119-hr286

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 286 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 286

To amend title 18, United States Code, to penalize false communications 
 to cause an emergency response, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 January 9, 2025

 Mr. Kustoff (for himself, Mr. Rutherford, Mr. Moskowitz, Mr. Cuellar, 
 Mr. Magaziner, Mr. Gottheimer, Mr. Ezell, and Ms. Lee of Florida) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
 the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

To amend title 18, United States Code, to penalize false communications 
 to cause an emergency response, 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 ``Preserving Safe Communities by 
Ending Swatting Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. FALSE COMMUNICATIONS TO CAUSE AN EMERGENCY RESPONSE.

 

Section 1038 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--

    (1) in subsection

    (a)

    (1) , to read as follows:
 ``

    (1) In general.--Whoever engages in any conduct with 
 intent to convey false or misleading information--
 ``
        (A) under circumstances where such information 
 may reasonably be believed and where such information 
 indicates that an activity has taken, is taking, or 
 will take place that would constitute a violation of 
 chapter 2, 10, 11B, 39, 40, 44, 111, or 113B of this 
 title, 

section 236 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 
 U.S.C. 2284), or 

section 46502, the second sentence of 
 

section 46504, 

section 46505

    (b)

    (3) or
            (c) , 

section 46506 if homicide or attempted homicide is involved, or 
 

section 60123

    (b) of title 49; or
 ``
        (B) using the mail or any facility or means of 
 interstate or foreign commerce, under circumstances 
 where such information may reasonably be expected to 
 cause an emergency response and the information 
 indicates that conduct has taken, is taking, or will 
 take place that constitutes a crime under State or 
 Federal law or endangers public health or safety or the 
 health or safety of any person,
 shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 5 
 years, or both. If serious bodily injury results, the defendant 
 shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 
 years, or both, and if death results, the defendant shall be 
 fined under this title or imprisoned for any number of years up 
 to life, or both.'';

    (2) in subsection

    (b) , to read as follows:
 ``

    (b) Civil Action.--Whoever engages in any conduct with intent to 
convey false or misleading information--
 ``

    (1) under circumstances where such information may 
 reasonably be believed and where such information indicates 
 that an activity has taken, is taking, or will take place that 
 would constitute a violation of chapter 2, 10, 11B, 39, 40, 44, 
 111, or 113B of this title, 

section 236 of the Atomic Energy 
 Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2284), or 

section 46502, the second 
 sentence of 

section 46504, 

section 46505

    (b)

    (3) or
            (c) , 

section 46506 if homicide or attempted homicide is involved, or 

section 60123

    (b) of title 49; or
 ``

    (2) using the mail or any facility or means of interstate 
 or foreign commerce, under circumstances where such information 
 may reasonably be expected to cause an emergency response and 
 the information indicates that conduct has taken, is taking, or 
 will take place that constitutes a crime under State or Federal 
 law or endangers public health or safety or the health or 
 safety of any person,
is liable in a civil action to any party incurring expenses incident to 
any emergency or investigative response to that conduct, for those 
expenses.''; and

    (3) by adding at the end the following:
 ``

    (e) 

=== Definition. ===
-In this section, the term `emergency response' 
means any deployment of personnel or equipment, order or advice to 
evacuate, or issuance of a warning to the public or a threatened 
person, organization, or establishment, by an agency of the United 
States or a State charged with public safety functions, including any 
agency charged with detecting, preventing, or investigating crimes or 
with fire or rescue functions, or by a private not-for-profit 
organization that provides fire or rescue functions.''.
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