I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 1551
To amend title 18, United States Code, to punish criminal offenses targeting
law enforcement officers, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY25, 2025
Mr. R
UTHERFORD(for himself, Mr. GOTTHEIMER, Mr. STAUBER, Mr. GOLD-
ENof Maine, Mr. HERNof Oklahoma, and Mr. FITZGERALD) introduced
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To amend title 18, United States Code, to punish criminal
offenses targeting law enforcement officers, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protect and Serve Act 4
of 2025’’. 5
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SEC. 2. CRIMES TARGETING LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFI-1
CERS. 2
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Chapter 7 of title 18, United 3
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-4
lowing: 5
‘‘§ 120. Crimes targeting law enforcement officers 6
‘‘(a) I
NGENERAL.—Whoever, in any circumstance 7
described in subsection (b), willfully causes serious bodily 8
injury to a person because of that person’s status as a 9
law enforcement officer, or attempts to do so— 10
‘‘(1) shall be imprisoned not more than 10 11
years, fined in accordance with this title, or both; 12
and 13
‘‘(2) shall be imprisoned for any term of years 14
or for life, fined in accordance with this title, or 15
both, if— 16
‘‘(A) death results from the offense; or 17
‘‘(B) the offense includes kidnapping or an 18
attempt to kidnap, or an attempt to kill. 19
‘‘(b) C
IRCUMSTANCESDESCRIBED.—For purposes of 20
subsection (a), the circumstances described in this sub-21
section are that— 22
‘‘(1) the conduct described in subsection (a) oc-23
curs during the course of, or as the result of, the 24
travel of the defendant or the victim— 25
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‘‘(A) across a State line or national border; 1
or 2
‘‘(B) using a channel, facility, or instru-3
mentality of interstate or foreign commerce; 4
‘‘(2) in connection with the conduct described in 5
subsection (a), the defendant employs a firearm, 6
dangerous weapon, explosive or incendiary device, or 7
other weapon that has traveled in interstate or for-8
eign commerce; 9
‘‘(3) the conduct described in subsection (a) oc-10
curs on Federal property or in interference of Fed-11
eral actors; and 12
‘‘(4) the victim is a Federal law enforcement of-13
ficer. 14
‘‘(c) C
ERTIFICATIONREQUIREMENT.— 15
‘‘(1) I
N GENERAL.—No prosecution of any of-16
fense described in this section may be undertaken by 17
the United States, except under the certification in 18
writing of the Attorney General, or a designee, 19
that— 20
‘‘(A) the State has requested that the Fed-21
eral Government assume jurisdiction; or 22
‘‘(B) a prosecution by the United States is 23
in the public interest and necessary to secure 24
substantial justice. To determine whether a 25
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prosecution meets this standard, the Attorney 1
General shall consider: 2
‘‘(i) the verdict or sentence obtained 3
pursuant to State charges; 4
‘‘(ii) the extent of planning and 5
premeditation; 6
‘‘(iii) the intended outcome of the con-7
duct; 8
‘‘(iv) disregard for human life, includ-9
ing collateral damage to unintended vic-10
tims; and 11
‘‘(v) benefit to public safety from Fed-12
eral prosecution. 13
‘‘(2) R
ULE OF CONSTRUCTION .—Nothing in 14
this subsection shall be construed to limit the au-15
thority of Federal officers, or a Federal grand jury, 16
to investigate possible violations of this section. 17
‘‘(d) D
EFINITIONS.—In this section: 18
‘‘(1) L
AW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER .—The term 19
‘law enforcement officer’ means an employee of a 20
governmental or public agency who is authorized by 21
law— 22
‘‘(A) to engage in or supervise the preven-23
tion, detection, or the investigation of any 24
criminal violation of law; or 25
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‘‘(B) to engage in or supervise the deten-1
tion or the incarceration of any person for any 2
criminal violation of law. 3
‘‘(2) S
TATE.—The term ‘State’ means a State 4
of the United States, the District of Columbia, or 5
any commonwealth, territory, or possession of the 6
United States.’’. 7
(b) C
LERICALAMENDMENT.—The table of sections 8
at the beginning of such chapter is amended by adding 9
at the end the following new item: 10
‘‘120. Crimes targeting law enforcement officers.’’.
Æ
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