123STA T . 2 840PUBLIC LA W 111 – 84 —O CT. 28 , 200 9‘ ‘ (I)interf ere sw it hcom merci al or other eco - nomic acti v it y in which the victim is en g age d at the time of the cond u ct
or ‘‘(II) otherwise affects interstate or foreign commerce . ‘‘( 3 ) OF F ENS ES OC C UR R I N G IN TH ES P ECI ALM ARITIME OR TERRITORIAL J URIS D ICTION OF THE UNITED STATES. —W hoever , within the s p ecial maritime or territorial j urisdiction of the U nited S tates, engages in conduct descri b ed in paragraph ( 1 ) or in paragraph ( 2 )( A ) (without regard to whether that conduct occurred in a circumstance described in paragraph (2)( B )) shall be subject to the same penalties as prescribed in those para- graphs. ‘‘(b) C ERTIFICATION R E Q UIREMENT.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— N o prosecution of any offense described in this subsection may be underta k en by the United States, e x cept under the certification in writing of the Attorney G en- eral, or a designee, that— ‘‘(A) the State does not have jurisdiction; ‘‘(B) the State has re q uested that the F ederal Govern- ment assume jurisdiction; ‘‘(C) the verdict or sentence obtained pursuant to State charges left demonstratively unvindicated the Federal interest in eradicating bias-motivated violence; or ‘‘( D ) a prosecution by the United States is in the public interest and necessary to secure substantial justice. ‘‘(2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to limit the authority of Federal officers, or a Federal grand jury, to investigate possible violations of this section. ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— ‘‘(1) the term ‘bodily injury ’ has the meaning given such term in section 13 65 (h)( 4 ) of this title, but does not include solely emotional or psychological harm to the victim; ‘‘(2) the term ‘explosive or incendiary device’ has the meaning given such term in section 232 of this title; ‘‘(3) the term ‘firearm’ has the meaning given such term in section 9 21(a) of this title; ‘‘(4) the term ‘gender identity’ means actual or perceived gender-related characteristics; and ‘‘(5) the term ‘State’ includes the District of Columbia, P uerto Rico, and any other territory or possession of the United States. ‘‘(d) STATUTE OF L IMITATIONS.— ‘‘(1) OFFENSES NOT RESULTING IN DEATH.— E xcept as pro- vided in paragraph (2), no person shall be prosecuted, tried, or punished for any offense under this section unless the indict- ment for such offense is found, or the information for such offense is instituted, not later than 7 years after the date on which the offense was committed. ‘‘(2) DEATH RESULTING OFFENSES.—An indictment or information alleging that an offense under this section resulted in death may be found or instituted at any time without limita- tion.’’. Deadlin e .
