Anti-Swatting Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 156 To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide for enhanced penalties for the transmission of misleading or inaccurate caller identification information with the intent to trigger an emergency response. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 3, 2019 Mr. ENGEL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on the Judi- ciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide for enhanced penalties for the transmission of misleading or inaccurate caller identification information with the intent to trigger an emergency response. 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 ‘‘Anti-Swatting Act of 4 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Jan 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H156.IH H156 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 156 IH SEC. 2. TRANSMISSION OF MISLEADING OR INACCURATE 1 CALLER ID INFORMATION WITH INTENT TO 2 TRIGGER EMERGENCY RESPONSE. 3 Section 227(e)(5) of the Communications Act of 4 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227(e)(5)) is amended— 5 (1) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘Any per- 6 son’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in subpara- 7 graph (C), any person’’; and 8 (2) by adding at the end the following: 9 ‘‘(C) ENHANCED PENALTIES FOR VIOLA- 10 TION WITH INTENT TO TRIGGER EMERGENCY 11 RESPONSE.— 12 ‘‘(i) CRIMINAL VIOLATION.—Any per- 13 son who violates this subsection with the 14 intent to trigger an emergency response in 15 the absence of circumstances requiring 16 such a response shall— 17 ‘‘(I) be fined under title 18, 18 United States Code, or imprisoned not 19 more than 5 years, or both; or 20 ‘‘(II) if serious bodily injury re- 21 sults, be fined under title 18, United 22 States Code, or imprisoned not more 23 than 20 years, or both. 24 ‘‘(ii) REIMBURSEMENT.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Jan 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H156.IH H156 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 156 IH ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The court, in 1 imposing a sentence on a defendant 2 who has been convicted of an offense 3 under clause (i), shall order the de- 4 fendant to reimburse any entity de- 5 scribed in subclause (I), (II), or (III) 6 of clause (iii) that incurs expenses in 7 making or incident to the response de- 8 scribed in clause (i) for such expenses. 9 ‘‘(II) LIABILITY.—A person or- 10 dered to make reimbursement under 11 this clause shall be jointly and sever- 12 ally liable for such expenses with each 13 other person, if any, who is ordered to 14 make reimbursement under this clause 15 for the same expenses. 16 ‘‘(III) CIVIL JUDGMENT.—An 17 order of reimbursement under this 18 clause shall, for the purposes of en- 19 forcement, be treated as a civil judg- 20 ment. 21 ‘‘(iii) EMERGENCY RESPONSE DE- 22 FINED.—In this subparagraph, the term 23 ‘emergency response’ means any action to 24 protect life, health, or property by— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Jan 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H156.IH H156 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 156 IH ‘‘(I) a law enforcement agency of 1 the United States, a State, or a polit- 2 ical subdivision of a State; 3 ‘‘(II) an agency of the United 4 States, a State, or a political subdivi- 5 sion of a State, or a private not-for- 6 profit organization, that provides fire, 7 rescue, or emergency medical services; 8 or 9 ‘‘(III) a public safety answering 10 point (as defined in section 222).’’. 11 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Jan 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H156.IH H156 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS