[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2503 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2503

   To establish felony violations for the failure to pay legal child 
              support obligations and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 18, 1997

  Mr. Hoyer (for himself and Mr. Hyde) introduced the following bill; 
          which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To establish felony violations for the failure to pay legal child 
              support obligations and for other purposes.

    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 ``Deadbeat Parents Punishment Act of 
1997''.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF FELONY VIOLATIONS.

    Section 228 of title 18, United States Code, is amended to read as 
follows:
``Sec. 228. Failure to pay legal child support obligations
    ``(a) Offense.--Any person who--
            ``(1) willfully fails to pay a support obligation with 
        respect to a child who resides in another State, if such 
        obligation has remained unpaid for a period longer than one 
        year, or is greater than $5,000;
            ``(2) travels in interstate or foreign commerce with the 
        intent to evade a support obligation, if such obligation has 
        remained unpaid for a period longer than one year, or is 
        greater than $5,000; or
            ``(3) willfully fails to pay a support obligation with 
        respect to a child who resides in another State, if such 
        obligation has remained unpaid for a period longer than two 
        years, or is greater than $10,000;
shall be punished as provided in subsection (c).
    ``(b) Presumption.--The existence of a support obligation that was 
in effect for the time period charged in the indictment or information 
creates a rebuttable presumption that the obligor has the ability to 
pay the support obligation for that time period.
    ``(c) Punishment.--The punishment for an offense under this section 
is--
            ``(1) in the case of a first offense under subsection 
        (a)(1), a fine under this title, imprisonment for not more than 
        6 months, or both; and
            ``(2) in the case of an offense under subsection (a)(2) or 
        (a)(3), or a second or subsequent offense under subsection 
        (a)(1), a fine under this title, imprisonment for not more than 
        2 years, or both.
    ``(d) Mandatory Restitution.--Upon a conviction under this section, 
the court shall order restitution under section 3663A in an amount 
equal to the total unpaid support obligation as it exists at the time 
of sentencing:
    ``(e) Definitions.--As used in this section--
            ``(1) the term `support obligation' means any amount 
        determined under a court order or an order of an administrative 
        process pursuant to the law of a State to be due from a person 
        for the support and maintenance of a child or of a child and 
        the parent with whom the child is living; and
            ``(2) the term `State' includes any State of the United 
        States, the District of Columbia, and any commonwealth, 
        territory, or possession of the United States.''.
                                 <all>