Congressional Record: September 6, 2006 (Senate) Page S9045-S9046 STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS By Mr. KYL (for himself, Mr. DeWine, and Mr. Cornyn): S. 3848. A bill to amend title 18, United States Code, to support the war [[Page S9046]] on terrorism, and for other purposes; to the Committee on the Judiciary. Mr. KYL. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Terrorism Prevention Act of 2006. This Act will enhance and improve the statutes governing material support for terrorism, protection of classified information, terrorist hoaxes, and terrorist murders and assaults. Specifically, the TPA expands the reach of statutes punishing material support for terrorism, making it a crime to reward the family of a suicide bomber or other terrorist with the intent to facilitate terrorism, and increases penalties for existing material support offenses; clarifies and improves the Classified Information Procedures Act in light of the lessons learned in the Moussaoui trial; expands the reach of the terrorist hoax statute, and increases penalties for hoaxes about the deaths of U.S. soldiers during wartime; increases penalties for terrorist murders, kidnappings, and assaults committed overseas against U.S. nationals, and increases penalties for terrorist crimes resulting in death; and improves the United States's ability to investigate terrorist crimes by protecting the confidentiality of FISA investigations, authorizing multi-district search warrants in terrorism cases, and increasing penalties for obstruction of justice in terrorism cases. I ask unanimous consent that a section by section analysis of the Terrorism Prevention Act be printed in the Record. There being no objection, the text of the analysis was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows: The Terrorism Prevention Act of 2006 Section by Section Analysis SECTION 2. MATERIAL SUPPORT Subsection (a) creates a new offense, 18 U.S.C. Sec. 2339E, of giving material benefits to the family or associates of someone who has committed a terrorist act, if the benefit is given with the intent to reward, encourage, or facilitate terrorism. Section 2339E applies overseas to the extent that the offenses are linked to interstate or foreign commerce, are targeted at the United States or its people or property, or the offender is a U.S. national or resident. The offense is punishable by imprisonment for ten years to life. This new offense would punish those individuals who encourage or embolden suicide bombers by rewarding their families after such bombings occur. Subsection (b) increases penalties for existing material support offenses as follows: Sec. 2339A, giving material support to aid a terrorist act, 10 years to life; Sec. 2339B, giving material support to a designated terrorist organization, 5 to 25 years; and Sec. 2339D, receiving military-type training from a terrorist organization, 3 to 15 years. The Sec. 2339A and B penalties have not been increased since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Subsection (c) eliminates a loophole in current law that would allow an individual to give an unlimited amount of medical or religious supplies to a designated terrorist organization. This loophole, which was recently criticized by a judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals, could allow a terrorist organization to receive large amounts of supplies that it could either resell in exchange for cash or distribute in its local area in order to build support and gain recruits. Subsection (d) amends Sec. 2339D to bar attempts or conspiracies to obtain military-type training from a terrorist organization. Subsection (e) bars convicted terrorist from receiving federal benefits. SECTION 3. IMPROVEMENTS TO CIPA This section implements a number of lessons learned during the use of the Classified Information Procedures Act during the trial of suspected 20th hijacker Zacarias Moussaoui. Subsection (b) authorizes interlocutory appeals of any order for access to classified information. In the Moussaoui case, the Fourth Circuit determined that CIPA allows interlocutory appeals only of orders entered under CIPA itself, not orders entered under other authority. One judge of that Court noted that, although compelled by the text of CIPA, this result frustrates Congress's intent to allow prompt review of disputes over disclosure of classified information. Subsection (c) allows requests for CIPA protection to be made ex parte. Sometimes a request for protection of classified information cannot be made publicly without itself compromising classified information. This subsection also ensures that requests for CIPA protection shall remain sealed, regardless of whether they are accepted or denied, and codifies the current practice of allowing such requests to be made orally. Subsection (d) clarifies that CIPA applies to evidence obtained from nondocumentary sources, such as depositions of witnesses. In the Moussaoui case, the Fourth Circuit determined that CIPA technically only applies to documentary information and information that the defense might disclose during trial. The Court nevertheless looked to CIPA to develop a framework for protecting classified information during depositions. This subsection effectively codifies the Fourth Circuit's approach by formally applying CIPA to nondocumentary sources of evidence, such as depositions. SECTION 4. TERRORIST HOAXES This section amends the terrorist hoax statute so that it punishes hoaxes relating to terrorist offenses that inexplicably were excluded from the current hoax law. For example, current law does not punish hoaxes related to the taking of hostages in order to coerce the federal government (18 U.S.C. 1203), hoaxes related to blowing up an energy facility (18 U.S.C. 1366(a)), hoaxes related to terrorist attacks on military bases aimed at undermining national defense (18 U.S.C. 2156), or hoaxes related to attacks on railways and mass-transportation facilities, such as the recent London bombings (18 U.S.C. 1992-93). This section adds these terrorist crimes to the predicates for the terrorist hoax statute. This section also increases the penalties for hoaxes about the death, injury, or capture of a U.S. soldier during wartime. Unfortunately, there have been a number of incidents in which individuals have contacted the families of US. soldiers serving in Iraq, pretended to represent the military or other official organizations, and falsely told the family that their son, brother, or other relative had been killed. This section would punish such hoaxes with imprisonment for 2 to 10 years. If the hoax resulted in serious bodily injury, it would be punished by 5 to 25 years, and if it resulted in death, 10 years to life. This section also clarifies that the offense of mailing threatening communications applies to threats made against organizations as well as individuals. SECTION 5. TERRORIST MURDERS, KIDNAPPINGS, AND ASSAULTS This section expands 18 U.S.C. Sec. 2332, which punishes murder or assault of U.S. nationals overseas for terrorist purposes, to also include kidnappings of U.S. nationals overseas that are carried out for terrorist purposes, and clarifies that sexual assault qualifies as serious bodily injury for purposes of the section's assault prohibitions. This section also increases penalties for terrorist murders and assaults, such that a murder of a U.S. national overseas that is carried out for terrorist purposes would be punished by imprisonment for at least 30 years, and an assault resulting in serious bodily injury would be punished by imprisonment for 10 years to life. ``Serious bodily injury'' is defined by federal statute to mean bodily injury accompanied by a substantial risk of death, extreme physical pain, protracted and obvious disfigurement, or protracted loss or impairment of the function of a bodily member, organ, or mental faculty. This section also creates a new offense of committing a terrorist crime while engaging in conduct that results in death. This new offense is punishable by death or imprisonment for 20 years up to life. This section also makes eligible for capital punishment existing offenses resulting in death that involve the use of nuclear weapons, anti-aircraft missiles, radiological bombs, and variola (smallpox) virus, and increases to 15 years to life the penalties for aiding a foreign terrorist organization or state sponsor of terrorism's WMD program or developing, possessing, using, or threatening to use a radiological weapon. SECTION 6. INVESTIGATION OF TERRORIST CRIMES Subsection (a) limits FISA notification requirements so that the government is not required to inform an individual seeking an immigration benefit if FISA information was used to deny their application. Such notice effectively informs such an individual that he or his associates have been the target of an intelligence investigation. The United States should not be required to compromise an intelligence investigation in order to exclude a foreign national with ties to terrorism from the United States. Subsection (b) authorizes federal judges to authorize search warrants that may be used in multiple judicial districts for purposes of terrorism investigations. Such investigations often require searches to be conducted in different parts of the country at the same time. Subsection (c) increases the potential penalties for obstruction of justice in the course of a terrorism investigation by making the maximum penalty ten years' imprisonment. ______