END CELLS in CELLS Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3949 To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide for additional prohibi- tions and enhanced penalties for providing or possessing wireless commu- nications devices in detention facilities, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 9, 2023 Mr. BILIRAKIS (for himself, Mr. DUNN of Florida, Mr. CARTER of Georgia, Mr. WEBER of Texas, and Mr. WALBERG) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide for additional prohibitions and enhanced penalties for pro- viding or possessing wireless communications devices in detention facilities, 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 ‘‘Eliminate Non-ap- 4 proved Devices and Contraband Electronics Limiting 5 Links to Society in Confined Environments for Longer 6 Lasting Safety Act’’ or the ‘‘END CELLS in CELLS 7 Act’’. 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3949.IH H3949 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3949 IH SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO COMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 1934. 1 Title V of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 2 U.S.C. 501 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 3 following: 4 ‘‘SEC. 512. PROVIDING OR POSSESSING WIRELESS COMMU- 5 NICATIONS DEVICES IN DETENTION FACILI- 6 TIES. 7 ‘‘(a) PROHIBITED ACTS.—It shall be unlawful for any 8 person— 9 ‘‘(1) in violation of any Federal or State statute 10 or rule, or order issued under such statute or rule, 11 to provide or attempt to provide to a person held in 12 a detention facility a wireless communications de- 13 vice; 14 ‘‘(2) to willfully and knowingly facilitate the in- 15 troduction, in violation of any Federal or State stat- 16 ute or rule, or order issued under such statute or 17 rule, of a wireless communications device into a de- 18 tention facility; or 19 ‘‘(3) being a person held in a detention facility, 20 to possess or obtain, or attempt to obtain, a wireless 21 communications device in violation of a Federal or 22 State statute or rule, or order issued under such 23 statute or rule. 24 ‘‘(b) PENALTIES.— 25 ‘‘(1) CIVIL FORFEITURE.— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3949.IH H3949 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3949 IH ‘‘(A) AMOUNT.—Notwithstanding para- 1 graph (2) of section 503(b), the amount of any 2 forfeiture penalty determined or imposed under 3 such section for a violation of subsection (a) 4 shall not exceed $50,000 for each violation or 5 each day of a continuing violation, except that 6 the amount assessed for any continuing viola- 7 tion shall not exceed a total of $1,000,000 for 8 any single act or failure to act. 9 ‘‘(B) NO CITATION REQUIRED.—Para- 10 graph (5) of section 503(b) shall not apply in 11 the case of a violation of subsection (a). 12 ‘‘(C) 2-YEAR STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.— 13 Notwithstanding paragraph (6) of section 14 503(b), no forfeiture penalty for violation of 15 subsection (a) shall be determined or imposed 16 against any person if the violation charged oc- 17 curred more than 2 years prior to the date of 18 issuance of the notice required by paragraph 19 (3) of section 503(b) or the notice of apparent 20 liability required by paragraph (4) of section 21 503(b) (as the case may be). 22 ‘‘(2) CRIMINAL FINE.—Any person who willfully 23 and knowingly violates subsection (a) shall upon 24 conviction thereof be fined not more than $50,000 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3949.IH H3949 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3949 IH for each violation, in lieu of the fine provided by sec- 1 tion 501 for such a violation. Nothing in this section 2 shall be construed to supersede the provisions of sec- 3 tion 501 relating to imprisonment or the imposition 4 of a penalty of both fine and imprisonment. 5 ‘‘(c) EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.—Nothing in this sec- 6 tion shall be construed to— 7 ‘‘(1) prohibit any lawfully authorized investiga- 8 tive, protective, or intelligence activity of a law en- 9 forcement agency of the United States, a State, or 10 a political subdivision of a State, or of an intel- 11 ligence agency of the United States; or 12 ‘‘(2) prevent the chief legal officer, or any other 13 officer, of a State from exercising the powers con- 14 ferred on such officer by the laws of such State to 15 enforce State law, including punishing those found 16 guilty of violating State law. 17 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 18 ‘‘(1) DETENTION FACILITY.—The term ‘deten- 19 tion facility’ means a correctional, detention, or 20 penal facility located within the United States. 21 ‘‘(2) WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS DEVICE.— 22 The term ‘wireless communications device’ means— 23 ‘‘(A) a device that enables the user to send 24 or receive a radio communication, regardless of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3949.IH H3949 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3949 IH whether a license from the Commission is re- 1 quired for the use or operation of such device; 2 or 3 ‘‘(B) a component that provides identifica- 4 tion or authentication to enable a device de- 5 scribed in subparagraph (A) to connect to a 6 communications network.’’. 7 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. 8 The amendment made by this Act shall apply with 9 respect to conduct that occurs after the date of the enact- 10 ment of this Act. 11 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3949.IH H3949 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS