II 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3351 

To enhance drug trafficking interdiction by creating a Federal felony for 

operating or embarking in a submersible or semi-submersible vessel without nationality and on an international voyage. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 28, 2008 

Mr. BIDEN (for himself, Mr. GRASSLEY, and Mrs. FEINSTEIN) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To enhance drug trafficking interdiction by creating a Federal felony for operating or embarking in a submersible 

or semi-submersible vessel without nationality and on 

an international voyage. 

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 ‘‘Drug Trafficking 

5 Interdiction Assistance Act of 2008’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds and declares that operating or em8 barking in a submersible or semi-submersible vessel withVerDate Aug 31 2005 01:41 Jul 29, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3351.IS S3351

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1 out nationality and on an international voyage is a serious 

2 international problem, facilitates transnational crime, in3 cluding drug trafficking, and terrorism, and presents a 

4 specific threat to the safety of maritime navigation and 

5 the security of the United States. 

6 SEC. 3. OPERATION OF SUBMERSIBLE OR SEMI-SUBMERS7 IBLE VESSEL WITHOUT NATIONALITY. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 111 of title 18 is amend9 ed by adding at the end the following new section: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 2285. OPERATION OF SUBMERSIBLE OR SEMI-SUB11 MERSIBLE VESSEL WITHOUT NATIONALITY. 

12 ‘‘(a) OFFENSES.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Whoever knowingly or in14 tentionally operates by any means or embarks in any 

15 submersible or semi-submersible vessel that is with16 out nationality and that is navigating or has navi17 gated into, through, or from waters beyond the outer 

18 limit of the territorial sea of a single country or a 

19 lateral limit of that country’s territorial sea with an 

20 adjacent country, with the intent to evade detection, 

21 shall be punished as prescribed in subsection (h). 

22 ‘‘(2) ATTEMPTS AND CONSPIRACIES.—Whoever 

23 attempts or conspires to violate this section shall be 

24 punished as prescribed in subsection (h). 

25 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 ‘‘(1) SEMI-SUBMERSIBLE VESSEL.—The term 

2 ‘semi-submersible vessel’ means any watercraft con3 structed or adapted to be capable of operating with 

4 most of its hull and bulk under the surface of the 

5 water, including both manned and unmanned 

6 watercraft. 

7 ‘‘(2) SUBMERSIBLE VESSEL.—The term ‘sub8 mersible vessel’ means a watercraft that is capable 

9 of operating completely below the surface of the 

10 water, including both manned and unmanned 

11 watercraft. 

12 ‘‘(3) VESSEL WITHOUT NATIONALITY.—The 

13 term ‘vessel without nationality’ has the same mean14 ing as section 70502(d) of title 46, United States 

15 Code. 

16 ‘‘(4) EVADE DETECTION.—The term ‘evade de17 tection’ includes the indicia in section 70507 

18 (b)(1)(A), (E), (F), (G), (b)(4), (b)(5), and (b)(6) of 

19 title 46, United States Code. 

20 ‘‘(c) EXTRATERRITORIAL JURISDICTION.—There is 

21 extraterritorial Federal jurisdiction over the offenses de22 scribed in this section, including an attempt or conspiracy 

23 to commit such offense. 


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1 ‘‘(d) CLAIM OF NATIONALITY OR REGISTRY.—A 

2 claim of nationality or registry under this section includes 

3 only— 

4 ‘‘(1) possession on board the vessel and produc5 tion of documents evidencing the vessel’s nationality 

6 as provided in article 5 of the 1958 Convention on 

7 the High Seas; 

8 ‘‘(2) flying its nation’s ensign or flag; or 

9 ‘‘(3) a verbal claim of nationality or registry by 

10 the master or individual in charge of the vessel. 

11 ‘‘(e) AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It is an affirmative defense 

13 to a prosecution under this section, which the de14 fendant shall prove by a preponderance of the evi15 dence, that any submersible or semi-submersible ves16 sel that the defendant operated by any means or em17 barked, at the time of the offense— 

18 ‘‘(A) was a vessel of the United States or 

19 lawfully registered in a foreign nation as 

20 claimed by the master or individual in charge of 

21 the vessel when requested to make a claim by 

22 an officer of the United States authorized to 

23 enforce applicable provisions of United States 

24 law; 


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1 ‘‘(B) was classed by and designed in ac2 cordance with the rules of a classification soci3 ety; 

4 ‘‘(C) was lawfully operated in a govern5 ment-regulated or -licensed activity, including 

6 commerce, research, or exploration; or 

7 ‘‘(D) was equipped with and using an op8 erable automatic identification system vessel 

9 monitoring system, or long range identification 

10 and tracking system. 

11 ‘‘(2) PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS.—The af12 firmative defenses provided by this subsection are 

13 proved conclusively by the production of— 

14 ‘‘(A) government documents evidencing the 

15 vessel’s nationality at the time of the offense as 

16 provided in article 5 of the 1958 Convention on 

17 the High Seas; 

18 ‘‘(B) a certificate of classification issued by 

19 the vessel’s classification society upon comple20 tion of relevant classification surveys and valid 

21 at the time of the offense; or 

22 ‘‘(C) government documents evidencing li23 censure, regulation, or registration for research 

24 or exploration. 


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1 ‘‘(f) FEDERAL ACTIVITIES.—Nothing in this section 

2 applies to lawfully authorized activities carried out by, or 

3 at the direction of, the United States Government. 

4 ‘‘(g) APPLICABILITY OF OTHER PROVISIONS.—Sec5 tions 70504 and 70505 of title 46, United States Code, 

6 apply to this section. 

7 ‘‘(h) PENALTIES.—A person violating this section 

8 shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 

9 15 years, or both.’’. 

10 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec11 tions for chapter 111 of title 18, United States Code, is 

12 amended by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘Sec. 2285. Operation of submersible or semi-submersible vessel without nationality.’’. 

13 SEC. 4. DIRECTIVE TO THE UNITED STATES SENTENCING 

14 COMMISSION. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Pursuant to its authority under 

16 section 994(p) of title 28, United States Code, and in ac17 cordance with this section, the United States Sentencing 

18 Commission shall promulgate sentencing guidelines (in19 cluding policy statements) or amend existing sentencing 

20 guidelines (including policy statements) to provide ade21 quate penalties for persons convicted of knowingly or in22 tentionally operating by any means or embarking in any 

23 submersible or semi-submersible vessel as defined in sec24 tion 3. 


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1 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out this section, 

2 the United States Sentencing Commission shall— 

3 (1) ensure that the sentencing guidelines and 

4 policy statements reflect the serious nature of the of5 fenses described in section 3 and the need for deter6 rence to prevent such offenses; 

7 (2) account for any aggravating or mitigating 

8 circumstances that might justify exceptions, includ9 ing— 

10 (A) the use of a submersible or semi-sub11 mersible vessels described in section 3 to facili12 tate other felonies; 

13 (B) the repeated use of submersible or 

14 semi-submersible vessel described in section 3 

15 to facilitate other felonies, including whether 

16 such use is part of an ongoing commercial orga17 nization or enterprise; 

18 (C) whether the use of submersible or 

19 semi-submersible vessel involves a pattern of 

20 continued and flagrant violations; 

21 (D) whether the persons operating or em22 barking in a submersible or semi-submersible 

23 vessel willfully caused, attempted to cause, or 

24 permitted the destruction or damage of such 


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1 vessel or failed to heave to when directed by law 

2 enforcement officers; and 

3 (E) circumstances for which the sentencing 

4 guidelines (and policy statements) currently 

5 provide sentencing enhancements; 

6 (3) ensure reasonable consistency with other 

7 relevant directives, other sentencing guidelines and 

8 policy statements, and statutory provisions; 

9 (4) make any necessary and conforming 

10 changes to the sentencing guidelines and policy 

11 statements; and 

12 (5) ensure that the sentencing guidelines and 

13 policy statements adequately meet the purposes of 

14 sentencing set forth in section 3553(a)(2) of title 18, 

15 United States Code. 

Æ 


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