I 115TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6691 To amend title 18, United States Code, to clarify the definition of ‘‘crime of violence’’, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Mrs. HANDEL AUGUST 31, 2018 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend title 18, United States Code, to clarify the definition of ‘‘crime of violence’’, and for other purposes. 1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Community Safety and 5 Security Act of 2018’’. 6 SEC. 2. CRIME OF VIOLENCE. 7 Section 16 of title 18, United States Code, is amend- pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 8 ed to read as follows: 9 ‘‘SEC. 16. CRIME OF VIOLENCE DEFINED. 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:28 Aug 31, 2018 ‘‘(a) The term ‘crime of violence’ means an offense— Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6691.IH H6691 2 1 ‘‘(1)(A) that— 2 ‘‘(i) is murder, voluntary manslaughter, as- 3 sault, sexual abuse or aggravated sexual abuse, 4 abusive sexual contact, child abuse, kidnapping, 5 robbery, carjacking, firearms use, burglary, 6 arson, extortion, communication of threats, co- 7 ercion, fleeing, interference with flight crew 8 members and attendants, domestic violence, 9 hostage taking, stalking, human trafficking, pi- 10 racy, or a terrorism offense as described in 11 chapter 113B (other than in section 2332d); or 12 ‘‘(ii) involves the unlawful possession or pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 13 use of a weapon of mass destruction; or 14 ‘‘(B) that involves use or unlawful posses- 15 sion of explosives or destructive devices de- 16 scribed in 5845(f) of the Internal Revenue Code 17 of 1986; 18 ‘‘(2) that has as an element the use, attempted 19 use, or threatened use of physical force against the 20 person or property of another; or 21 ‘‘(3) that is an attempt to commit, conspiracy 22 to commit, solicitation to commit, or aiding and 23 abetting any of the offenses set forth in paragraphs 24 (1) and (2). 25 ‘‘(b) In this section: •HR 6691 IH VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:28 Aug 31, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6691.IH H6691 3 1 ‘‘(1) The term ‘abusive sexual contact’ means 2 conduct described in section 2244(a)(1) and (a)(2). 3 ‘‘(2) The terms ‘aggravated sexual abuse’ and 4 ‘sexual abuse’ mean conduct described in sections 5 2241 and 2242. For purposes of such conduct, the 6 term ‘sexual act’ means conduct described in section 7 2246(2), or the knowing and lewd exposure of geni- 8 talia or masturbation, to any person, with an intent 9 to abuse, humiliate, harass, degrade, or arouse or pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 10 gratify the sexual desire of any person. 11 ‘‘(3) The term ‘assault’ means conduct de- 12 scribed in section 113(a), and includes conduct com- 13 mitted recklessly, knowingly, or intentionally. 14 ‘‘(4) The term ‘arson’ means conduct described 15 in section 844(i) or unlawfully or willfully damaging 16 or destroying any building, inhabited structure, vehi- 17 cle, vessel, or real property by means of fire or ex- 18 plosive. 19 ‘‘(5) The term ‘burglary’ means an unlawful or 20 unprivileged entry into, or remaining in, a building 21 or structure, including any nonpermanent or mobile 22 structure that is adapted or used for overnight ac- 23 commodation or for the ordinary carrying on of busi- 24 ness, and, either before or after entering, the per- 25 son— •HR 6691 IH VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:28 Aug 31, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6691.IH H6691 4 1 ‘‘(A) forms the intent to commit a crime; 2 or 3 ‘‘(B) commits or attempts to commit a 4 crime. 5 ‘‘(6) The term ‘carjacking’ means conduct de- 6 scribed in section 2119, or the unlawful taking of a 7 motor vehicle from the immediate actual possession 8 of a person against his will, by means of actual or 9 threatened force, or violence or intimidation, or by 10 sudden or stealthy seizure or snatching, or fear of 11 injury. 12 ‘‘(7) The term ‘child abuse’ means the unlawful 13 infliction of physical injury or the commission of any 14 sexual act against a child under fourteen by any per- 15 son eighteen years of age or older. 16 ‘‘(8) The term ‘communication of threats’ 17 means conduct described in section 844(e), or the 18 transmission of any communications containing any 19 threat of use of violence to— 20 ‘‘(A) demand or request for a ransom or 21 reward for the release of any kidnapped person; 22 or pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 23 ‘‘(B) threaten to kidnap or injure the per- 24 son of another. •HR 6691 IH VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:28 Aug 31, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6691.IH H6691 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 5 1 ‘‘(9) The term ‘coercion’ means causing the 2 performance or non-performance of any act by an- 3 other person under which such other person has a 4 legal right to do or to abstain from doing, through 5 fraud or by the use of actual or threatened force, vi- 6 olence, or fear thereof, including the use, or an ex- 7 press or implicit threat of use, of violence to cause 8 harm, or threats to cause injury to the person, rep- 9 utation or property of any person. 10 ‘‘(10) The term ‘domestic violence’ means any 11 assault committed by a current or former spouse, 12 parent, or guardian of the victim, by a person with 13 whom the victim shares a child in common, by a per- 14 son who is cohabiting with or has cohabited with the 15 victim as a spouse, parent, or guardian, or by a per- 16 son similarly situated to a spouse, parent, or guard- 17 ian of the victim. 18 ‘‘(11) The term ‘extortion’ means conduct de- 19 scribed in section 1951(b)(2)), but not extortion 20 under color of official right or fear of economic loss. 21 ‘‘(12) The term ‘firearms use’ means conduct 22 described in section 924(c) or 929(a), if the firearm 23 was brandished, discharged, or otherwise possessed, 24 carried, or used as a weapon and the crime of vio- 25 lence or drug trafficking crime during and in rela- •HR 6691 IH VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:28 Aug 31, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6691.IH H6691 6 1 tion to which the firearm was possessed, carried, or 2 used was subject to prosecution in any court of the 3 United States, State court, military court or tri- 4 bunal, or tribal court. Such term also includes un- 5 lawfully possessing a firearm described in section 6 5845(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (such 7 as a sawed-off shotgun or sawed-off rifle, silencer, 8 bomb, or machine gun), possession of a firearm in 9 violation of sections 922(g)(1), 922(g)(2) and 10 922(g)(4), possession of a firearm with the intent to 11 use such firearm unlawfully, or reckless discharge of 12 a firearm at a dwelling. 13 ‘‘(13) The term ‘fleeing’ means knowingly oper- 14 ating a motor vehicle and, following a law enforce- 15 ment officer’s signal to bring the motor vehicle to a 16 stop— 17 ‘‘(A) failing or refusing to comply; or 18 ‘‘(B) fleeing or attempting to elude a law 19 enforcement officer. 20 ‘‘(14) The term ‘force’ means the level of force 21 capable of causing physical pain or injury or needed 22 or intended to overcome resistance. pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 23 24 ‘‘(15) The term ‘hostage taking’ means conduct described in section 1203. •HR 6691 IH VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:27 Aug 31, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6691.IH H6691 7 1 2 duct described in sections 1589, 1590, and 1591. 3 ‘‘(17) The term ‘interference with flight crew 4 members and attendants’ means conduct described 5 in section 46504 of title 49, United States Code. 6 ‘‘(18) The term ‘kidnapping’ means conduct de- 7 scribed in section 1201(a)(1) or seizing, confining, 8 inveigling, decoying, abducting, or carrying away 9 and holding for ransom or reward or otherwise any 10 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS ‘‘(16) The term ‘human trafficking’ means con- person. 11 ‘‘(19) The term ‘murder’ means conduct de- 12 scribed as murder in the first degree or murder in 13 the second degree described in section 1111. 14 ‘‘(20) The term ‘robbery’ means conduct de- 15 scribed in section 1951(b)(1), or the unlawful taking 16 or obtaining of personal property from the person or 17 in the presence of another, against his will, by 18 means of actual or threatened force, or violence or 19 intimidation, or by sudden or stealthy seizure or 20 snatching, or fear of injury, immediate or future, to 21 his person or property, or property in his custody or 22 possession, or the person or property of a relative or 23 member of his family or of anyone in his company 24 at the time of the taking or obtaining. •HR 6691 IH VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:27 Aug 31, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6691.IH H6691 8 1 2 ‘‘(21) The term ‘stalking’ means conduct described in section 2261A. 3 ‘‘(22) The term ‘weapon of mass destruction’ 4 has the meaning given such term in section 5 2332a(c). 6 ‘‘(23) The term ‘voluntary manslaughter’ 7 means conduct described in section 1112(a). 8 ‘‘(c) For purposes of this section, in the case of any 9 reference in subsection (b) to an offense under this title, 10 such reference shall include conduct that constitutes an 11 offense under State or tribal law or under the Uniform 12 Code of Military Justice, if such conduct would be an of13 fense under this title if a circumstance giving rise to Fed14 eral jurisdiction had existed. 15 ‘‘(d) For purposes of this section, the term ‘con- 16 spiracy’ includes any offense that is a conspiracy to com17 mit another offense under State or Federal law, irrespec18 tive of whether proof of an overt act is required to estab19 lish commission of the conspiracy offense.’’. pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS Æ •HR 6691 IH VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:28 Aug 31, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6691.IH H6691