LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

111th Congress | 110th Congress | Search All Legislation

H.R. 1: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 Several versions of this economic “stimulus” legislation, including the latest substitute amendment in the Senate, would extend civil and criminal liability and penalties for violations security and privacy regulations under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act to business associates of HIPAA “covered entities.”

H.R. 2: Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 This bill, a companion to S. 258, would prohibit the improper disclosure of private information used to determine eligibility for states’ child health insurance programs. Violations would be punishable by civil penalties of up to $10,000, criminal fines of up to $10,000 and imprisonment of up to 1 year for each disclosure.

H.R. 15: National Health Insurance Act This bill to establish a national health insurance system would criminalize the disclosure of personally identifiable medical information. Violations would be punishable by criminal fines of up to $50,000 and imprisonment of up to one year.

H.R. 27: Medicare Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Act of 2009 This bill would create a criminal offense for the distribution or sale of Medicare or Medicaid beneficiary identification numbers with intent to defraud. Violations would be punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 3 years. In addition, the bill would classify certain Medicare fraud offenses as “Federal Health Care Offenses,” which would potentially subject violators to additional offenses under Title 18.

H.R. 36: Presidential Library Donation Reform Act of 2009 This bill would require Presidential libraries to report all contributions over $200 and would criminalize the knowing and willful submission of false or incomplete information with respect to such a contribution. Violations would be punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 5 years. It would also criminalize making contributions in another’s name, permitting one’s own name to be used to effect a contribution by another, and accepting donation’s made by one person in the name of ano...

H.R. 44: Guam World War II Loyalty Recognition Act This bill would authorize the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission to compensate residents of Guam, and their descendents, who were injured or killed in World War II. The bill prohibits those who represent Guam residents before the Commission from receiving remuneration in excess of one percent of the total amount paid for a claim. Representatives who demand or receive more than that amount could be punished with criminal fines of up to $5,000 and imprisonment of up to one year.

H.R. 45: Blair Holt's Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009 This bill would create a nationwide licensing system for certain firearms, including all handguns. Failure to obtain a license, comply with sale and transfer requirements, or permit inspection of records would be punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 5 years. The bill would also require individuals who have been issued a license but subsequently become ineligible to have one (e.g., because of a felony conviction or an indictment for a crime punishable by imprisonment of more tha...

H.R. 63: Infant Protection and Baby Switching Prevention Act of 2009 This bill would prohibit the knowing alteration or destruction of an identification record of a newborn in a hospital with the intention that the newborn be misidentified. Violations would be punishable by criminal fines of up to $250,000 for individuals and $500,000 for organizations and imprisonment of up to 10 years.

H.R. 70: Noose Hate Crime Act of 2009 This bill would prohibit displaying a noose in public “with intent to harass or intimidate any person because of that person’s race, color, religion, or national origin.” Violations would be punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 2 years.

H.R. 71: Save America’s Utility Infrastructure and Secure America Now Act of 2009 This bill, which is identical to H.R. 7230 in the 110th Congress, would subject electric utilities and their employees to strict criminal liability for violations of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission regulations concerning the reliability of electricity distribution systems. Violations would be punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 5 years, regardless of whether anyone acted with criminal intent.

H.R. 80: Captive Primate Safety Act This bill, based on H.R. 2964 in the 110th Congress, would extend the already overbroad protections and prohibitions of the Lacey Act, including its criminal provisions, to apply to “any nonhuman primate.” In addition, the bill would broaden the Lacey Act even further to cover “Captive Wildlife Offenses”—i.e., acting “to import, export, transport, sell, receive, acquire, or purchase in interstate or foreign commerce any live animal of any prohibited wildlife species.” Knowing violations would be...

H.R. 90: Public Official Accountability Act This bill would raise by 2 years maximum sentences for public officials convicted of federal offenses consisting of conduct during the course of official duty, intended to enrich that official, and involving bribery, fraud, extortion, or theft of public funds greater than $10,000.

H.R. 97: Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act of 2009 This bill would prohibit deceptive communications, and attempts to make such communications, within 60 days of an election of election-related information known to be false with the intent to prevent another person from voting. Violations would be punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 5 years. The bill would also increase the imprisonment penalty for voter intimidation from one year to five years.

H.R. 98: Immigration Enforcement and Social Security Protection Act This bill would establish an employment eligibility database and prohibit unauthorized access to it. Violations would be punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment of 5 to 7 years. The bill would also increase penalties for hiring individuals known to be unauthorized to work in the U.S. from up to $3,000 per unauthorized worker and six months’ total imprisonment to the maximum fine allowed under Title 18’s general provisions and up to 5 years imprisonment per unauthorized worker. These same p...

H.R. 103: Caging Prohibition Act of 2009 This bill, which is identical to H.R. 5038 in the 110th Congress, creates a criminal penalty of up to five years imprisonment and fines pursuant to Title 18 for “knowingly” challenging or causing to be challenged the eligibility of a registered voter based on evidence that nonforwardable mail sent to that voter was returned to the sender for being undeliverable, or on evidence that the voter has died, was convicted of a felony, or moved, when such evidence has not been paired with the voter's si...

H.R. 105: Voting Opportunity and Technology Enhancement Rights Act of 2009 This bill would prohibit deceptive communications, and attempts to make such communications, within 60 days of an election, of election-related information known to be false with the intent to prevent another person from voting. Violations would be punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 5 years. The bill would also increase the imprisonment penalty for voter intimidation from one year to five years. In addition, this bill creates a criminal penalty of up to five years impriso...

H.R. 110: Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2009 This bill, identical to H.R. 2564 in the 110th Congress, would prohibit human cloning, attempted human cloning, and the shipment or receipt of products of human cloning. Violations would be punishable by civil penalties, criminal fines, and imprisonment of up to 10 years.

H.R. 122: Protecting the Privacy of Social Security Numbers Act of 2009 This bill, a companion to S. 141, would prohibit the public display, sale, or purchase, without affirmative consent, of an individual’s Social Security number or public record containing an individual’s Social Security number. Violations would be punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 5 years

H.R. 123: Credit Agencies Identity Theft Responsibilities Act of 2009 This bill would require consumer reporting agencies to report any suspected identity thefts to the U.S. Secret Service and prohibit any officer, employee, or agent of such an agency from intentionally causing it to fail to comply with this requirement. Violations would be punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 2 years.

H.R. 128: Respect for the Law Act of 2009 This bill would increase the penalties for illegal aliens who fail to voluntarily leave the country after being permitted to do so by the Attorney General. The current law’s civil penalties would be replaced by criminal fines and imprisonment of 1 to 4 years. The bill would also impose penalties of criminal fines and 1- to 2-years’ imprisonment on illegal aliens who have been permitted to depart voluntarily or were removed and then reentered the country in violation of law. Finally, the bill wou...

H.R. 146: Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 This massive lands omnibus contains a version of the Paleontological Resources Preservation Act (H.R. 554 in the 110th Congress). This provision would prohibit the excavation, removal, or damage of paleontological resources (i.e., fossils) located on federal lands without first securing a permit issued by the Secretary of the Interior that includes the condition that all such resources remain the property of the federal government. The bill would also prohibit exchanging, transporting, exporting...

H.R. 203: Medicare Fraud Prevention Act of 2009 This bill would increase civil and criminal penalties for Medicare fraud and abuse. In particular, it would quadruple most criminal fines for false statements, “illegal remunerations,” and “illegal patient admittance and retention” and would double maximum sentences for such offenses from 5 years to 10 years.

H.R. 247: Protect Our Veterans Memorials Act of 2009 This bill would prohibit the willful injury or destruction of “any structure, plaque, statue, or other monument” on state or local government property commemorating the service of a member of the U.S. armed forces. Violations would be punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 10 years.

H.R. 256: David Ray Hate Crimes Prevention (David's Law) Act of 2009 This bill would prohibit the willful bodily injury of any person through use of fire, a firearm, or an explosive device because of that person’s race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, or disability. Violations would be punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 10 years, or life if the victim dies or the offense includes kidnapping, aggravated sexual abuse, or attempt to kill.

H.R. 257: Child Gun Safety and Gun Access Prevention Act of 2009 This bill would prohibit the sale or transfer of a handgun or handgun ammunition to a person the transferor knows or has reasonable cause to believe is under 21 years of age and would prohibit individuals under 21 from knowingly possessing handguns or handgun ammunition. Violations of the sale/transfer provision would be punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 10 years. Violations of the possession provision would be punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 1 year. ...

H.R. 265: Drug Sentencing Reform and Cocaine Kingpin Trafficking Act of 2009 This bill would reduce penalties for the trafficking, possession, importation, or exportation of crack cocaine so that they are equivalent to penalties for the same weight of powder cocaine. In addition, it would eliminate the mandatory minimum sentence for simple possession of substances containing cocaine. Finally, the bill would more than double criminal fines for those convicted of manufacturing, distributing, importing, or exporting illegal drugs.

H.R. 288: Save Our Children: Stop the Violent Predators Against Children DNA Act of 2009 This bill, identical to H.R. 382 but for the addition of the word “violent” in several places, would, notwithstanding any other laws or any mitigating factors, require that an individual who is a “violent predator against children” (someone who “commits a crime of violence against the person of an individual who has not attained the age of 18 years”) receive the maximum penalty authorized by law for any crime that would itself establish that person as a “violent predator against children.”

H.R. 373: This bill would render inadmissible and deportable any alien who has been convicted of 3 offenses for driving under the influence, at least one of which is a felony.

H.R. 382: Save Our Children: Stop the Predators Against Children DNA Act of 2009 This bill, identical to H.R. 288 but for the removal of the word “violent” from several places, would, notwithstanding any other laws or any mitigating factors, require that an individual who is a “violent predator against children” (someone who “commits a crime of violence against the person of an individual who has not attained the age of 18 years”) receive the maximum penalty authorized by law for any crime that would itself establish that person as a “violent predator against children.”

H.R. 428: Consumer Cellphone Number Distribution Protection Act of 2009 This bill would prohibit the knowing disclosure of a person’s cell phone number without express permission for that disclosure if the number was not already public available and was obtained as part of a commercial transaction unrelated to the disclosure. Violations would be punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 6 months.

H.R. 430: Lance Corporal Jeremy Burris Act This bill, similar to H.R. 4973 and H.R. 5131 in the 110th Congress, would amend the Veterans’ Memorial Preservation and Recognition Act of 2003, which criminalized the desecration of soldier memorials located on public property, to create a criminal offense punishable by fines pursuant to Title 18 or up to 10 years imprisonment for knowingly injuring or destroying “any structure, plaque, statue, or other monument” or grave or “any object placed on such grave,” commemorating “the service of any ...

H.R. 442: Veterans’ Heritage Firearms Act of 2009 This bill would provide an amnesty period of 90 days during which veterans and their family members could register firearms acquired while stationed outside of the United States without facing criminal liability for possession of those firearms.

H.R. 500: Great Lakes Collaboration Implementation Act This bill would authorize the Secretary of Homeland Security to issue regulations establishing performance requirements for vessels to reduce the introduction of invasive species into the U.S. Knowing violations of those regulations would be punishable as class C felonies.

H.R. 503: Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act of 2009 This bill, an identical companion to S. 727, would impose criminal penalties on any person who knowingly “possesses, ships, transports, purchases, sells, delivers, or receives” any horse or horse flesh “with the intent that it is to be slaughtered [or used] for human consumption.” Violations would be punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 3 years.

H.R. 542: Healthy Kids One Stop Act This bill would prohibit the improper disclosure of information used to determine eligibility for states’ child health insurance programs. Violations would be punishable by civil penalties of up to $10,000, criminal fines of up to $10,000 and imprisonment of up to 1 year for each disclosure.

H.R. 610: Jane's Law This bill would create a new criminal offense for knowingly traveling in interstate or foreign commerce “with the intent to evade compliance with a court ordered property distribution as part of a separation or divorce settlement involving more than $5,000.” Violations would be punishable by mandatory criminal restitution.

H.R. 634: Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act This bill would prohibit the knowing transportation of a minor across a state line where the person providing the transportation does so with the intent that the minor evade state parental notification requirements to obtain an abortion. Violations would be punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 1 year.

H.R. 669: Nonnative Wildlife Invasion Prevention Act This bill would prohibit the importation, possession, breeding, or sale of non-native wildlife species not approved by the Secretary of the Interior. Violations would be treated as violations of the Lacey Act and would be punishable by civil and criminal fines, as well as imprisonment of up to 5 years per violation.

H.R. 725: Indian Arts and Crafts Amendments Act of 2009 As introduced, this bill was titled the Indian Arts and Crafts Amendments Act of 2009. It was identical to H.R. 7024 and S. 1255 in the 110th Congress and S. 151 in the current Congress and reduced penalties for some violations of the prohibition on misrepresenting goods for sale as having been produced by Native Americans. As passed by the Senate, the bill would not only reduce penalties set out in 18 U.S.C. § 1159 for some violations of the prohibition on misrepresenting goods for sale as hav...

H.R. 743: Executive Accountability Act of 2009 This bill, similar to S. 1529, would prohibit the President and other officers or employees of the executive branch from “knowingly and willfully” making false representations, or concealing material facts, “for the purpose of influencing a member of the Congress to authorize the use of the Armed Forces of the United States.” Violations would be punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 10 years, and Congress would be empowered to refer violations to the Attorney General for prosecu...

H.R. 759: Food and Drug Administration Globalization Act of 2009 This bill would increase penalties for making, selling, or having any device designed to forge a trademark or other identifying mark of a drug in counterfeiting and for engaging in counterfeiting or selling counterfeit drugs. Violations would be punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 20 years, or up to 30 years if use of the counterfeit drug causes the death of a consumer.

H.R. 834: Ramos and Compean Justice Act of 2009 This bill, a response to the convictions of two Border Patrol agents for shooting a fleeing drug smuggler, would amend the minimum sentencing requirement for use of a firearm during a crime of violence or drug trafficking crime to exempt law-enforcement officers brandishing their service weapons.

H.R. 853: Suzanne Gonzales Suicide Prevention Act of 2009 This bill would prohibit the knowing use of facilities of interstate or foreign commerce “to teach a particular person how to commit suicide, knowing that the person so taught is likely to use that teaching to commit suicide,” or “to provide a particular person with material support or resources to help such person commit suicide, knowing that the person is likely to use the support to commit suicide.” Violations would be punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 5 years, or up to l...

H.R. 858: Drug Testing Integrity Act of 2009 This bill would prohibit the manufacture, market, sale, shipment, or other provision of products “with the intent to assist such other individual to use such product to defraud a drug test.” Violations would be considered “unfair or deceptive acts or practices” under the Federal Trade Commission Act, which provides for civil and criminal penalties.

H.R. 866: Law Enforcement Protection Act This bill, a response to the convictions of two Border Patrol agents for shooting a fleeing drug smuggler, would amend the minimum sentencing requirement for use of a firearm during a crime of violence or drug trafficking crime to exempt law-enforcement officers brandishing authorized weapons while on-duty and in pursuit or apprehension of a suspect.

H.R. 875: Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 This bill would impose criminal penalties for violations of federal food safety laws and regulations that result in “serious illness” or death. Such violations would be punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 5 years, or up to 10 years if death results.

H.R. 977: Derivatives Markets Transparency and Accountability Act of 2009 This legislation amends the Commodity Exchange Act. The Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is an independent agency established in 1974 that regulates all commodities futures and options markets in the United States. The bill would greatly expand the scope of the CFTC’s regulatory powers. In addition, the bill extends power to the CFTC to “initiate and conduct criminal litigation” relating to a violation of the Commodity Exchange Act “and secure evidence therefor, if the Attorney G...

H.R. 994: Loophole Elimination and Verification Enforcement (LEAVE) Act This bill would prohibit assisting, encouraging, directing, or inducing a person to enter the U.S. “knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that such person” would be an illegal alien or would enter at a place other than a designated port of entry. It would also prohibit assisting or encouraging an illegal alien to remain in the U.S., as well as transporting an illegal alien, “knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that such person” is an illegal alien. Violations would be punishable ...

H.R. 1018: H.R. 1018 This bill would prohibit the transportation of the remains of a wild, free-roaming horse or burro for the purpose of processing into commercial products. Violations would be punishable by criminal fines of up to $2,000 and imprisonment of up to 1 year.

H.R. 1022: Gang Prevention, Intervention and Suppression Act This bill, nearly identical to H.R. 3547 in the 110th Congress and similar to S. 132 in the current Congress, contains two titles containing criminal offenses. This first creates a new criminal offense, “Gang Crime,” consisting of knowingly committing gang crimes for purposes of furthering the activities of a criminal street gang. Violations would be punishable by criminal fines and various terms of imprisonment depending on the nature of the violation (e.g., up to 20 years for crimes of violenc...

H.R. 1029: Alien Smuggling and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2009 This bill would prohibit recruiting, encouraging, or inducing a person to enter the U.S. “knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that [the] individual” would be an illegal alien or would enter at a place other than a designated port of entry. It would also prohibit assisting or encouraging an illegal alien to remain in the U.S., as well as transporting an illegal alien, “knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that [the] individual” is an illegal alien. Violations would be punishable ...

H.R. 1031: Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2009 This bill, identical to H.R. 2564 in the 110th Congress and H.R. 110 in the present Congress, would prohibit human cloning, attempted human cloning, and the shipment or receipt of products of human cloning. Violations would be punishable by civil penalties, criminal fines, and imprisonment of up to 10 years.

H.R. 1076: Internet Stopping Adults Facilitating the Exploitation of Today's Youth (SAFETY) Act of 2009 This bill would prohibit Internet service providers from knowingly engaging in any conduct that they know or have reason to believe “facilitates access to, or the possession of, child pornography.” Violations would be punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 10 years. This bill also adds several child pornography-related offenses to the list of predicate offenses for money laundering and RICO charges. In addition, the bill would require electronic communications service providers t...

H.R. 1080: Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing Enforcement Enhancement Act of 2009 This bill would prohibit several offenses relating to illegal fishing, such as refusing to permit an authorized officer to board and inspect a vessel. Violations would be treated as violations of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, and, thus, would be punishable by civil and criminal penalties, including imprisonment of up to 10 years.

H.R. 1096: Electronic Employment Eligibility Verification and Illegal Immigration Control Act This bill would create an immigration-law safe harbor for businesses electing to participate in the E-Verify program to confirm the identity and employment status of current and potential employees. Government employees and contractors maintaining the E-Verify database would be subject to criminal liability for willfully and knowingly collecting and maintaining information in the database that is not necessary to enroll employers in the program, to establish and enforce compliance, or to detect ...

H.R. 1110: Preventing Harassment through Outbound Number Enforcement (PHONE) Act of 2009 This bill would prohibit the knowing use of false caller ID information “with intent wrongfully to obtain anything of value” or “with intent to deceive any person or other entity about the identity of the caller.” Violations would be punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 5 years depending on the severity of the offense, as well as forfeiture of the “gross proceeds” obtained from the offense or any property used to facilitate the offense.

H.R. 1166: E-Fencing Enforcement Act of 2009 This bill, which is identical to H.R. 6713 in the 110th Congress and is an alternative to similar legislation in this and the previous Congress, takes a far more measured approach to the problem of “organized retail crime,” which is defined as “the coordinated acquisition of large volumes of retail merchandise by theft, embezzlement, fraud, false pretenses, or other illegal means…for the purpose of selling or distributing such illegally obtained items in the stream of commerce.” Rather than crea...

H.R. 1173: Organized Retail Crime Act of 2009 This bill, identical to H.R. 6491 in the 110th Congress, would define a new criminal offense of “organized retail crime,” which is “the stealing, embezzlement, or obtaining by fraud, false pretenses, or other illegal means, of retail merchandise in quantities that would not normally be purchased for personal use or consumption for the purpose of reselling or otherwise reentering such retail merchandise in commerce.” The bill neither defines nor describes how a court or jury should determine whet...

H.R. 1242: To Amend the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 This legislation directs the Secretary of the Treasury to establish an electronic database to monitor the spending of funds under the Troubled Asset Relief Program. It forbids disclosing information in the database to the public if “prohibited from disclosure by any Federal or State law or regulation” or proprietary private contract. The bill provides for criminal fines and up to one year of imprisonment for federal officers, employees, or contractors who “intentionally disclose[] to the publi...

H.R. 1261: Youth Prevention and Tobacco Harm Reduction Act This bill would give the Department of Health and Human Services the authority to regulate tobacco products. It would prohibit a variety of conduct, including the adulteration or misbranding of tobacco products, the transportation or sale of such products, the failure to make or keep required records, improperly using or revealing trade secrets, and violation of any statutory or regulatory labeling requirements for tobacco products. “Willful” violations would be punishable by criminal fines of u...

H.R. 1298: Pharmaceutical Market Access and Drug Safety Act of 2009 This bill, identical to S. 525, would allow the importation of prescription drugs by wholesalers and pharmacies that register with the Department of Health and Human Services. It would also create a criminal offense for the importation of drugs in “knowing” violation of a vast array of regulations issued under the Food and Drug Act, including violations of any registration requirement, falsifications of any record required to be kept or provided to the government, and violations of any other reg...

H.R. 1440: Maritime Law Enforcement Improvement Act of 2009 This bill would prohibit the transport, or facilitation of transportation, harboring, or concealment of an illegal alien on a vessel while “knowing or having reason to believe that the alien is attempting to unlawfully enter the United States,” as well as attempts or conspiracies to do the same. [Ed. note: The provision’s “having reason to believe” criminal-intent term eviscerates any potential protection against unjust protection that would otherwise be provided by the “knowing” term.] The bill...

H.R. 1450: Counterfeit Drug Prevention Act of 2009 This bill would increase criminal penalties for (1) making, selling, disposing of, or possessing items designed either to reproduce the trade name or trademark of a drug or to create a counterfeit drug and (2) creating or selling counterfeit drugs. Violations, currently punishable by criminal fines of up to $1,000 and imprisonment of up to 1 year, would be increased to Title 18 fines and imprisonment of up to 20 years (or life, if the counterfeit drug is the proximate cause of a consumer’s death...

H.R. 1623: International Megan’s Law of 2009 This bill would create a federal registry for convicted sex offenders who travel abroad. The bill would also require U.S. diplomatic missions in foreign countries to establish and maintain country-wide sex offender registries for sex offenders from the United States who temporarily or permanently reside in each country. An offender’s “knowing” failure to comply with the reporting requirements of these registration systems would be punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 10 years.

H.R. 1667: War Profiteering Prevention Act of 2009 This bill, based on H.R. 400 in the 110th Congress, would prohibit schemes to defraud the United States, including those to “materially overvalue[] any good with the intent to defraud the United States,” in connection with contracts to provide goods or services to the United States for overseas missions. Violations would be punishable by criminal fines of up to $1 million and imprisonment of up to 20 years. The bill would also prohibit, in connection with such contracts, falsification or conceal...

H.R. 1676: Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking (PACT) Act of 2009 This bill would regulate the sale of tobacco by mail, imposing a variety of labeling, age verification, and recordkeeping requirements. Violations of any of these regulations would be a strict-liability offense, punishable by imprisonment of up to 3 years and criminal fines even if the violator had no knowledge that what he was doing was unlawful or otherwise wrongful.

H.R. 1705: Financial Product Safety Commission Act of 2009 This bill, identical to S. 566, would prohibit the “knowing and willful” advertisement, offer, or attempted enforcement of any consumer financial product that is not in conformity with the rules and regulations (including recordkeeping requirements) promulgated by the new federal “Financial Product Safety Commission” created by the bill. Violations would be punishable by criminal fines of up to $500,000 and imprisonment of up to one year.

H.R. 1723: Family Leave Insurance Act of 2009 This bill would create a federal and state Family and Medical Insurance Program under which employees would be entitled to family and medical leave benefit for a total of 12 work weeks during any 12-month period for a variety of reasons, including childbirth, adoption, and care-giving. Submitting false statements in support of an application for leave benefits would be a strict-liability criminal offense, not requiring any evidence that the person making the submission even knew that it was inco...

H.R. 1727: Managing Arson Through Criminal History (MATCH) Act of 2009 This bill, similar to H.R. 1759 in the 110th Congress, requires states to maintain an extensive offender registry, much like the federal sexual offender registry, for all persons who have been convicted of any offense related to arson or bombing. Any state choosing not to establish and maintain such a registry would lose ten percent of its Byrne funds available under the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968.

H.R. 1744: Consumer Rental Purchase Agreement Act This bill, similar to S. 738, would require merchants offering goods under rental-purchase agreements to make detailed disclosures to consumers. “Willful and knowing” violations of these disclosure agreements, by omission or the giving of false information, would be punishable by imprisonment of up to 1 year and criminal fines of up to $5,000.

H.R. 1748: Fight Fraud Act of 2009 This bill, similar to S. 386, would expand Title 18’s definition of “financial institution” to include instrastate mortgage lenders, thereby including those businesses within the scope of at least 20 existing criminal provisions in Title 18 alone that apply to financial institutions. The bill would amend the offense against ‘False Statements in Mortgage Applications” to cover false statements made by mortgage brokers and lenders. It would also expand the offense of “Major Fraud Against the Gover...

H.R. 1772: Criminal Code Modernization and Simplification Act This bill would replace the entirety of Title 18 of the U.S. Code, simplifying and consolidating existing criminal provisions. In all, it would cut over one-third of the existing criminal code; reorganize the code to make it more user-friendly; and consolidate criminal offenses from other titles so that Title 18 includes all major criminal provisions. In general, it is policy-neutral, meaning that it does not attempt to affect the substance of the law, but there are two exceptions: (1) attempts ...

H.R. 1793: Money Laundering Correction Act of 2009 This bill would greatly expand the reach of the primary federal money laundering offense to allow a conviction for “money laundering” based on merely concealing or disguising monetary instruments and to expand the concept of monetary “proceeds” to include all gross receipts, even when the person “defrauded” both paid and received fair market value for a product or service from a legitimate business being prosecuted for allegedly violating some other federal offense. These changes would overturn ...

H.R. 1822: Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act of 2009 This bill would prohibit performing an abortion “knowing that such abortion is sought based on the sex, gender, color or race of the child, or the race of a parent of that child,” using force or the threat of force to coerce such an abortion, and soliciting or accepting funds to finance such abortions. Violations would be punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 5 years.

H.R. 1825: Clean Up Government Act of 2009 This bill would modify the federal mail and wire fraud statutes to apply to schemes to obtain “any other thing of value” in addition to the current law’s “money or property,” increase the maximum penalties for a variety of public corruption related offenses, and direct the U.S. Sentencing Commission to review and amendment its sentencing guidelines applicable to public corruption offenses to ensure that they “reflect the serious nature of the offenses.”

H.R. 1877: Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing Act of 2009 This bill would require the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to promulgate regulations imposing criminal penalties for the “unlawful disclosure of data” from “community-wide homeless management information systems.” Disclosure restrictions would, presumably, also be specified in regulation.

H.R. 1913: Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 This bill would create two new federal offenses, nearly identical to those in S. 909, and greatly expand the scope of federal government power over violent, noneconomic crimes that are truly local in nature. It would impose federal criminal penalties – potentially in addition to criminal penalties imposed under state law – on anyone who “willfully” injures or attempts to injure another “because of the actual or perceived race, color, religion, or national origin” or “because of the actual or p...

H.R. 1947: Accountability in Deferred Prosecution Act of 2009 This bill, identical to H.R. 6492 in the 110th Congress, would require the Attorney General to “issue public written guidelines for deferred prosecution agreements [DPA] and non-prosecution agreements [NPA]” that set forth the following: the circumstances when an independent monitor is warranted to oversee the operations of an organization being investigated and what the monitor’s duties shall be; the means of establishing the terms and conditions of such agreements, including penalties; the pro...

H.R. 1966: Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention Act This bill, identical to H.R. 6123 in the 110th Congress, would add a new criminal offense to Title 18 covering “cyberbullying.” It would criminalize interstate and foreign electronic communications made “with the intent to coerce, intimidate, harass, or cause substantial emotional distress to a person” if such communications “support severe, repeated, and hostile behavior.” [Ed. note: “Behavior” is not defined in the bill, making it unclear at best what is the predicate behavior covered by the o...

H.R. 1992: Immigration Fraud Prevention Act of 2009 This bill, identical to S. 577, would create a new criminal offense, “Schemes to defraud aliens,” that prohibits the “willing and knowing” execution of a scheme to defraud individuals with respect to matters arising under federal immigration laws. It would also prohibit falsely representing oneself as an attorney or “accredited representative” under immigration law. Violations would be punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 5 years.

H.R. 2027: Aircraft Passenger Whole-Body Imaging Limitations Act of 2009 This bill would prohibit the storage, transfer, or copying of images of airline passengers generated by whole-body imaging technology after boarding determinations concerning those passengers have been made. Knowing violations would be punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 3 years.

H.R. 2061: Parental Notification and Intervention Act of 2009 This bill, similar to H.R. 1295 in the 109th Congress, would prohibit abortion providers who serve unemancipated minors from performing an abortion unless (1) the minor’s parents have been notified of the abortion or there is evidence of physical abuse by the parents, (2) the provider has observed a 96-hour waiting period after notice has been received by the parents; and (3) the parents have not sought and obtained an injunction against the abortion, as provided for in the legislation. Violatio...

H.R. 2062: Migratory Bird Treaty Act Penalty and Enforcement Act of 2009 This bill, a companion to S. 2811, would amend the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (the same law at issue in the Supreme Court’s seminal Missouri v. Holland (1920)), which currently prohibits the taking of migratory birds with intent to sell or barter them, to prohibit the “intentional[] and malicious[]” taking of birds altogether, regardless of whether the accused acted with criminal intent. (Most hunting is specifically exempted from the treaty and the implementing statute.) Further, the bill would ...

H.R. 2067: Protecting America's Workers Act Section 666 of Title 29, U.S. Code, specifies the civil and criminal penalties for violating the duty of an employer to provide a work area free from recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious physical harm to the employees or any rule or regulation promulgated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. This bill would increase the penalty for violations that result in the death of an employee. The bill would also broaden the scope of the “responsible corporate officer” d...

H.R. 2129: Federal Price Gouging Prevention Act This bill, identical to H.R. 6346 in the 110th Congress, would criminalize certain sales of fuels during presidentially-declared “energy emergencies” using a civil-law style standard of unconscionability—i.e., if the federal government later determines that the prices were “unconscionably excessive.” Violations would be treated as violations of the Federal Trade Commission Act and would be punishable by civil and criminal fines of up to $150 million for corporations and up to $2 million for ind...

H.R. 2200: Transportation Security Administration Authorization Act Provisions of HR 2027 are included in this bill as amendment no. 10. This amendment would prohibit the storage, transfer, or copying of images of airline passengers generated by whole-body imaging technology after boarding determinations concerning those passengers have been made. Knowing violations would be punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 3 years.

H.R. 2259: Stop the Revolving Door in Washington Act This bill would prohibit former Members of Congress from “knowingly” lobbying current Members and their staffs to perform acts in their official capacities for 2 years after leaving office. It would impose the same prohibition on former elected officers of the House of Representatives for 1 year after leaving office. “Willful” violations would be punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 5 years. Other violations would be punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 1 year...

H.R. 2308: Sportsmanship in Hunting Act of 2009 This bill would prohibit the transfer, transport, or possession of confined “exotic animals” for the purposes of allowing killing or injuring of such animals for entertainment. Violations would be punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 1 year. In addition, the bill would prohibit “knowingly” making available a “computer-assisted remote hunt.” Violations would be punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 5 years

H.R. 2324: Gun Show Loophole Closing Act of 2009 This bill would require gun show operators to register with the Attorney General, conduct background checks of gun purchasers, and adhere to various regulatory and recordkeeping requirements. Violations of the registration requirement would be punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 5 years. Other violations would be punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 2 months, for a first offense, and up to 5 years, for subsequent offenses.

H.R. 2410: Foreign Relations Authorization Act This legislation would double the imprisonment penalty for violations of the Arms Export Control Act, including regulatory and paperwork violations. “Willful” violations would be punishable by criminal fines of up to $1,000 and imprisonment of up to 20 years.

H.R. 2449: Wireless Prepaid Access Device Enforcement Act of 2009 This bill would prohibit the purchase and, ambiguously, “handl[ing]” of prepaid wireless devices, such as cell phones, for the purpose of modifying the devices to work on networks other than those for which the devices were sold. It would also prohibit the unauthorized resale or redistribution outside of the United States of prepaid wireless devices “sold to be used on a wireless network within the United States,” whether or not they have been modified. Violations would be punishable by criminal...

H.R. 2537: Freedom From Union Violence Act of 2009 This bill would expand the Hobbs Act to prohibit extortion “by wrongful use of fear not involving force or violence,” while specifically exempting violations that are minor, uncoordinated, and “incidental to otherwise peaceful picketing during the course of a labor dispute.”

H.R. 2554: National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers Reform Act of 2010 This bill would establish the National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers, a nonprofit corporation, to “provide a mechanism through which licensing, continued education, and other nonresident insurance producer qualification requirements and conditions can be adopted and applied on a multi-state basis. . . .” In order to become a member of the association, an insurance producer would have to undergo a criminal background check. Whoever “knowingly” uses information received from the A...

H.R. 2595: This bill would prohibit the export of electronic equipment and parts containing any of a dozen substances, such as polychlorinated biphenyls and mercury, to members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), members of the European Union, the nation of Lichtenstein. Violations would be punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 2 years.

H.R. 2607: Small Business Health Fairness Act of 2009 This bill would allow businesses and organizations to offer health insurance coverage through new mechanisms known as “association health plans.” The bill would create a criminal offense for willfully misrepresenting any other kind of health insurance plan or arrangement as an association health plan. Violations would be punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 5 years.

H.R. 2647: Fiscal 2010 Defense Authorization This bill, which authorizes defense operations for fiscal year 2010, already included two criminal offenses when it was introduced. The first would prohibit telecommunications service providers, Internet service providers, and utility providers from denying a servicemember’s request to terminate or suspend a contract at any date after the servicemember has been deployed for military duty or transferred to a location that does not support the contract. Violations would be punishable by criminal f...

H.R. 2661: Court Security Enhancement Act of 2009 This bill would double the imprisonment penalty, from 5 years to 10 years, for the “knowing” public disclosure of restricted personal information, such as a home address or phone number, about a juror, witness, informant, or court officer, “with the intent to threaten, intimidate, or incite the commission of a crime of violence” or with the intent and knowledge that the information will be used to threaten, intimidate, or facilitate a crime of violence.

H.R. 2675: Antitrust Criminal Penalty Enhancement and Reform Act of 2004 Extension Act The Antitrust Criminal Penalty Enhancement and Reform Act of 2004 significantly increased criminal penalties—both jail time and fines—for violations of the Sherman Act. This legislation would extend those enhanced penalties, which are set to expire this year, into 2010.

H.R. 2677: Military Personnel Protection Act of 2009 This bill would create a new federal criminal offense, “Hate crimes against members of the Armed Forces.” It would impose federal criminal penalties—potentially in addition to criminal penalties imposed under state law—on anyone who “willfully” injures or attempts to injure another “because of the actual or perceived status of such person as an active, guard, reserve, or retired member of the Armed Forces.” Violations would be punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 10 years, or i...

H.R. 2726: Tim Fagan's Law This bill would increase the criminal penalties for violations of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act involving adulterated or misbranded prescription drugs. Specifically, a person who “knowingly” adulterates or misbrands a drug or sells, purchases, or trades such a drug would face criminal fines and imprisonment for any term of years, up to life. Under current law, such violations are punishable by criminal fines of up to $10,000 and imprisonment of up to 3 years.

H.R. 2749: Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009 This bill would increase the criminal penalties for violations of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act involving adulterated or misbranded foods, as well as unsafe dietary supplements. The current penalties—criminal fines of up to $1,000 and imprisonment of up to 1 year—would be increased to criminal fines under Title 18 and imprisonment of up to 10 years.

H.R. 2780: Federal Restricted Buildings and Grounds Improvement Act of 2009 This bill amends 18 U.S.C. § 1752 to remove the “willfully” mens rea term from the offenses of entering or remaining on any “restricted building or grounds,” absent the authority to do so; obstructing ingress to or egress from any “restricted building or grounds”; and intentionally impeding or disrupting “the orderly conduct of federal government business or official functions . . . in, or within such proximity to, any restricted building or grounds." “Restricted building or grounds” is defined...

H.R. 2798: Support Investment Protection for Customers Reform Act of 2009 This bill prohibits securities broker-dealers from misrepresenting whether they are members of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation or the degree of protection offered to their clients by the SIPC. Violations made “with actual knowledge of the falsity of the representation and with an intent to deceive or cause injury to another” would be punishable by civil damages, criminal fines of up to $250,000, and imprisonment of up to 5 years.

H.R. 2815: Anti-Gang Enforcement Act of 2009 This bill, similar in many respects to S. 132 and H.R. 2857, would create a number of federal offenses relating to the activities of “criminal street gangs.” First, the bill would prohibit recruitment of persons to participate in a criminal street gang. Violations would be punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 10 years, with a 3-year minimum sentence if the recruit was a minor. Second, the bill would create two new criminal offenses, “Illegal Participation in Criminal Street Gan...

H.R. 2822: Public Corruption Prosecution Improvements Act This bill, a companion to S. 49, would extend the statute of limitations to 6 years for certain “serious public corruption offenses”; reduce, from $5,000 to $1,000 the threshold for the offenses of extortion by and bribery of government officials; and add embezzlement of public property and theft or bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds to the predicates for RICO and the federal money laundering statute.

H.R. 2857: Gang Deterrence and Community Protection Act of 2009 This bill, similar in many respects to S. 132 and H.R. 2815, would create or modify a number of federal offenses relating to the activities of “criminal street gangs.” First, it would create a new criminal offense, “Street Gang Crime,” consisting of knowingly committing gang crimes, or threatening or attempting to commit such crimes, for purposes of furthering the activities of a criminal street gang. Violations would be punishable by criminal fines and various terms of imprisonment depending on...

H.R. 2868: Chemical and Water Security Act of 2009 This wide-ranging bill includes numerous provisions increasing federal control over the security of chemical facilities, water supplies, and wastewater treatment processes. Among other things, the bill authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security to designate certain chemical substances as “substances of concern” based on potential adverse effects resulting from a terrorist incident and directs the Secretary to identify the terrorism risk of specified chemical facilities and water systems, to ...

H.R. 2893: Money Service Business Act of 2009 This bill would require a money transmitting businesses and its agents to certify that it is in compliance with anti-money laundering regulations, maintains an anti-money-laundering program compliant with federal statutory and regulatory requirements, is licensed or registered in each state in which it operates, and is registered with the federal government. “Knowing” material misrepresentations in a certification, “without regard to whether such violation was willful,” would be punishable by cr...

H.R. 2904: Government Ownership Exit Plan Act of 2009 This bill, identical to S. 1242, would unwind the government’s ownership stakes in private and once-private companies. It would also prohibit government employees from “knowingly” influencing the “significant management decisions”—such as appointment of senior executives or board members, business strategies, and plant closings—of companies that have received assistance from the Troubled Asset Relief Program established by the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. Violations would be pun...

H.R. 3047: Balancing Act of 2009 This bill, which creates a new family and medical leave entitlement program, would create yet another federal criminal offense for making false statements. This one would impose criminal penalties for false statements made in support of an application for benefits, including unintentional errors. Violations would be punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 5 years.

H.R. 3258: Drinking Water System Security Act of 2009 This bill would require the federal government to audit water systems for compliance with federal standards. It would prohibit the improper use or disclosure of information obtained during an audit. Violations would be punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 1 year.

H.R. 3288: Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010 This bill makes appropriations for the Departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2010. To comply with the bill’s provision that appropriated funds designated to pay persons whose post of duty is in the continental United States go only to U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents seeking citizenship, persons with lawful political asylum or refugee status seeking permanent residence, or persons who “owe allegiance to the United State...

H.R. 3306: Social Security Number Privacy and Identity Theft Prevention Act of 2009 This bill would create a variety of offenses relating to the misuse of Social Security numbers. The use of a Social Security number of another person to commit any criminal activity and the failure of an officer, employee, or agent of any governmental entity or a Chapter 11 trustee to fail to act to prevent the misuse of a Social Security number would be punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 1 year. The bill would also prohibit selling or transferring of Social Security numbers ...

H.R. 3308: Secure America Through Verification and Enforcement (SAVE) Act of 2009 This bill, nearly identical to S. 1505, would prohibit the bringing, recruiting, encouraging, transporting, and harboring of an illegal alien into the United States “knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that an individual is an alien who lacks lawful authority to come to, enter, or reside in the United States.” It would also prohibit bringing such an alien into the U.S. in any manner whatsoever at a place other than a designated port of entry. Violations would be punishable by criminal f...

H.R. 3360: Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act of 2009 This bill would impose a variety of requirements upon the operators of cruise ships regarding vessel design, equipment, and construction. It would also require video surveillance on cruise ships, the posting of safety information, the maintenance of certain medical devices and capabilities, and the implementation of confidentiality policies with respect to sexual assault aboard cruise ships. Finally, it would impose a variety of log book and reporting requirements. “Willful” violation of any of ...

H.R. 3362: Checks and Balances Restoration and Revitalization Act This bill would double the maximum imprisonment penalty for contempt of Congress, from 1 year to 2 years, and raise the maximum criminal fine from $1,000 to $1 million.

H.R. 3381: Protect America's Wildlife Act of 2009 This bill would amend the existing prohibition on shooting animals from aircraft to criminalize the knowing violation of any regulations promulgated under that section of the Code. Violations would be punishable by criminal fines of up to $50,000 and imprisonment of up to 1 year.

H.R. 3419: Hate Crimes Against the Homeless Statistics Act of 2009 This bill would amend the definition of “hate crime” in the Hate Crime Statistics Act to include crimes committed because of the victim’s “homeless status,” as determined by the victim’s “primary nighttime residence”—e.g., a person who lives in a hotel or motel would be considered “homeless.” This amendment would expand the coverage of hate crimes legislatino to a new category of victims.

H.R. 3513: Prevention and Deterrence of Crimes Against Children Act of 2009 This bill would increase penalties for a variety of offenses relating to child pornography, sex trafficking and child prostitution, and rape.

H.R. 3535: Avoiding Life-Endangering and Reckless Texting by Drivers Act of 2009 (“ALERT Drivers Act”) This bill, a companion to S. 1536, would require the Department of Transportation to withhold 25 percent of certain designated federal highway funds from a State that fails to enact and enforce a law prohibiting persons from writing, sending or reading text messages while driving a motor vehicle. The bill does not define criminal offenses but instead requires States to do so. The bill would require the Secretary of Transportation to issue federal regulations specifying minimum penalties that S...

H.R. 3590: Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (S.Amdmt. 2786) This bill (amendment) in the nature of a substitute is the Senate Democratic leadership’s bill to restructure America’s health-care industry. Among numerous other features, the 2074-page bill prohibits health insurers from excluding someone on the basis of a preexisting condition or other health status, requires insurance companies operating in any State to accept employer and individual applicants from that State and guarantee renewal, and prohibits the imposition of a coverage limit over the l...

H.R. 3600: This bill, similar to S 60, would prohibit the knowing and willful sale of tickets, or facilitation of the sale of tickets, to Presidential inaugural ceremonies, as well as counterfeiting of inaugural tickets. Violations would be punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 1 year.

H.R. 3618: Clean Hull Act of 2009 This bill prohibits the sale, distribution, or production of organotin, a tin compound that can have severe and long-lasting effects on marine eco-systems, for anti-fouling systems on federally operated vessels. Violations would be punishable by criminal and civil fines and imprisonment of up to 6 years.

H.R. 3619: Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2010 NOTE: The bill as introduced included the criminal provisions and penalties identified below. They were removed, however, from the bill before it passed the Senate on May 7, 2010. H.R. 3360 remains pending in its own right. As introduced, this legislation incorporated the language of H.R. 3360, the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act of 2009, which imposed a variety of requirements upon the operators of cruise ships regarding vessel design, equipment, and construction. It also required ...

H.R. 3623: This bill, similar to S. 972, would impose criminal penalties for fraud in connection with claims under the consent decree in Pigford v. Glickman, 185 F.R.D. 82 (D.D.C. 1999), which settled a suit alleging that the U.S. Department of Agriculture had discriminated against black farmers during the period from 1983 to 1997. In relation to a Pigford claim, “knowingly” executing or attempting to execute “a scheme or artifice to defraud” or obtaining money or property from any person “by means of fals...

H.R. 3669: Employer-Owned Life Insurance Limitation Act This bill prohibits employers from carrying employer-owned life insurance policies for employees who make less then $1,000,000 per year. Violations are punishable by criminal fines of $500,000 and up to one year of imprisonment.

H.R. 3713: American Health Care Solutions Act of 2009 This bill contains provisions that would increase current penalties for Medicare and Medicaid fraud. It would increase maximum criminal fines from $25,000 to $100,000 and increase the maximum term of imprisonment to 10 years for making false statements or misrepresentations of material facts to the government for purposes of determining benefits and payment under a federal health care program. It would also increase the maximum criminal fines for knowingly soliciting or receiving a kickback re...

H.R. 3804: National Park Service Authorities and Corrections Act of 2009 This bill makes technical corrections to certain acts affecting the National Park Service. Included in the bill is a provision clarifying that if a violation of a national park regulation “occurs within a park, site, monument, or memorial that is part of the National Park System,” violators are subject to the penalties specified in two other sections of the U.S. Code. Applicable penalties for violations of the Secretary of Interior’s published rules and regulations include a fine of up to $500...

H.R. 3829: Fighting Occupied Cell Use So Everyone Drives More Safely Act of 2009” (“FOCUS Act of 2009) This legislation would require the Department of Transportation to withhold 25 percent of certain designated federal highway funds from a State that fails to enact and enforce a law prohibiting a person of 21 years or older from using a hand-held communication device while driving a motor vehicle and prohibits a person under 21 years from using any communication device while driving a motor vehicle. The bill does not define criminal offenses, but it requires States to do so. The bill would req...

H.R. 3859: Ethics in Foreign Lobbying Act of 2009 This bill would establish within the Federal Election Commission a clearinghouse of public information regarding the political activities of foreign principals and their agents. The clearinghouse would maintain registrations and reports filed under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, the Foreign Agents Registration Act, the Ethics in Government Act, and the Federal Election Campaign Act for the preceding five-year period. It would also maintain listings of public hearings, hearing witnesses, ...

H.R. 3888: Clean Cruise Ship Act of 2009 This bill would amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act by prohibiting cruise ships from discharging waste into navigable waters less than 12 nautical miles from U.S. shores and would require that waste discharged beyond 12 nautical miles be treated to meet effluent limits to be established by the Environmental Protection Agency. The bill would impose liability for any criminal fines or civil penalties on the cruise ship itself.

H.R. 3891: Safe and Healthy Housing Act of 2009 In addition to this bill’s provisions for numerous studies on housing-related health hazards in private homes, it would grant authority to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to conduct investigations to carry out duties associated with the lead disclosure rule that applies to real estate sales of houses constructed prior to 1978. Following a Justice Department application, a federal court may order individual homeowners to allow entry by HUD officials into their homes. Failur...

H.R. 3932: Strengthening of FDA Integrity Act of 2009 This bill would expand the scope of conduct for which the Food & Drug Administration must debar companies from submitting applications for development or approval of drugs. The bill requires debarment of companies for a federal felony conviction relating to the development, approval or regulation of any drug product (rather than, as provided under existing law, simply convictions relating to the development or approval of “abbreviated drug applications,” i.e., generic drugs). It also permits t...

H.R. 3962: Affordable Health Care for America Act This 1,990-page health care bill includes numerous provisions to restructure the current private and public health insurance systems. Among other features, it provides standards that qualified health plans must meet, including a prohibition on preexisting condition exclusions, a prohibition of discrimination based on health status factors, and mandatory renewal of health insurance coverage. The services the bill requires all health insurance plans to cover include hospitalization, professional...

H.R. 3970: Medical Rights and Reform Act of 2009 This wide-ranging bill includes provisions that prohibit the use of federal funds to exercise oversight over an individual’s right to practice medicine or other health care professions or to interfere with an individual’s right to contract for health care services. In addition, the bill expands access to the healthcare integrity and protection data bank to certain health care providers, suppliers and practitioners. The bill provides for up to three years imprisonment or criminal fines for know...

H.R. 3994: Distracted Driver Prevention Act of 2009 This bill, a companion to S. 1938, would establish a Department of Transportation grant program for States whose legislatures enact laws prohibiting the use of personal wireless communications devices, including cell phones, while driving. To qualify for such grants, the State law must establish minimum fines for first-time violations, increased fines for repeat violations, and “increased civil and criminal penalties than would otherwise apply” for accidents caused by drivers using such devices...

H.R. 4011: Organized Retail Crime Prevention and Enforcement Act of 2009 This bill creates new federal crimes for the transportation, transmission, transfer, barter or sale on an “online marketplace” of goods, wares or merchandise of $1000 or more “knowing the same to be stolen, converted, or taken by fraud.” Applicable penalties for a violation include imprisonment of up to 10 years or criminal fines.

H.R. 4038: Common Sense Health Care Reform and Affordability Act This wide-ranging healthcare reform legislation includes provisions to ensure coverage for individuals with pre-existing conditions and to encourage health savings accounts and association health plans. It provides for criminal penalties of up to five years imprisonment and criminal fines for willfully and falsely representing an employee welfare benefit plan as a certified “association health plan”; certification procedures would be spelled out by subsequent regulations.

H.R. 4091: Enhanced Restitution Enforcement and Equitable Retirement Treatment Act of 2009 This bill, a companion to S. 2786, would impose new late fees on convicted criminal defendants for fines or restitutions of $2,500 or more that are unpaid as of 15 days after the date of judgment. Late fees would equal a one-time payment of 5 percent of the unpaid principal balance for individuals and 10 percent for corporations. Five percent of the payments made on such late fees would be credited to the Department of Justice Enhanced Financial Recovery Fund for improved collection of judgmen...

H.R. 4125: Service Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Procurement Reform Act of 2009 This bill would establish within the Small Business Administration an Office of Service Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Procurement to “promote business opportunities for small business concerns owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans.” It would amend the Small Business Act to make it a crime to misrepresent a business’s status as “a small business concern owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans.” In addition to suspension and debarment, violators would be subject to ...

H.R. 4153: To Establish National Standards To Prevent Distracted Driving This bill would require that up to 8 percent of designated federal highway funding be withheld from States that fail to enact and enforce laws prohibiting a person from using a wireless communication device to “compose, read, or send an electronic message” while driving a motor vehicle “when the vehicle is in motion or part of traffic.” Although the bill does not impose new criminal offenses, it requires States to do so. Under the bill’s provisions, a driver would not be prohibited from using ...

H.R. 4173: The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009 This wide-ranging financial markets regulatory bill would, among many other things, establish a Financial Services Oversight Council including the heads of the Department of the Treasury, Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Comptroller of the Currency, Office of Thrift Supervision, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Federal Housing Finance Agency, and National Credit Union Administration Board. The state...

H.R. 4248: Free Competition in Currency Act of 2009 This bill includes a provision “to repeal superfluous sections related to coinage” in the criminal code. One section makes it illegal to “utter or pass” or “to attempt to utter or pass” coins of gold, silver or other metal “intended for use as current money,” subject to criminal fines and/or imprisonment of up to five years. The second section to be repealed prohibits a person from making, bringing in from a foreign country, or possessing counterfeit coins with intent to sell, give away, or us...

H.R. 4321: Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America's Security and Prosperity Act of 2009 (Comprehensive Immigration Reform ASAP Act of 2009”, or “CIR ASAP Act of 2009”) This comprehensive immigration reform bill includes several criminal provisions. The bill permits certain illegal aliens (not otherwise inadmissible under the Immigration and Nationality Act) who were present in the U.S. on December 15, 2009, and who are continuously present in the U.S. for 180 days following the enactment of the bill to apply for “conditional nonimmigrant status.” The bill prohibits all federal agencies, and their officers, employees, and agents, from using the information fu...

H.R. 4326: Attorney-Client Privilege Protection Act of 2009 This bill is identical to the one the House of Representatives passed by voice vote on the suspension calendar in the 110th Congress and is a companion to S. 445 (Attorney-Client Privilege Protection Act). The bill’s findings state that justice is best served “when all parties to litigation are represented by experienced diligent counsel” and that “protecting attorney-client privileged communications from compelled disclosure fosters voluntary compliance with the law.” The findings conclude th...

H.R. 4327: Prisoner Incentive Act of 2009 This legislation would amend provisions in the U.S. Code regarding credit for good behavior in the service of a federal sentence. The bill amends existing law to make it clear that a prisoner serving a sentence of over one year may earn up to 54 days of credit per year of his sentence for good behavior and would allow the Bureau of Prisons to “subsequently restore any or all” credit previously denied the prisoner, based on the prisoner’s good behavior.

H.R. 4328: Literacy, Education, and Rehabilitation Act This legislation would amend provisions in the U.S. Code regarding credit toward the completion of a federal prison sentence based upon good behavior or participation in designated educational, vocational, treatment, or work programs. The bill would allow a prisoner serving a federal sentence longer than one year to earn up to 60 days of credit toward his sentence for participation in an approved program. Programs include educational and vocational programs that help a prisoner earn a high sch...

H.R. 4420: Small Business Contracting Protection Act of 2010 15 U.S.C. § 645 prohibits, among other things, the misrepresentation of the status of a business entity, referred to in the statute as a “concern,” or person claiming eligibility for a prime contract or subcontract that has been set aside for award to a small business, a small business owned and controlled by socially or economically disadvantaged persons, a women owned and controlled small business, or other such disadvantaged business. A misrepresentation is punishable by a fine of up to $500...

H.R. 4428: Children's Toxic Metals Act Section 1263 of Title 15 lists a broad set of prohibited conduct involving hazardous substances, and 15 U.S.C. § 1264 provides for civil and criminal penalties for violations. This Act adds children’s jewelry composed in whole or in part of cadmium, barium, or antimony to the list of banned hazardous substances. The first offense would be a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for up to 90 days, a fine of not more than $500, or both. A second or subsequent violation or an offense committed ...

H.R. 4434: End Political Kickbacks Act of 2009 This Act would make it unlawful for a for-profit entity that receives Federal funds to make political contributions and would prohibit the knowing solicitation of political contributions from such an entity and the entity’s knowing solicitation of political contributions from its employees. The knowing and willful violation of this and other provisions of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 are criminal violations, punished as set forth in 2 U.S.C. § 437g(d)(1). The knowing or willful ma...

H.R. 4456: BPA-Free Kids Act of 2009 Section 1263 of title 15 lists a broad set of prohibited conduct involving hazardous substances, and 15 U.S.C. § 1264 provides for civil and criminal penalties for violations. This Act adds children’s food or beverages containers composed in whole or in part of bisphenol A to the list of banned hazardous substances. The first offense would be a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for up to 90 days, a fine of not more than $500, or both. A second or subsequent violation, or an offense commi...

H.R. 4496: Helping Small Business Compete Act of 2010 The Small Business Act establishes programs designed to provide federal benefits such as loans and contract opportunities to a variety of small and disadvantaged business concerns. Among other things, this bill calls for the inclusion of subcontracting plans that address small business opportunities in some prime contracts, and Title III of the Act calls for the promulgation of regulations that will set standards for determining whether a contractor has complied with its subcontracting plan in ...

H.R. 4567: Civilian Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act (CEJA) of 2010 This bill is a companion to S. 2979. It lists a broad set of felony offenses, each of which can already be prosecuted by the federal government if it is committed within the United States or within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States. This bill would provide the Attorney General with authority to prosecute those offenses when they are committed outside the jurisdiction of the United States by any person who employed by or accompanying any department or agency...

H.R. 4589: The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to promulgate regulations governing the use of lands within the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management and the National Park Service. This bill would authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to issue regulations designed to protect the national forests from destruction by fire or other depredations. This bill would revise the existing penalties for violating the Department of the Interior’s regulations and provide the same penalties for violatin...

H.R. 4622: Secure Borders Act of 2010 Section 1324(a)(1)(A) of Title 8, U.S. Code, defines four offenses prohibiting bringing, transporting, harboring, or inducing an alien to enter or reside in the United States if a person commits such acts knowingly or in reckless disregard of the facts of the alien’s illegal status. It also includes an offense for adding or abetting the commission of, and another offense for conspiracy to commit, any of the four primary offenses. Section 1324(a)(1)(B) specifies the penalties for violating § 1...

H.R. 4627: Criminal Penalties for Unauthorized Employment Act of 2010 Section 1324a of Title 8, U.S. Code, makes it unlawful to hire or recruit for employment an alien knowing that the alien is an unauthorized alien or to hire individuals without complying with the statutory provisions that require verification of employment status. This bill would increase the criminal and civil penalties for violating § 1324a. Under this Act, any individual with hiring authority who violates § 1324a “shall, for each unauthorized alien with respect to whom a violation . . . occ...

H.R. 4641: Robocall Privacy Act of 2010 This bill defines “political robocalls” as recorded telephone calls in which the person making the call is not available to speak with the person answering the call, and which “promotes, supports, attacks, or opposes a candidate for Federal office.” The bill would prohibit knowingly making or causing the making of such political robocalls to any person between 9:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m., or more than twice on a single day during certain preelection time periods. Calls would be restricted for the 6...

H.R. 4643: Public Transportation Safety Act of 2010 This bill, which is the Senate counterpart to S. 3015, instructs the Secretary of Transportation to “establish and implement a public transportation safety program to improve the safety of, and reduce the number and severity of accidents involving, the design, construction, and revenue service operation of rail fixed guideway public transportation systems” that receive federal financial assistance. The Secretary would be empowered to promulgate regulations and issue orders to carry out this pro...

H.R. 4747: Cross Border Reservation Drug Trafficking Sentence Enhancement Act of 2010 This bill is a counterpart to S. 2893. Section 960(a) of Title 21, U.S. Code, prohibits a range of conduct involving controlled substances. This bill would add a provision to § 960(b), which specifies the penalties for violating subsection (a), adding a penalty for controlled substance offenses, including conspiracies and attempts, that involve entering, leaving, or activity within a federal or state Indian reservation on the borders of the United States. Some offenses under § 960(a) require ...

H.R. 4750: Meat Contamination Prevention Act of 2010 The Federal Meat Inspection Act, and the Poultry Products Inspection Act, provide for the inspection of meat and poultry products to prevent adulteration and misbranding. This bill would authorize purchasers of previously inspected meat and poultry products to conduct a “further examination” of the purchased products to insure that they remain unadulterated and prohibit interference “via contract or any other means” with such examinations. Persons, firms, or corporations that interfere with su...

H.R. 4813: This bill would permit the importation of prescription drugs by pharmacies and individuals for personal or family use. Exporters and importers would be registered, and their operations would be subject to regulation. The bill would prohibit (1) improper sales or trades of qualified imported prescription drugs by pharmacies; (2) sales or trades of qualified imported prescription drugs by individuals; (3) materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statements and material omissions in the notice...

H.R. 4941: Anti-Cash Smuggling Act of 2010 Section 5316 and a new § 5316A of Title 31, U.S. Code, require, among other things, reports of currency transactions that involve more than $10,000. This bill would prohibit the knowing concealment of more than $10,000 in currency, other monetary instruments, or means of access to those funds, with the intent to avoid the reporting requirements of §§ 5316 and 5316A, when crossing into or out of the United States. Violators would be subject to imprisonment for up to 5 years, as well as forfeitu...

H.R. 5044: Medicare Fraud Enforcement and Prevention Act of 2010 This bill includes provisions that would double the criminal penalties for specified knowing and willful wrongful acts in connection with federal health care programs and that would create a new offense for those who knowingly, intentionally, and with the intent to defraud “traffic” in Medicare or Medicaid beneficiary identification numbers or billing privileges. One subpart of 42 U.S.C.§ 1320a-7b(a) prohibits the making of false statements or representations in connection with applications for...

H.R. 5092: This bill is a response to the U. S. Supreme Court’s April 2010 decision in United States v. Stevens, in which the Court found that 18 U.S.C. § 48, which prohibits the commercial creation, sale, or possession of certain depictions of animal cruelty, violated the First Amendment because it was substantially overbroad. The Court noted, among other things, that the reach of § 48 was so broad that it would include depictions of hunting activities. The Court also observed that, because the statute ...

H.R. 5124: This bill would prohibit the use, production, sale, importation, or exportation of atrazine, a weed killing pesticide, and atrazine products. A violation of this provision would be punishable by imprisonment for up to 2 years, a fine under Title 18, U.S. Code, or both

H.R. 5127: This bill would define “stored value” to mean funds or monetary value in a digital electronics format that is stored or can be stored on electronic media so that it is retrievable and electronically transferable. The bill would require operators of stored value programs to register those programs with the Secretary of the Treasury and would bring those programs within the regulatory scheme that governs the importation and exportation of more than $10,000. Any person who knowingly conceals more...

H.R. 5137: Girls Protection Act of 2010 Section 116 of Title 18, U.S. Code, prohibits the knowing genital mutilation of a female minor, with a safe harbor for necessary surgical operations performed by licensed medical practitioners. This bill would add a provision to § 116 making it a criminal offense for a citizen of the United States or an alien admitted for permanent residence to knowingly transport a female minor in foreign commerce for the purpose of female genital mutilation. A violation of this provision would be punishable ...

H.R. 5138: International Megan's Law of 2010 This bill would create a federal registry for convicted sex offenders who travel abroad. The bill would also require U.S. diplomatic missions in foreign countries to establish and maintain country-wide sex offender registries for sex offenders from the United States who temporarily or permanently reside in each country. An offender’s “knowing” failure to comply with the reporting requirements of these registration systems “after being duly notified of the requirements” would be punishable by imp...

H.R. 5178: Smuggled Tobacco Prevention Act of 2010 Section 5762 of Title 41, U.S. Code, the Internal Revenue Code, includes criminal offenses covering conduct involving commerce in tobacco products. This bill, which is a companion to S. 3288, would add an offense covering commerce in tobacco production machines, which imposes new requirements to keep and maintain records on all transactions involving related to leasing, importing, exporting, or delivering such machines. The bill would also revise and expand the existing substantive offenses in...

H.R. 5231: Drug Trafficking Safe Harbor Elimination Act of 2010 This bill, which is a counterpart to S. 3218, would amend the Controlled Substances Act by adding a subsection to 21 U.S. C. § 846 that would permit prosecution and punishment of those who, while they are inside the United States, conspire to engage in illegal drug trafficking activities outside the United States or aid and abet such trafficking as if the trafficking occurred inside the United States.

H.R. 5306: Legal Employment Certification Act of 2010 This bill would amend the provision in the Internal Revenue Code that requires that tax returns be signed by adding a requirement that employers sign a statement, under penalty of perjury, attesting to the fact that the employer did not knowingly employ anyone in the United States who was not authorized to be employed here. While a knowingly false attestation would be punishable as perjury, the failure to sign would be treated as a failure to sign the return. The statutory penalties for those ...

H.R. 5337: Animal Torture Prevention Act of 2010 As with H.R. 5092, this bill is a response to the U. S. Supreme Court’s April 2010 decision in United States v. Stevens, in which the Court found that 18 U.S.C. § 48, which prohibits the commercial creation, sale, or possession of certain depictions of animal cruelty, violated the First Amendment because it was substantially overbroad. The Court noted, among other things, that the reach of § 48 was so broad that it would include depictions of hunting activities. The Court also observed that, bec...

H.R. 5408: Identity Theft Improvement Act of 2010 This bill would reverse the Supreme Court’s decision in Flores-Figueroa v. United States by relieving the Government of the burden of showing in certain identity theft prosecutions that the defendant knew that the means of identification he was using was not just phony but actually belonged to another person. Section 1028(a)(7) of Title 18, U.S. Code, prohibits knowingly transferring or using, without lawful authority, a means of identification “of another person” with the intent to violate fed...

H.R. 5410: Accountability in Corporate Political Activity Act of 2010 This bill is another response to the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. It would prohibit corporations that have been subject to criminal penalties under any federal law, civil penalties under the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, or a civil fine of $1 million or more under any other federal law from engaging in any specified campaign-related activities. Those activities are defined as the making of contributions through a corporate PAC, the disbur...

H.R. 5459: Outer Continental Shelf Lands Amendments Act of 2010 This bill is a response to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Like S. 3346, it would increase the fine for those who “knowingly and willfully” violate the provisions of 43 U.S.C. § 1350(c). “Any person” who “knowingly and willfully” violates a subsection of § 1350(c) is subject to imprisonment for 10 years, a fine, or both. This bill would increase the amount of the fine from $100,000 to $10 million. Section 1350(d) of Title 43 currently provides that, where a corporation or other entity is s...

H.R. 5566: Prevention of Interstate Commerce in Animal Crush Videos Act of 2010 This bill replaces H.R. 5092 and is a response to the U. S. Supreme Court’s April 2010 decision in United States v. Stevens, in which the Court found that 18 U.S.C. § 48, which prohibits the commercial creation, sale, or possession of certain depictions of animal cruelty, violated the First Amendment because it was substantially overbroad. The Court noted, among other things, that the reach of § 48 was so broad that it would include depictions of hunting activities. Because the statute applied t...

H.R. 5599: Wire Clarification Act of 2010 This bill would amend 18 U.S.C. § 1084, commonly referred to as the “Wire Act,” to clarify that neither it nor any other provision of federal law that makes it unlawful to place, receive, or otherwise transmit a bet would apply to “any bet or wager that is permissible under the Interstate Horseracing Act of 1978.”

H.R. 5622: Stop Outsourcing and Create American Jobs Act of 2010 Section 7201 of Title 26, U.S. Code, makes it unlawful to “willfully” attempt to evade or defeat federal taxes, and 26 U.S.C. § 7206 makes the willful performance of a number of acts related to fraud or false statements in connection with tax returns unlawful. This bill calls on the Secretary of the Treasury to identify “corporate tax haven” countries and increases the penalties for underreporting and for tax crimes involving “tax haven countries.” This bill would increase the maximum fine tha...

H.R. 5626: Blowout Prevention Act of 2010 This bill would, beginning one year after its enactment, require applicants for permits to drill for a “high-risk well” to attest to the capacity of their blowout prevention and remediation ability and call for the promulgation of regulations specifying the minimum standards for blowout preventers, third-party certifications, and documentation. Any person who “knowingly and willfully” violates any provision of the act or any regulation that implements it, makes a false statement in a document t...

H.R. 5643: Compound 1080 and Sodium Cyanide Elimination Act This bill would add sodium fluoroacetate, otherwise known as “Compound 1080,” to polychlorinated biphenyls and mercury as substances banned by Section 6 of the Toxic Substances Control Act, 15 U.S.C. § 2605. In addition, the bill would prohibit the use of sodium cyanide in a predator control device, a defined term in the bill. Any person who uses, produces, sells imports or exports sodium fluoroacetate and any person who uses sodium cyanide in a predator control device will be subject to impri...

H.R. 5648: Until 2006, 38 U.S.C. § 5905 made it unlawful to (1) charge or receive a fee or compensation for representing a veteran that was in excess of statutory limits, and (2) wrongfully withhold from a veteran claimant or beneficiary any part of the benefit or claim allowed. In 2006, 38 U.S.C. § 5905 was amended and subsection (1) was struck. This bill would “reinstate” subsection (1) as part of 38 U.S.C. § 5905. Any person who violates § 5905 is subject to imprisonment for up to one year, a fine as...

H.R. 5662: STALKERS Act of 2010 Section 2261A(1) of Title 18, U.S. Code, presently makes stalking illegal when the prohibited conduct involves “travel[] in interstate or foreign commerce or within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States, or enter[ing] or leav[ing] Indian country.” This bill would make stalking unlawful when the conduct occurs “in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce or in the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States.” It would define stalking as...

H.R. 5663: Miner Safety and Health Act of 2010 Section 820(d) of Title 30, U.S. Code, currently prohibits “willfully” violating a mandatory mining health or safety standard or “knowingly” violating or refusing to comply with certain orders issued by the Secretary of Labor. This bill would significantly lower the protectiveness of the mental state required to prove a violation of a mandatory health and safety standard from “willfully” to “knowingly.” Violators are currently subject to imprisonment for up to one year, a fine of up to $250,00...

H.R. 5788: Mine Safety Accountability and Improved Protection Act This bill would increase the enforcement powers of the Secretary of Labor and establish a National Mine Safety Board and empower it to conduct independent investigations of mine accidents that involve 3 or more deaths. The bill would also increase the penalty for any willful violation of a mandatory health or safety standard or for any knowing failure to comply with orders issued by the Secretary. The penalty for a first conviction would increase to imprisonment for up to 5 years, a fine of $1...

H.R. 5810: Securing Aircraft Cockpits Against Lasers Act of 2010 The bill would make it unlawful for any person to “knowingly aim[] the beam of a laser pointer at an aircraft in the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States, or at the flight path of such an aircraft.” The bill does not safeguard those who aim a laser at an aircraft or its flight path accidentally, inadvertently, or with benign intent. It would not prohibit the aiming of a laser beam at an aircraft by authorized individuals conducting research, development, operations, testing, or t...

S. 22: Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 This massive lands omnibus contains a version of the Paleontological Resources Preservation Act (H.R. 554 in the 110th Congress). This provision would prohibit the excavation, removal, or damage of paleontological resources (i.e., fossils) located on federal lands without first securing a permit issued by the Secretary of the Interior that includes the condition that all such resources remain the property of the federal government. The bill would also prohibit exchanging, transporting, exporting...

S. 30: Truth in Caller ID Act of 2009 This bill would prohibit the knowing transmission of misleading or inaccurate caller identification information with the intent to “defraud, cause harm, or wrongfully obtain anything of value.” Violations would be punishable by civil penalties (including forfeiture), criminal fines of up to $10,000 per violation, and imprisonment of up to one year.

S. 49: Public Corruption Prosecution Improvements Act of 2009 This bill would extend the statute of limitations to 6 years for certain “serious public corruption offenses”; modify the federal mail and wire fraud statutes to apply to schemes to obtain “any other thing of value” in addition to the current law’s “money or property”; increase the maximum penalties for a variety of public corruption related offenses; and add bribery, theft, and embezzlement of public funds to the predicates for RICO.

S. 60: This bill, similar to H.R. 3600, would prohibit the knowing and willful sale of tickets, or facilitation of the sale of tickets, to Presidential inaugural ceremonies, as well as counterfeiting of inaugural tickets. Violations would be punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 1 year.

S. 98: Pregnant Women Health and Safety Act This bill would require physicians performing abortions to have admitting privileges at a hospital reachable within one hour and to notify the patient involved of the hospital location. Violations would be punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 2 years.

S. 105: This bill would punish the knowing and willful falsification of, or failure to file a report concerning, any information required to be reported under the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (e.g., income, gifts, property interests, etc.) with criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 1 year.

S. 132: Gang Abatement and Prevention Act of 2009 This bill, similar in many respects to H.R. 2815 and H.R. 2822, contains two titles containing criminal offenses. This first creates a new criminal offense, “Street Gang Crime,” consisting of knowingly committing gang crimes for purposes of furthering the activities of a criminal street gang. Violations would be punishable by criminal fines and various terms of imprisonment depending on the nature of the violation (e.g., up to 20 years for crimes of violence that are not serious felonies). The b...

S. 141: Protecting the Privacy of Social Security Numbers Act This bill, a companion to H.R. 122, would prohibit the public display, sale, or purchase, without affirmative consent, of an individual’s Social Security number or public record containing an individual’s Social Security number. Violations would be punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 5 years.

S. 151: Indian Arts and Crafts Amendments Act of 2009 This bill, identical to H.R. 7024 and S. 1255 in the 110th Congress, reduces penalties for some violations of the prohibition on misrepresenting goods for sale as having been produced by Native Americans. Under current law, knowing violations are punishable by criminal fines of up to $250,000 and imprisonment of up to five years for a first offense, and by criminal fines of up to $1,000,000 and imprisonment of up to 15 years for subsequent offenses. This legislation would change the penalty stru...

S. 237: Great Lakes Collaboration Implementation Act of 2009 This bill, a companion to H.R. 500, would authorize the Secretary of Homeland Security to issue regulations establishing performance requirements for vessels to reduce the introduction of invasive species into the United States. Knowing violations of those regulations would be punishable as class C felonies.

S. 275: Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 This bill, a companion to H.R. 2, would prohibit the improper disclosure of information used to determine eligibility for states’ child health insurance programs. Violations would be punishable by civil penalties of up to $10,000, criminal fines of up to $10,000, and imprisonment of up to 1 year for each disclosure.

S. 378: Money Laundering Control Enhancement Act of 2009 This bill would redefine the term “proceeds” in the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) to include any money associated with unlawful activities, rather than just the profits derived from the unlawful activities, effectively overturning the Supreme Court’s decision in U.S. v. Santos, 128 S. Ct. 2020 (2008).

S. 386: Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act (FERA) of 2009 This bill, similar to H.R. 1748, would expand Title 18’s definition of “financial institution” to include intrastate mortgage lenders, thereby including those businesses within the scope of at least 20 existing criminal provisions in Title 18 alone that apply to financial institutions. The bill would amend the offense against ‘False Statements in Mortgage Applications” to include false statements made by mortgage brokers and lenders in addition to those made by prospective borrowers. It would al...

S. 436: Internet Stopping Adults Facilitating the Exploitation of Today’s Youth Act of 2009 This bill would create a new criminal offense, “Financial facilitation of access to child pornography,” that would prohibit conducting financial transactions “knowing that such transaction will facilitate access to, or the possession of, child pornography.” Violations would be punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 20 years. The bill would also prohibit Internet service providers (ISPs) from “knowingly engag[ing] in any conduct the provider knows or has reason to believe facilita...

S. 445: Attorney-Client Privilege Protection Act of 2009 Responding to findings that “the Department of Justice and other agencies have increasingly created and implemented policies that tend to undermine the adversarial system of justice, such as encouraging organizations to waive attorney-client privilege and work product protections to avoid indictment or other sanctions,” and that “[w]aiver demands and related policies of Government agencies are encroaching on the constitutional rights and other legal protections of employees,” this bill would pro...

S. 462: Captive Primate Safety Act This bill, based on H.R. 2964 in the 110th Congress and identical to H.R. 80 in the present Congress, would extend the already overbroad protections and prohibitions of the Lacey Act, including its criminal provisions, to apply to “any nonhuman primate.” In addition, the bill would broaden the Lacey Act even further to cover “Captive Wildlife Offenses”—i.e., acting “to import, export, transport, sell, receive, acquire, or purchase in interstate or foreign commerce any live animal of any prohibit...

S. 470: Combating Organized Retail Crime Act of 2009 This bill, based on S. 3434 in the 110th Congress, is targeted at the problem of “organized retail crime,” which is defined as “the coordinated acquisition of large volumes of retail merchandise by theft, embezzlement, fraud, false pretenses, or other illegal means…for the purpose of selling or distributing such illegally obtained items in the stream of commerce.” This bill would slightly broaden existing federal offenses for transportation, sale, or receipt of goods known to be stolen to cover ...

S. 525: Pharmaceutical Market Access and Drug Safety Act of 2009 This bill, identical to H.R. 1298, would allow the importation of prescription drugs by wholesalers and pharmacies that register with the Department of Health and Human Services. It would also create a criminal offense for the importation of drugs in “knowing” violation of a vast array of regulations issued under the Food and Drug Act, including violations of any registration requirement, falsifications of any record required to be kept or provided to the government, and violations of any other ...

S. 566: Financial Product Safety Commission Act of 2009 This bill, identical to H.R. 1705, would prohibit the “knowing and willful” advertisement, offer, or attempted enforcement of any consumer financial product that is not in conformity with the rules and regulations (including recordkeeping requirements) promulgated by the “Financial Product Safety Commission” created by the bill. Violations would be punishable by criminal fines of up to $500,000 and imprisonment of up to one year.

S. 577: Immigration Fraud Prevention Act of 2009 This bill, identical to H.R. 1992, would create a new criminal offense, “Schemes to defraud aliens,” that prohibits the “willing and knowing” execution of a scheme to defraud individuals with respect to matters arising under federal immigration laws. It would also prohibit falsely representing oneself as an attorney or “accredited representative” under immigration law. Violations would be punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 5 years.

S. 579: Federal Tobacco Act of 2009 This bill would create a federal Tobacco Regulatory Agency to regulate tobacco products. The prohibited conduct would include the adulteration or misbranding of tobacco products, the transportation or sale of such products, the failure to make or keep required records, improperly using or revealing trade secrets, and violations of any statutory or regulatory labeling requirements for tobacco products. “Willful” violations would be punishable by criminal fines of up to $25,000 and imprisonment of...

S. 714: National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2009 This bill contains no criminal provisions but may nonetheless be of significant interest to readers. It would establish a federal commission charged with undertaking “a comprehensive review of all areas of the criminal justice system,” including the individual criminal justice systems of the 50 states. As reported, the bill would call for the commission to make recommendations for changes "designed to prevent, deter, and reduce crime and violence, improve cost-effectiveness, and ensure the inte...

S. 727: Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act This bill, an identical companion to H.R. 503, would impose criminal penalties on any person who knowingly “possesses, ships, transports, purchases, sells, delivers, or receives” any horse or horse flesh “with the intent that it is to be slaughtered [or used] for human consumption.” Violations would be punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 3 years.

S. 738: Consumer Rental-Purchase Agreement Act of 2009 This bill, similar to H.R. 1744, would require merchants offering goods under rental-purchase agreements to make detailed disclosures to consumers. “Willful and knowing” violations of these disclosure agreements, by omission or the giving of false information, would be punishable by imprisonment of up to 1 year and criminal fines of up to $5,000.

S. 753: BPA-Free Kids Act of 2009 This bill would ban the use of the chemical biphenol A in children’s food or beverage containers, impose testing requirements for children’s food or beverage containers, and require all such containers to bear labels describing their compliance with the Act. Violations would be treated as violations of the Federal Hazardous Substances Act, subjecting violators to civil penalties and criminal fines of up to $500 and imprisonment of up to 90 days. Violations committed with “intent to defraud or mi...

S. 796: Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2009 This bill would impose new duties, including extensive recordkeeping and reporting requirements, on claim holders, operators, and transporters involved in the extraction of mineral resources from federal lands. It would prohibit “knowingly or willfully” maintaining or submitting inaccurate or misleading records or reports, removing minerals without “valid legal authority,” and accepting or conveying minerals “knowing or having reason to know that the locatable mineral was stolen or unlawfully re...

S. 843: Gun Show Background Check Act of 2009 This bill would require gun show promoters to register with the U.S. Attorney General, to verify the identities of all vendors participating in a show, and to maintain certain records about vendors. In addition, it would prohibit non-licensed vendors from selling guns at gun shows except by transferring them through a licensed vendor, thereby requiring criminal background checks of gun purchasers at gun shows. Finally, it would require licensed vendors to keep a variety of records on their gun s...

S. 909: Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 This bill would create two new federal offenses, nearly identical to those in H.R. 1913, and greatly expand the scope of federal government power over violent, noneconomic crimes that are truly local in nature. It imposes federal criminal penalties – potentially in addition to criminal penalties imposed under state law – on anyone who “willfully” injures or attempts to injure another “because of the actual or perceived race, color, religion, or national origin” or “because of the actual or per...

S. 915: Port Authority of New York/New Jersey Port Security Task Force Implementation Act of 2009 This bill would require persons acting as ship agents in the United States to obtain a license from the Federal Maritime Commission. Violations of this requirement would be punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 1 year.

S. 972: S. 972 This bill would impose criminal penalties for fraud in connection with claims under the consent decree in Pigford v. Glickman, 185 F.R.D. 82 (D.D.C. 1999), which settled a suit alleging that the U.S. Department of Agriculture had discriminated against black farmers during the period from 1983 to 1997. In relation to a Pigford claim, “knowingly” executing or attempting to execute “a scheme or artifice to defraud” or obtaining money or property from any person “by means of false or fraudulent pret...

S. 1033: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 This bill would broaden the general prohibition on “disclosure of confidential information” to apply to any “officer, agent or employee of a private sector organization having a contractual nondisclosure agreement” with the federal government. The penalties are unchanged: criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 1 year.

S. 1099: Patients' Choice Act This bill would establish “independent health record trusts” to hold participants’ electronic health records. These trusts would be prohibited from “knowingly or recklessly” breaching their fiduciary duty to participants. Violations would be punishable by loss of certification as a trust, criminal fines of up to $50,000, and imprisonment of up to 5 years. Helpfully, the bill safeguards against punishing with imprisonment those who were not actually responsible for violations by restricting the ...

S. 1113: Safe Roads Act of 2009 This bill would create a “national clearinghouse for positive controlled substance and alcohol test results of commercial motor vehicle operators” and impose a variety of testing, disclosure, and recordkeeping requirements on employers of motor vehicle operators. Violation of any of these requirements would be punishable by civil fines of up to 10,000 and, for “knowing” and “willful” violations, criminal fines of up to $25,000 and imprisonment of up to 1 year.

S. 1147: Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking (PACT) Act of 2009 This bill, which was a companion to H.R. 1676, was enacted into law on March 31, 2010. It regulates the sale of tobacco by mail, imposing a variety of labeling, age-verification, and recordkeeping requirements. The violation of any of these regulations is a strict-liability offense, punishable by imprisonment of up to 3 years and criminal fines even if the violator had no knowledge that what he was doing was unlawful or otherwise wrongful.

S. 1179: Child Custody Protection Act This bill would prohibit “knowingly transport[ing] a minor across a State line, with the intent that such minor obtain an abortion, and thereby in fact abridg[ing] the right of a parent under a law requiring parental involvement in a minor’s abortion decision, in force in the State where the minor resides.” Such an abridgment would occur “if an abortion is performed on the minor, in a State other than the State where the minor resides, without the parental consent or notification, or the judicia...

S. 1219: Antitrust Criminal Penalties Enforcement and Reform Act of 2004 Extension Act The Antitrust Criminal Penalty Enhancement and Reform Act of 2004 significantly increased criminal penalties—both jail time and fines—for violations of the Sherman Act. This legislation, identical to H.R. 2675, would extend those enhanced penalties, which are set to expire this year, into 2010.

S. 1242: Government Ownership Exit Plan Act of 2009 This bill, identical to H.R. 2904, which would unwind the government’s ownership stakes in private and once-private companies, prohibits government employees from “knowingly” influencing the “significant management decisions”—such as appointment of senior executives or board members, business strategies, and plant closings—of companies that have received assistance from the Troubled Asset Relief Program established by the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. Violations would be punishab...

S. 1261: Providing for Additional Security in States' Identification (PASS ID) Act of 2009 This bill would prohibit the copying of machine-readable components of driver’s licenses for the purpose of reselling that information or tracking the use of the license. Violations would be punishable by criminal fines.

S. 1336: Safe Drug Disposal Act of 2009 This bill would require the FDA to prohibit the label accompanying any drug from recommending disposal of the drug by flushing. Violation of such an order would render a drug “misbranded,” subjecting any party manufacturing, distributing, or selling it to penalties including, for a first offense, criminal fines of up to $1,000 and imprisonment of up to 1 year and, for subsequent offenses, criminal fines of up to $10,000 and imprisonment of up to 3 years.

S. 1346: Crimes Against Humanity Act of 2009 This bill would define a number of existing federal offenses (e.g., murder, forced labor, trafficking, sexual abuse) as “crimes against humanity” if they are knowingly engaged in “as part of a widespread and systematic attack directed against any civilian population.” As defined, this phrase is broad enough to encompass the conduct of and justify charges against any military or political leader, even a legitimate military or political leader of a legitimate nation-state, as long as Justice Depar...

S. 1390: Fiscal 2010 Defense Authorization This bill includes the text of S. 909, the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009. It would create two new federal offenses, nearly identical to those in H.R. 1913, and greatly expand the scope of federal government power over violent, noneconomic crimes that are truly local in nature. It imposes federal criminal penalties – potentially in addition to criminal penalties imposed under state law – on anyone who “willfully” injures or attempts to injure another “because of the actual or...

S. 1435: Human-Animal Hybrid Prohibition Act of 2009 This bill, identical to S. 2358 in the 110th Congress, would prohibit the knowing creation or attempted creation of “human-animal hybrids,” which are embryos containing both human and non-human materials. Violations would be punishable by criminal fines, imprisonment of up to 10 years, and civil fines of up to $1 million.

S. 1462: American Clean Energy Leadership Act of 2009 This bill would require the Secretary of Energy to complete an efficiency review of electric generation facilities. It would prohibit the improper use or disclosure of information obtained during the review. Violations would be punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 1 year.

S. 1490: Personal Data Privacy and Security Act of 2009 This bill would prohibit the willful and intentional concealment of a data security breach involving personally identifiable information by a person who is obliged under title III of the Personal Data Privacy and Security Act of 2009 to provide notice of such a breach. Violations causing economic damage would be punished by criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 5 years.

S. 1505: Secure America Through Verification and Enforcement (SAVE) Act of 2009 This bill, nearly identical to H.R. 3308, would prohibit the bringing, recruiting, encouraging, transporting, and harboring of an illegal alien into the United States “knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that an individual is an alien who lacks lawful authority to come to, enter, or reside in the United States.” It would also prohibit bringing such an alien into the U.S. in any manner whatsoever at a place other than a designated port of entry. Violations would be punishable by criminal...

S. 1529: Executive Accountability Act of 2009 This bill, similar to H.R. 743, would prohibit the President and other officers or employees of the executive branch from “knowingly and willfully” making false representations, or concealing material facts, “for the purpose of influencing a member of the Congress to authorize the use of the Armed Forces of the United States.” Violations would be punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment of up to 10 years, and Congress would be empowered to refer violations to the Attorney General for prosec...

S. 1536: Avoiding Life-Endangering and Reckless Texting by Drivers Act of 2009 (“ALERT Drivers Act”) This bill, a companion to H.R. 3535, would require the Department of Transportation to withhold 25 percent of certain designated federal highway funds from a State that fails to enact and enforce a law prohibiting persons from writing, sending or reading text messages while driving a motor vehicle. The bill does not define criminal offenses but instead requires States to do so. The bill would require the Secretary of Transportation to issue federal regulations specifying minimum penalties that...

S. 1579: Restore Our American Mustangs Act Similar to HR 1018, this bill would prohibit the transportation of a live or deceased wild, free-roaming horse or burro for the purpose of processing into commercial products. Violations would be punishable by criminal fines up to $2,000 and imprisonment of up to one year.

S. 1648: Federal Election Administration Act of 2009 This bill would replace the Federal Election Commission with a Federal Election Administration. It would make knowing and willful violations of the existing Federal Election Campaign Act punishable by civil penalties up to $50,000 or 1000 percent of the contribution involved, criminal fines of up to $50,000 or 1000 percent of the contribution, and up to five years imprisonment.

S. 1733: Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act This bill aims to create green jobs by subsidizing windmill and solar projects. It also restricts emissions of so-called greenhouse gas, mainly carbon dioxide from the combustion of coal, oil, and natural gas. Workers injured by the transition to a regime with new and more rigorous permitting requirements would be entitled to adjustment assistance payments, training, and other benefits. Knowingly making a false statement of a material fact or knowingly failing to disclose a material fact in con...

S. 1765: Hate Crimes Against the Homeless Statistics Act of 2009 This bill, similar to HR 3419, would amend the definition of “hate crime” in the Hate Crime Statistics Act to include crimes committed because of the victim’s “homeless status,” as determined by the victim’s “primary nighttime residence”—e.g., a person who lives in a hotel or motel would be considered “homeless.” This amendment would expand the coverage of hate crimes legislation to a new category of victims.

S. 1796: America's Healthy Future Act of 2009 This comprehensive health care bill includes criminal penalties up to $250,000 and up to 5 years imprisonment for providing false information in an application for enrollment in a qualified health benefits plan.

S. 1808: Control Spending Now Act This bill includes a variety of provisions to amend the Federal Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act by permitting the re-importation of prescription drugs by licensed U.S. pharmacies and wholesalers. It provides for criminal fines and imprisonment up to 10 years for knowingly counterfeiting prescription drugs, knowingly violating prescription drug registration requirements, or knowingly falsifying prescription drug records. The bill also applies current penalties of imprisonment of up to one year and cr...

S. 1843: Strengthening Enforcement for Health Care Fraud Crimes Act of 2009 This bill adds a mandatory minimum sentence of six months imprisonment for health care fraud crimes involving $100,000 or more.

S. 1938: Distracted Driving Prevention Act of 2009 This bill, a companion to H.R. 3994, would establish a Department of Transportation grant program for States whose legislatures enact laws prohibiting the use of personal wireless communications devices, including cell phones, while driving. To qualify for such grants, the State law must establish minimum fines for first-time violations, increased fines for repeat violations, and “increased civil and criminal penalties than would otherwise apply” for accidents caused by drivers using such devic...

S. 1959: Health Care Fraud Enforcement Act of 2009 This bill requires the U.S. Sentencing Commission to amend the Federal Sentencing Guidelines to increase the penalties for health care fraud, including a two-level increase in the offense level for frauds involving at least $1 million but less than $7 million, a three-level increase for frauds involving at least $7 million but less than $20 million, and a four-level increase for frauds involving $20 million or more. Moreover, the bill reduces existing protections for those who engage in the...

S. 2742: American Worker Transition and Community Assistance Act This bill creates a new federal program to assist workers in the energy industries who are displaced or otherwise adversely impacted by federal climate change policy. The bill would offer temporary income support of up to 156 weeks from a Climate Change Worker and Community Assistance Fund to workers in groups certified by the Secretary of Labor to have been adversely affected by federal climate change policy. Included in the bill is a criminal fraud provision, with penalties of up to one year...

S. 2782: Lieutenant Colonel Dominic “Rocky” Baragona Justice for American Heroes Harmed by Contractors Act This bill would require the Federal Acquisition Regulation to be amended to require the debarment or suspension of federal contractors, a quasi-criminal penalty, for evading service of process in civil actions or criminal prosecutions, or for refusing or failing to appear in federal court in actions brought against them by the United States, its citizens or its nationals “in connection with the performance of a contract.” The bill would also require the Federal Acquisition Regulation to be amen...

S. 2786: Enhanced Restitution Enforcement and Equitable Retirement Treatment Act of 2009 This bill, a companion to H.R. 4091, would impose new late fees on convicted criminal defendants for fines or restitutions of $2,500 or more that are unpaid as of 15 days after the date of judgment. Late fees would equal a one-time payment of 5 percent of the unpaid principal balance for individuals and 10 percent for corporations. Five percent of the payments made on such late fees would be credited to the Department of Justice Enhanced Financial Recovery Fund for improved collection of judgm...

S. 2811: Migratory Bird Treaty Act Penalty and Enforcement Act of 2009 This bill, a companion to H.R. 2062, would amend the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (the same law at issue in the Supreme Court’s seminal Missouri v. Holland (1920)), which currently prohibits the taking of migratory birds with intent to sell or barter them, to prohibit the “intentional[] and malicious[]” taking of birds altogether, regardless of whether the accused acted with criminal intent. (Most hunting is specifically exempted from the treaty and the implementing statute.) Further, the bill woul...

S. 2845: False Travel Documents Prohibitions Act of 2009 This bill would amend existing criminal provisions by adding airline and railway travel tickets (i.e. “false travel documents”) to existing fraud crimes involving identification documents and related authentication features. The bill would make it a crime to “knowingly” produce, transfer, or possess false travel documents with intent to unlawfully use or transfer them. The bill would also make it a crime to knowingly produce, transfer or possess a “document-making implement” (e.g. impression, ...

S. 2859: Coral Reef Conservation Amendments Act of 2009 This bill reauthorizes the Coral Reef Conservation Act of 2000. With certain limited exceptions, the bill makes it unlawful to “destroy, take, cause the loss of, or injure any coral reef” or component; to “possess, sell, deliver, carry, transport, or ship” coral taken in violation of the Act; or to violate issued permits or regulations promulgated by the Department of Interior or Department of Commerce pursuant to the Act. A person who “knowingly violates” one of these provisions is subject to...

S. 2870: International Fisheries Stewardship and Enforcement Act This bill is similar to H.R. 1080, the Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing Enforcement Act of 2009, which has been passed by the House of Representatives, received in the Senate, and referred to committee. The Act's new criminal provisions apply to violations of a number of existing statutes that protect forms of marine life. The Act creates new criminal offenses and establishes penalties for both the new and existing offenses, including large maximum fines. In particular, it would ...

S. 2893: Cross Border Reservation Drug Trafficking Sentence Enhancement Act of 2009 This bill is a counterpart to H.R. 4747. Section 960(a) of Title 21, U.S. Code, prohibits a range of conduct involving controlled substances. This bill would add a provision to § 960(b), which specifies the penalties for violating subsection (a), adding a penalty for controlled substance offenses, including conspiracies and attempts, that involve entering, leaving, or activity within a federal or state Indian reservation on the borders of the United States. Some offenses under § 960(a) requir...

S. 2934: Imported Seafood Safety Standards Act This bill would amend Chapter VIII of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to address the safety of imported seafood. Section 331 of title 21 of the U.S. Code prohibits a range of conduct, and the bill would add a provision to prohibit knowingly making a false statement regarding a test or inspection of imported seafood or the knowing misbranding of any imported seafood. A violation of § 331 is punishable by imprisonment for up to one year, a fine of $1,000, or both. A subsequent violation or an o...

S. 2940: Secure Airport Terminal Act of 2010 Section 46314(a) of title 49 of the U.S. Code prohibits entering an aircraft or airport security area in violation of the federal statutes governing the screening of airport passengers and baggage, the protection of passengers and property on aircraft against acts of criminal violence or aircraft piracy, and the security of foreign air carrier programs. This bill would increase the maximum term of imprisonment that can be imposed for violating § 46314(a) from one year to 10 years

S. 2971: Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 2010 and 2011 This bill addresses a number of matters regarding the operations and organization of the Department of State. The bill would empower the Secretary of State to authorize Department of State uniformed guards to protect buildings and areas within the United States for which the Department of State provides protective services and, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, to promulgate regulations that relate to the administration of the buildings and areas so protected. The violat...

S. 2975: Safe Kids' Jewelry Act This bill is a companion to H.R. 4428. Section 1263 of Title 15, U.S. Code, lists a broad set of prohibited conduct involving hazardous substances, and 15 U.S.C. § 1264 provides for civil and criminal penalties for violations. As with H.R. 4428, this bill would add children’s jewelry composed in whole or in part of cadmium, barium, or antimony to the list of banned hazardous substances. The first offense would be a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for up to 90 days, a fine of not more t...

S. 2979: Civilian Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act (CEJA) of 2010 This bill is a companion to H.R. 4567. It lists a broad set of felony offenses, each of which can already be prosecuted by the federal government if it is committed within the United States or within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States. This bill would provide the Attorney General with authority to prosecute these offenses when they are committed outside the jurisdiction of the United States by any person employed by or accompanying any department or agency o...

S. 2999: This bill is a companion to H.R. 4589. The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to promulgate regulations governing the use of lands within the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management and the National Park Service. This bill would authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to issue regulations designed to protect the national forests from destruction by fire or other depredations. This bill would revise the existing penalties for violating the Department of the Interior’s regulations and...

S. 3015: Public Safety Transportation Act of 2010 This bill, which is the Senate counterpart to HR 4643, instructs the Secretary of Transportation to “establish and implement a public transportation safety program to improve the safety of, and reduce the number and severity of accidents involving, the design, construction, and revenue service operation of rail fixed guideway public transportation systems” that receive federal financial assistance. The Secretary would be empowered to promulgate regulations and issue orders to carry out this pro...

S. 3017: State Witness Protection Act of 2010 This bill would make it a federal crime to tamper with witnesses or evidence in a state court proceeding. The bill’s exceedingly broad assertion of federal jurisdiction would deem such conduct to be a federal offense if (1) the mail, a computer, or a means or instrumentality of interstate commerce is used to communicate regarding an offense; (2) anyone travels or is transported across state lines in connection with an offense; or (3) a weapon, including a firearm, used in connection with the of...

S. 3018: Bipartisan Tax Fairness and Simplification Act of 2010 In addition to making a number of substantive changes to the tax code, this bill would increase the penalties for several offenses involving attempts to evade taxes, willfully failing to file tax returns, or willfully failing to pay taxes due. Section 7201 of Title 26, U.S. Code, prohibits the willful attempt to evade or defeat a tax. The bill would increase the penalty for violating § 7201 from a fine of $100,000 for an individual and $500,000 for a corporation, imprisonment for 5 years, or b...

S. 3048: Pilot Professionalism Assurance Act This bill would authorize air carriers to use information obtained from cockpit voice recorders and flight data recorders for specified purposes, subject to the obligation to keep the information confidential and to disclose it only to the extent required in an administrative or judicial proceeding. The bill prohibits tampering with, disabling, or destroying any cockpit voice recorder or flight data recorder in a commercial aircraft. Violators would be subject to up to 5 years of imprisonment ...

S. 3177: Home Star Energy Retrofit Act of 2010 This bill would establish a program to encourage the retrofitting of existing homes to increase their energy efficiency through the award of rebates for installing specified energy saving measures. The rebates would be paid to the contractors doing the work and passed through to the homeowner as a discount. Any violation, other than one resulting from a clerical error, of the Act or any regulations issued under it would be subject to civil penalties, and fraudulent violations would “be subject...

S. 3209: Safe Chemicals Act of 2010 The Toxic Substances Control Act establishes a regulatory scheme for chemical substances and mixtures that includes testing for safety and the regulation or prohibition on the manufacture, distribution, or use of substances or mixtures that present an “unreasonable” risk of harm to health or the environment. Section 2614 of Title 15, U.S. Code, prohibits specified acts relating to the covered substances including failing to comply with a rule or regulation promulgated by the EPA Administrator, ...

S. 3218: Drug Trafficking Safe Harbor Elimination Act of 2010 This bill would amend the Controlled Substances Act by adding a subsection to 21 U.S. C. § 846 that would permit prosecution and punishment of those who, while they are inside the United States, conspire to engage in illegal drug trafficking activities outside the United States or aid and abet such trafficking as if the trafficking occurred inside the United States.

S. 3272: Close the Revolving Door Act of 2010 Section 207(e) of Title 18, U.S. Code, restricts the lobbying activities of Members of Congress after they leave office and of members of their personal staff, congressional committee staff, and leadership staff after they leave congressional employment. This bill would extend the ban on lobbying by members of Congress to a lifetime ban from the current two years for Senators and one year for members of the House of Representatives. The ban on lobbying by staffers would be extended 6 years fro...

S. 3288: Section 5762 of Title 41, U.S. Code, the Internal Revenue Code, includes criminal offenses covering conduct involving commerce in tobacco products. This bill, which is a companion to H.R. 5178, would add an offense covering commerce in tobacco production machines, which imposes new requirements to keep and maintain records on all transactions related to leasing, importing, exporting, or delivering such machines. The bill would also revise and expand the existing substantive offenses in § 5762....

S. 3302: Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 2010 This bill is a response to allegations regarding sudden acceleration by Toyota automobiles and related allegations regarding Toyota’s response to those claims. It includes provisions calling for the Secretary of Transportation to promulgate new safety standards. Sections 30118, 30119, and 30116 of Title 49, U.S. Code, already include provisions that require automobile manufacturers to notify the Secretary of Transportation and owners, purchasers, and dealers of vehicles of any safety defects w...

S. 3346: Outer Continental Lands Act Amendments of 2010 This bill is a response to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. It would increase the fine for those who “knowingly and willfully” violate the provisions of 43 U.S.C. § 1350(c). “Any person” who “knowingly and willfully” violates a subsection of § 1350(c) is subject to imprisonment for 10 years, a fine, or both, and the bill would increase the amount of the fine from $100,000 to $10 million. Section 1350(d) of Title 43 currently provides that, where a corporation or other entity is subject to...

S. 3415: Fair Pricing for Prescription Drugs Act This bill would establish an extensive regulatory framework for the importation of prescription drugs, providing for oversight and regulation of exporters, importers, drugs, and drug pricing. It would amend 21 U.S.C. § 331(aa) of the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act by adding the making of sales or trades of qualifying drugs outside the permitted circle and the making a false statement or representation in an application or required notice to the list of unlawful acts in § 331. Under 21 U....

S. 3427: Pre-Paid Mobile Device Identification Act This bill would regulate the sale of pre-paid cellular phones and other wireless communication devices, requiring that resellers be authorized by manufacturers or wireless carriers and that authorized resellers verify the identity of purchasers. Purchasers who provide false information would be guilty of making false official statements in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001 and punished accordingly. Any person who is not an authorized reseller and makes a sale would be subject to imprisonment for u...

S. 3431: Stop Cozy Relationships with Big Oil Act of 2010 This bill would add to the body of existing federal law criminalizing bribes, kickbacks, and gratuities involving federal government employees by barring employees of the Minerals Management Service (MMS), which has been under scrutiny because of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, from knowingly accepting gifts from any entity engaged in the business of mineral mining. Any person who violates that prohibition would be subject to imprisonment for up to 2 years, a fine ...

S. 3432: Working Capital Express Act of 2010 This bill would empower the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to guarantee up to 80 percent of the total loan amount up to a maximum of $750,000 of the loans made to small businesses that have been in business for at least 2 years before applying. Adding to the already vast body of federal false statement offenses, a “lender” that “knowingly” makes a false statement about the “income, assets, or other qualifications” of a borrower would be subject to imprisonment for up to 5 ye...

S. 3434: Home Star Energy Retrofit Act of 2010 This bill is an updated version of and replacement for S. 3177. It would establish a program to encourage the retrofitting of existing homes to increase their energy efficiency through the award of rebates for installing specified energy saving measures. The rebates would be paid to the contractors doing the work and passed through to the homeowner as a discount. Any violation, other than one resulting from a clerical error, of the Act or any regulations issued under it would be subject to civi...

S. 3466: Environmental Crimes Enforcement Act of 2010 Section 3663A of Title 18, U.S. Code, mandates that those convicted of certain crimes pay restitution to the victims of those crimes. This bill would add a wide range of conduct prohibited by the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, commonly known as the Clean Water Act, to the list of crimes for which restitution must be ordered as part of the sentence. Because restitution would be mandatory, federal courts would not have the discretionary authority to decide in any case that restitution is n...

S. 3468: Stop the Sale of Murderabilia to Protect the Dignity of Crime Victims Act of 2010 Subject to specified limitations, this bill would prohibit inmates convicted of violent crimes and incarcerated in federal and state prisons from “knowingly” mailing “any property, article, or object, with intent that the property, article, or object be placed in interstate or foreign commerce.” The exceptions would permit the mailing of title documents, mailings meant to satisfy any debt imposed by law or a court order, and mailings resulting from a contract for specified subjects. An inmate c...

S. 3538: National Cyber Infrastructure Protection Act of 2010 This bill would provide for the establishment of a National Cyber Center in the Department of Defense and would make it unlawful for an officer or employee of the United States or any federal agency to disclose “any cyber threat information protected from disclosure” that comes to that officer or employee in the course of his or her employment or official duties or through an investigation or report made to or filed with that official. Any person who makes such an unlawful disclosure would be s...

S. 3546: Cheaper Car Insurance Act of 2010 This bill would prohibit the knowing commission of auto insurance fraud, as well as acting as a runner, capper, or steerer in connection with, as an organizer of, or as a mastermind or leader of an auto insurance fraud operation. The bill defines the terms auto insurance fraud, mastermind or leader, organizer, and runner, capper, or steerer. It would also provide for increased punishment depending on the degree of responsibility, with the maximum term of imprisonment ranging from 5 years for k...

S. 3547: Price Gouging Act of 2010 This bill would make it unlawful for any person that sells gasoline or diesel fuel for resale or ultimate use to sell or offer to sell gasoline or diesel fuel at an “unconscionably excessive price” within 180 days after the President has declared a major disaster with respect to a particular area of the country. Using equally vague language, the bill defines an “unconscionably excessive price” to mean a price that represents a “gross disparity” between the price charged and the average price pr...

S. 3598: Secure Water Facilities Act This bill calls on the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to promulgate new regulations establishing risk-based performance standards for the security of public water systems that serve more than 3,300 people or otherwise present a security risk. The bill and regulations would also protect certain information from disclosure, including any vulnerability assessment of a water system, documents that relate to audits or inspections of covered systems, and documents relating...

S. 3599: Secure Chemical Facilities Act This bill would modify and make permanent the authority of the Department of Homeland Security to regulate security practices at chemical facilities. It would call for the risk-based designation and ranking of chemical facilities that possess substances of concern or meet other criteria established by the Secretary of DHS. The bill and regulations would also protect certain information from disclosure, including information related to the assessment of the vulnerability of a chemical facility,...

S. 3632: This bill, a nearly identical companion to H.R. 5044, includes provisions that would double the criminal penalties for specified knowing and willful wrongful acts in connection with federal health care programs and that would create a new offense for those who, knowingly, intentionally, and with the intent to defraud, “traffic” in Medicare or Medicaid beneficiary identification numbers or billing privileges. One subpart of 42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7b(a) prohibits the making of false statements or repre...

S. Amendment 2414: Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Requirements Amends the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2010 to include reporting requirements for complaints of criminal conduct on cruise vessels. Operators who fail to report crimes are subject to civil penalties and criminal penalties up to $250,000 and one year imprisonment.

S. Amendment 2787: Mandatory Minimum Sentences for Certain Health Care Fraud Crimes Amends S.Amdmt. 2786 (to H.R. 3590), the Senate Democratic leadership’s health care reform bill, to provide for a mandatory minimum sentence of six months imprisonment for any of several broadly defined health-care fraud offenses if they involve $100,000 or more.

S. Amendment 3272: Increased Penalties for Health Care Fraud Amends S.Amdmt. 2786 (to H.R. 3590), the Senate Democratic leadership’s health care reform bill, to provide for increased penalties for numerous acts of health care fraud. The amendment would increase criminal fines from $25,000 to $100,000, and increase maximum prison sentences from five years to 10 years, for health care fraud felonies—including false statements, bribes, and kickbacks—and would increase criminal fines from $10,000 to $20,000 for health care fraud misdemeanors. The amendment ...

S. Amendment 3806: This amendment is proposed for S. 3217, the Restore Financial Stability Act of 2010. It would add a provision to Section 15(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. § 780(a)) making registered brokers or dealers of securities or security based swaps fiduciaries in dealing with the investor and require the disclosure of “the specific facts relating to any actual or reasonably contemplated conflict of interest relating to that security or transaction or contemplated transaction.” It ...

S. Amendment 3966: This amendment is proposed for S. 3217, The American Financial Stability Act. As with S.A. 3977 and 3969, this amendment would add to the list of former government employees subject to post-employment restrictions on their activities. It would include officers and employees of the Securities and Exchange Commission and other financial regulatory agencies. It would prohibit those covered employees from “influenc[ing] any communication to, or appearance before any officer or employee of the cov...

S. Amendment 3969: This amendment is proposed for The Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010, the financial regulatory reform bill. This amendment includes the provision contained in S.A. 3977, as well as other provisions applicable to the proposed financial regulatory reform bill. Section 207 of Title 18, United States Code, restricts the lobbying activities of former officers, employees, and elected officials of the executive and legislative branches. As with S.A. 3977, this bill would add officer...

S. Amendment 3977: This amendment is proposed for S. 3217, The Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010, the proposed financial regulatory reform bill. Section 207 of Title 18, U.S. Code, currently restricts the lobbying activities of former officers, employees, and elected officials of the executive and legislative branches. This bill would add officers and employees of the Office of the Comptroller of the currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and other financial regulatory agencies fro...

S. Amendment 4265: This amendment was offered with respect to H.R. 4899, an emergency supplemental appropriations bill. The amendment would add a provision to 18 U.S.C. § 704 making it a crime to knowingly make a false statement or representation, including representations of participation in combat operations, about one’s record of service in the United States Armed Forces. A violation would be punishable by imprisonment for up to 6 months, a fine as authorized by Title 18, U.S. Code, or both.

S. Amendment 4486: This Amendment is proposed for H.R. 5297, which would create the Small Business Lending Fund Program. It addresses the Earned Income Credit (EIC) that can be claimed by some individual taxpayers. It would amend 18 U.S.C. § 1028A(a), to address the problem of identity theft involving the EIC. Any person who “knowingly transfers, possesses, or uses, without lawful authority” someone else’s means of identification or a false identification document in connection with a willful attempt to evade or...

S. Amendment 4488: The Amendment is proposed for H.R. 5297, which would create the Small Business Lending Fund Program. A participating lender that “knowingly makes a false statement with respect to the income, assets, or other qualifications of a small business concern” in connection with a loan or loan application would be subject to imprisonment for up to 5 years, a fine of $500,000, or both.