Govwatch

Introduced

In Committee

3

Passed One Chamber

4

Passed Both

5

Signed into Law

Sponsor

David Kustoff

Republican · TN · Representative

Votes with party: 98.6% (555 recorded votes)

Full profile: /officials/K000392

Source: Congress.gov · FEC

Cosponsors (28)

Members who have signed on to support this bill since introduction. Source: Congress.gov.

Latest Action

The most recent step in the bill's legislative path. Committee Activity below shows referrals and reports; the full action-by-action history including floor proceedings lives at Congress.gov →

Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

2025-01-09

Source: Congress.gov

Plain-English Summary

This bill would make "swatting"—the practice of making false emergency calls to send armed police to someone's home or workplace—a federal crime with serious penalties. The law would target people who deliberately file fake reports of violent crimes, hostage situations, or other emergencies to harass, intimidate, or endanger others. It affects anyone who might engage in this dangerous prank as well as the communities and emergency responders who waste resources responding to false calls.

AI-assisted summary generated from the official bill metadata (title, subjects, actions) sourced from Congress.gov. Cached and reviewed. Always verify against the official text linked below.

Subjects

Crime and Law Enforcement

Full Bill Text

Verbatim text published on Congress.gov via GovInfo. Use Cmd+F / Ctrl+F to search within this excerpt.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 286 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 286 To amend title 18, United States Code, to penalize false communications to cause an emergency response, and for other purposes. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES January 9, 2025 Mr. Kustoff (for himself, Mr. Rutherford, Mr. Moskowitz, Mr. Cuellar, Mr. Magaziner, Mr. Gottheimer, Mr. Ezell, and Ms. Lee of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To amend title 18, United States Code, to penalize false communications to cause an emergency response, 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 ``Preserving Safe Communities by Ending Swatting Act of 2025''. SEC. 2. FALSE COMMUNICATIONS TO CAUSE AN EMERGENCY RESPONSE. Section 1038 of title 18, United States Code, is amended-- (1) in subsection (a)(1), to read as follows: ``(1) In general.--Whoever engages in any conduct with intent to convey false or misleading information-- ``(A) under circumstances where such information may reasonably be believed and where such information indicates that an activity has taken, is taking, or will take place that would constitute a violation of chapter 2, 10, 11B, 39, 40, 44, 111, or 113B of this title, section 236 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2284), or section 46502, the second sentence of section 46504, section 46505(b)(3) or (c), section 46506 if homicide or attempted homicide is involved, or section 60123(b) of title 49; or ``(B) using the mail or any facility or means of interstate or foreign commerce, under circumstances where such information may reasonably be expected to cause an emergency response and the information indicates that conduct has taken, is taking, or will take place that constitutes a crime under State or Federal law or endangers public health or safety or the health or safety of any person, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both. If serious bodily injury results, the defendant shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both, and if death results, the defendant shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for any number of years up to life, or both.''; (2) in subsection (b), to read as follows: ``(b) Civil Action.--Whoever engages in any conduct with intent to convey false or misleading information-- ``(1) under circumstances where such information may reasonably be believed and where such information indicates that an activity has taken, is taking, or will take place that would constitute a violation of chapter 2, 10, 11B, 39, 40, 44, 111, or 113B of this title, section 236 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2284), or section 46502, the second sentence of section 46504, section 46505 (b)(3) or (c), section 46506 if homicide or attempted homicide is involved, or section 60123(b) of title 49; or ``(2) using the mail or any facility or means of interstate or foreign commerce, under circumstances where such information may reasonably be expected to cause an emergency response and the information indicates that conduct has taken, is taking, or will take place that constitutes a crime under State or Federal law or endangers public health or safety or the health or safety of any person, is liable in a civil action to any party incurring expenses incident to any emergency or investigative response to that conduct, for…

Show the remaining 90 words

those expenses.''; and (3) by adding at the end the following: ``(e) Definition.--In this section, the term `emergency response' means any deployment of personnel or equipment, order or advice to evacuate, or issuance of a warning to the public or a threatened person, organization, or establishment, by an agency of the United States or a State charged with public safety functions, including any agency charged with detecting, preventing, or investigating crimes or with fire or rescue functions, or by a private not-for-profit organization that provides fire or rescue functions.''. <all>

Open clean-text view Read on Congress.gov →

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