On Monday, May 20, 2013, the House is scheduled to consider H.R. 1073, the Nuclear Terrorism Conventions Implementation and Safety of Maritime Navigation Act of 2013,under a suspension of the rules. The bill was introduced on March 12, 2013 by Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, which held a mark-up and reported the bill by voice vote.
H.R. 1073 amends the criminal code to implement certain provisions negotiated in four multilateral counterterrorism treaties, which build on existing treaties to which the United States is a party. The bill updates and modernizes the language and legal framework of counterterrorism and counter proliferation operations.
In 2005, the United States signed three treaties to help combat terrorism and nuclear proliferation:
(1) the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism, also known as the Nuclear Terrorism Convention (NTC), requires States to criminalize acts relating to the possession and use of radioactive material and damage to nuclear facilities[1];
(2) an amendment to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material requires States to criminalize nuclear smuggling and sabotage of nuclear facilities[2];
(3) and two protocols on the Suppression of Unlawful Activities related to maritime terrorism.[3]
In the 112th Congress, the House passed similar legislation (H.R. 5889) by voice vote on June 28, 2012.
CBO estimates that H.R. 1073 “would have no significant cost to the federal government. Enacting the bill could affect direct spending and revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. However, CBO estimates that any effects would be insignificant for each year.”[1]
