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Week Ending December 9, 2005

H.R.1400 To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide penalties for aiming laser pointers at airplanes, and for other purposes.

BRIEF

Anyone knowingly aiming the beam of a laser pointer at an aircraft in flight or in the path of that aircraft can be fined and jailed up to five years, or both.

For some reason four hundred people have taken it upon themselves since 1990 to direct a laser beam into the cockpit of commercial aircraft taking off. 100 of those incidents happened since November 2004. The laser can temporarily disorient or disable a pilot and reportedly has caused injury to some pilots such as eye damage suffered by a pilot flying over Salt Lake City, the bill report said.

Efforts to extend the bill’s reach to lasers aimed into cockpit of trucks were not accepted in the bill but may later be applied to this bill should it become law.

The actual fine and terms of imprisonment would be decided by the Sentencing Commission of the Judicial Conference, a Chief Justice of the Supreme chaired group of Federal judges.

Sponsor: Representative Ric Keller (R-FL-8^th)

Vote: Passed House by voice vote December 8, 2005.

Cost to the taxpayers: CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 1400 would have no significant cost to the Federal Government.

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