HACT Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1607 To amend title 28, United States Code, to allow claims against foreign states for unlawful computer intrusion, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 8, 2021 Mr. ALLRED (for himself, Mr. BERGMAN, Mr. KIM of New Jersey, Mr. FITZPATRICK, and Mr. NEGUSE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend title 28, United States Code, to allow claims against foreign states for unlawful computer intrusion, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Homeland And Cyber 4 Threat Act’’ or the ‘‘HACT Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FOREIGN STATE COMPUTER INTRUSIONS. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 97 of title 28, United 7 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 1605B 8 the following: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:04 Apr 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1607.IH H1607 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1607 IH ‘‘§ 1605C. Computer intrusions by a foreign state 1 ‘‘A foreign state shall not be immune from the juris- 2 diction of the courts of the United States or of the States 3 in any case not otherwise covered by this chapter in which 4 money damages are sought against a foreign state by a 5 national of the United States for personal injury, harm 6 to reputation, or damage to or loss of property resulting 7 from any of the following activities, whether occurring in 8 the United States or a foreign state: 9 ‘‘(1) Unauthorized access to or access exceeding 10 authorization to a computer located in the United 11 States. 12 ‘‘(2) Unauthorized access to confidential, elec- 13 tronic stored information located in the United 14 States. 15 ‘‘(3) The transmission of a program, informa- 16 tion, code, or command to a computer located in the 17 United States, which, as a result of such conduct, 18 causes damage without authorization. 19 ‘‘(4) The use, dissemination, or disclosure, with- 20 out consent, of any information obtained by means 21 of any activity described in paragraph (1), (2), or 22 (3). 23 ‘‘(5) The provision of material support or re- 24 sources for any activity described in paragraph (1), 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:04 Apr 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1607.IH H1607 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1607 IH (2), (3), or (4), including by an official, employee, or 1 agent of such foreign state.’’. 2 (b) APPLICATION.—This Act and the amendments 3 made by this Act shall apply to any action pending on 4 or filed on or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:04 Apr 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1607.IH H1607 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS