DETERRENCE Act

Sponsor: Margaret Wood Hassan (Democratic-NH)March 26, 2025

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Introduced

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Passed One Chamber

Passed Both Chambers

Signed into Law

Held at the desk.

Longer Prison Time for Serious Crimes Linked to Foreign Governments.

This bill would give longer prison sentences to people who commit serious crimes like kidnapping or murder-for-hire if a foreign government directed or helped with the crime. Right now, there are no specific extra penalties for these crimes when they involve foreign ties. This change aims to make punishments tougher for such offenses.

What Would Change

Today, current law does not include specific sentence enhancements for crimes like kidnapping or murder-for-hire. This applies when they are committed at the direction of or in coordination with a foreign government. This bill would change federal law. It would authorize increased sentences for individuals convicted of these specified criminal offenses. This applies if the crimes were committed knowingly at the direction of or in coordination with a foreign government or its agent.

Key Provisions

Would add up to 10 years to prison sentences for kidnapping or conspiring to kidnap if the crime was directed by or coordinated with a foreign government.
Would add up to 5 or 10 years to prison sentences for murder-for-hire if the crime was directed by or coordinated with a foreign government, with the longer sentence applying if personal injury results.
Would add up to 5 or 10 years to prison sentences for attacks on federal officials' family members if directed by a foreign government, depending on the severity of the offense.
Would add up to 10 years to prison sentences for attacks on federal officers and employees if directed by a foreign government.
Would add up to 30 months, 5 years, or 10 years to prison sentences for stalking if the crime was directed by or coordinated with a foreign government, with the longer sentences applying if serious injury or death results.

View on Congress.gov

S 1136 · 119th Congress · March 26, 2025 · AI Summary by gemini-2.5-flash · 8/10

DETERRENCE Act

What Would Change

Key Provisions

Lobbying Activity