USA Patriot and Terrorism Prevention Reauthorization Act of 2005
USA PATRIOT AND TERRORISM PREVENTION REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2005 -- (House of Representatives - July 21, 2005)
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AMENDMENT NO. 4 OFFERED BY MRS. CAPITO
Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.
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Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Chairman, millions of Americans travel to work, school and other activities aboard trains, buses, planes, and other forms of mass transportation. Our railways are also a primary method of shipping raw materials and manufactured goods across the country.
The openness of our rail and mass transportation network makes it a target for terrorists who would attack our Nation. The network is also a target for people to make empty threats or disable on-track materials. These actions put rail employees and passengers at risk. Threats and sabotage against railways also harm interstate commerce by causing delays on important transportation corridors.
Richard Reid, now known as the Shoe Bomber, actually had a charge against him dismissed because current law does not explicitly define an airplane as a vehicle for the purpose of prosecuting. This amendment would change that and bring updated and uniform protections to all forms of railroad carriers and mass transportation providers.
My amendment establishes penalties of up to 20 years for a person who knowingly wrecks, derails, or sets fire to a rail or mass transportation vehicle or knowingly disables on-track equipment or signals. The same penalty applies for conspiracy or threats against a rail or mass transportation system.
The penalty is increased with life imprisonment with death-penalty eligibility if an attack results in the death of a person.
My amendment allows the courts to consider an attack against a train carrying hazardous materials as an aggravated circumstance. The amendment includes a 30-year minimum sentence for an attack on a train carrying high-level radioactive waste or spent nuclear fuel.
I first offered this amendment last October in the wake of the terrorist attack against the rail system in Madrid. The House passed this amendment on the 9/11 Commission Implementation Act, but it was removed in conference with the Senate. The tragic attacks on London on July 7 and another attack there earlier today have demonstrated again the dangers facing rail and transit systems in the U.S. and throughout the world.
We must not wait for another attack here at home to modernize our criminal penalties for attacks and sabotage against our transportation system.
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Chairman, will the gentlewoman yield?
Mrs. CAPITO. I yield to the gentleman from Wisconsin.
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to support the gentlewoman's amendment and believe that it is an important consolidation in the criminal law relative to attacks against mass transportation systems.
First, we should not have different crimes and different penalties depending upon which type of mass transportation system is attacked. We should have uniform penalties and uniform definitions of criminal activity so someone who attacks a railroad will get the same penalty as someone would in a similar attack against a subway system or a bus or an airplane.
Secondly, I think we have to broaden the definition of what is "attacked" to make sure that attacks against support systems for mass transportation systems are treated the same way as an attack against the transportation system itself. We should not have a lesser penalty if you put a bomb in the station than if you blow up a train while it is crossing a bridge over a big gorge.
And I also think we ought to ensure that terrorists who attack these systems are punished with appropriate severity. The gentlewoman's amendment does all of these things, and I would urge its support and unanimous adoption by the House.
Mrs. CAPITO. Reclaiming my time, I thank the gentleman for his support.
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Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I would like to respond to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott). I appreciate his comments.
The mandatory minimums in this amendment do not apply to threats or conspiracies. A person found guilty of a threat or conspiracy could face a sentence up to 20 years. A 30-year mandatory sentence is required for someone who attacks a train carrying nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. Quite frankly, I think that is extremely appropriate and severe, and what we are trying to do here is create these statutes as a deterrent.
Certainly I agree we need to put money into port security around the Nation, and we are doing that; but we need to go at this problem of terrorism with a full frontal attack.
I would like to say when we considered this, this amendment has been around for about a year. We considered it last year and the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott) asked that we consider it in the PATRIOT Act and that is what we are dealing with today. So I think it is appropriate.
Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. CONYERS. Right. Is the author of the amendment here?
I was wondering if this was sent over to the chairman of the committee at some earlier point in time.
Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. CONYERS. I yield to the gentlewoman from West Virginia.
Mrs. CAPITO. Yes. This is the identical amendment that was considered last year in October, and it was also passed in the House Intelligence Reauthorization Act that we passed. So this amendment has been considered several times in this House.
Mr. CONYERS. Reclaiming my time, I am sorry I was not on the committee the day they had the hearing, but normally death penalty matters are not brought to the floor this way. Normally I thought it was the jurisdiction of the Subcommittee on Criminal Justice in the Committee on the Judiciary of the House that would be considering this matter.
The Acting CHAIRMAN. The gentlewoman from West Virginia (Mrs. Capito) has 30 seconds remaining. The gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott) has the right to close.
Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Chairman, I would say in closing this has been considered in the past. It has passed. It passed on a voice vote last October. I think in view of what is happening to the mass transit systems around the world, we have heard a lot of hue and cry about helping to protect our mass transit systems in this country. And I think by making standard criminal penalties, we are going a step in the right direction to use these penalties as a deterrence to terrorism on our mass transit and rail systems. I urge passage of the amendment.
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