II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1223 

To improve certain criminal provisions. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 20, 2023 

Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself, Mr. HAWLEY, Mr. COTTON, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. 

TILLIS, Mrs. CAPITO, Mr. CASSIDY, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. 

CRAPO, Mrs. FISCHER, Mr. LANKFORD, Mr. MCCONNELL, Mr. RISCH, 

Mr. RUBIO, Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina, Mr. THUNE, Mr. BOOZMAN, 

and Mrs. BLACKBURN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice 

and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To improve certain criminal provisions. 

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 ‘‘Combating Violent and 

5 Dangerous Crime Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. BANK ROBBERY AND RELATED CRIMES. 

7 Section 2113 of title 18, United States Code, is 

8 amended— 

9 (1) in subsection (a)— 

10 (A) by striking ‘‘, or attempts to take,’’; 


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1 (B) by striking ‘‘or attempts to obtain’’; 

2 and 

3 (C) by inserting before ‘‘; or’’ the fol4 lowing: ‘‘, or attempts to do so’’; 

5 (2) by redesignating subsections (f), (g), and 

6 (h) as subsections (g), (h), and (i), respectively; and 

7 (3) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(f) Whoever conspires to commit any offense under 

10 this section shall be subject to the same penalties as those 

11 prescribed for the offense the commission of which was 

12 the object of the conspiracy.’’. 

13 SEC. 3. PROTECTION OF OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES OF 

14 THE UNITED STATES. 

15 (a) FINDINGS.— Congress finds the following: 

16 (1) Officers and employees of the United States 

17 Government dutifully and faithfully serve the United 

18 States, often placing themselves at serious risk of 

19 death or bodily harm, in order to preserve, protect, 

20 and defend the interests of the United States. 

21 (2) In prohibiting the assaulting, resisting, or 

22 impeding of officers and employees of the United 

23 States Government, Congress intended to maximize 

24 protection for Federal officers and employees and 


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1 ensure that individuals who kill or assault Federal 

2 officers or employees are prosecuted. 

3 (3) The United States Court of Appeals for the 

4 Sixth Circuit analyzed section 111 of title 18, 

5 United States Code, correctly when it found, ‘‘Cat6 egorizing § 111(a)(1) as a general intent crime fur7 thers the congressional objective: ‘If a person acts in 

8 a manner which is assaultive toward a federal offi9 cial, without specifically intending harm or the ap10 prehension of imminent harm, the official still would 

11 be impeded in the performance of his official du12 ties.’ ’’ United States v. Kimes, 246 F.3d 800, 809 

13 (6th Cir. 2001), quoting United States v. Jennings, 

14 855 F. Supp. 1427, 1440 (M.D. Pa. 1994). 

15 (4) Federal courts, including the United States 

16 Courts of Appeals for the Second, Fourth, Sixth, 

17 Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, and Eleventh Circuits, have 

18 correctly interpreted section 111 of title 18, United 

19 States Code, to be a crime of general intent rather 

20 than a crime of specific intent. 

21 (5) Other Federal courts, including the United 

22 States Courts of Appeals for the First, Fifth, and 

23 Tenth Circuits, have issued decisions with language 

24 arguably suggesting that section 111 of title 18, 

25 United States Code, is a crime of specific intent 


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1 rather than a crime of general intent, creating the 

2 appearance of a split among the United States 

3 courts of appeals. 

4 (6) In light of the appearance of a split among 

5 the United States courts of appeals described in 

6 paragraph (5), it has become necessary for Congress 

7 to clarify its original intent that section 111 of title 

8 18, United States Code, is a crime of general intent. 

9 (b) AMENDMENT.—Section 111 of title 18, United 

10 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘(d) KNOWLEDGE OF DEFENDANT.—In a prosecu13 tion for an offense under subsection (a), the Government 

14 need not prove that the defendant— 

15 ‘‘(1) knew that the victim of the offense was a 

16 person designated in section 1114 or performed offi17 cial duties during service as a person so designated; 

18 or 

19 ‘‘(2) acted with any intent greater than knowl20 edge.’’. 

21 SEC. 4. MOTOR VEHICLES. 

22 Section 2119 of title 18, United States Code, is 

23 amended— 

24 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1)— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘, with the intent to cause 

2 death or serious bodily harm’’; 

3 (B) by inserting a comma after ‘‘force and 

4 violence’’; and 

5 (C) by inserting ‘‘or conspires’’ after ‘‘at6 tempts’’; 

7 (2) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘15 years’’ 

8 and inserting ‘‘20 years’’; 

9 (3) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) as 

10 paragraphs (3) and (4), respectively; 

11 (4) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘(2) if a dangerous weapon or device is used in 

14 committing, or in attempting to commit, the offense, 

15 be fined under this title or imprisoned not more 

16 than 25 years, or both,’’; and 

17 (5) in paragraph (3), as so redesignated, by 

18 striking ‘‘25 years’’ and inserting ‘‘40 years’’. 

19 SEC. 5. PENALTIES FOR FIREARMS OFFENSES. 

20 Section 924(c)(3)(B) of title 18, United States Code, 

21 is amended to read as follows: 

22 ‘‘(B) is a conspiracy, or an attempt, to commit 

23 an offense that has as an element the use, attempted 

24 use, or threatened use of physical force against the 

25 person or property of another.’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. OFFENSES INVOLVING CANDY-FLAVORED CON2 TROLLED SUBSTANCES MANUFACTURED OR 

3 DISTRIBUTED FOR MINORS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part D of the Controlled Sub5 stances Act (21 U.S.C. 841 et seq.) is amended by insert6 ing after section 418 the following: 

7 ‘‘MANUFACTURING OR DISTRIBUTING CANDY-FLAVORED

8 CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES FOR MINORS

9 ‘‘SEC. 418a. (a) Except as provided in subsection (c) 

10 and in section 418, 419, or 420, a person shall be subject 

11 to the penalty described in subsection (b) if the person 

12 violates section 401(a)(1)— 

13 ‘‘(1) by manufacturing, creating, distributing, 

14 dispensing, or possessing with intent to distribute a 

15 controlled substance listed in schedule I or II that 

16 is— 

17 ‘‘(A) combined with a candy or beverage 

18 product; 

19 ‘‘(B) marketed or packaged to appear simi20 lar to a candy or beverage product; or 

21 ‘‘(C) modified by flavoring or coloring to 

22 appear similar to a candy or beverage product; 

23 and 

24 ‘‘(2) knowing, or having reasonable cause to be25 lieve, that the controlled substance will be distribVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 Apr 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1223.IS S1223

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1 uted, dispensed, or sold to a person under 18 years 

2 of age. 

3 ‘‘(b) The penalty described in this subsection is— 

4 ‘‘(1) in the case of a first offense involving the 

5 same controlled substance and schedule, an addi6 tional term of imprisonment of not more than 10 

7 years; and 

8 ‘‘(2) in the case of a second or subsequent of9 fense involving the same controlled substance and 

10 schedule, an additional term of imprisonment of not 

11 more than 20 years. 

12 ‘‘(c) Subsection (a) shall not apply to any controlled 

13 substance that— 

14 ‘‘(1) has been approved by the Secretary under 

15 section 505 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cos16 metic Act (21 U.S.C. 355), if the contents, mar17 keting, and packaging of the controlled substance 

18 have not been altered from the form approved by the 

19 Secretary; or 

20 ‘‘(2) has been altered at the direction of a prac21 titioner who is acting for a legitimate medical pur22 pose in the usual course of professional practice.’’. 

23 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

24 The table of contents for the Comprehensive Drug Abuse 

25 Prevention and Control Act of 1970 (Public Law 91–513; 


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1 84 Stat. 1236) is amended by inserting after the item re2 lating to section 418 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 418a. Manufacturing or distributing candy-flavored controlled substances 

for minors.’’. 

3 (c) SENTENCING GUIDELINES.—Pursuant to its au4 thority under section 994 of title 28, United States Code, 

5 and in accordance with this section, the United States 

6 Sentencing Commission shall amend and review the Fed7 eral sentencing guidelines and policy statements to ensure 

8 that the guidelines provide for a penalty enhancement of 

9 not less than 2 offense levels for a violation of section 

10 401(a)(1) of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 

11 841(a)(1)) if the defendant— 

12 (1) manufactures, creates, distributes, dis13 penses, or possesses with intent to distribute a con14 trolled substance listed in schedule I or II that is— 

15 (A) combined with a candy or beverage 

16 product; 

17 (B) marketed or packaged to appear simi18 lar to a candy or beverage product; or 

19 (C) modified by flavoring or coloring to ap20 pear similar to a candy or beverage product; 

21 and 

22 (2) knows, or has reasonable cause to believe, 

23 that the controlled substance will be distributed, dis24 pensed, or sold to a person under 18 years of age. 


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1 SEC. 7. KIDNAPPING. 

2 Section 1201 of title 18, United States Code, is 

3 amended— 

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

5 following: 

6 ‘‘(a) KIDNAPPING.— 

7 ‘‘(1) OFFENSE.—Except as provided in para8 graph (2), it shall be unlawful for any person, in any 

9 circumstance described in paragraph (3), to— 

10 ‘‘(A) unlawfully— 

11 ‘‘(i) seize, confine, kidnap, abduct, or 

12 carry away an individual by— 

13 ‘‘(I) force and violence; or 

14 ‘‘(II) intimidation; or 

15 ‘‘(ii) inveigle or decoy an individual; 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(B) hold the individual described in sub18 paragraph (A) for ransom, reward, or other19 wise. 

20 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not 

21 apply to an act done against a minor by the parent 

22 thereof. 

23 ‘‘(3) CIRCUMSTANCES.—A circumstance de24 scribed in this paragraph is that— 

25 ‘‘(A) the individual is willfully transported 

26 in interstate or foreign commerce, regardless of 


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1 whether the individual was alive when trans2 ported across a State boundary, or the offender 

3 travels in interstate or foreign commerce or 

4 uses the mail or any means, facility, or instru5 mentality of interstate or foreign commerce in 

6 committing or in furtherance of the commission 

7 of the offense; 

8 ‘‘(B) any such act against the individual is 

9 done within the special maritime and territorial 

10 jurisdiction of the United States; 

11 ‘‘(C) any such act against the individual is 

12 done within the special aircraft jurisdiction of 

13 the United States as defined in section 46501 

14 of title 49; 

15 ‘‘(D) the individual is a foreign official, an 

16 internationally protected person, or an official 

17 guest as those terms are defined in section 

18 1116(b) of this title; or 

19 ‘‘(E) the individual is among those officers 

20 and employees described in section 1114 of this 

21 title and any such act against the individual is 

22 done while the individual is engaged in, or on 

23 account of, the performance of official duties. 

24 ‘‘(4) PENALTY.—Any person who commits a 

25 violation under this subsection shall be punished by 


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1 imprisonment for any term of years or for life and, 

2 if the death of any individual results, shall be pun3 ished by death or life imprisonment.’’; 

4 (2) in subsection (b)— 

5 (A) by striking ‘‘subsection (a)(1), above,’’ 

6 and inserting ‘‘subsection (a)(3)(A)’’; 

7 (B) by striking ‘‘he’’ and inserting ‘‘the 

8 victim’’; and 

9 (C) by striking ‘‘under this section’’ and 

10 inserting ‘‘under this subsection’’; and 

11 (3) in subsection (f), by striking ‘‘subsection 

12 (a)(4)’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘sub13 section (a) with respect to a circumstance described 

14 in paragraph (3)(D) of that subsection’’. 

Æ 


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