I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2839 

To suppress the threat of piracy on the high seas, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 2, 2011 

Mr. LOBIONDO (for himself and Mr. MICA) introduced the following bill 

SEPTEMBER 6, 2011 

Referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on 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 suppress the threat of piracy on the high seas, 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 ‘‘Piracy Suppression 

5 Act of 2011’’. 

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1 SEC. 2. ACT OF PIRACY. 

2 Section 4297 of the Revised Statutes of the United 

3 States (33 U.S.C. 385) is amended by striking so much 

4 as precedes the text and inserting the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 4297. PENALTY FOR PIRACY; SEIZURE AND CON6 DEMNATION OF VESSELS. 

7 ‘‘(a) PENALTY FOR PIRACY.— 

8 ‘‘(1) CRIME.—Whoever commits an act of pi9 racy shall be punished by death or imprisoned for 

10 life. 

11 ‘‘(2) ACT OF PIRACY DEFINED.—In this sub12 section the term ‘act of piracy’ means— 

13 ‘‘(A) any illegal act of violence, detention, 

14 or depredation that is committed for private 

15 ends by the crew or passengers of a private ves16 sel and directed against a vessel, person, or 

17 property on the high seas or in any other place 

18 outside the jurisdiction of any State; or 

19 ‘‘(B) inciting or facilitating an act of pi20 racy, as defined in subparagraph (A); and 

21 ‘‘(C) any act of voluntary participation in 

22 the operation of a vessel with knowledge of 

23 facts making it a pirate ship. 

24 ‘‘(b) SEIZURE AND CONDEMNATION OF VESSELS

25 FITTED OUT FOR PIRACY.—’’. 

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1 SEC. 3. REIMBURSEMENT FOR ACTIONS TAKEN TO PRO2 TECT FOREIGN-FLAGGED VESSELS FROM PI3 RACY. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 20 of title 10, United 

5 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing new section: 

7 ‘‘§ 410. Reimbursement for actions taken to protect 

8 foreign-flagged vessels from piracy 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense shall, 

10 in consultation with the Secretary of State, the Secretary 

11 of Transportation, and the Secretary of the department 

12 in which the Coast Guard is operating— 

13 ‘‘(1) determine the full cost to the United 

14 States of each action taken by the United States to 

15 protect or defend a vessel that is not documented 

16 under the laws of the United States from a pirate 

17 attack, including the cost of each action by the 

18 United States to deter such attack; and 

19 ‘‘(2) seek reimbursement for such cost from the 

20 country under the laws of which the vessel for which 

21 protection or defense was provided is documented, 

22 which shall be credited back to the appropriations 

23 charged for such cost. 

24 ‘‘(b) REIMBURSEMENTS.—Reimbursement under this 

25 section may be waived if— 

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1 ‘‘(1) such country contributes military forces to 

2 the Combined Maritime Forces’ Combined Task 

3 Force–151 within 180 days of the action taken; 

4 ‘‘(2) such country deploys military forces to the 

5 Indian Ocean or Gulf of Aden to deter, prevent, or 

6 defend vessels from pirate attack within 180 days of 

7 the action taken; 

8 ‘‘(3) such country assists in the prosecution or 

9 detention of pirates; or 

10 ‘‘(4) the President determines it is in the na11 tional security interest of the United States to do 

12 so.’’. 

13 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis at the be14 ginning of such chapter is amended by adding at the end 

15 the following new item: 

‘‘410. Reimbursement for actions taken to protect foreign-flagged vessels from 

piracy.’’. 

16 SEC. 4. TRAINING PROGRAM FOR USE OF FORCE AGAINST 

17 PIRACY. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 517 of title 46, United 

19 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol20 lowing new section: 

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1 ‘‘§ 51705. Training program for use of force against 

2 piracy 

3 ‘‘The Secretary of Transportation shall establish a 

4 training program for United States mariners on the use 

5 of force against pirates. The program shall include— 

6 ‘‘(1) information on waters designated as high7 risk waters by the Commandant of the Coast Guard; 

8 ‘‘(2) information on current threats and pat9 terns of attack by pirates; 

10 ‘‘(3) tactics for defense of a vessel, including in11 struction on the types, use, and limitations of secu12 rity equipment; 

13 ‘‘(4) standard rules for the use of force for self 

14 defense as developed by the Secretary of the depart15 ment in which the Coast Guard is operating under 

16 section 912(c) of the Coast Guard Authorization Act 

17 of 2010 (Public Law 111–281; 46 U.S.C. 8107 

18 note), including instruction on firearm safety for 

19 crewmembers of vessels carrying cargo under section 

20 55305 of this title; and 

21 ‘‘(5) procedures to follow to improve crew22 member survivability if captured and taken hostage 

23 by pirates.’’. 

24 (b) DEADLINE.—The Secretary of Transportation 

25 shall establish the program required under the amendment 

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1 made by subsection (a) by no later than 180 days after 

2 the date of enactment of this Act. 

3 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis at the be4 ginning of such chapter is amended by adding at the end 

5 the following new item: 

‘‘51705. Training program for use of force against piracy.’’. 

6 SEC. 5. SECURITY OF GOVERNMENT IMPELLED CARGO. 

7 Section 55305 of title 46, United States Code, is 

8 amended by adding at the end the following new sub9 section: 

10 ‘‘(e) SECURITY OF GOVERNMENT IMPELLED

11 CARGO.— 

12 ‘‘(1) In order to assure the safety of vessels and 

13 crewmembers transporting equipment, materials, or 

14 commodities under this section, the Secretary of 

15 Transportation shall direct each department or 

16 agency responsible for the carriage of such equip17 ment, materials, or commodities to provide armed 

18 personnel aboard vessels of the United States car19 rying such equipment, materials, or commodities 

20 while transiting high-risk waters. 

21 ‘‘(2) The Secretary of Transportation shall di22 rect each such department or agency to reimburse, 

23 subject to the availability or appropriations, the 

24 owners or operators of such vessels for the cost of 

25 providing armed personnel. 

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1 ‘‘(3) For the purposes of this subsection, the 

2 term ‘high-risk waters’ means waters so designated 

3 by the Commandant of the Coast Guard in the Port 

4 Security Advisory in effect on the date on which the 

5 voyage begins.’’. 

6 SEC. 6. GAO STUDY. 

7 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

8 of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 

9 shall report to the Committee on Transportation and In10 frastructure of the House of Representatives and the Com11 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 

12 Senate on efforts to track ransom payments paid to pi13 rates operating in the waters off Somalia and improve the 

14 prosecution of such pirates. The report shall include— 

15 (1) the status of Working Group 5 of the Con16 tact Group on Piracy Off the Somali Coast, any ef17 forts undertaken by the Working Group, and rec18 ommendations for improving the Working Group’s 

19 effectiveness; 

20 (2) efforts undertaken by the United States 

21 Government to implement and enforce Executive 

22 Order 13536, including recommendations on how to 

23 better implement that order to suppress piracy; 

24 (3) efforts undertaken by the United States 

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1 rates operating off the coast of Somalia, the effec2 tiveness of those efforts, any operational actions 

3 taken based off those efforts, and recommendations 

4 on how to improve such tracking; 

5 (4) actions taken by the United States Govern6 ment to improve the international prosecution of pi7 rates captured off the coast of Somalia; and 

8 (5) an update on the United States Govern9 ment’s efforts to implement the recommendation 

10 contained in General Accountability Office report 

11 GAO–10–856, entitled ‘‘Maritime Security: Actions 

12 Needed to Assess and Update Plan and Enhance 

13 Collaboration among Partners Involved in Coun14 tering Piracy off the Horn of Africa’’, that metrics 

15 should be established for measuring the effectiveness 

16 of counter piracy efforts. 

17 SEC. 7. TECHNICAL CORRECTION. 

18 Section 8107(c) of title 46, United States Code, is 

19 amended to read as follows: 

20 ‘‘(c) DEFINITION.—For the purpose of this section, 

21 the term ‘act of piracy’ has the meaning that term has 

22 in section 4297(a) of the Revised Statutes of the United 

23 States.’’. 

Æ 

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