I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2060

To prevent plant enterprise terrorism.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 5, 2001

Mr. NETHERCUTT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on

Science, 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 prevent plant enterprise terrorism.

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 ‘‘Agroterrorism Preven5 tion Act of 2001’’.

6 SEC. 2. PLANT ENTERPRISE TERRORISM.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 43 of title 18, United

8 States Code, is amended—

9 (1) so that the heading for such section reads
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1 ‘‘§ 43. Animal and plant enterprise terrorism’’;

2 (2) by striking ‘‘animal enterprise’’ each place

3 it appears and inserting ‘‘animal or plant enter4 prise’’;

5 (3) in subsection (a)(2)—

6 (A) by inserting ‘‘plants,’’ after ‘‘includ7 ing’’;

8 (B) by inserting a comma after ‘‘animals’’;

9 (4) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ‘‘animal en10 terprise’’ and inserting ‘‘animal or plant enterprise’’;

11 (5) in subsection (d)(1)(A), by inserting ‘‘or

12 plants’’ after ‘‘animals’’;

13 (6) in subsection (d)(1)(B)—

14 (A) by inserting ‘‘botanical exhibit,’’ after

15 ‘‘rodeo’’; and

16 (B) by inserting ‘‘or plant’’ after ‘‘animal’’;

17 and

18 (7) in subsection (d)—

19 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para20 graph (3);

21 (B) by striking the period at the end of

22 paragraph (4) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

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

24 ‘‘(5) the term ‘plant’ means any plant (in25 cluding any plant part) used for, or that is ca26 pable of, propagation, including a tree, a tissue
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1 culture, pollen, a shrub, a vine, a cutting, a

2 graft, a scion, a bud, a bulb, a root, a seed, or

3 any plant genetic material contained in bac4 teria, plasmids, viruses, viroids, or any vector of

5 biological origin that has been modified for, or

6 is capable of carrying genes into plant cells

7 using transgenic processes.’’.

8 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The item in the table

9 of sections at the beginning of chapter 3 of title 18, United

10 States Code, that relates to section 43 is amended to read

11 as follows:

‘‘43. Animal and plant enterprise terrorism.’’.

12 SEC. 3. ENHANCEMENT OF PENALTIES FOR ANIMAL AND

13 PLANT ENTERPRISE TERRORISM.

14 Section 43 of title 18, United States Code, is

15 amended—

16 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘one year’’

17 and inserting ‘‘five years’’; and

18 (2) in subsection (b)—

19 (A) by redesignating paragraph (2) as

20 paragraph (3);

21 (B) by inserting after paragraph (1) the

22 following new paragraph (2):

23 ‘‘(2) EXPLOSIVES OR ARSON.—Who24 ever in the course of a violation of sub25 section (a) maliciously damages or de-
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1 stroys, or attempts to damage or destroy,

2 by means of fire or an explosive, any build3 ing, vehicle, or other real or personal prop4 erty used by the animal or plant enterprise

5 shall be imprisoned for not less than 5

6 years and not more than 20 years, fined

7 under this title, or both.’’; and

8 (C) in paragraph (3), as so redesignated,

9 by striking ‘‘under this title and’’ and all that

10 follows through the period and inserting ‘‘under

11 this title, imprisoned for life or for any term of

12 years, or sentenced to death.’’.

13 SEC. 4. RICO.

14 Section 1961(1) of title 18, United States Code, is

15 amended by striking ‘‘Section 201’’ and inserting ‘‘Section

16 43 (relating to animal and plant enterprise terrorism, sec17 tion 201’’.

18 SEC. 5. NATIONAL AGROTERRORISM INCIDENT CLEARING19 HOUSE.

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall establish and

21 maintain a national clearinghouse for information on inci22 dents of crime and terrorism—

23 (1) committed against or directed at any animal

24 or plant enterprise;
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1 (2) committed against or directed at any com2 mercial activity because of the perceived impact or

3 effect of such commercial activity on the environ4 ment; or

5 (3) committed against or directed at any person

6 because of such person’s perceived connection with

7 or support of any enterprise or activity described in

8 paragraph (1) or (2).

9 (b) CLEARINGHOUSE.—The clearinghouse established

10 under subsection (a) shall—

11 (1) accept, collect, and maintain information on

12 incidents described in subsection (a) that is sub13 mitted to the clearinghouse by Federal, State, and

14 local law enforcement agencies, by law enforcement

15 agencies of foreign countries, and by victims of such

16 incidents;

17 (2) collate and index such information for pur18 poses of cross-referencing; and

19 (3) upon request from a Federal, State, or local

20 law enforcement agency, or from a law enforcement

21 agency of a foreign country, provide such informa22 tion to assist in the investigation of an incident de23 scribed in subsection (a).
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1 (c) SCOPE OF INFORMATION.—The information

2 maintained by the clearinghouse for each incident shall,

3 to the extent practicable, include—

4 (1) the date, time, and place of the incident;

5 (2) details of the incident;

6 (3) any available information on suspects or

7 perpetrators of the incident; and

8 (4) any other relevant information.

9 (d) DESIGN OF CLEARINGHOUSE.—The clearing10 house shall be designed for maximum ease of use by par11 ticipating law enforcement agencies.

12 (e) PUBLICITY.—The Director shall publicize the ex13 istence of the clearinghouse to law enforcement agencies

14 by appropriate means.

15 (f) RESOURCES.—In establishing and maintaining

16 the clearinghouse, the Director may—

17 (1) through the Attorney General, utilize the re18 sources of any other department or agency of the

19 Federal Government; and

20 (2) accept assistance and information from pri21 vate organizations or individuals.

22 (g) COORDINATION.—The Director shall carry out

23 the Director’s responsibilities under this section in co24 operation with the Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, To25 bacco, and Firearms.
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1 (h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section—

2 (1) the term ‘‘animal or plant enterprise’’ has

3 the same meaning as in section 43 of title 18,

4 United States Code; and

5 (2) the term ‘‘Director’’ means the Director of

6 the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

7 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

8 are authorized to be appropriated for each of fiscal years

9 2002 through 2007 such sums as are necessary to carry

10 out this section.

11 SEC. 6. ANIMAL AND PLANT RESEARCH SECURITY PRO12 GRAMS.

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—

14 (1) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Director

15 shall—

16 (A) award grants on a competitive basis to

17 colleges and universities for technical assist18 ance, threat and risk assessments, and other

19 activities related to improving security at indi20 vidual research universities; and

21 (B) develop a comprehensive security re22 port for universities, colleges and nonprofit or23 ganizations which examines the threat posed by

24 animal and plant enterprise terrorism on re25 search activities, and includes strategies for re-
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1 ducing this threat, including education, facility

2 hardening, and coordination with law enforce3 ment.

4 (2) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a

5 grant under this section a college or university shall

6 submit to the Director an application in such form

7 and containing such information as the Director

8 may require, including information relating to the

9 security needs of the institution.

10 (3) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this

11 section, the Director shall give priority to colleges

12 and universities that demonstrate the highest secu13 rity needs, as reported in the application submitted

14 under paragraph (2).

15 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

16 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section

17 $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2002, 2003.

18 (c) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘Direc19 tor’’ means the Director of the National Science Founda20 tion.

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