Title: Federal Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act of 2019
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement

Summary:
Federal Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act of 2019
This bill modifies the general prohibition on female genital mutilation.
Specifically, the bill prohibits this conduct when it occurs in or affects interstate or foreign commerce. (A 2018 court ruling held the criminal offense of female genital mutilation to be unconstitutional because the statute did not include any jurisdictional elements, such as a requirement that the charged offense have a connection to or effect on interstate commerce.)

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2017 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2017

  To amend section 116 of title 18, United States Code, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 27, 2019

 Mrs. Blackburn (for herself, Ms. Ernst, Mrs. Hyde-Smith, Ms. McSally, 
Mrs. Capito, and Mrs. Fischer) introduced the following bill; which was 
       read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend section 116 of title 18, United States Code, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Federal Prohibition of Female 
Genital Mutilation Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Congress has previously prohibited the practice of 
        female genital mutilation on minors, which causes physical and 
        psychological harm and is often beyond the ability of any 
        single State or jurisdiction to control.
            (2) Individuals who perform the practice of female genital 
        mutilation on minors rely on a connection to interstate or 
        foreign commerce, such as interstate or foreign travel, the 
        transmission or receipt of communications in interstate or 
        foreign commerce, or interstate or foreign payments of any kind 
        in furtherance of this conduct.
            (3) Amending section 116 of title 18, United States Code, 
        to specify a link to interstate or foreign commerce would 
        confirm that Congress has the affirmative power to prohibit 
        this conduct.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO CURRENT LAW PROHIBITING FEMALE GENITAL 
              MUTILATION.

    Section 116 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ``, in any circumstance 
        described in subsection (e),'' after ``whoever''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(e) For purposes of subsection (a), the circumstances described 
in this subsection are that--
            ``(1) the defendant or victim traveled in interstate or 
        foreign commerce, or traveled using a means, channel, facility, 
        or instrumentality of interstate or foreign commerce, in 
        furtherance of or in connection with the conduct described in 
        subsection (a);
            ``(2) the defendant used a means, channel, facility, or 
        instrumentality of interstate or foreign commerce in 
        furtherance of or in connection with the conduct described in 
        subsection (a);
            ``(3) any payment of any kind was made, directly or 
        indirectly, in furtherance of or in connection with the conduct 
        described in subsection (a) using any means, channel, facility, 
        or instrumentality of interstate or foreign commerce or in or 
        affecting interstate or foreign commerce;
            ``(4) the defendant transmitted in interstate or foreign 
        commerce any communication relating to or in furtherance of the 
        conduct described in subsection (a) using any means, channel, 
        facility, or instrumentality of interstate or foreign commerce 
        or in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce by any means 
        or in any manner, including by computer, mail, wire, or 
        electromagnetic transmission;
            ``(5) the conduct described in subsection (a) occurred 
        within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the 
        United States, or within the District of Columbia or any 
        territory or possession of the United States; or
            ``(6) the conduct described in subsection (a) otherwise 
        occurred in or affected interstate or foreign commerce.''.
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