I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 3160
To amend the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 with
respect to the responsibilities of the Secretary of Health and Human
Services regarding biological agents and toxins, and to amend title 18,
United States Code, with respect to such agents and toxins.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OCTOBER 23, 2001
Mr. TAUZIN (for himself and Mr. DINGELL) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in
addition the the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subse-
quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
OCTOBER 23, 2001
Committees on Energy and Commerce and the Judiciary discharged;
considered under suspension of the rules and passed
A BILL
To amend the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty
Act of 1996 with respect to the responsibilities of the
Secretary of Health and Human Services regarding bio-
logical agents and toxins, and to amend title 18, United
States Code, with respect to such agents and toxins.
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 ‘‘Bioterrorism Enforce-
ment Act of 2001’’.
SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS STATUTE.
(a) SELECT AGENTS.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Section 175 of title 18,
United States Code, is amended—
(A) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub-
section (c); and
(B) by inserting after subsection (a) the
following subsection:
‘‘(b) SELECT AGENTS.—
‘‘(1) UNSAFE HANDLING.—
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Whoever possesses,
uses, or exercises control over a select agent in
a manner constituting reckless disregard for the
public health and safety, knowing the select
agent to be a biological agent or toxin, shall be
fined under this title, imprisoned for not more
than one year, or both.
‘‘(B) AGGRAVATED
OFFENSE.—Whoever,
in the course of a violation of subparagraph
(A), causes bodily injury to another shall be
fined under this title, or imprisoned for not
more than 10 years, or both; except that if
death results from such violation, the person
committing the violation shall be fined under
this title, or imprisoned for any term of years
or for life, or both.
‘‘(2) UNREGISTERED FOR POSSESSION.—Who-
ever knowingly possesses a biological agent or toxin
where such agent or toxin is a select agent for which
such person has not obtained a registration under
section 511(f) of the Antiterrorism and Effective
Death Penalty Act of 1996 shall be fined under this
title, or imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or
both.
‘‘(3) TRANSFER TO UNREGISTERED PERSON.—
Whoever knowingly transfers a select agent to a per-
son who has not obtained a registration under sec-
tion 511(e) of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death
Penalty Act of 1996 shall be fined under this title,
or imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both.
‘‘(4) RESTRICTED PERSONS.—Whoever is a re-
stricted person and knowingly ships or transports a
select agent in interstate or foreign commerce, or
knowingly receives a select agent so shipped or
transported, or knowingly possesses a select agent in
or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, shall be
fined under this title, or imprisoned for not more
than 5 years, or both. The preceding sentence does
not apply with respect to any duly authorized gov-
ernmental activity under title V of the National Se-
curity Act of 1947.’’.
(2) DEFINITIONS.—Section 175 of title 18,
United States Code, as amended by paragraph (1)
of this subsection, is amended by amending sub-
section (c) to read as follows:
‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section:
‘‘(1) The terms ‘biological agent’ and ‘toxin’
have the meanings given such terms in section 178,
except that, for purposes of subsection (b), such
terms do not encompass any biological agent or
toxin that is in its naturally occurring environment,
if the biological agent or toxin has not been cul-
tivated, cultured, collected, or otherwise extracted
from its natural source.
‘‘(2) The term ‘bodily injury’ has the meaning
given such term in section 1365.
‘‘(3) The term ‘for use as a weapon’ includes
the development, production, transfer, acquisition,
retention, or possession of any biological agent,
toxin, or delivery system, other than for prophy-
lactic, protective, or other peaceful purposes.
‘‘(4)(A) The term ‘restricted person’ means a
person—
‘‘(i) who is described in section 922(g), as
such section was in effect on the day before the
effective date of this paragraph; or
‘‘(ii) who is an alien, other than an alien
lawfully admitted for permanent residence or an
alien who under subparagraph (B) is considered
not to be a restricted person.
‘‘(B) For purposes of subparagraph (A)(ii):
‘‘(i) An alien is considered not to be a re-
stricted person if the alien is within a category
designated under clause (ii) of this subpara-
graph.
‘‘(ii) The Secretary of Health and Human
Services, in consultation with the Attorney Gen-
eral, may designate categories of individuals
who have—
‘‘(I) nonimmigrant visas as defined in
section 101(a)(26) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act; and
‘‘(II) expertise valuable to the United
States regarding select agents.
‘‘(5) The term ‘select agent’ means a biological
agent or toxin, as defined in paragraph (1), that—
‘‘(A) is on the list that is in effect pursu-
ant to section 511(d)(1) of the Antiterrorism
and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (Pub-
lic Law 104–132); and
‘‘(B) has not been exempted from the ap-
plicability of regulations under section 511(e) of
such Act.’’.
(3) EFFECTIVE DATE REGARDING RESTRICTED
PERSONS; REGULATIONS.—
(A) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 175(b)(4)
of title 18, United States Code, as added by
subsection (a)(1)(B) of this section, takes effect
upon the expiration of the 90-day period begin-
ning on the date of the enactment of this Act.
(B) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 30
days after the date of the enactment of this
Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Serv-
ices shall determine whether the Secretary will
designate any categories or individuals for pur-
poses of section 175(c)(4)(B) of title 18, United
States Code, as added by subsection (a)(1)(B)
of this section. If the Secretary determines that
one or more such categories will be designated,
the Secretary shall promulgate an interim final
rule for purposes of such section not later than
60 days after such date of enactment.
(4) 
CONFORMING
AMENDMENT.—Section
175(a) of title 18, United States Code, is amended
in the second sentence by striking ‘‘under this sec-
tion’’ and inserting ‘‘under this subsection’’.
(b) AMENDMENTS TO ANTITERRORISM AND EFFEC-
TIVE DEATH PENALTY ACT OF 1996.—
(1) POSSESSION AND USE.—
(A) IN
GENERAL.—Section 511 of the
Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act
of 1996 (Public Law 104–132) is amended—
(i) by striking subsection (f);
(ii) by redesignating subsection (g) as
subsection (i); and
(iii) by inserting after subsection (e)
the following subsection:
‘‘(f) POSSESSION AND USE OF LISTED BIOLOGICAL
AGENTS AND TOXINS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall by reg-
ulation provide for the establishment and enforce-
ment of standards and procedures governing the
possession and use of biological agents and toxins
listed pursuant to subsection (d)(1) in order to pro-
tect the public health and safety, including safe-
guards to prevent access to such agents and toxins
for use in domestic or international terrorism or for
any other criminal purpose.
‘‘(2) REGISTRATION.—Regulations under para-
graph (1) shall provide for registration requirements
regarding the possession and use of biological agents
and toxins listed pursuant to subsection (d)(1).’’.
(B) REGULATIONS.—
(i) DATE
CERTAIN
FOR
PROMULGA-
TION; EFFECTIVE DATE REGARDING CRIMI-
NAL
AND
CIVIL
PENALTIES.—Not later
than 30 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the Secretary of Health
and Human Services shall promulgate an
interim final rule for carrying out section
511(f) of the Antiterrorism and Effective
Death Penalty Act of 1996, as added by
subparagraph (A) of this paragraph. Such
interim final rule takes effect 60 days after
the date on which such rule is promul-
gated, including for purposes of—
(I) section 175(b)(2) of title 18,
United States Code (relating to crimi-
nal penalties), as added by subsection
(a)(1)(B) of this section; and
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Any information in the
possession of any Federal agency that identifies a
person, or the geographic location of a person, who
is registered pursuant to regulations under this sec-
tion (including regulations promulgated before the
effective date of this subsection), and any site-spe-
cific information relating to the type, quantity, or
identity of a biological agent or toxin listed pursuant
to subsection (d)(1) or the site-specific security
mechanisms in place to protect such agents and tox-
ins, shall not be disclosed under section 552(a) of
title 5, United States Code.
‘‘(2) DISCLOSURES FOR PUBLIC HEALTH AND
SAFETY; CONGRESS.—Nothing in this section may be
construed as preventing the head of any Federal
agency—
‘‘(A) from making disclosures of informa-
tion described in paragraph (1) for purposes of
protecting the public health and safety; or
‘‘(B) from making disclosures of such in-
formation to any committee or subcommittee of
the Congress with appropriate jurisdiction,
upon request.’’.
(B) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The effective date
for the amendment made by subparagraph (A)
shall be the same as the effective date for the
final rule issued pursuant to section 511(d)(1)
of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Pen-
alty Act of 1996 (Public Law 104–132).
(3) CIVIL
PENALTIES.—Section 511 of the
Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of
1996, as amended by paragraphs (1) and (2) of this
subsection, is amended by inserting after subsection
(g) the following subsection:
‘‘(h) CIVIL PENALTY.—Any person who violates a
regulation under subsection (e) or (f) shall be subject to
the United States for a civil penalty in an amount not
exceeding $250,000 in the case of an individual and
$500,000 in the case of any other person.’’.
(4) CLARIFICATION
OF
SCOPE
OF
SELECT
AGENT
RULE; TERRORISM; RESPONSIBILITIES
OF
SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES.—
(A) IN
GENERAL.—Section 511 of the
Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act
of 1996 (Public Law 104–132) is amended—
(i) in each of subsections (d) and
(e)—
(I) by inserting ‘‘and toxins’’
after ‘‘agents’’ each place such term
appears; and
(II) by inserting ‘‘or toxin’’ after
‘‘agent’’ each place such term ap-
pears; and
(ii) in subsection (i) (as redesignated
by paragraph (1) of this subsection), in
paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘the term ‘bio-
logical agent’ has’’ and inserting ‘‘the
terms ‘biological agent’ and ‘toxin’ have’’.
(B) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The effective date
for the amendments made by subparagraph (A)
shall be as if the amendments had been in-
cluded in the enactment of section 511 of the
Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act
of 1996 (Public Law 104–132).
(5) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 511
of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty
Act of 1996 (Public Law 104–132) is amended—
(A) in subsection (d)(1)(A), by striking
‘‘shall, through regulations promulgated under
subsection (f),’’ and inserting ‘‘shall by regula-
tion’’;
(B) in subsection (e), in the matter pre-
ceding paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘shall,
through regulations promulgated under sub-
section (f),’’ and inserting ‘‘shall by regula-
tion’’;
(C) in subsection (d)—
(i) in the heading for the subsection,
by 
striking 
‘‘AGENTS’’ 
and 
inserting
‘‘AGENTS AND TOXINS’’; and
(ii) in the heading for paragraph (1),
by 
striking 
‘‘AGENTS’’ 
and 
inserting
‘‘AGENTS AND TOXINS’’; and
(D) in the heading for subsection (e), by
striking ‘‘AGENTS’’ and inserting ‘‘AGENTS AND
TOXINS’’.
(c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than one year
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary
of Health and Human Services, after consultation with
other appropriate Federal agencies, shall submit to the
Congress a report that—
(1) describes the extent to which there has been
compliance by governmental and private entities
with applicable regulations under section 511 of the
Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of
1996 (Public Law 104–132), including the extent of
compliance before the date of the enactment of this
Act, and including the extent of compliance with
regulations promulgated after such date of enact-
ment;
(2) describes the future plans of the Secretary
for determining compliance with regulations under
such section 511 and for taking appropriate enforce-
ment actions; and
(3) provides any recommendations of the Sec-
retary for administrative or legislative initiatives re-
garding such section 511.
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