SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Drug Trafficking Ves-
sel Interdiction Act of 2008’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND DECLARATIONS. 
Congress finds and declares that operating or em-
barking in a submersible or semi-submersible vessel with-
out nationality and on an international voyage is a serious 
international problem, facilitates transnational crime, in-
cluding drug trafficking, and terrorism, and presents a 
specific threat to the safety of maritime navigation and 
the security of the United States. 
SEC. 3. OPERATION OF SUBMERSIBLE OR SEMI-SUBMERS-
IBLE VESSEL WITHOUT NATIONALITY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 111 of title 18, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new section: 
‘‘SEC. 2285. OPERATION OF SUBMERSIBLE OR SEMI-SUB-
MERSIBLE VESSEL WITHOUT NATIONALITY. 
‘‘(a) OFFENSE.—Whoever knowingly operates, or at-
tempts or conspires to operate, by any means, or embarks 
in any submersible or semi-submersible vessel that is with-
out nationality and that is navigating or has navigated 
into, through, or from waters beyond the outer limit of 
the territorial sea of a single country or a lateral limit 
of that country’s territorial sea with an adjacent country,
with the intent to evade detection, shall be fined under 
this title, imprisoned not more than 15 years, or both. 
‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 
‘‘(1) the term ‘submersible vessel’ means a 
watercraft that is capable of operating completely 
below the surface of the water, and includes manned 
and unmanned watercraft; 
‘‘(2) the term ‘semi-submersible vessel’ means 
any watercraft constructed or adapted to be capable 
of operating with most of its hull and bulk under the 
surface of the water, and includes manned or un-
manned watercraft; 
‘‘(3) the term ‘vessel without nationality’ has 
the same meaning given that term in section 
70502(d) of title 46; 
‘‘(4) the term ‘evade detection’ includes the in-
dicia set forth in section 70507(b)(1)(A), (E), (F), 
(G), (b)(4), (5), and (6) of title 46; and 
‘‘(5) the term ‘vessel of the United States’ has 
the same meaning given that term in section 
70502(b) of title 46. 
‘‘(c) EXTRATERRITORIAL JURISDICTION.—There is 
extraterritorial Federal jurisdiction over an offense under 
this section, including an attempt or conspiracy to commit 
such an offense.
‘‘(d) CLAIM
OF NATIONALITY
OR REGISTRY.—A 
claim of nationality or registry under this section includes 
only— 
‘‘(1) possession on board the vessel and produc-
tion of documents evidencing the vessel’s nationality 
as provided in article 5 of the 1958 Convention on 
the High Seas; 
‘‘(2) flying its nation’s ensign or flag; or 
‘‘(3) a verbal claim of nationality or registry by 
the master or individual in charge of the vessel. 
‘‘(e) AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It is an affirmative defense 
to a prosecution for a violation of this section, which 
the defendant has the burden to prove by a prepon-
derance of the evidence, that any submersible or 
semi-submersible vessel that the defendant operated 
by any means or embarked in at the time of the of-
fense— 
‘‘(A) was a vessel of the United States or 
lawfully registered in a foreign nation as 
claimed by the master or individual in charge of 
the vessel when requested to make a claim by 
an officer of the United States authorized to 
enforce applicable provisions of United States 
law;
‘‘(B) was classed by and designed in ac-
cordance with the rules of a classification soci-
ety; 
‘‘(C) was lawfully operated in government- 
regulated or licensed activity, including com-
merce, research, or exploration; or 
‘‘(D) was equipped with and using an op-
erable automatic identification system, vessel 
monitoring system, or a long range identifica-
tion and tracking system. 
‘‘(2) PRODUCTION
OF
DOCUMENTS.—The af-
firmative defenses provided by this subsection are 
proved conclusively by the production of— 
‘‘(A) government documents evidencing the 
vessel’s nationality at the time of the offense, as 
provided in article 5 of the 1958 Convention on 
the High Seas; 
‘‘(B) a certificate of classification issued by 
the vessel’s classification society upon comple-
tion of relevant classification surveys and valid 
at the time of the offense; or 
‘‘(C) government documents evidencing li-
censure, regulation, or registration for research 
or exploration.
‘‘(f) FEDERAL ACTIVITIES.—Nothing in this section 
applies to lawfully authorized activities carried out by or 
at the direction of the United States Government. 
‘‘(g) APPLICABILITY OF OTHER PROVISIONS.—Sec-
tions 70504 and 70505 of title 46 apply to this section.’’ 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
at the beginning of chapter 111 of title 18, United States 
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new 
item: 
‘‘2285. Operation of submersible or semi-submersible vessel without nation-
ality.’’. 
SEC. 4. SENTENCING GUIDELINES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Pursuant to its authority under 
section 994(p) of title 28, United States Code, and in ac-
cordance with this section, the United States Sentencing 
Commission shall promulgate sentencing guidelines (in-
cluding policy statements) or amend existing sentencing 
guidelines (including policy statements) to provide ade-
quate penalties for persons convicted of knowingly oper-
ating by any means or embarking in any submersible or 
semi-submersible vessel as defined in section 2285 of title 
18, United States Code. 
(b) REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out this section, 
the United States Sentencing Commission shall— 
(1) ensure that the sentencing guidelines and 
policy statements reflect the serious nature of the of-
fense described in section 2285 of title 18, United 
States Code, and the need for deterrence to prevent 
such offenses; 
(2) account for any aggravating or mitigating 
circumstances that might justify exceptions, includ-
ing— 
(A) the use of a submersible or semi-sub-
mersible vessels described in section 2285 of 
title 18, United States Code, to facilitate other 
felonies; 
(B) the repeated use of a submersible or 
semi-submersible vessel described in section 
2285 of title 18, United States Code, to facili-
tate other felonies, including whether such use 
is part of an ongoing commercial organization 
or enterprise; 
(C) whether the use of such a vessel in-
volves a pattern of continued and flagrant viola-
tions of section 2285 of title 18, United States 
Code; 
(D) whether the persons operating or em-
barking in a submersible or semi-submersible 
vessel willfully caused, attempted to cause, or 
permitted the destruction or damage of such