Jaime Zapata and Victor Avila Federal Law Enforcement Protection Act

Jaime Zapata and Victor Avila Federal Law Enforcement Protection Act

This bill explicitly grants extraterritorial jurisdiction over criminal conduct involving the killing (or attempted killing) of a federal officer or employee. The United States may prosecute such conduct that occurs outside the United States.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6864 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6864

To amend title 18, United States Code, to further protect officers and 
        employees of the United States, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 14, 2020

    Mr. Cuellar (for himself, Mr. McCaul, and Mr. King of New York) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                             the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 18, United States Code, to further protect officers and 
        employees of the United States, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Jaime Zapata and Victor Avila 
Federal Law Enforcement Protection Act''.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) since the founding of the Nation, officers and 
        employees of the United States Government have dutifully and 
        faithfully served the United States overseas, including in 
        situations that place them at serious risk of death or bodily 
        harm, in order to preserve, protect, and defend the interests 
        of the United States;
            (2) securing the safety of such officers and employees 
        while serving overseas is of paramount importance and is also 
        in furtherance of preserving, protecting, and defending the 
        interests of the United States;
            (3) Federal courts, including the United States Court of 
        Appeals for the Second Circuit, the United States Court of 
        Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and the United States Court of 
        Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, have correctly interpreted 
        section 1114 of title 18, United States Code, to apply 
        extraterritorially to protect officers and employees of the 
        United States while the officers and employees are serving 
        abroad; and
            (4) recently, in a case involving a violent attack against 
        Federal law enforcement officers Jaime Zapata and Victor Avila, 
        a panel of a Federal court of appeals held that section 1114 of 
        title 18, United States Code, does not apply 
        extraterritorially, creating a split among the United States 
        circuit courts of appeals; and in light of the opinion 
        described in paragraph (4), it has become necessary for 
        Congress to clarify the original intent that section 1114 of 
        title 18, United States Code applies extraterritorially.

SEC. 3. PROTECTION OF OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES OF THE UNITED STATES.

    Section 1114 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(a) In General.--'' before ``Whoever''; 
        and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(b) Extraterritorial Jurisdiction.--There is extraterritorial 
jurisdiction over the conduct prohibited by this section.''.
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