No Cash for Crooks Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3459 To amend title 5, United States Code, to deny Federal retirement benefits to Members of Congress convicted of a felony. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 12, 2020 Mr. TILLIS introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs A BILL To amend title 5, United States Code, to deny Federal retirement benefits to Members of Congress convicted of a felony. 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 ‘‘No Cash for Crooks 4 Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. DENIAL OF RETIREMENT BENEFITS. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 83 of 7 title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting after 8 section 8312 the following: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:39 Mar 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3459.IS S3459 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3459 IS ‘‘§ 8312a. Members of Congress convicted of felonies 1 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 2 ‘‘(1) the term ‘conviction’ includes entering a 3 plea of guilty and a verdict; 4 ‘‘(2) the term ‘felony’ means an offense under 5 Federal, State, or Tribal law punishable by impris- 6 onment for a period of more than 1 year; and 7 ‘‘(3) the term ‘Member of Congress’— 8 ‘‘(A) means a Member of Congress, as de- 9 fined in section 2016; and 10 ‘‘(B) does not include the Vice President. 11 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION.—A Member of Congress, or a 12 survivor or beneficiary of a Member of Congress, may not 13 be paid annuity or retired pay on the basis of the service 14 of the Member of Congress in any position as an officer 15 or employee of the Federal Government which is creditable 16 toward the annuity or retired pay, subject to the excep- 17 tions in section 8311(2) and (3) of this title, if the Mem- 18 ber of Congress is convicted of a felony for which the con- 19 duct constituting the offense was committed in whole or 20 in part— 21 ‘‘(1) on or after the date of enactment of this 22 section; and 23 ‘‘(2) while a Member of Congress. 24 ‘‘(c) FOREIGN OFFENSES.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:39 Mar 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3459.IS S3459 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3459 IS ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of subsection 1 (b), a conviction of a felony may be established if the 2 Attorney General certifies to the agency admin- 3 istering the annuity or retired pay concerned— 4 ‘‘(A) that a Member of Congress subject to 5 this chapter has been convicted by an impartial 6 court of appropriate jurisdiction within a for- 7 eign country in circumstances in which the con- 8 duct would constitute a felony under Federal, 9 State, or Tribal law had such conduct taken 10 place within the United States and that such 11 conviction is not being appealed or that final 12 action has been taken on such appeal; 13 ‘‘(B) that such conviction was obtained in 14 accordance with procedures that provided the 15 defendant due process rights comparable to 16 such rights provided by the United States Con- 17 stitution, and such conviction was based upon 18 evidence which would have been admissible in 19 the courts of the United States; and 20 ‘‘(C) that such conduct occurred after the 21 date of enactment of this section. 22 ‘‘(2) REVIEW.—Any certification made pursu- 23 ant to this subsection shall be subject to review by 24 the United States Court of Claims based upon the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:39 Mar 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3459.IS S3459 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3459 IS application of the Member of Congress concerned, or 1 his or her attorney, alleging that a condition set 2 forth in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of paragraph 3 (1), as certified by the Attorney General, has not 4 been satisfied in his or her particular circumstances. 5 Should the court determine that any of these condi- 6 tions has not been satisfied in such case, the court 7 shall order any annuity or retirement benefit to 8 which the person concerned is entitled to be restored 9 and shall order that any payments which may have 10 been previously denied or withheld to be paid by the 11 department or agency concerned. 12 ‘‘(d) ABSENCE FROM THE UNITED STATES TO 13 AVOID PROSECUTION.— 14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A Member of Congress, or 15 a survivor or beneficiary of a Member of Congress, 16 may not be paid annuity or retired pay on the basis 17 of the service of the Member of Congress in any po- 18 sition as an officer or employee of the Federal Gov- 19 ernment which is creditable toward the annuity or 20 retired pay, subject to the exceptions in section 21 8311(2) and (3) of this title, if the Member of Con- 22 gress— 23 ‘‘(A) is under indictment, or has out- 24 standing against him or her charges preferred 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:39 Mar 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3459.IS S3459 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3459 IS under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, for 1 a felony for which the conduct constituting the 2 offense was committed in whole or in part— 3 ‘‘(i) on or after the date of enactment 4 of this section; and 5 ‘‘(ii) while a Member of Congress; and 6 ‘‘(B) willfully remains outside the United 7 States, or its territories and possessions includ- 8 ing the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, for more 9 than 1 year with knowledge of the indictment 10 or charges, as the case may be. 11 ‘‘(2) PERIOD.—The prohibition on payment of 12 annuity or retired pay under paragraph (1) applies 13 during the period— 14 ‘‘(A) beginning on the day after the end of 15 the 1-year period described in paragraph (1); 16 and 17 ‘‘(B) ending on the date on which— 18 ‘‘(i) a nolle prosequi to the entire in- 19 dictment is entered on the record or the 20 charges are dismissed by competent au- 21 thority; 22 ‘‘(ii) the individual returns and there- 23 after the indictment or charges is or are 24 dismissed; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:39 Mar 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3459.IS S3459 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3459 IS ‘‘(iii) after trial by court or court-mar- 1 tial, the accused is found not guilty of the 2 offense or offenses. 3 ‘‘(e) PARDONS.— 4 ‘‘(1) RESTORATION OF ANNUITY OR RETIRED 5 PAY.—If a Member of Congress who forfeits an an- 6 nuity under this section is pardoned by the Presi- 7 dent, the right of the Member of Congress and a 8 survivor or beneficiary of the Member of Congress to 9 receive annuity or retired pay previously denied 10 under this section is restored as of the date of the 11 pardon. 12 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—Payment of annuity or re- 13 tired pay which is restored under paragraph (1) 14 based on pardon by the President may not be made 15 for a period before the date of pardon. 16 ‘‘(f) SPOUSAL BENEFITS.—The spouse of a Member 17 of Congress whose annuity or retired pay is forfeited 18 under this section shall be eligible for spousal pension ben- 19 efits if the Attorney General determines that the spouse 20 fully cooperated with law enforcement authorities in the 21 conduct of a criminal investigation and subsequent pros- 22 ecution of the Member of Congress which resulted in such 23 forfeiture.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:39 Mar 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3459.IS S3459 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 3459 IS (b) NONACCRUAL OF INTEREST ON REFUNDS.—Sec- 1 tion 8316 of title 5, United States Code, is amended— 2 (1) in subsection (a), in the matter preceding 3 paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘under section 8312a 4 or’’ before ‘‘because an individual’’; and 5 (2) in subsection (b)— 6 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 7 the end; 8 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking the pe- 9 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘or’’; and 10 (C) by adding at the end the following: 11 ‘‘(3) if the individual is a Member of Congress 12 who is convicted of a felony, for the period after the 13 conviction.’’. 14 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec- 15 tions for chapter 83 of title 5, United States Code, is 16 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 17 8312 the following: 18 ‘‘8312a. Members of Congress convicted of felonies.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:39 Mar 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3459.IS S3459 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS