I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1042 
To provide an enhanced general penalty for any person who willfully or 
maliciously destroys a communications facility. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 15, 2021 
Mr. BUCSHON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on 
the Judiciary, 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 provide an enhanced general penalty for any person who 
willfully or maliciously destroys a communications facility. 
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 ‘‘Protecting Critical In-
frastructure Act’’. 
SEC. 2. ENHANCED GENERAL PENALTY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title V of the Communications 
Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 501 et seq.) is amended by adding 
after section 501, the following new section: 
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‘‘§ 501A. Enhanced general penalty 
‘‘(a) OFFENSES.—Whoever, during and in relation to 
a violation enumerated in section 501, willfully or mali-
ciously destroys any communications facility, in addition 
to the punishment provided for a violation that includes 
imprisonment, be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 
2 years. 
‘‘(b) CONSECUTIVE
SENTENCE.—Notwithstanding 
any other provision of law— 
‘‘(1) a court may not place on probation any 
person convicted of a violation of this section; 
‘‘(2) except as provided in paragraph (3), a 
term of imprisonment imposed on a person under 
this section may not run concurrently with any other 
term of imprisonment imposed on the person under 
any other provision of law, including any term of im-
prisonment imposed for the violation of this section; 
and 
‘‘(3) a term of imprisonment imposed on a per-
son for a violation of this section may, in the discre-
tion of the court, run concurrently, in whole or in 
part, only with another term of imprisonment that 
is imposed by the court at the same time on that 
person for an additional violation of this section, if 
the discretion is exercised in accordance with appli-
cable guidelines and policy statements issued by the 
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Sentencing Commission pursuant to section 994 of 
title 28, United States Code. 
‘‘(c) COMMUNICATIONS FACILITY DEFINED.—In this 
section, the term ‘communications facility’ includes— 
‘‘(1) any infrastructure, including any transmit-
ting device, tower, or support structure, and any 
equipment, switches, wiring, cabling, power sources, 
shelters, or cabinets, associated with the licensed or 
permitted unlicensed wireless or wireline trans-
mission of writings, signs, signals, data, images, pic-
tures, and sounds of all kinds; and 
‘‘(2) any antenna or apparatus that— 
‘‘(A) is designed for the purpose of emit-
ting radio frequency; 
‘‘(B) is designed to be operated, or is oper-
ating, from a fixed location pursuant to author-
ization by the Commission or is using duly au-
thorized devices that do not require individual 
licenses; and 
‘‘(C) is added to a tower, building, or other 
structure.’’. 
Æ 
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