[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2187 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

103d CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2187

 To amend title 5, United States Code, to permit the garnishment of an 
   annuity under the Civil Service Retirement System or the Federal 
   Employees' Retirement System, if necessary to satisfy a judgment 
    against an annuitant for physically or sexually abusing a child.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                June 14 (legislative day, June 7), 1994

  Mr. Inouye introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
           referred to the Committee on Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title 5, United States Code, to permit the garnishment of an 
   annuity under the Civil Service Retirement System or the Federal 
   Employees' Retirement System, if necessary to satisfy a judgment 
    against an annuitant for physically or sexually abusing a child.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Child Abuse Accountability Act''.

SEC. 2. GARNISHMENT AUTHORITY.

    (a) Civil Service Retirement System.--Section 8345(j) of title 5, 
United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by amending paragraph (1) to read as follows:
    ``(j)(1)(A) Payments under this subchapter that would otherwise be 
made to an employee, Member, or annuitant based on service of that 
individual shall be paid (in whole or in part) by the Office to another 
person if and to the extent expressly provided for in the terms of--
            ``(i) any court decree of divorce, annulment, or legal 
        separation, or the terms of any court order or court-approved 
        property settlement agreement incident to any court decree of 
        divorce, annulment, or legal separation; or
            ``(ii) any court order or other similar process in the 
        nature of garnishment for the enforcement of a judgment 
        rendered for physically or sexually abusing a child against 
        such employee, Member, or annuitant.
    ``(B) Any payment under this paragraph to a person bars recovery by 
any other person.
    ``(C) If the Office is served with more than 1 decree, order, or 
other legal process with respect to the same moneys due or payable to 
any individual, such moneys shall be available to satisfy such 
processes on a first-come, first-served basis, with any such process 
being satisfied out of such moneys as remain after the satisfaction of 
all such processes which have been previously served.'';
            (2) in paragraph (2) by inserting ``other legal process,'' 
        after ``order,''; and
            (3) by amending paragraph (3) to read as follows:
    ``(3) For the purpose of this subsection--
            ``(A) the term `court' means any court of a State, the 
        District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, 
        the Northern Mariana Islands, or the Virgin Islands, and any 
        Indian court;
            ``(B) the term `judgment rendered for physically or 
        sexually abusing a child' means any legal claim perfected 
        through a final enforceable judgment, which claim is based in 
        whole or in part upon the physical abuse or sexual abuse of a 
        child, whether or not that physical abuse or sexual abuse is 
        accompanied by other actionable wrongdoing, such as sexual 
        exploitation, gross negligence, or emotional abuse; and
            ``(C) the term `child' means an individual under 18 years 
        of age.''.
    (b) Federal Employees' Retirement System.--Section 8467 of title 5, 
United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:
    ``(a)(1) Payments under this chapter that would otherwise be made 
to an employee, Member, or annuitant (including an employee, Member, or 
annuitant as defined in section 8331) based on service of that 
individual shall be paid (in whole or in part) by the Office or the 
Executive Director, as the case may be, to another person if and to the 
extent expressly provided for in the terms of--
            ``(A) any court decree of divorce, annulment, or legal 
        separation, or the terms of any court order or court-approved 
        property settlement agreement incident to any court decree of 
        divorce, annulment, or legal separation; or
            ``(B) any court order or other similar process in the 
        nature of garnishment for the enforcement of a judgment 
        rendered for physically or sexually abusing a child against 
        such employee, Member, or annuitant.
    ``(2) Any payment under this subsection to a person bars recovery 
by any other person.
    ``(3) If the Office is served with more than 1 decree, order, or 
other legal process with respect to the same moneys due or payable to 
any individual, such moneys shall be available to satisfy such 
processes on a first-come, first-served basis, with any such process 
being satisfied out of such moneys as remain after the satisfaction of 
all such processes which have been previously served.'';
            (2) in subsection (b) by inserting ``other legal process,'' 
        after ``order,''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(c) For the purpose of this section--
            ``(1) the term `judgment rendered for physically or 
        sexually abusing a child' means a legal claim perfected through 
        a final enforceable judgment, which claim is based in whole or 
        in part upon the physical abuse or sexual abuse of a child, 
        whether or not that physical abuse or sexual abuse is 
        accompanied by other actionable wrongdoing, such as sexual 
        exploitation, gross negligence, or emotional abuse; and
            ``(2) the term `child' means an individual under 18 years 
        of age.''.

SEC. 3. APPLICATION OF AMENDMENTS.

    The amendments made by this Act shall apply with respect to any 
decree, order, or other legal process or any notice of agreement 
received by the Office of Personnel Management on or after the date of 
enactment of this Act.

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