(a) Offense Against a National of the United States or Within the
United States.— A person who, without lawful authority,
uses, threatens, or attempts or conspires to use, a weapon of mass destruction—
(1) against a national of the United States while such national is
outside of the United States;
(2) against any person or property within the United States, and
(A) the
mail or any facility of interstate or foreign commerce is used in furtherance of
the offense;
(B) such
property is used in interstate or foreign commerce or in an activity that
affects interstate or foreign commerce;
(C) any
perpetrator travels in or causes another to travel in interstate or foreign
commerce in furtherance of the offense; or
(D) the
offense, or the results of the offense, affect interstate or foreign commerce,
or, in the case of a threat, attempt, or conspiracy, would have affected
interstate or foreign commerce;
(3) against any property that is owned, leased or used by the United
States or by any department or agency of the United States, whether the property
is within or outside of the United States; or
(4) against any property within the United States that is owned,
leased, or used by a foreign government,
shall be imprisoned for any term of years or for life, and
if death results, shall be punished by death or imprisoned for any term of years
or for life.
(b) Offense by National of the United States Outside of the United
States.— Any national of the United States who, without
lawful authority, uses, or threatens, attempts, or conspires to use, a weapon of
mass destruction outside of the United States shall be imprisoned for any term
of years or for life, and if death results, shall be punished by death, or by
imprisonment for any term of years or for life.
(c) Definitions.— For purposes of this
section—
(1) the
term “national of the United States” has the meaning given in section 101(a)(22)
of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 (a)(22));
(2) the
term “weapon of mass destruction” means—
(A) any
destructive device as defined in section 921 of this title;
(B) any
weapon that is designed or intended to cause death or serious bodily injury
through the release, dissemination, or impact of toxic or poisonous chemicals,
or their precursors;
(C) any
weapon involving a biological agent, toxin, or vector (as those terms are
defined in section 178 of this title); or
(D) any
weapon that is designed to release radiation or radioactivity at a level
dangerous to human life; and
(3) the
term “property” includes all real and personal property.