US Congress passes authoritarian anti-protest law

[onenote]

58. That isn't how the House reads the old language

You are reading it as if it says it covers an area where (1) the president is or (2) where the president will be temporarily visiting. But as the House report clearly indicates, that's not how the secret service or anyone else read it - they read it as only covering places where (1) the president is temporarily visiting or (2) will be temporarily visiting.

And that's why the law was amended -- to make it clear that it covered the White House (both when the president is there and when he's not).

I'm not saying your reading isn't a possibility. Its just not the reading that caused Congress to amend the bill. Again, here is what the House Report says:

Current law prohibits unlawful entries upon any restricted building or ground where the President, Vice President or other protectee is temporarily visiting. However, there is no Federal law that expressly prohibits unlawful entry to the White House and its grounds or the Vice President's residence and its grounds.

See: "is temporarily visiting" not just "will be temporarily visiting."

Further confirmation that this is the reading that Congress gave to the old language can be found in this statement by House Judiciary Chairman Smith on the floor of the House:"H.R. 347 ensures that the President, the First Family, the Vice President, and others are protected whether they are in the White House or attending an event in a convention center or meeting hall." In other words, without HR 347, the president et al weren't protected while they were in the White House.