I 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 196 
To amend title 18, United States Code, with respect to the offense of stalking. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 6, 2011 
Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California (for herself, Ms. FOXX, and Mr. BOS-
WELL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, 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 com-
mittee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend title 18, United States Code, with respect to 
the offense of stalking. 
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 ‘‘Simplifying The Am-
biguous Law, Keeping Everyone Reliably Safe Act of 
2011’’ or the ‘‘STALKERS Act of 2011’’. 
SEC. 2. STALKING. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2261A of title 18, United 
States Code, is amended to read as follows: 
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‘‘§ 2261A. Stalking 
‘‘(a) Whoever, with intent to kill, physically injure, 
harass, or intimidate a person, or place under surveillance 
with the intent to kill, physically injure, harass, or intimi-
date a person, travels in interstate or foreign commerce 
or within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction 
of the United States, or enters or leaves Indian country, 
and in the course of, or as a result of, such travel— 
‘‘(1) causes or attempts to cause bodily injury 
or serious emotional distress to a person other than 
the person engaging in the conduct; or 
‘‘(2) engages in conduct that would be reason-
ably expected to cause the other person serious emo-
tional distress; 
shall be punished as provided in subsection (c). 
‘‘(b) Whoever, with intent to kill, physically injure, 
harass, or intimidate a person, engages in a course of con-
duct in or substantially affecting interstate or foreign com-
merce that— 
‘‘(1) causes or attempts to cause bodily injury 
or serious emotional distress to a person other than 
the person engaging in the conduct; or 
‘‘(2) occurs in circumstances where the conduct 
would be reasonably expected to cause the other per-
son serious emotional distress; 
shall be punished as provided in subsection (c). 
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‘‘(c) The punishment for an offense under this section 
is the same as that for an offense under section 2261, 
except that— 
‘‘(1) if the offense involves conduct in violation 
of a protection order; and 
‘‘(2) if the victim of the offense is under the 
age of 18 years or over the age of 65 years, the of-
fender has reached the age of 18 years at the time 
the offense was committed, and the offender knew or 
should have known that the victim was under the 
age of 18 years or over the age of 65 years; 
the maximum term of imprisonment that may be imposed 
is increased by 5 years over the term of imprisonment oth-
erwise provided for that offense in section 2261.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The item relating to 
section 2261A in the table of sections at the beginning 
of chapter 110A of title 18, United States Code, is amend-
ed to read as follows: 
‘‘2261A. Stalking.’’. 
SEC. 3. BEST PRACTICES REGARDING ENFORCEMENT OF 
ANTI-STALKING LAWS TO BE INCLUDED IN 
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE ATTORNEY GEN-
ERAL. 
In the annual report under section 529 of title 28, 
United States Code, the Attorney General shall— 
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(1) include an evaluation of Federal, tribal, 
State, and local efforts to enforce laws relating to 
stalking; and 
(2) identify and describe those elements of such 
efforts that constitute the best practices for the en-
forcement of such laws. 
SEC. 4. PAYGO COMPLIANCE. 
The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 
complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 
shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 
titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 
Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 
by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, pro-
vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 
vote on passage. 
Æ 
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