruption of the ability of the subject of the 

20 surveillance or bystanders to use commer21 cial mobile radio services or private mobile 

22 services, including using advanced commu23 nications services, to make or receive, as 

24 applicable— 


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1 ‘‘(I) emergency calls (including 

2 9–1–1 calls); 

3 ‘‘(II) calls to the universal tele4 phone number within the United 

5 States for the purpose of the national 

6 suicide prevention and mental health 

7 crisis hotline system designated under 

8 paragraph (4) of section 251(e) of the 

9 Communications Act of 1934 (47 

10 U.S.C. 251(e)), as added by the Na11 tional Suicide Hotline Designation Act 

12 of 2020 (Public Law 116–172; 134 

13 Stat. 832); 

14 ‘‘(III) calls to the nationwide toll15 free number for the poison control 

16 centers established under section 1271 

17 of the Public Health Service Act (42 

18 U.S.C. 300d–71); 

19 ‘‘(IV) calls using telecommuni20 cations relay services; or 

21 ‘‘(V) any other communications 

22 or transmissions. 

23 ‘‘(ii) A certification that the specific 

24 model of the cell-site simulator to be used 

25 has been inspected by a third party that is 


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1 an accredited testing laboratory recognized 

2 by the Federal Communications Commis3 sion to verify the accuracy of the disclosure 

4 under clause (i). 

5 ‘‘(iii) A disclosure of the methods and 

6 precautions that will be used to minimize 

7 disruption, including— 

8 ‘‘(I) any limit on the length of 

9 time the cell-site simulator can be in 

10 continuous operation; and 

11 ‘‘(II) any user-defined limit on 

12 the transmission range of the cell-site 

13 simulator. 

14 ‘‘(iv) A disclosure as to whether the 

15 cell-site simulator will primarily be used at 

16 a gathering where constitutionally pro17 tected activity, including speech, will occur. 

18 ‘‘(D) NOTICE.— 

19 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Within a reason20 able time, but, subject to clause (ii), not 

21 later than 90 days after the filing of an 

22 application for a warrant authorizing the 

23 use of a cell-site simulator which is denied 

24 or the termination of the period of such a 

25 warrant, or extensions thereof, the issuing 


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1 or denying judge shall cause to be served 

2 on the persons named in the warrant or 

3 the application, and, as the judge may de4 termine, in the discretion of the judge, is 

5 in the interest of justice, other persons 

6 about whose devices the government ob7 tained information with the cell site simu8 lator, an inventory which shall include no9 tice of— 

10 ‘‘(I) the fact of the entry of the 

11 warrant or the application; 

12 ‘‘(II) the date of the entry and 

13 the period of authorized, approved or 

14 disapproved use of a cell-site simu15 lator, or the denial of the application; 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(III) whether, during the pe18 riod— 

19 ‘‘(aa) information about 

20 their device was, or was not, ob21 tained by the government; 

22 ‘‘(bb) their location was, or 

23 was not, tracked; and 

24 ‘‘(cc) their communications 

25 were, or were not, intercepted. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) DELAY OF NOTICE.—On an ex 

2 parte showing of good cause to a court of 

3 competent jurisdiction, the serving of the 

4 inventory required under clause (i) may be 

5 postponed. 

6 ‘‘(2) FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SURVEIL7 LANCE.—Use of a cell-site simulator by an element 

8 of the intelligence community shall not be subject to 

9 subsection (a)(1) if it is conducted in a manner that 

10 is in accordance with— 

11 ‘‘(A) title I of the Foreign Intelligence 

12 Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801 et 

13 seq.) (including testing or training authorized 

14 under paragraph (1) or (3) of section 105(g) of 

15 such Act (50 U.S.C. 1805(g)) (including such 

16 testing or training conducted in conjunction 

17 with a component of the Department of De18 fense or an Armed Force), if any information 

19 obtained during such testing or training (in20 cluding metadata) is destroyed after its use for 

21 such testing or training); or 

22 ‘‘(B) section 704(c)(1)(E) of such Act (50 

23 U.S.C. 1881c(c)(1)(E)). 

24 ‘‘(3) RESEARCH.—Subsection (a)(1) shall not 

25 apply to the use of a cell-site simulator in order to 


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1 engage, in good-faith, in research or teaching by a 

2 person that is not— 

3 ‘‘(A) a law enforcement agency of a gov4 ernmental entity; 

5 ‘‘(B) an element of the intelligence commu6 nity; or 

7 ‘‘(C) acting as an agent thereof. 

8 ‘‘(4) PROTECTIVE SERVICES.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a)(1) 

10 shall not apply to the use of a cell-site simu11 lator in the performance of protective duties 

12 pursuant to section 3056 of this title, or as oth13 erwise authorized by law. 

14 ‘‘(B) PROHIBITION ON USE AS EVI15 DENCE.—No information acquired through the 

16 use of a cell-site simulator under the authority 

17 under subparagraph (A), and no evidence de18 rived therefrom, may be received in evidence in 

19 any trial, hearing, or other proceeding in or be20 fore any court, grand jury, department, officer, 

21 agency, regulatory body, legislative committee, 

22 or other authority of the United States, a State, 

23 or a political subdivision thereof. 

24 ‘‘(C) NO BAR TO OTHER AUTHORIZED

25 USE.—Nothing in subparagraph (A) or (B) 


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1 shall be construed to prohibit the United States 

2 Secret Service from using a cell-site simulator 

3 in accordance with a provision of this section 

4 other than subparagraph (A). 

5 ‘‘(5) CONTRABAND INTERDICTION BY CORREC6 TIONAL FACILITIES.—Subsection (a)(1) shall not 

7 apply to the use of a contraband interdiction system 

8 if the correctional facility or the entity operating the 

9 contraband interdiction system for the benefit of the 

10 correctional facility— 

11 ‘‘(A) has— 

12 ‘‘(i) taken reasonable steps to restrict 

13 transmissions by the contraband interdic14 tion system to cellular devices physically lo15 cated within the property of the correc16 tional facility; 

17 ‘‘(ii) posted signs around the correc18 tional facility informing visitors and staff 

19 that the correctional facility employs such 

20 a contraband interdiction system; and 

21 ‘‘(iii) complied with any relevant regu22 lations promulgated by the Federal Com23 munications Commission and, as applica24 ble, policies issued by the National TeleVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:02 Nov 16, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6194.IH H6194

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1 communications and Information Adminis2 tration; 

3 ‘‘(B) annually tests and evaluates compli4 ance with subparagraph (A) in accordance with 

5 best practices, which shall be issued by the Fed6 eral Communications Commission; and 

7 ‘‘(C) not later than 10 business days after 

8 identifying an issue relating to the use of the 

9 contraband interdiction system, whether in the 

10 course of normal business operations or con11 ducting testing and evaluation, submits to the 

12 Federal Communications Commission a report 

13 describing the issues identified and the steps 

14 taken to address the issues. 

15 ‘‘(6) TESTING AND TRAINING BY LAW EN16 FORCEMENT.—Subsection (a)(1) shall not apply to 

17 the use of a cell-site simulator by a law enforcement 

18 agency of a governmental entity in the normal 

19 course of official duties that is not targeted against 

20 the communications of any particular person or per21 sons, under procedures approved by the Attorney 

22 General, solely to— 

23 ‘‘(A) test the capability of electronic equip24 ment, if— 


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1 ‘‘(i) it is not reasonable to obtain the 

2 consent of the persons incidentally sub3 jected to the surveillance; 

4 ‘‘(ii) the test is limited in extent and 

5 duration to that necessary to determine to 

6 capability of the equipment; 

7 ‘‘(iii) any information obtained during 

8 such testing (including metadata) is re9 tained and used only for the purpose of de10 termining the capability of the equipment, 

11 is disclosed only to test personnel, and is 

12 destroyed before or immediately upon com13 pletion of the test; and 

14 ‘‘(iv) the test is for a period of not 

15 longer than 90 days, unless the law en16 forcement agency obtains the prior ap17 proval of the Attorney General; or 

18 ‘‘(B) train law enforcement personnel in 

19 the use of electronic surveillance equipment, 

20 if— 

21 ‘‘(i) it is not reasonable to— 

22 ‘‘(I) obtain the consent of the 

23 persons incidentally subjected to the 

24 surveillance; 


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1 ‘‘(II) train persons in the course 

2 of otherwise authorized law enforce3 ment activities; or 

4 ‘‘(III) train persons in the use of 

5 such equipment without engaging in 

6 surveillance; 

7 ‘‘(ii) such surveillance is limited in ex8 tent and duration to that necessary to 

9 train the personnel in the use of the equip10 ment; and 

11 ‘‘(iii) any information obtained during 

12 such training (including metadata) is de13 stroyed after its use for such training. 

14 ‘‘(7) FCC TESTING.—Subsection (a)(1) shall 

15 not apply to the use of a cell-site simulator by the 

16 Federal Communications Commission, or an accred17 ited testing laboratory recognized by the Federal 

18 Communications Commission, in order to test the 

19 cell-site simulator. 

20 ‘‘(8) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

21 this subsection shall be construed to exempt a State 

22 or local government from complying with regulations 

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1 ization to transmit on spectrum regulated by the 

2 Federal Communications Commission. 

3 ‘‘(e) LIMIT ON CERTAIN USE NOT CONDUCTED PUR4 SUANT TO WARRANTS AND ORDERS.—The use of a cell5 site simulator under subsection (d)(1)(B) of this section 

6 (which shall not include such a use by a component of 

7 the Department of Defense or an Armed Force providing 

8 assistance to a law enforcement agency of a governmental 

9 entity under such subsection (d)(1)(B)), under section 

10 105(e) of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 

11 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1805(e)), or under clause (i) or (ii) of 

12 section 102(a)(1)(A) of the Foreign Intelligence Surveil13 lance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1802(a)(1)(A)) may only 

14 be carried out lawfully using a specific model of a cell15 site simulator for which the disclosures required under 

16 clauses (i) and (ii) of subsection (d)(1)(C) were included 

17 with respect to the specific model in connection with— 

18 ‘‘(1) for use by an element of the intelligence 

19 community under title I of the Foreign Intelligence 

20 Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.), 

21 an application for an order under such Act that was 

22 approved; or 

23 ‘‘(2) for use by a law enforcement agency of a 

24 governmental entity, an application for a warrant— 


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1 ‘‘(A) under the Federal Rules of Criminal 

2 Procedure that was approved by a judge of the 

3 judicial district in which the law enforcement 

4 agency intends to use the cell-site simulator; or 

5 ‘‘(B) using State warrant procedures that 

6 was approved by a judge of the State in which 

7 the law enforcement agency intends to use the 

8 cell-site simulator. 

9 ‘‘(f) MINIMIZATION.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall 

11 adopt specific procedures that are reasonably de12 signed to minimize the acquisition and retention, 

13 and prohibit the dissemination, of information ob14 tained through the use of a cell-site simulator under 

15 an exception under paragraph (1) or (2) of sub16 section (d) that pertains to any person who is not 

17 an authorized subject of the use. 

18 ‘‘(2) PUBLICATION.—The Attorney General 

19 shall make publicly available on the website of the 

20 Department of Justice the procedures adopted under 

21 paragraph (1) and any revisions to such procedures. 

22 ‘‘(3) USE BY AGENCIES.—If a law enforcement 

23 agency of a governmental entity or element of the 

24 intelligence community acquires information per25 taining to a person who is not an authorized subject 


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1 of the use of a cell-site simulator under an exception 

2 under paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (d), the 

3 law enforcement agency or element of the intel4 ligence community shall— 

5 ‘‘(A) minimize the acquisition and reten6 tion, and prohibit the dissemination, of the in7 formation in accordance with the procedures 

8 adopted under paragraph (1); and 

9 ‘‘(B) destroy the information (including 

10 metadata) at the earliest possible opportunity. 

11 ‘‘(g) DISCLOSURE TO DEFENDANT.—Any informa12 tion acquired through the operation of a cell-site simu13 lator, or derived from such information, shall be disclosed 

14 to the defendant in any action in which the information 

15 is introduced into evidence. 

16 ‘‘(h) SCOPE OF COLLECTION.— 

17 ‘‘(1) AUTHORIZED USE.—Information collected 

18 under this section may only include information 

19 identifying nearby electronic devices communicating 

20 with the cell-site simulator and the strength and di21 rection of transmissions from those electronic de22 vices. 

23 ‘‘(2) COMPLIANCE WITH WIRETAPPING RE24 QUIREMENTS TO OBTAIN CONTENTS.—In the case of 


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1 any interception of a wire or electronic communica2 tion by the cell-site simulator— 

3 ‘‘(A) with respect to an interception by a 

4 law enforcement agency of a governmental enti5 ty, the provisions of chapter 119 shall apply in 

6 addition to the provisions of this section; and 

7 ‘‘(B) with respect to an interception by an 

8 element of the intelligence community, the ele9 ment of the intelligence community may only 

10 conduct the surveillance using the cell-site sim11 ulator in accordance with an order authorizing 

12 the use issued in accordance with title I of the 

13 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 

14 (50 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.), in addition to com15 plying with the provisions of this section. 

16 ‘‘(3) COMPLIANCE WITH TRACKING DEVICE RE17 QUIREMENTS.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If a cell-site simulator 

19 is to be used by a law enforcement agency of 

20 a governmental entity to locate or track the 

21 movement of a person or object, the provisions 

22 of section 3117 and rule 41 of the Federal 

23 Rules of Criminal Procedure shall apply in ad24 dition to the provisions of this section. 


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1 ‘‘(B) COURT.—For purposes of applying 

2 section 3117 and rule 41 of the Federal Rules 

3 of Criminal Procedure to the use of a cell-site 

4 simulator, a court may authorize such use with5 in the jurisdiction of the court, and outside that 

6 jurisdiction if— 

7 ‘‘(i) the use commences within that 

8 jurisdiction; or 

9 ‘‘(ii) at the time the application is 

10 presented to the court, the governmental 

11 entity certifies that it has probable cause 

12 to believe that the target is physically lo13 cated within that jurisdiction. 

14 ‘‘(i) CIVIL ACTION.—Any person subject to an unlaw15 ful operation of a cell-site simulator may bring a civil ac16 tion for appropriate relief (including declaratory and in17 junctive relief, actual damages, statutory damages of not 

18 more than $500 for each violation, and attorney fees) 

19 against the person, including a governmental entity, that 

20 conducted that unlawful operation before a court of com21 petent jurisdiction. 

22 ‘‘(j) ADMINISTRATIVE DISCIPLINE.—If a court or ap23 propriate department or agency determines that the 

24 United States or any of its departments or agencies has 

25 violated any provision of this section, and the court or apVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:02 Nov 16, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00025 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6194.IH H6194

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1 propriate department or agency finds that the cir2 cumstances surrounding the violation raise serious ques3 tions about whether or not an officer or employee of the 

4 United States acted willfully or intentionally with respect 

5 to the violation, the department or agency shall, upon re6 ceipt of a true and correct copy of the decision and find7 ings of the court or appropriate department or agency 

8 promptly initiate a proceeding to determine whether dis9 ciplinary action against the officer or employee is war10 ranted. If the head of the department or agency involved 

11 determines that disciplinary action is not warranted, he 

12 or she shall notify the Inspector General with jurisdiction 

13 over the department or agency concerned and shall provide 

14 the Inspector General with the reasons for such deter15 mination. 

16 ‘‘(k) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section— 

17 ‘‘(1) the terms defined in section 2711 have, re18 spectively, the definitions given such terms in that 

19 section; 

20 ‘‘(2) the term ‘advanced communications serv21 ices’ has the meaning given that term in section 3 

22 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

23 153); 

24 ‘‘(3) the term ‘cell-site simulator’ means any 

25 device that functions as or simulates a base station 


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•HR 6194 IH

1 for commercial mobile services or private mobile 

2 services in order to identify, locate, or intercept 

3 transmissions from cellular devices for purposes 

4 other than providing ordinary commercial mobile 

5 services or private mobile services; 

6 ‘‘(4) the term ‘commercial mobile radio service’ 

7 has the meaning given that term in section 20.3 of 

8 title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any suc9 cessor thereto; 

10 ‘‘(5) the term ‘contraband interdiction system’ 

11 means any device that functions as or simulates a 

12 base station for commercial mobile services or pri13 vate mobile services for purposes of identifying, lo14 cating, or intercepting transmissions from contra15 band cellular devices in correctional facilities; 

16 ‘‘(6) the term ‘derived’ means, with respect to 

17 information or evidence, that the government would 

18 not have originally possessed the information or evi19 dence but for the use of a cell-site simulator, and re20 gardless of any claim that the information or evi21 dence is attenuated from the surveillance would in22 evitably have been discovered, or was subsequently 

23 reobtained through other means; 

24 ‘‘(7) the term ‘electronic communication’ has 

25 the meaning given that term in section 2510; 


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•HR 6194 IH

1 ‘‘(8) the term ‘electronic device’ has the mean2 ing given the term ‘computer’ in section 1030(e); 

3 ‘‘(9) the term ‘emergency call’ has the meaning 

4 given that term in section 6001 of the Middle Class 

5 Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 

6 1401); 

7 ‘‘(10) the term ‘intelligence community’ has the 

8 meaning given that term in section 3 of the National 

9 Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003); 

10 ‘‘(11) the term ‘mitigation’ means the deletion 

11 of all information collected about a person who is 

12 not the subject of the warrant or investigation; 

13 ‘‘(12) the term ‘private mobile service’ has the 

14 meaning given that term in section 332 of the Com15 munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 332); 

16 ‘‘(13) the term ‘telecommunications relay serv17 ice’ has the meaning given that term in section 225 

18 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

19 225); and 

20 ‘‘(14) the term ‘United States person’ has the 

21 meaning given that term in section 101 of the For22 eign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 

23 U.S.C. 1801).’’. 


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•HR 6194 IH

1 (b) FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SURVEILLANCE ACT OF

2 1978 REQUIREMENTS.—The Foreign Intelligence Surveil3 lance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) is amended— 

4 (1) in section 101 (50 U.S.C. 1801), by adding 

5 at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(q) ‘Cell-site simulator’ has the meaning given that 

7 term in section 3119 of title 18, United States Code.’’; 

8 (2) in section 102(a) (50 U.S.C. 1802(a)), by 

9 adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(5) The Government may only use a cell-site simu11 lator pursuant to the authority under clause (i) or (ii) of 

12 paragraph (1)(A) without obtaining an order under this 

13 title authorizing such use if the Government has imple14 mented measures that are reasonably likely to limit the 

15 collection activities to— 

16 ‘‘(A) means of communications used exclusively 

17 between or among foreign powers, as defined in 

18 paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of section 101(a); or 

19 ‘‘(B) property or premises under the open and 

20 exclusive control of a foreign power, as defined in 

21 paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of section 101(a).’’; 

22 (3) in section 105 (50 U.S.C. 1805), by adding 

23 at the end the following: 


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•HR 6194 IH

1 ‘‘(k)(1) A judge having jurisdiction under section 103 

2 may issue an order under this section that authorizes the 

3 use of a cell-site simulator only if the applicant— 

4 ‘‘(A) demonstrates that other investigative pro5 cedures, including electronic location tracking meth6 ods that solely collect records of the investigative 

7 target— 

8 ‘‘(i) have been tried and have failed; or 

9 ‘‘(ii) reasonably appear to be— 

10 ‘‘(I) unlikely to succeed if tried; or 

11 ‘‘(II) too dangerous; 

12 ‘‘(B) specifies the likely area of effect of the 

13 cell-site simulator to be used and the time that the 

14 cell-site simulator will be in operation; 

15 ‘‘(C) certifies that the requested area of effect 

16 and time of operation are the narrowest reasonably 

17 possible to obtain the necessary information; and 

18 ‘‘(D) demonstrates that the requested use of a 

19 cell-site simulator would be in compliance with appli20 cable provisions of the Communications Act of 1934 

21 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) and the rules of the Federal 

22 Communications Commission. 

23 ‘‘(2) In any application for an order under this sec24 tion authorizing the use of a cell-site simulator, the appli25 cant shall include the following: 


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•HR 6194 IH

1 ‘‘(A) A disclosure of any potential disruption of 

2 the ability of the subject of the surveillance or by3 standers to use commercial mobile radio services or 

4 private mobile services, including using advanced 

5 communications services, to make or receive, as ap6 plicable— 

7 ‘‘(i) emergency calls (including 9–1–1 

8 calls); 

9 ‘‘(ii) calls to the universal telephone num10 ber within the United States for the purpose of 

11 the national suicide prevention and mental 

12 health crisis hotline system under designated 

13 under paragraph (4) of section 251(e) of the 

14 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

15 251(e)), as added by the National Suicide Hot16 line Designation Act of 2020 (Public Law 116– 

17 172; 134 Stat. 832); 

18 ‘‘(iii) calls to the nationwide toll-free num19 ber for the poison control centers established 

20 under section 1271 of the Public Health Service 

21 Act (42 U.S.C. 300d–71); 

22 ‘‘(iv) calls using telecommunications relay 

23 services; or 

24 ‘‘(v) any other communications or trans25 missions. 


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•HR 6194 IH

1 ‘‘(B) A certification that the specific model of 

2 the cell-site simulator to be used has been inspected 

3 by a third party that is an accredited testing labora4 tory recognized by the Federal Communications 

5 Commission to verify the accuracy of the disclosure 

6 under paragraph (1). 

7 ‘‘(C) A disclosure of the methods and pre8 cautions that will be used to minimize disruption, in9 cluding— 

10 ‘‘(i) any limit on the length of time the 

11 cell-site simulator can be in continuous oper12 ation; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) any user-defined limit on the trans14 mission range of the cell-site simulator. 

15 ‘‘(D) A disclosure as to whether the cell-site 

16 simulator will primarily be used at a gathering 

17 where constitutionally protected activity, including 

18 speech, will occur. 

19 ‘‘(3) In considering an application for an order under 

20 this section that authorizes the use of a cell-site simulator, 

21 the court shall— 

22 ‘‘(A) weigh the need of the Government to ob23 tain the information sought against the likelihood 

24 and impact of any potential negative side effects dis25 closed by the Government under paragraph (2); and 


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•HR 6194 IH

1 ‘‘(B) not grant a request for an order that 

2 would put public safety at risk or unreasonably in3 convenience the community.’’; and 

4 (4) in section 704(c)(1) (50 U.S.C. 

5 1881c(c)(1))— 

6 (A) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

7 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

8 (B) in subparagraph (D), by striking the 

9 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

10 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(E) if the applicant is seeking to use a 

12 cell-site simulator (as defined in section 101), 

13 the requirements that would apply for the use 

14 of a cell-site simulator in the United States 

15 under section 105(k) have been satisfied.’’. 

16 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 3127 of 

17 title 18, United States Code, is amended— 

18 (1) in paragraph (3) by striking ‘‘but such term 

19 does not include any’’ and inserting ‘‘except such 

20 term does not include any cell-site simulator, as that 

21 term is defined in section 3119, or’’; and 

22 (2) in paragraph (4) by striking ‘‘of any com23 munication’’ and inserting ‘‘of any communication, 

24 except such term does not include any cell-site simu25 lator, as that term is defined in section 3119’’. 


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•HR 6194 IH

1 (d) INSPECTOR GENERAL REPORTS.— 

2 (1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

3 ‘‘covered Federal entity’’ means— 

4 (A) a law enforcement agency of a depart5 ment or agency of the Federal Government; and 

6 (B) an element of the intelligence commu7 nity (as defined in section 3 of the National Se8 curity Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003)). 

9 (2) REPORTS.—The Inspector General of the 

10 Department of Justice, the Inspector General of the 

11 Department of Homeland Security, the Inspector 

12 General of the Department of Defense, and the In13 spector General of the Intelligence Community shall 

14 annually submit to Congress a joint report, and pub15 lish an unclassified version of the report on the 

16 website of each such inspector general, on— 

17 (A) the overall compliance of covered Fed18 eral entities with this Act and the amendments 

19 made by this Act; 

20 (B) the number of applications by covered 

21 Federal entities for use of a cell-site simulator 

22 that were applied for and the number that were 

23 granted; 

24 (C) the number of emergency uses of a 

25 cell-site simulator under section 3119(d)(1)(B) 


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•HR 6194 IH

1 of title 18, United States Code, as added by 

2 this Act; 

3 (D) the number of such emergency uses 

4 for which a court subsequently issued a warrant 

5 authorizing the use and the number of such 

6 emergency uses in which an application for a 

7 warrant was denied; 

8 (E) the number of devices that were tar9 geted with a cell-site simulator, which shall be 

10 provided separately for targeting conducted 

11 pursuant to a warrant or court order and tar12 geting conducted pursuant to an authority to 

13 use a cell-site simulator without a warrant or 

14 order; 

15 (F) the number of devices that were not 

16 the target of the use of a cell-site simulator 

17 about which information was obtained with the 

18 cell-site simulator, which shall— 

19 (i) be provided separately for use con20 ducted pursuant to a warrant or court 

21 order and use conducted pursuant to an 

22 authority to use a cell-site simulator with23 out a warrant or order; and 

24 (ii) include the number of such de25 vices about which the information was not 


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•HR 6194 IH

1 destroyed as a result of the minimization 

2 requirements under section 3119(f) of title 

3 18, United States Code, as added by this 

4 section, which shall be provided separately 

5 for use conducted pursuant to a warrant or 

6 court order and use conducted pursuant to 

7 an authority to use a cell-site simulator 

8 without a warrant or order; 

9 (G) which components of a law enforce10 ment agency of a department or agency of the 

11 Federal Government are using cell-site simula12 tors and how many are available to that compo13 nent; and 

14 (H) instances in which a law enforcement 

15 agency of a department or agency of the Fed16 eral Government made cell-site simulators avail17 able to a State or unit of local government. 

18 (3) FORM OF REPORTS.—Each report sub19 mitted under paragraph (2) shall be submitted in 

20 unclassified form, but may include a classified 

21 annex. 

22 (e) FCC REGULATIONS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

24 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Federal 

25 Communications Commission shall initiate any proVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:02 Nov 16, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00036 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6194.IH H6194

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•HR 6194 IH

1 ceeding that may be necessary to promulgate or 

2 modify regulations promulgated by the Federal Com3 munications Commission to implement this Act and 

4 the amendments made by this Act. 

5 (2) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act or an 

6 amendment made by this Act shall be construed to 

7 expand or contract the authority of the Federal 

8 Communications Commission. 

9 (f) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para11 graph (2), subsections (a), (b), (c), and (d) of this 

12 section, and the amendments made by such sub13 sections, shall apply on and after the date that is 2 

14 years after the date of enactment of this Act. 

15 (2) EXCEPTIONS.— 

16 (A) DEFINITION.—In this paragraph, the 

17 term ‘‘cell-site simulator’’ has the meaning 

18 given that term in section 3119 of title 18, 

19 United States Code, as added by subsection (a). 

20 (B) EXTENSION FOR EXISTING CELL-SITE

21 SIMULATORS.—For any model of a cell-site sim22 ulator in use before the date of enactment of 

23 this Act, including such use in a contraband 

24 interdiction system at a correctional facility, if 

25 the Attorney General certifies that additional 


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•HR 6194 IH

1 time is necessary to obtain independent tests of 

2 the model of cell-site simulator, subsections (a), 

3 (b), (c), and (d) of this section, and the amend4 ments made by such subsections, shall apply to 

5 the use of the model of cell-site simulator on 

6 and after the date that is 3 years after the date 

7 of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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