I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4192 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide for an offense for acts 

of terrorism occurring in the territorial jurisdiction of the United States, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 16, 2019 

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

on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide for an 

offense for acts of terrorism occurring in the territorial 

jurisdiction of the United States, 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 ‘‘Confronting the Threat 

5 of Domestic Terrorism Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ACTS OF TERRORISM OCCURRING IN THE TERRI2 TORIAL JURISDICTION OF THE UNITED 

3 STATES. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 113B of title 18, United 

5 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 2332i 

6 the following: 

7 ‘‘§ 2332j. Acts of terrorism occurring in the territorial 

8 jurisdiction of the United States 

9 ‘‘(a) PROHIBITED ACTS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) OFFENSES.—Whoever, in a circumstance 

11 described in subsection (b), and with the intent to 

12 intimidate or coerce a civilian population, influence 

13 the policy of a government by intimidation or coer14 cion, or affect the conduct of a government by mass 

15 destruction, assassination, or kidnapping— 

16 ‘‘(A) knowingly kills, kidnaps, maims, com17 mits an assault resulting in serious bodily in18 jury, or assaults with a dangerous weapon any 

19 person within the United States; or 

20 ‘‘(B) creates a substantial risk of serious 

21 bodily injury to any other person by knowingly 

22 destroying or damaging any structure, convey23 ance, or other real or personal property within 

24 the United States or by attempting or con25 spiring to destroy or damage any structure, 


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1 conveyance, or other real or personal property 

2 within the United States, 

3 in violation of the laws of any State, or the United 

4 States, shall be punished under section 2332b(c). 

5 ‘‘(2) TREATMENT OF THREATS, ATTEMPTS AND

6 CONSPIRACIES.—Whoever threatens to commit an 

7 offense under paragraph (1), or attempts or con8 spires to do so, shall be punished under section 

9 2332b(c). 

10 ‘‘(b) JURISDICTIONAL BASES.— 

11 ‘‘(1) CIRCUMSTANCES.—The circumstances re12 ferred to in subsection (a) are— 

13 ‘‘(A) the mail or any facility of interstate 

14 or foreign commerce is used in furtherance of 

15 the offense; 

16 ‘‘(B) the offense obstructs, delays, or af17 fects interstate or foreign commerce, or would 

18 have so obstructed, delayed, or affected inter19 state or foreign commerce if the offense had 

20 been consummated; 

21 ‘‘(C) the offense occurs during the course 

22 of, or as a result of, the travel of the defendant 

23 or the victim— 

24 ‘‘(i) across a State line or national 

25 border; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) using a facility of interstate or 

2 foreign commerce; 

3 ‘‘(D) the victim, or intended victim, is the 

4 United States Government, a member of the 

5 uniformed services, or any official, officer, em6 ployee, or agent of the legislative, executive, or 

7 judicial branches, or of any department or 

8 agency, of the United States; 

9 ‘‘(E) the structure, conveyance, or other 

10 real or personal property is, in whole or in part, 

11 owned, possessed, or leased to the United 

12 States, or any department or agency of the 

13 United States; 

14 ‘‘(F) in connection with the conduct de15 scribed in subsection (a), the defendant employs 

16 a firearm, dangerous weapon, weapon of mass 

17 destruction, or other weapon that has traveled 

18 in interstate or foreign commerce; 

19 ‘‘(G) the offense is committed in the terri20 torial sea (including the airspace above and the 

21 seabed and subsoil below, and artificial islands 

22 and fixed structures erected thereon) of the 

23 United States; or 


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1 ‘‘(H) the offense is committed within the 

2 special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of 

3 the United States. 

4 ‘‘(2) CO-CONSPIRATORS AND ACCESSORIES

5 AFTER THE FACT.—Jurisdiction shall exist over all 

6 principals and co-conspirators of an offense under 

7 this section, and accessories after the fact to any of8 fense under this section, if at least one of the cir9 cumstances described in subparagraphs (A) through 

10 (H) of paragraph (1) is applicable to at least one of11 fender. 

12 ‘‘(c) PROOF REQUIREMENTS.—The following shall 

13 apply to prosecutions under this section: 

14 ‘‘(1) KNOWLEDGE.—The prosecution is not re15 quired to prove knowledge by any defendant of a ju16 risdictional base alleged in the indictment. 

17 ‘‘(2) STATE LAW.—In a prosecution under this 

18 section that is based upon the adoption of State law, 

19 only the elements of the offense under State law, 

20 and not any provisions pertaining to criminal proce21 dure or evidence, are adopted. 

22 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section— 

23 ‘‘(1) the term ‘facility of interstate or foreign 

24 commerce’ has the meaning given that term in sec25 tion 1958(b)(2); 


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1 ‘‘(2) the term ‘serious bodily injury’ has the 

2 meaning given that term in section 1365(h)(3); 

3 ‘‘(3) the term ‘firearm’ has the meaning given 

4 that term in section 921(a)(3); 

5 ‘‘(4) the term ‘weapon of mass destruction’ has 

6 the meaning given that term in section 2332a(c)(2); 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(5) the term ‘territorial sea of the United 

9 States’ means all waters extending seaward to 12 

10 nautical miles from the baselines of the United 

11 States, determined in accordance with international 

12 law. 

13 ‘‘(e) LIMITATION ON PROSECUTION.—No prosecution 

14 for any offense described in this section shall be under15 taken by the United States except on written certification 

16 of the Attorney General or the highest ranking subordi17 nate of the Attorney General with responsibility for crimi18 nal prosecutions of the offenses in this chapter that, in 

19 the judgment of the certifying official, such offense was 

20 intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population, in21 fluence the policy of a government by intimidation or coer22 cion, or affect the conduct of a government by mass de23 struction, assassination, or kidnapping.’’. 

24 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

25 for chapter 113B of title 18, United States Code, is 


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1 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

2 2332i the following: 

‘‘2332j. Acts of terrorism occurring in the territorial jurisdiction of the United 

States.’’. 

3 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

4 (1) FEDERAL CRIME OF TERRORISM.—Section 

5 2332b(g)(5) of title 18, United States Code, is 

6 amended by inserting after ‘‘2332i (relating to acts 

7 of nuclear terrorism),’’ the following: ‘‘2332j (relat8 ing to acts of terrorism occurring in the territorial 

9 jurisdiction of the United States),’’. 

10 (2) PROVIDING MATERIAL SUPPORT TO TER11 RORISTS.—Section 2339A(a) of title 18, United 

12 States Code, is amended by inserting after ‘‘2332f,’’ 

13 the following: ‘‘2332j,’’. 

14 (d) PENALTY CLARIFICATION.—Section 

15 2332b(c)(1)(E) of title 18, United States Code, is amend16 ed by inserting after ‘‘for’’ the following: ‘‘creating a sub17 stantial risk of serious bodily injury to any other person 

18 by’’. 

19 (e) REPORT ON CIVIL LIBERTIES.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 4 years after 

21 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Privacy 

22 and Civil Liberties Oversight Board established by 

23 section 1061 of the Intelligence Reform and Ter24 rorism Prevention Act of 2004 (42 U.S.C. 2000ee) 


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1 shall make publicly available a report on any civil 

2 liberties issues arising from the implementation of 

3 section 2332j of title 18, United States Code, as 

4 added by subsection (a), including with respect to 

5 both the investigation and the prosecution of of6 fenses under such section. 

7 (2) CONSULTATION.—In determining the scope 

8 of the report under paragraph (1), the chair of the 

9 Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board shall 

10 consult with the chairs and ranking members of the 

11 following committees: 

12 (A) The Committee on the Judiciary, the 

13 Committee on Homeland Security, and the Per14 manent Select Committee on Intelligence of the 

15 House of Representatives. 

16 (B) The Committee on the Judiciary, the 

17 Committee on Homeland Security and Govern18 mental Affairs, and the Select Committee on 

19 Intelligence of the Senate. 

20 (3) FORM.—The report under paragraph (1) 

21 shall be in unclassified form. 

Æ 


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