This bill provides statutory authority for a June 26, 2020, executive order directing various agencies to take actions related to protecting monuments, memorials, and statues from vandalism, such as ordering the Department of Justice to prioritize the investigation and prosecution of cases involving vandalism of a monument, government property, or religious property.
[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7643 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7643
To set forth the policy of the United States regarding vandalism, and
for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 16, 2020
Mrs. Lesko (for herself, Mr. Hice of Georgia, Mr. Fulcher, Mr. Biggs,
Mr. Harris, Mr. Norman, Mr. Duncan, Mr. DesJarlais, Mr. Davidson of
Ohio, Mr. Roy, Mr. Cloud, Mr. Wright, Mr. Marshall, Mr. Yoho, Mr. Budd,
Mr. Gosar, Mr. Gibbs, Mr. Steube, and Mr. Guest) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary,
and in addition to the Committees on Oversight and Reform, and Armed
Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the
jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To set forth the policy of the United States regarding vandalism, 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. PURPOSE.
The purpose of this Act is as follows:
(1) The first duty of government is to ensure domestic
tranquility and defend the life, property, and rights of its
citizens. Recently, there has been a sustained assault on the
life and property of civilians, law enforcement officers,
government property, and revered American monuments such as the
Lincoln Memorial. Many of the rioters, arsonists, and
extremists who have carried out and supported these acts have
explicitly identified themselves with ideologies--such as
Marxism--that call for the destruction of the United States
system of government.
(2) Anarchists and extremists have sought to advance a
fringe ideology that paints the United States of America as
fundamentally unjust and have sought to impose that ideology on
Americans through violence and mob intimidation. They have led
riots in the streets, burned police vehicles, killed and
assaulted government officers as well as business owners
defending their property, and even seized an area within one
city where law and order gave way to anarchy. During the
unrest, innocent citizens also have been harmed and killed.
(3) These criminal acts are frequently planned and
supported by agitators who have traveled across State lines to
promote their own violent agenda. These radicals shamelessly
attack the legitimacy of our institutions and the very rule of
law itself.
(4) Key targets in the violent extremists' campaign against
our country are public monuments, memorials, and statues. Their
selection of targets reveals a deep ignorance of our history,
and is indicative of a desire to indiscriminately destroy
anything that honors our past and to erase from the public mind
any suggestion that our past may be worth honoring, cherishing,
remembering, or understanding. For example, vandals toppled a
statue of President Ulysses S. Grant in San Francisco. To them,
it made no difference that President Grant led the Union Army
to victory over the Confederacy in the Civil War, enforced
Reconstruction, fought the Ku Klux Klan, and advocated for the
Fifteenth Amendment, which guaranteed freed slaves the right to
vote. In Charlotte, North Carolina, the names of 507 veterans
memorialized on a World War II monument were painted over with
a symbol of communism. In Boston, a memorial commemorating an
African-American regiment that fought in the Civil War was
defaced with graffiti. In Madison, Wisconsin, rioters knocked
over the statue of an abolitionist immigrant who fought for the
Union during the Civil War. Christian figures are now in the
crosshairs, too. Recently, an influential activist for one
movement that has been prominent in setting the agenda for
demonstrations in recent weeks declared that many existing
religious depictions of Jesus and the Holy Family should be
purged from our places of worship.
(5) Individuals and organizations have the right to
peacefully advocate for either the removal or the construction
of any monument. But no individual or group has the right to
damage, deface, or remove any monument by use of force.
(6) In the midst of these attacks, many State and local
governments appear to have lost the ability to distinguish
between the lawful exercise of rights to free speech and
assembly and unvarnished vandalism. They have surrendered to
mob rule, imperiling community safety, allowing for the
wholesale violation of our laws, and privileging the violent
impulses of the mob over the rights of law-abiding citizens.
Worse, they apparently have lost the will or the desire to
stand up to the radical fringe and defend the fundamental truth
that America is good, her people are virtuous, and that justice
prevails in this country to a far greater extent than anywhere
else in the world. Some particularly misguided public officials
even appear to have accepted the idea that violence can be
virtuous and have prevented their police from enforcing the law
and protecting public monuments, memorials, and statues from
the mob's ropes and graffiti.
SEC. 2. POLICY.
(a) It is the policy of the United States to prosecute to the
fullest extent permitted under Federal law, and as appropriate, any
person or any entity that destroys, damages, vandalizes, or desecrates
a monument, memorial, or statue within the United States or otherwise
vandalizes government property. The desire of the Congress to protect
Federal property is clearly reflected in section 1361 of title 18,
United States Code, which authorizes a penalty of up to 10 years'
imprisonment for the willful injury of Federal property. More recently,
under the Veterans' Memorial Preservation and Recognition Act of 2003,
section 1369 of title 18, United States Code, the Congress punished
with the same penalties the destruction of Federal and in some cases
State-maintained monuments that honor military veterans. Other criminal
statutes, such as the Travel Act, section 1952 of title 18, United
States Code, permit prosecutions of arson damaging monuments,
memorials, and statues on State grounds in some cases. Civil statutes
like the Public System Resource Protection Act, section 100722 of title
54, United States Code, also hold those who destroy certain Federal
property accountable for their offenses. The Federal Government will
not tolerate violations of these and other laws.
(b) It is the policy of the United States to prosecute to the
fullest extent permitted under Federal law, and as appropriate, any
person or any entity that participates in efforts to incite violence or
other illegal activity in connection with the riots and acts of
vandalism described in section 1. Numerous Federal laws, including
section 2101 of title 18, United States Code, prohibit the violence
that has typified the past few weeks in some cities. Other statutes
punish those who participate in or assist the agitators who have
coordinated these lawless acts. Such laws include section 371 of title
18, United States Code, which criminalizes certain conspiracies to
violate Federal law, section 2 of title 18, United States Code, which
punishes those who aid or abet the commission of Federal crimes, and
section 2339A of title 18, United States Code, which prohibits as
material support to terrorism efforts to support a defined set of
Federal crimes. Those who have joined in recent violent acts around the
United States will be held accountable.
(c) It is the policy of the United States to prosecute to the
fullest extent permitted under Federal law, and as appropriate, any
person or any entity that damages, defaces, or destroys religious
property, including by attacking, removing, or defacing depictions of
Jesus or other religious figures or religious art work. Federal laws
prohibit, under certain circumstances, damage or defacement of
religious property, including the Church Arson Prevention Act of 1996,
section 247 of title 18, United States Code, and section 371 of title
18, United States Code. The Federal Government will not tolerate
violations of these laws designed to protect the free exercise of
religion.
(d) It is the policy of the United States, as appropriate and
consistent with applicable law, to withhold Federal support tied to
public spaces from State and local governments that have failed to
protect public monuments, memorials, and statues from destruction or
vandalism. These jurisdictions' recent abandonment of their law
enforcement responsibilities with respect to public monuments,
memorials, and statues casts doubt on their willingness to protect
other public spaces and maintain the peace within them. These
jurisdictions are not appropriate candidates for limited Federal funds
that support public spaces.
(e) It is the policy of the United States, as appropriate and
consistent with applicable law, to withhold Federal support from State
and local law enforcement agencies that have failed to protect public
monuments, memorials, and statues from destruction or vandalism.
Unwillingness to enforce State and local laws in the face of attacks on
our history, whether because of sympathy for the extremists behind this
violence or some other improper reason, casts doubt on the management
of these law enforcement agencies. These law enforcement agencies are
not appropriate candidates for limited Federal funds that support State
and local police.
SEC. 3. ENFORCING LAWS PROHIBITING THE DESECRATION OF PUBLIC MONUMENTS,
THE VANDALISM OF GOVERNMENT PROPERTY, AND RECENT ACTS OF
VIOLENCE.
(a) In General.--The Attorney General shall prioritize within the
Department of Justice the investigation and prosecution of matters
described in subsections (a), (b), and (c) of section 2. The Attorney
General shall take all appropriate enforcement action against
individuals and organizations found to have violated Federal law
through these investigations.
(b) Coordination With States and Localities.--The Attorney General
shall, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, work with
State and local law enforcement authorities and Federal agencies to
ensure the Federal Government appropriately provides information and
assistance to State and local law enforcement authorities in connection
with their investigations or prosecutions for the desecration of
monuments, memorials, and statues, regardless of whether such
structures are situated on Federal property.
SEC. 4. LIMITING FEDERAL GRANTS FOR JURISDICTIONS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT
AGENCIES THAT PERMIT THE DESECRATION OF MONUMENTS,
MEMORIALS, OR STATUES.
The heads of all executive departments and agencies shall examine
their respective grant programs and apply the policies established by
subsections (d) and (e) of section 2 to all such programs to the extent
that such application is both appropriate and consistent with
applicable law.
SEC. 5. PROVIDING ASSISTANCE FOR THE PROTECTION OF FEDERAL MONUMENTS,
MEMORIALS, STATUES, AND PROPERTY.
Upon the request of the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary
of Homeland Security, or the Administrator of General Services, the
Secretary of Defense, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of
Homeland Security shall provide, as appropriate and consistent with
applicable law, personnel to assist with the protection of Federal
monuments, memorials, statues, or property. This section shall
terminate 6 months from the date of this Act unless extended by
Congress.
SEC. 6. GENERAL PROVISIONS.
(a) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed
to impair or otherwise affect--
(1) the authority granted by law to an executive department
or agency, or the head thereof; or
(2) the functions of the Director of the Office of
Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or
legislative proposals.
(b) Consistency With Existing Law.--This Act shall be implemented
consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of
appropriations.
(c) No Rights Created.--This Act is not intended to, and does not,
create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at
law or in equity by any party against the United States, its
departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents,
or any other person.
(d) Prosecutorial Discretion.--This Act is not intended to, and
does not, affect the prosecutorial discretion of the Department of
Justice with respect to individual cases.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Oversight and Reform, and Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Oversight and Reform, and Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Oversight and Reform, and Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
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