Material Support of Terrorists and Foreign Terrorist Organizations: Sunset Amendments in Brief

RS22222 -- Material Support of Terrorists and Foreign Terrorist Organizations: Sunset Amendments in Brief

Updated March 17, 2006

Summary

Section 6603 of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 amends two federal terrorist assistance prohibitions. Those amendments were to expire on December 31, 2006, P.L. 108-458, 118 Stat. 3762-764 (2004). P.L. 109-160 extended their expiration date until February 3, 2006, 119 Stat. 2957 (2005); P.L. 109-170 extended it yet again until March 10, 2006, 120 Stat. 3 (2006). Section 104 of the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act and Terrorism Prevention Reauthorization Act (H.R. 3199), made the amendments permanent, P.L. 109-177, 120 Stat. 195 (2006). In their present form the amendments, found in section 6603 of the act: (1) amend the definitions of "material support or resources," "training," and "expert advice or assistance" as those terms are used in 18 U.S.C. 2339A and 2339B, and of "personnel" as used in section 2339B; (2) add a more explicit knowledge requirement to section 2339B; (3) expand the extraterritorial jurisdiction reach of section 2339B; (4) enlarge the list of federal crimes of terrorism, 18 U.S.C. 2332b(g)(5); (5) add the enlarged list to the inventory of predicate offenses for 18 U.S.C. 2339A (material support for the commission of certain terrorist crimes) and consequently for 18 U.S.C. 2339B (material support for designated terrorist organizations); and (6) preclude prosecution for certain violations committed with the approval of the Secretary of State and concurrence of the Attorney General (e.g., stings).

This is an abbreviated version of CRS Report RL33035(pdf), Material Support of Terrorists and Foreign Terrorist Organizations: Sunset Amendments, without the footnotes, appendix, and some of the citations to authority found in the longer, parent report.