S. 921 · 117th Congress

Jaime Zapata and Victor Avila Federal Officers and Employees Protection Act

Introduced on Mar 23, 2021 by John Cornyn (R-TX). 15 cosponsors, 8 of them from another party. Became Public Law 117-59.

Stage
Became law
Public Law 117-59
Introduced
Mar 23, 2021
Cosponsors
15
8 from the other party
Policy area
Crime and Law Enforcement
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Progress

The furthest stage the measure reached. Simple and concurrent resolutions do not go to the President.

  1. Introduced
  2. Reported by committee
  3. Passed one chamber
  4. Passed both chambers
  5. Sent to the President
  6. Became law

Official title

A bill to amend title 18, United States Code, to further protect officers and employees of the United States, and for other purposes.

Subjects

  • Assault and harassment offenses
  • Criminal investigation, prosecution, interrogation
  • Diplomacy, foreign officials, Americans abroad
  • Federal officials
  • Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
  • Jurisdiction and venue
  • Law enforcement officers
  • Protection of officials
  • Violent crime

Summary

By the Congressional Research Service (Public Law, Nov 18, 2021). Public domain.

Jaime Zapata and Victor Avila Federal Officers and Employees Protection Act

This bill explicitly grants extraterritorial jurisdiction over the following criminal offenses:

  • killing (or attempting to kill) a federal officer or employee;
  • assaulting, kidnapping, or murdering (or threatening to do so, or attempting to kidnap or murder) a family member of certain federal officials to retaliate against or to impede, intimidate, or interfere with the federal official;
  • threatening to assault, kidnap, or murder certain federal officials to retaliate against or to impede, intimidate, or interfere with the federal official; and
  • assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers or employees.

The United States may prosecute such conduct that occurs outside the United States.

Sponsor and cosponsors

Cosponsors by party as of the day they signed on. Original cosponsors signed on the day of introduction.

John CornynR-TXSponsor

Democrats · 8

Republicans · 7

Roll calls

Recorded votes on the measure. Most measures move by voice vote or unanimous consent, which record no individual positions.

No recorded roll call on this measure: it moved by voice vote or unanimous consent, or has not reached the floor.

History

Every action as published, oldest first. Roll calls link to how each member voted.

  1. Mar 23, 2021Introduced in Senate
  2. Mar 23, 2021 · SenateRead twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
  3. May 13, 2021 · SenateCommittee on the Judiciary. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
  4. May 20, 2021Committee on the Judiciary. Reported by Senator Durbin with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. Without written report.
  5. May 20, 2021 · SenateCommittee on the Judiciary. Reported by Senator Durbin with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. Without written report.
  6. May 20, 2021 · SenatePlaced on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 61.
  7. May 28, 2021Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent.(consideration: CR S3930-3931; text of amendment in the nature of a substitute: CR S3930-3931)
  8. May 28, 2021 · SenatePassed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S3930-3931; text of amendment in the nature of a substitute: CR S3930-3931)
  9. May 28, 2021 · SenateMessage on Senate action sent to the House.
  10. Jun 1, 2021 · HouseReceived in the House.
  11. Jun 1, 2021 · HouseHeld at the desk.
  12. Oct 27, 2021 · HouseMs. Jackson Lee moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill.
  13. Oct 27, 2021 · HouseConsidered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H5942-5944)
  14. Oct 27, 2021 · HouseDEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on S. 921.
  15. Oct 27, 2021Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote.(text: CR H5942)
  16. Oct 27, 2021 · HouseOn motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H5942)
  17. Oct 27, 2021 · HouseMotion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  18. Nov 9, 2021Presented to President.
  19. Nov 9, 2021 · HousePresented to President.
  20. Nov 18, 2021Signed by President.
  21. Nov 18, 2021Signed by President.
  22. Nov 18, 2021Became Public Law No: 117-59.
  23. Nov 18, 2021Became Public Law No: 117-59.

Committees

Committees and subcommittees the measure was referred to.

Agencies in its committees' jurisdiction

Analisa's mapping of committee jurisdiction to federal agencies; the bill may touch others, or none of these.

Sources and method

Every figure on this page traces to these records.

  • Bill status: bills and resolutions, sponsors, actions, subjects and CRS summaries (U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo), from Congress.gov (Library of Congress))GovInfo Bill Status bulk data (Congress.gov; summaries by the Congressional Research Service) · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Members of Congress, their terms, committees and identifiers (The @unitedstates project (from the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, the House and the Senate))unitedstates/congress-legislators: legislators, committees and current committee membership · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)
  • House roll-call votes (Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, roll-call vote records · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Senate roll-call votes and DW-NOMINATE scores (Voteview (UCLA Department of Political Science))Lewis, Jeffrey B., Keith Poole, Howard Rosenthal, Adam Boche, Aaron Rudkin, and Luke Sonnet (2026). Voteview: Congressional Roll-Call Votes Database. https://voteview.com/ · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Free to use with the required citation
  • Lobbying disclosures (LD-1 registrations, LD-2 quarterly reports, LD-203 contribution reports) (Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives)Clerk of the House, Lobbying Disclosure Act filings (organizations only; lobbyists' names are not loaded) · data current to Oct 6, 2026 · loaded Oct 6, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Positions are shown only where a roll call recorded them; voice votes and unanimous consent record none.