I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2939
To strengthen and enhance the prevention and prosecution of crimes using 
weapons of mass destruction, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 25, 2003
Mr. FORBES introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and 
Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 
in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the juris-
diction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To strengthen and enhance the prevention and prosecution 
of crimes using weapons of mass destruction, 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 ‘‘Weapons of Mass De-
struction Prohibition Improvement Act of 2003’’.
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SEC. 2. WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION. 
(a) EXPANSION
OF JURISDICTIONAL BASES
AND 
SCOPE.—Section 2332a of title 18, United States Code, 
is amended by—
(1) amending paragraph (a)(2) to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(2) against any person or property within the 
United States, and 
‘‘(A) the mail or any facility of interstate 
or foreign commerce is used in furtherance of 
the offense; 
‘‘(B) such property is used in interstate or 
foreign commerce or in an activity that affects 
interstate or foreign commerce; 
‘‘(C) any perpetrator travels in or causes 
another to travel in interstate or foreign com-
merce in furtherance of the offense; or 
‘‘(D) the offense, or the results of the of-
fense, affect interstate or foreign commerce, or, 
in the case of a threat, attempt, or conspiracy, 
would have affected interstate or foreign com-
merce;’’; 
(2) in paragraph (a)(3), deleting the comma at 
the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; 
(3) in subsection (a), adding the following at 
the end:
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‘‘(4) against any property within the United 
States that is owned, leased, or used by a foreign 
government,’’; 
(4) in paragraph (c)(1), deleting ‘‘and’’ at the 
end; 
(5) in paragraph (c)(2), deleting the period at 
the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(6) in subsection (c), inserting the following at 
the end: 
‘‘(3) the term ‘property’ includes all real and 
personal property.’’. 
(b) RESTORATION OF THE COVERAGE OF CHEMICAL 
WEAPONS.—Section 2332a of title 18, United States 
Code, as amended by subsection (a), is further amended 
by—
(1) in the caption, deleting ‘‘certain’’; 
(2) in subsection (a), deleting ‘‘(other than a 
chemical weapon as that term is defined in section 
229F); and 
(3) in subsection (b), deleting ‘‘(other than a 
chemical weapon (as that term is defined in section 
229F))’’. 
(c) EXPANSION
OF CATEGORIES
OF RESTRICTED 
PERSONS SUBJECT TO PROHIBITIONS RELATING TO SE-
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LECT AGENTS.—Section 175b(d)(2) of title 18, United 
States Code, is amended—
(1) in subparagraph (G) by—
(A) inserting ‘‘(i)’’ after ‘‘(G)’’; 
(B) inserting ‘‘, or (ii) acts for or on behalf 
of, or operates subject to the direction or con-
trol of, a government or official of a country de-
scribed in this subparagraph’’ after ‘‘ter-
rorism’’; and 
(C) striking ‘‘or’’ after the semicolon. 
(2) in subparagraph (H) by striking the period 
and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 
(3) by adding the following new subparagraph 
to the end thereof: 
‘‘(I) is a member of, acts for or on behalf 
of, or operates subject to the direction or con-
trol of, a terrorist organization as defined in 
section 212(a)(3)(B)(vi) of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(3)(B)(vi)).’’. 
(d) CONFORMING AMENDMENT TO REGULATIONS.—
(1) Section 175b(a)(1) of title 18, United 
States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘as a select 
agent in Appendix A’’ and all that follows and in-
serting the following: ‘‘as a non-overlap or overlap 
select biological agent or toxin in sections 73.4 and
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73.5 of title 42, Code of Federal Regulations, pursu-
ant to section 351A of the Public Health Service 
Act, and is not excluded under sections 73.4 and 
73.5 or exempted under section 73.6 of title 42, 
Code of Federal Regulations.’’. 
(2) The amendment made by paragraph (1) 
shall take effect at the same time that sections 73.4, 
73.5, and 73.6 of title 42, Code of Federal Regula-
tions, become effective. 
SEC. 3. PARTICIPATION IN NUCLEAR AND WEAPONS OF 
MASS 
DESTRUCTION 
THREATS 
TO 
THE 
UNITED STATES. 
(a) Section 57(b) of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 
(42 U.S.C. 2077(b)) is amended by striking ‘‘in the pro-
duction of any special nuclear material’’ and inserting ‘‘or 
participate in the development or production of any special 
nuclear material or atomic weapon’’. 
(b) Title 18, United States Code, is amended—
(1) in the chapter analysis for chapter 39, by 
inserting after the item relating to section 831 the 
following:
‘‘832. Participation in nuclear threats to the United States.’’;
(2) by inserting after section 831 the following: