I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3133 

To improve title 18 of the United States Code. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 8, 2009 

Mr. SCHIFF (for himself and Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To improve title 18 of the United States Code. 

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 ‘‘Foreign Evidence Re5 quest Efficiency Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS TO TITLE 18. 

7 Title 18 of the United States Code is amended— 

8 (1) in section 2703— 

9 (A) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘by a 

10 court with jurisdiction over the offense under 

11 investigation or an equivalent State warrant’’ 


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1 and inserting ‘‘(or, in the case of a State court, 

2 issued using State warrant procedures) by a 

3 court of competent jurisdiction’’; 

4 (B) in subsection (b)(1)(A), by striking 

5 ‘‘by a court with jurisdiction over the offense 

6 under investigation or an equivalent State war7 rant’’ and inserting ‘‘(or, in the case of a State 

8 court, issued using State warrant procedures) 

9 by a court of competent jurisdiction’’; and 

10 (C) in subsection (c)(1)(A), by striking ‘‘by 

11 a court with jurisdiction over the offense under 

12 investigation or an equivalent State warrant’’ 

13 and inserting ‘‘(or, in the case of a State court, 

14 issued using State warrant procedures) by a 

15 court of competent jurisdiction’’; 

16 (2) in section 2711(3), by striking ‘‘has the 

17 meaning assigned by section 3127, and includes any 

18 Federal court within that definition, without geo19 graphic limitation; and’’ and inserting the following: 

20 ‘‘includes— 

21 ‘‘(A) any district court of the United 

22 States (including a magistrate judge of such a 

23 court) or any United States court of appeals 

24 that— 


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1 ‘‘(i) has jurisdiction over the offense 

2 being investigated; 

3 ‘‘(ii) is in or for a district in which the 

4 provider of a wire or electronic communica5 tion service is located or in which the wire 

6 or electronic communications, records, or 

7 other information are stored; or 

8 ‘‘(iii) is acting on a request for foreign 

9 assistance pursuant to section 3512 of this 

10 title; or 

11 ‘‘(B) a court of general criminal jurisdic12 tion of a State authorized by the law of that 

13 State to issue search warrants; and’’; 

14 (3) in section 3127(2)(A), by striking ‘‘having 

15 jurisdiction over the offense being investigated;’’ and 

16 inserting the following: ‘‘that— 

17 ‘‘(i) has jurisdiction over the offense 

18 being investigated; 

19 ‘‘(ii) is in or for a district in which the 

20 provider of a wire or electronic communica21 tion service is located; 

22 ‘‘(iii) is in or for a district in which a 

23 landlord, custodian, or other person subject 

24 to subsections (a) or (b) of section 3124 of 

25 this title is located; or 


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1 ‘‘(iv) is acting on a request for foreign 

2 assistance pursuant to section 3512 of this 

3 title;’’; 

4 (4) in chapter 223, by adding at the end the 

5 following: 

6 ‘‘§ 3512. Foreign requests for assistance in criminal 

7 investigations and prosecutions 

8 ‘‘(a) EXECUTION OF REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Upon application, duly au10 thorized by an appropriate official of the Depart11 ment of Justice, of an attorney for the Government, 

12 a Federal judge may issue such orders as may be 

13 necessary to execute a request from a foreign au14 thority for assistance in the investigation or prosecu15 tion of criminal offenses, or in proceedings related to 

16 the prosecution of criminal offenses, including pro17 ceedings regarding forfeiture, sentencing, and res18 titution. 

19 ‘‘(2) SCOPE OF ORDERS.—Any order issued by 

20 a Federal judge pursuant to paragraph (1) may in21 clude the issuance of— 

22 ‘‘(A) a search warrant, as provided under 

23 rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Proce24 dure; 


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1 ‘‘(B) a warrant or order for contents of 

2 stored wire or electronic communications or for 

3 records related thereto, as provided under sec4 tion 2703 of this title; 

5 ‘‘(C) an order for a pen register or trap 

6 and trace device as provided under section 3123 

7 of this title; or 

8 ‘‘(D) an order requiring the appearance of 

9 a person for the purpose of providing testimony 

10 or a statement, or requiring the production of 

11 documents or other things, or both. 

12 ‘‘(b) APPOINTMENT OF PERSONS TO TAKE TESTI13 MONY OR STATEMENTS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In response to an applica15 tion for execution of a request from a foreign au16 thority as described under subsection (a), a Federal 

17 judge may also issue an order appointing a person 

18 to direct the taking of testimony or statements or of 

19 the production of documents or other things, or 

20 both. 

21 ‘‘(2) AUTHORITY OF APPOINTED PERSON.—Any 

22 person appointed under an order issued pursuant to 

23 paragraph (1) may— 


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1 ‘‘(A) issue orders requiring the appearance 

2 of a person, or the production of documents or 

3 other things, or both; 

4 ‘‘(B) administer any necessary oath; and 

5 ‘‘(C) take testimony or statements and re6 ceive documents or other things. 

7 ‘‘(c) FILING OF REQUESTS.—Except as provided 

8 under subsection (d), an application for execution of a re9 quest from a foreign authority under this section may be 

10 filed— 

11 ‘‘(1) in the district in which a person who may 

12 be required to appear resides or is located or in 

13 which the documents or things to be produced are 

14 located; 

15 ‘‘(2) in cases in which the request seeks the ap16 pearance of persons or production of documents or 

17 things that may be located in multiple districts, in 

18 any one of the districts in which such a person, doc19 uments, or things may be located; or 

20 ‘‘(3) in any case, the district in which a related 

21 Federal criminal investigation or prosecution is 

22 being conducted, or in the District of Columbia. 

23 ‘‘(d) SEARCH WARRANT LIMITATION.—An applica24 tion for execution of a request for a search warrant from 

25 a foreign authority under this section, other than an appliVerDate Nov 24 2008 04:07 Jul 09, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3133.IH H3133

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1 cation for a warrant issued as provided under section 2703 

2 of this title, shall be filed in the district in which the place 

3 or person to be searched is located. 

4 ‘‘(e) SEARCH WARRANT STANDARD.—A Federal 

5 judge may issue a search warrant under this section only 

6 if the foreign offense for which the evidence is sought in7 volves conduct that, if committed in the United States, 

8 would be considered an offense punishable by imprison9 ment for more than one year under Federal or State law. 

10 ‘‘(f) SERVICE OF ORDER OR WARRANT.—Except as 

11 provided under subsection (d), an order or warrant issued 

12 pursuant to this section may be served or executed in any 

13 place in the United States. 

14 ‘‘(g) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec15 tion shall be construed to preclude any foreign authority 

16 or an interested person from obtaining assistance in a 

17 criminal investigation or prosecution pursuant to section 

18 1782 of title 28, United States Code. 

19 ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the fol20 lowing definitions shall apply: 

21 ‘‘(1) FEDERAL JUDGE.—The terms ‘Federal 

22 judge’ and ‘attorney for the Government’ have the 

23 meaning given such terms for the purposes of the 

24 Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. 


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1 ‘‘(2) FOREIGN AUTHORITY.—The term ‘foreign 

2 authority’ means a foreign judicial authority, a for3 eign authority responsible for the investigation or 

4 prosecution of criminal offenses or for proceedings 

5 related to the prosecution of criminal offenses, or an 

6 authority designated as a competent authority or 

7 central authority for the purpose of making requests 

8 for assistance pursuant to an agreement or treaty 

9 with the United States regarding assistance in crimi10 nal matters.’’; and 

11 (5) in the table of sections for chapter 223, by 

12 adding at the end the following: 

‘‘3512. Foreign requests for assistance in criminal investigations and prosecutions.’’. 

Æ 


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