Omnibus Counterterrorism Act of 1995

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Title I: Substantive Criminal Law Enhancements

Title II: Immigration Law Improvements

Title III: Controls Over Terrorist Fund-Raising

Title IV: Convention on the Marking of Plastic Explosives

Title V: Nuclear Materials

Title VI: Procedural and Technical Corrections and

Improvements

Title VII: Antiterrorism Assistance

Title VIII: Substantive Investigative Enhancements

Title IX: Substantive Prosecutive Enhancements

Title X: Criminal Penalties

Title XI: Funding

Omnibus Counterterrorism Act of 1995 - Title I: Substantive Criminal Law Enhancements - Amends the Federal criminal code to establish penalties for acts of terrorism transcending national boundaries. Sets forth provisions regarding limits on prosecution, investigative responsibility, evidence, extraterritorial jurisdiction, the statute of limitations, and detention.

(Sec. 102) Sets penalties for conspiring to kill, kidnap, or maim people in (currently, limited to injuring property of) a foreign government.

(Sec. 103) Makes penalties for an individual committing an offense on an aircraft in flight outside the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States applicable regardless of whether such individual is later found in the United States.

Grants jurisdiction over such an offense if: (1) a U.S. national was or would have been on board the aircraft; (2) an offender is a U.S. national; or (3) an offender is found in the United States.

Provides that if the victim of specified offenses is an internationally protected person outside the United States, the United States may exercise jurisdiction if: (1) the victim is a representative, officer, employee, or agent of the United States; (2) an offender is a U.S. national; or (3) an offender is found in the United States.

Title II: Immigration Law Improvements - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to establish procedures for the removal and expulsion of alien terrorists.

Specifies that an alien subject to removal under these provisions shall have no right to discovery of information derived from electronic surveillance authorized for national security purposes, nor shall such alien have the right to seek the suppression of evidence. Authorizes the Government to use in removal proceedings the fruits of electronic surveillance, unconsented physical searches, or both, authorized under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) the conduct of a special removal hearing; and (2) the treatment of classified information, appeals, the right to counsel, standards of proof, the designation of judges, and deportation.

Establishes penalties for reentry of an alien who was deported pursuant to this title.

(Sec. 202) Revises INA provisions regarding the exclusion of an alien for terrorism activities. Considers an alien who is a representative of any terrorist organization designated by proclamation by the President as detrimental to the interest of the United States to be engaged in such activities.

Defines: (1) "terrorist organization" to mean any organization engaged, or which has a significant subgroup engaged, in terrorism activity, regardless of any legitimate activities conducted by the organization or subgroups; and (2) "terrorism" to mean premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets.

Limits the access of aliens to records, documents, and classified information under specified circumstances.

(Sec. 203) Allows the Attorney General (and, in some cases, an employee or official of the Department of Justice or any bureau or agency thereof) to authorize an application to a Federal court of competent jurisdiction for, and allows a judge of such court to grant, an order authorizing disclosure of information contained in an alien's application for adjustment of status for: (1) identification of an alien believed to have been killed or severely incapacitated; or (2) criminal law enforcement purposes against the alien if the alleged criminal activity occurred after the legalization application was filed and such activity poses an immediate risk to life or national security or would be prosecutable as an aggravated felony, without regard to the length of sentence that could be imposed on the applicant.

Title III: Controls Over Terrorist Fund-Raising - Amends the Federal criminal code to authorize the President to regulate or prohibit within the United States or by any person subject to U.S. jurisdiction: (1) fund-raising or the provision of funds for use by or for the benefit of any foreign organization that the President has designated as being engaged in terrorism activities; or (2) financial transactions with any such foreign organization.

Permits the President to revoke such designation, in whole or in part, when conditions so warrant. Makes any finding made in such designation that a foreign organization engages in terrorism activity conclusive.

Prohibits any person within, or subject to the jurisdiction of, the United States: (1) from raising, receiving, or collecting funds on behalf of, or providing funds to or for, an organization or person so designated; and (2) acting for or on behalf of any organization or person so designated, from transferring or disposing of any funds in which such organization or person has an interest.

Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to publish regulations setting forth the procedures to be followed by persons seeking to raise or provide funds for an organization so designated. Requires any person within the United States or subject to its jurisdiction who seeks to solicit funds for or to transfer funds to any organization or person so designated to first obtain a license from the Secretary (and thereafter allows solicitation or transfer of funds to a designated organization or person only as permitted under the terms of a license issued by the Secretary).

Directs the Secretary to grant a license only after the person establishes that: (1) the funds are intended to be used exclusively for religious, charitable, literary, or educational purposes; and (2) all recipient organizations in any fund-raising chain have effective procedures in place to ensure that the funds will be used exclusively for such purposes and will not be used to offset a transfer of funds for terrorist activity. Sets forth recordkeeping requirements.

Requires any financial institution which becomes aware that it has possession of or control over any funds in which an organization or person so designated has an interest to retain possession of or maintain control over such funds and report to the Secretary the existence of such funds. Sets penalties for violations of this provision.

Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) investigations; (2) recordkeeping and reporting requirements and civil procedures; (3) penalties; (4) injunctions; (5) extraterritorial jurisdiction; (6) interlocutory appeals and the discovery and introduction of classified information in civil proceedings brought by the United States.

Title IV: Convention on the Marking of Plastic Explosives - Marking of Plastic Explosives for Detection Act - Prohibits (with exceptions) the manufacture, importation, exportation, shipment, transport, transfer, receipt, or possession of any plastic explosive which does not contain a detection agent.

Prohibits any person (other than a U.S. agency or the National Guard of any State) possessing any plastic explosive on the effective date of this Act from failing to report to the Secretary the quantity of such explosives possessed, the manufacturer or importer, any identification marks, and such other information as the Secretary may prescribe.

(Sec. 405) Sets forth: (1) penalties for violations of this title; and (2) affirmative defenses.

(Sec. 407) Directs the Attorney General to exercise authority over violations of this title only when they are committed by a member of a terrorist or revolutionary group (and, in such case, the Attorney General shall have primary investigative responsibility).

Title V: Nuclear Materials - Amends the Federal criminal code to expand the scope of provisions regarding prohibited transactions involving nuclear materials (for example, to include nuclear byproduct material) and the jurisdictional bases (such as to cover a situation where an offender or a victim is a U.S. national or a U.S. corporation or other legal entity).

Title VI: Procedural and Technical Corrections and Improvements - Amends the Federal criminal code to expand the provision regarding the use of weapons of mass destruction to cover threats to use such weapons. Subjects to the death penalty any U.S. national who, outside of the United States, uses or threatens, attempts, or conspires to use a weapon of mass destruction.

(Sec. 603) Makes specified terrorist offenses predicates to a violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.

(Sec. 604) Adds terrorism offenses to the money laundering statute.

(Sec. 605) Authorizes interceptions of communications in certain terrorism related offenses.

(Sec. 606) Revises provisions of the Federal criminal code to provide that there is U.S. jurisdiction over specified maritime violence: (1) regardless of whether the activity is prohibited by the State in which it takes place; and (2) committed by a U.S. national or by a stateless person whose habitual residence is in the United States regardless of whether the activity takes place on a ship flying the flag of a foreign country or outside the United States.

(Sec. 607) Expands Federal jurisdiction over bomb threats.

(Sec. 608) Increases the penalty for explosives-related conspiracies.

(Sec. 609) Includes assaults, murders, and threats against former Federal officials on account of the performance of their official duties within the scope of provisions proscribing influencing, impeding, or retaliating against a Federal official by threatening or injuring a family member.

(Sec. 610) Adds conspiracy to specified terrorism-related offenses.

Title VII: Antiterrorism Assistance - Revises the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to: (1) authorize antiterrorism training services conducted outside the United States during a period of not more than 180 (currently, 30) days; and (2) require U.S. Government personnel authorized to advise foreign countries on antiterrorism matters to carry out their responsibilities within the United States when determined most effective or outside the United States for periods not to exceed 180 consecutive calendar days.

Repeals a provision prohibiting funds made available for antiterrorism assistance from being used for personnel compensation or benefits.

Title VIII: Substantive Investigative Enhancements - Amends the Federal criminal code to require that any application for an order or an extension of an order for a pen register or a trap and trace device, with respect to foreign counterintelligence and international terrorism investigations conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), include: (1) the identity of the attorney for the Government and the fact that the investigation is being conducted by the FBI; and (2) a certification by the applicant that the information likely to be obtained is relevant to an ongoing foreign counterintelligence or international terrorism investigation being conducted by the FBI. Directs that all such applications and orders be maintained by the FBI.

(Sec. 802) Amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act to require a consumer reporting agency (CRA) to furnish to the FBI the names and addresses of all financial institutions at which the consumer maintains or has maintained an account when presented with a written request for such information, signed by the Director of the FBI, which certifies compliance with this section.

Authorizes such certification upon a written determination by that official that: (1) such information is necessary for the conduct of an authorized foreign counterintelligence investigation; and (2) there are specific and articulable facts giving reason to believe that the consumer is a foreign power or a person who is not a U.S. person and is an official of a foreign power or is an agent of a foreign power and is engaging in or has engaged in international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities that involve a violation of U.S. criminal statutes.

Sets forth provisions regarding CRA furnishing of identifying information respecting a consumer, court orders for disclosure of consumer reports, confidentiality, payment of fees, limits on dissemination, damages and disciplinary actions for violations (with a good faith exception), limits on remedies, and injunctive relief.

(Sec. 803) Requires the Secretary to conduct a study and make recommendations concerning: (1) the tagging of explosive materials for purposes of detection and identification; (2) whether common chemicals used to manufacture explosive materials can be rendered inert and whether it is feasible to require it; and (3) whether controls can be imposed on certain precursor chemicals used to manufacture explosive materials and whether it is feasible to require it. Authorizes appropriations.

Prohibits the manufacture, importation, receipt, possession, or distribution of any explosive material that does not contain a tracer element. Permits the Secretary to provide for the addition of tracer elements to explosive materials manufactured in or imported into the United States.

(Sec. 804) Amends the Federal criminal code to require any common carrier, public accommodation facility, physical storage facility, or vehicle rental facility to comply with a request for records in its possession by the FBI when the Director certifies in writing that such records are sought for foreign counterintelligence purposes and that there are specific and articulable facts giving reason to believe that the person to whom the records pertain is a foreign power or agent of a foreign power. Limits disclosure.

(Sec. 805) Makes provisions regarding the prohibition of the use as evidence of intercepted wire or oral communications inapplicable to the disclosure by the United States in a criminal trial or hearing or before a grand jury of the contents of a wire or oral communication, or evidence derived therefrom, unless the violation involved bad faith by law enforcement.

(Sec. 806) Grants authorization for interception of wire, oral, or electronic communications in cases involving terrorism-related or explosives felonies. Excludes from the definition of "electronic communication" information stored in a communication system used for the electronic storage and transfer of funds.

(Sec. 807) Grants temporary emergency wiretap authority involving terrorist crimes and expanded authority for roving wiretaps.

(Sec. 809) Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) enhanced access to telephone billing records; (2) a requirement to preserve evidence; and (3) permission to request military assistance with respect to offenses involving chemical and biological weapons.

Prohibits and sets penalties for the use of chemical weapons against: (1) a U.S. national outside of the United States; (2) any person within the United States; or (3) any property owned, leased, or used by the United States anywhere.

(Sec. 812) Authorizes the Attorney General to pay rewards and receive from any U.S. department or agency funds for the payment of rewards to any individual who assists the Department of Justice in performing its functions.

Title IX: Substantive Prosecutive Enhancement - Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit the possession, or pledge or acceptance as security for a loan, of stolen explosive materials moving in interstate or foreign commerce.

(Sec. 902) Revises provisions regarding the protection of U.S. officers and employees to set penalties for killing or attempting to kill any U.S. official or judge, Federal law enforcement officer, member of the uniformed services, or any other U.S. officer or employee of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch while such officer or employee is engaged in, or on account of the performance of, official duties or any person assisting such individual in the performance of such duties.

Sets penalties for threats to assault, kidnap, or murder an immediate family member of any person who formerly served as a U.S. official or judge, a Federal law enforcement officer, or other specified officials, with intent to retaliate against that person for the performance of official duties. Title X: Criminal Penalties - duties.

Title X: Criminal Penalties - Sets mandatory penalties for transferring a firearm or explosive material knowing that it will be used to commit a crime of violence.

(Sec. 1003) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the period of limitations under the National Firearms Act for offenses relating to firearms and other devices.

Title XI: Funding - Amends the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act to provide for a surcharge of 40 percent of the principal amount of any civil monetary penalty to be added to each such penalty at the time it is assessed by the United States or an agency thereof. Directs that payments relating to a civil monetary penalty be applied in the following order: (1) to costs; (2) to principal; (3) to such surcharges; and (4) to interest. Makes such provisions inapplicable to any civil monetary penalty assessed under the Internal Revenue Code.

Establishes in the Treasury the Department of Justice Telecommunications Carrier Compliance Fund. Authorizes appropriations. Provides for offsetting collections and termination of the Fund.