H. R. 3525
One Hundred Fourth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,
the third day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-six
An Act
To amend title 18, United States Code, to clarify the Federal jurisdiction over
offenses relating to damage to religious property.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Church Arson Prevention Act
of 1996’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) The incidence of arson or other destruction or vandalism
of places of religious worship, and the incidence of violent
interference with an individual’s lawful exercise or attempted
exercise of the right of religious freedom at a place of religious
worship pose a serious national problem.
(2) The incidence of arson of places of religious worship
has recently increased, especially in the context of places of
religious worship that serve predominantly African-American
congregations.
(3) Changes in Federal law are necessary to deal properly
with this problem.
(4) Although local jurisdictions have attempted to respond
to the challenges posed by such acts of destruction or damage
to religious property, the problem is sufficiently serious, wide-
spread, and interstate in scope to warrant Federal intervention
to assist State and local jurisdictions.
(5) Congress has authority, pursuant to the Commerce
Clause of the Constitution, to make acts of destruction or
damage to religious property a violation of Federal law.
(6) Congress has authority, pursuant to section 2 of the
13th amendment to the Constitution, to make actions of private
citizens motivated by race, color, or ethnicity that interfere
with the ability of citizens to hold or use religious property
without fear of attack, violations of Federal criminal law.
SEC. 3. PROHIBITION OF VIOLENT INTERFERENCE WITH RELIGIOUS
WORSHIP.
Section 247 of title 18, United States Code, is amended—
(1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘subsection (c) of this
section’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (d)’’;
(2) by redesignating subsections (c), (d), and (e), as sub-
sections (d), (e), and (f), respectively;
(3) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the following:
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‘‘(b) The circumstances referred to in subsection (a) are that
the offense is in or affects interstate or foreign commerce.
‘‘(c) Whoever intentionally defaces, damages, or destroys any
religious real property because of the race, color, or ethnic character-
istics of any individual associated with that religious property,
or attempts to do so, shall be punished as provided in subsection
(d).’’;
(4) in subsection (d), as redesignated—
(A) in paragraph (2)—
(i) by inserting ‘‘to any person, including any public
safety officer performing duties as a direct or proximate
result of conduct prohibited by this section,’’ after ‘‘bod-
ily injury’’; and
(ii) by striking ‘‘ten years’’ and inserting ‘‘20 years’’;
(B) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) as para-
graphs (3) and (4), respectively;
(C) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:
‘‘(2) if bodily injury results to any person, including any
public safety officer performing duties as a direct or proximate
result of conduct prohibited by this section, and the violation
is by means of fire or an explosive, a fine under this title
or imprisonment for not more that 40 years, or both;’’;
(5) in subsection (f), as redesignated—
(A) by striking ‘‘religious property’’ and inserting ‘‘reli-
gious real property’’ both places it appears; and
(B) by inserting ‘‘, including fixtures or religious objects
contained within a place of religious worship’’ before the
period; and
(6) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
‘‘(g) No person shall be prosecuted, tried, or punished for any
noncapital offense under this section unless the indictment is found
or the information is instituted not later than 7 years after the
date on which the offense was committed.’’.
SEC. 4. LOAN GUARANTEE RECOVERY FUND.
(a) IN GENERAL.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Using amounts described in paragraph
(2), the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (referred
to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall make guaranteed loans to financial
institutions in connection with loans made by such institutions
to assist organizations described in section 501(c)(3) of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 that have been damaged as
a result of acts of arson or terrorism in accordance with such
procedures as the Secretary shall establish by regulation.
(2) USE OF CREDIT SUBSIDY.—Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, for the cost of loan guarantees under this
section, the Secretary may use not more than $5,000,000 of
the amounts made available for fiscal year 1996 for the credit
subsidy provided under the General Insurance Fund and the
Special Risk Insurance Fund.
(b) TREATMENT OF COSTS.—The costs of guaranteed loans under
this section, including the cost of modifying loans, shall be as
defined in section 502 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
(c) LIMIT ON LOAN PRINCIPAL.—Funds made available under
this section shall be available to subsidize total loan principal,
any part of which is to be guaranteed, not to exceed $10,000,000.
(d) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—The Secretary shall—
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(1) establish such terms and conditions as the Secretary
considers to be appropriate to provide loan guarantees under
this section, consistent with section 503 of the Credit Reform
Act; and
(2) include in the terms and conditions a requirement that
the decision to provide a loan guarantee to a financial institu-
tion and the amount of the guarantee does not in any way
depend on the purpose, function, or identity of the organization
to which the financial institution has made, or intends to make,
a loan.
SEC. 5. COMPENSATION OF VICTIMS; REQUIREMENT OF INCLUSION
IN LIST OF CRIMES ELIGIBLE FOR COMPENSATION.
Section 1403(d)(3) of the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 (42
U.S.C. 10602(d)(3)) is amended by inserting ‘‘crimes, whose victims
suffer death or personal injury, that are described in section 247
of title 18, United States Code,’’ after ‘‘includes’’.
SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION FOR ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL TO ASSIST
STATE AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT.
There are authorized to be appropriated to the Department
of the Treasury and the Department of Justice, including the
Community Relations Service, in fiscal years 1996 and 1997 such
sums as are necessary to increase the number of personnel, inves-
tigators, and technical support personnel to investigate, prevent,
and respond to potential violations of sections 247 and 844 of
title 18, United States Code.
SEC. 7. REAUTHORIZATION OF HATE CRIMES STATISTICS ACT.
The first section of the Hate Crimes Statistics Act (28 U.S.C.
534 note) is amended—
(1) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘for the calendar year
1990 and each of the succeeding 4 calendar years’’ and inserting
‘‘for each calendar year’’; and
(2) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘1994’’ and inserting
‘‘2002’’.
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SEC. 8. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.
The Congress—
(1) commends those individuals and entities that have
responded with funds to assist in the rebuilding of places of
worship that have been victimized by arson; and
(2) encourages the private sector to continue these efforts
so that places of worship that are victimized by arson, and
their affected communities, can continue the rebuilding process
with maximum financial support from private individuals,
businesses, charitable organizations, and other non-profit enti-
ties.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.