HR 6719
Advanced toward a vote
Makes it a federal crime to coerce a minor into suicide, killing, or serious injury, and to threaten to share child sexual abuse material to intimidate or extort, while directing the U.S. Sentencing Commission to revise penalties for online child sex offenses.
Official title: James T. Woods Act
Timeline each lane is a chamber; dates pull from congress.gov actions
House
Introduced
15-DEC-2025
Referred
15-DEC-2025
Approved by committee
18-DEC-2025
Passed
12-JAN-2026
Senate
Received
13-JAN-2026
Approved by committee
26-FEB-2026
Reported
02-MAR-2026
On the calendar
02-MAR-2026
- Prohibits intentionally coercing a minor, directly or through an intermediary, to die by suicide, kill someone, or seriously harm people or pets, with penalties of up to life imprisonment or 30 years.
- Prohibits threatening to distribute child sexual abuse material to intimidate, coerce, extort, or cause substantial emotional distress, and adds 10 years to the maximum prison term for related offenses.
- Directs the U.S. Sentencing Commission to review federal sentencing guidelines for child sex offenses, including factors such as use of three or more online platforms and a victim's death by suicide.
- Amends existing federal law, including the PROTECT Our Children Act of 2008, to add online coercion of children to the child exploitation reporting and enforcement framework.
Current. The Congressional Research Service's summary covers the bill's latest wording (Reported to Senate, 02-MAR-2026).
CRS is the Library of Congress's nonpartisan research office. Read it on congress.gov- Judiciary Committee (House)
- Judiciary Committee (Senate)
Crime and Law Enforcement
■ 1 R■ 1 D
1 Democrat
1 Republican