[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1371 Referred in House (RFH)]

  1st Session
                                S. 1371


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 13, 1997

               Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
   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 1 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 1 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 2 
        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 paragraph (2) or (3) 
        of subsection (a), 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) Venue.--With respect to an offense under this section, an 
action may be inquired of and prosecuted in a district court of the 
United States for--
            ``(1) the district in which the child who is the subject of 
        the support obligation involved resided during a period during 
        which a person described in subsection (a) (referred to in this 
        subsection as an `obliger') failed to meet that support 
        obligation;
            ``(2) the district in which the obliger resided during a 
        period described in paragraph (1); or
            ``(3) any other district with jurisdiction otherwise 
        provided for by law.
    ``(f) Definitions.--As used in this section--
            ``(1) the term `Indian tribe' has the meaning given that 
        term in section 102 of the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe 
        List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 479a);
            ``(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; and
            ``(3) 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 or of an Indian tribe 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.''.

            Passed the Senate November 13, 1997.

            Attest:

                                                    GARY SISCO,

                                                             Secretary.