WASHINGTON—U.S. Senators John Boozman (R-AR) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) led nine of their Republican colleagues in introducing the Combating Violent and Dangerous Crime Act, legislation to strengthen violent crime statutes, resolve conflicting court decisions by clarifying penalties for violent offenses like carjacking, robbery and kidnapping, and help deter future violent crimes.

“Soft-on-crime policies have failed to ensure our justice system and law enforcement at all levels have the necessary authorities and tools to maintain order and protect communities from dangerous criminals,” said Boozman. “I am proud to join Senator Grassley and my colleagues to ensure violent offenders are held accountable under the law.”

“Under the Biden-Harris administration, our nation saw a massive spike in violent crime. As the Trump administration works to clean up the previous administration’s mess, Congress has a duty to resolve any legal ambiguities that may weaken our ability to hold criminals fully accountable,” Grassley said. “Our bill includes several modest, but meaningful, reforms to tamp down on future crime and ensure justice is served.”

The Combating Violent and Dangerous Crime Act addresses ambiguity and conflicting applications of existing law by clarifying congressional intent. Specifically, the bill would:  

• Resolve conflicting circuit court decisions that have resulted in a higher burden to charge violent offenses; 
• Clarify that an attempt or conspiracy to commit an offence involving physical force meets the legal definition of a violent crime; 
• Increase the statutory maximum penalty for carjacking and remove a duplicative intent requirement needed to charge a carjacking offense;
• Clarify that attempted bank robbery and conspiracy to commit bank robbery are punishable under the current bank robbery statute; 
• Outlaw the marketing of candy-flavored drugs including marijuana and fentanyl to minors; and 
• Establish a new category of violent kidnapping offenses, allowing for greater penalties for violent kidnapping. 

Along with Boozman and Grassley, the bill is cosponsored by Senators Mike Crapo (R-ID), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), James Lankford (R-OK), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Susan Collins (R-ME), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Jim Risch (R-ID). 

The bill text is available here.