Agency Accountability Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 850 To require the appropriation of funds to use a fee, fine, penalty, or proceeds from a settlement received by a Federal agency, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 29, 2019 Mr. PALMER (for himself, Mr. ARRINGTON, Mr. BRADY, Mr. BROOKS of Ala- bama, Mr. BUCK, Mr. BUDD, Mr. BYRNE, Mr. CLOUD, Mr. DAVIDSON of Ohio, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. FLEISCHMANN, Ms. FOXX of North Carolina, Mr. GAETZ, Mr. GIBBS, Mr. GOSAR, Mr. HUNTER, Mr. KING of Iowa, Mrs. LESKO, Mr. LOUDERMILK, Mr. MARSHALL, Mr. MEADOWS, Mr. MOOLENAAR, Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia, Mr. NORMAN, Mr. RATCLIFFE, Mr. SCHWEIKERT, Mr. WALKER, Mrs. WALORSKI, Mr. WESTERMAN, Mr. YOHO, Mr. ZELDIN, Mr. CONAWAY, Mr. POSEY, Mr. GRIFFITH, Mr. SMITH of Missouri, Mr. BABIN, Mr. AUSTIN SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee, Mr. LAMBORN, Mr. CARTER of Georgia, Mr. WOMACK, Mr. COLE, Mr. HILL of Arkansas, Mr. MITCH- ELL, Mr. DESJARLAIS, Mr. HICE of Georgia, Mr. GOHMERT, Mr. HAR- RIS, Mr. RICE of South Carolina, Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. EMMER, Mr. ALLEN, Mr. LAHOOD, Mrs. HARTZLER, Mr. ROUZER, Mr. ROY, Mr. WALBERG, Mr. MCHENRY, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. LUCAS, Mr. WENSTRUP, Mr. JOHN W. ROSE of Tennessee, and Mr. STEUBE) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Over- sight and Reform, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, the Budget, and Rules, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To require the appropriation of funds to use a fee, fine, penalty, or proceeds from a settlement received by a Federal agency, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:19 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H850.IH H850 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 850 IH Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Agency Accountability 4 Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. APPROPRIATION OF FUNDS REQUIRED. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi- 7 sion of law, and consistent with subsection (c), an agency 8 that receives a fee, fine, penalty, or proceeds from a settle- 9 ment shall deposit such amount in the general fund of the 10 Treasury. 11 (b) USE OF AMOUNTS SUBJECT TO APPROPRIA- 12 TION.—Any amounts deposited pursuant to subsection (a) 13 shall only be available to the extent, and in such amounts, 14 as are provided in advance in appropriation Acts. 15 (c) EXCEPTIONS.—This section shall not apply to any 16 of the following: 17 (1) Amounts to be paid to an individual entitled 18 to such amounts as a whistleblower, including any 19 amounts received as a percentage of amounts re- 20 ceived by the Government pursuant to a judgment or 21 settlement agreement. 22 (2) A loan guarantee program. 23 (3) An insurance program. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:19 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H850.IH H850 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 850 IH (d) USPTO REPORT TO CONGRESS REQUIRED.—Not 1 later than March 1 of each year, the Under Secretary of 2 Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the 3 United States Patent and Trademark Office shall submit 4 to Congress a report that describes any fee, fine, penalty, 5 or proceeds from a settlement collected by the United 6 States Patent and Trademark Office for the previous fis- 7 cal year. 8 (e) AGENCY DEFINED.—The term ‘‘agency’’ has the 9 meaning given that term in section 551 of title 5, United 10 States Code, but does not include the United States Postal 11 Service or the United States Patent and Trademark Of- 12 fice. 13 SEC. 3. OFFSETTING COLLECTIONS AND RECEIPTS AS REV- 14 ENUE. 15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Congressional Budget Act of 16 1974 (2 U.S.C. 621 et seq.) is amended— 17 (1) in section 3(2)(A)(iv), by inserting ‘‘except 18 as provided in section 316,’’ before ‘‘offsetting re- 19 ceipts’’; and 20 (2) by adding after section 315 the following: 21 ‘‘TREATMENT OF OFFSETTING COLLECTIONS AND 22 RECEIPTS 23 ‘‘SEC. 316. Notwithstanding any other provision of 24 law, offsetting receipts and collections shall be treated as 25 revenue for purposes of carrying out this or any other Act. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:19 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H850.IH H850 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 850 IH The preceding sentence shall not apply to the United 1 States Postal Service or the United States Patent and 2 Trademark Office.’’. 3 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 4 of such Act is amended by inserting after the item relating 5 to section 315 the following: 6 ‘‘316. Treatment of offsetting collections and receipts.’’. (c) APPLICATION.—The amendments made by this 7 section shall apply during budget years (as that term is 8 defined in section 250(c)(12) of the Balanced Budget and 9 Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 10 900(c)(12))) beginning one year after the date of the en- 11 actment of this Act. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:19 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H850.IH H850 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS