I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4523 
To amend title 18, United States Code, to penalize false communications 
to cause an emergency response, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 19, 2021 
Mr. KUSTOFF (for himself, Mr. STAUBER, Mr. CUELLAR, and Mr. RUTHER-
FORD) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To amend title 18, United States Code, to penalize false 
communications to cause an emergency response, and 
for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Preserving Safe Com-
munities by Ending Swatting Act of 2021’’. 
SEC. 2. FALSE COMMUNICATIONS TO CAUSE AN EMER-
GENCY RESPONSE. 
Section 1038 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended— 
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(1) in subsection (a)(1), to read as follows: 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Whoever engages in any 
conduct with intent to convey false or misleading in-
formation— 
‘‘(A) under circumstances where such in-
formation may reasonably be believed and 
where such information indicates that an activ-
ity has taken, is taking, or will take place that 
would constitute a violation of chapter 2, 10, 
11B, 39, 40, 44, 111, or 113B of this title, sec-
tion 236 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 
U.S.C. 2284), or section 46502, the second sen-
tence of section 46504, section 46505(b)(3) or 
(c), section 46506 if homicide or attempted 
homicide is involved, or section 60123(b) of title 
49; or 
‘‘(B) using the mail or any facility or 
means of interstate or foreign commerce, under 
circumstances where such information may rea-
sonably be expected to cause an emergency re-
sponse and the information indicates that con-
duct has taken, is taking, or will take place that 
constitutes a crime under State or Federal law 
or endangers public health or safety or the 
health or safety of any person, 
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shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not 
more than 5 years, or both. If serious bodily injury 
results, the defendant shall be fined under this title 
or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both, and 
if death results, the defendant shall be fined under 
this title or imprisoned for any number of years up 
to life, or both.’’; 
(2) in subsection (b), to read as follows: 
‘‘(b) CIVIL ACTION.—Whoever engages in any con-
duct with intent to convey false or misleading informa-
tion— 
‘‘(1) under circumstances where such informa-
tion may reasonably be believed and where such in-
formation indicates that an activity has taken, is 
taking, or will take place that would constitute a vio-
lation of chapter 2, 10, 11B, 39, 40, 44, 111, or 
113B of this title, section 236 of the Atomic Energy 
Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2284), or section 46502, the 
second sentence of section 46504, section 46505 
(b)(3) or (c), section 46506 if homicide or attempted 
homicide is involved, or section 60123(b) of title 49; 
or 
‘‘(2) using the mail or any facility or means of 
interstate or foreign commerce, under circumstances 
where such information may reasonably be expected 
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to cause an emergency response and the information 
indicates that conduct has taken, is taking, or will 
take place that constitutes a crime under State or 
Federal law or endangers public health or safety or 
the health or safety of any person, 
is liable in a civil action to any party incurring expenses 
incident to any emergency or investigative response to that 
conduct, for those expenses.’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(e) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘emer-
gency response’ means any deployment of personnel or 
equipment, order or advice to evacuate, or issuance of a 
warning to the public or a threatened person, organiza-
tion, or establishment, by an agency of the United States 
or a State charged with public safety functions, including 
any agency charged with detecting, preventing, or inves-
tigating crimes or with fire or rescue functions, or by a 
private not-for-profit organization that provides fire or 
rescue functions.’’. 
Æ 
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