Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the National Security topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee advances bill to create new offense for foreign-directed intimidation
Summary
House Bill 2279 would create a new criminal framework to penalize intimidation or coercion carried out on behalf of foreign adversaries, add enhanced penalties when crimes are directed by foreign regimes, and require state agencies to establish complaint pathways; the committee sent it to calendar and rules after sponsor and legal Q&A.
The Judiciary Committee advanced House Bill 2279, the "Transnational Repression in Tennessee Act," which sponsors say would create enhanced penalties where criminal activity is committed at the direction of a foreign adversary or organization and establish state-level complaint pathways for victims.
Chairman Todd described the bill as creating a new felony for unauthorized foreign-law-enforcement activity in Tennessee and said the measure is intended to protect Tennesseans from "intimidation, harassment, coercion or enforcement activity carried out on behalf of foreign adversaries or foreign terrorist organizations." He also said the bill contains severability language and an effective date of July 1.
Representative Johnson and others asked whether existing federal agencies such as the FBI would have purview; legal counsel and the sponsor said the bill requires each state agency to include reporting and response processes and that state agencies such as the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation could investigate. The sponsor said the measure enhances penalties and raises the classification of offenses when committed by agents of a foreign adversary.
The committee voted to advance the bill to calendar and rules by recorded vote (18–0), sending the language forward for further consideration.
