[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4524 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4524

 To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide that if a Member of 
 Congress is convicted of a felony, such Member shall not be eligible 
            for retirement benefits, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           December 14, 2005

 Mr. Jones of North Carolina (for himself and Mr. Shimkus) introduced 
   the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House 
Administration, and in addition to the Committee on Government Reform, 
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 amend title 5, United States Code, to provide that if a Member of 
 Congress is convicted of a felony, such Member shall not be eligible 
            for retirement benefits, 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 ``Congressional Pension Forfeiture Act 
of 2005''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) Members of Congress pledge to uphold the Constitution 
        and the laws of the United States;
            (2) Members of Congress are elected to serve in the public 
        trust and pledge to uphold the public trust;
            (3) a breach of the public trust by a Member of Congress is 
        a serious offense that should have serious consequences; and
            (4) taxpayers should not pay for the retirement benefits of 
        Members of Congress who have breached the public trust.

SEC. 3. FORFEITURE.

    (a) Civil Service Retirement System.--Section 8332 of title 5, 
United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(o)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this subchapter, 
the service of an individual convicted of an offense described in 
paragraph (2) shall not, if or to the extent rendered as a Member 
(irrespective of when rendered), be taken into account for purposes of 
this subchapter. Any such individual (or other person determined under 
section 8342(c), if applicable) shall be entitled to be paid so much of 
such individual's lump-sum credit as is attributable to service to 
which the preceding sentence applies.
    ``(2)(A) An offense described in this paragraph is any offense 
described in subparagraph (B) for which the following apply:
            ``(i) The offense is committed by the individual (referred 
        to in paragraph (1)) while a Member.
            ``(ii) The conduct on which the offense is based is 
        directly related to the individual's service as a Member.
            ``(iii) The offense is committed during the One Hundred 
        Tenth Congress or later.
    ``(B) The offenses described in this subparagraph are as follows:
            ``(i) An offense within the purview of section 201 (bribery 
        of public officials and witnesses), 203 (compensation to 
        Members of Congress, officers, and others in matters affecting 
        the Government), 204 (practice in United States Court of 
        Federal Claims or the United States Court of Appeals for the 
        Federal Circuit by Members of Congress), 219 (officers and 
        employees acting as agents of foreign principals), 286 
        (conspiracy to defraud the Government with respect to claims), 
        287 (false, fictitious or fraudulent claims), 371 (conspiracy 
        to commit offense or to defraud the United States), 597 
        (expenditures to influence voting), 599 (promise of appointment 
        by candidate), 602 (solicitation of political contributions), 
        606 (intimidation to secure political contributions), 607 
        (place of solicitation), 641 (public money, property or 
        records), 1001 (statements or entries generally), 1341 (frauds 
        and swindles), 1343 (fraud by wire, radio, or television), 1503 
        (influencing or injuring officer or juror), 1951 (interference 
        with commerce by threats or violence), 1952 (interstate and 
        foreign travel or transportation in aid of racketeering 
        enterprises), or 1962 (prohibited activities) of title 18 or 
        section 7201 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (attempt to 
        evade or defeat tax).
            ``(ii) Perjury committed under the statutes of the United 
        States in falsely denying the commission of an act which 
        constitutes an offense within the purview of a statute named by 
        clause (i).
            ``(iii) Subornation of perjury committed in connection with 
        the false denial of another individual as specified by clause 
        (ii).
    ``(3) An individual convicted of an offense described in paragraph 
(2) shall not, after the date of the conviction, be eligible to 
participate in the retirement system under this subchapter while 
serving as a Member.
    ``(4) Except as provided in paragraph (5), the Office shall 
prescribe such regulations as may be necessary to carry out this 
subsection, including provisions under which interest on any lump-sum 
payment under the second sentence of paragraph (1) shall be limited in 
a manner similar to that specified in the last sentence of section 
8316(b).
    ``(5) Nothing in this subsection shall restrict any authority under 
subchapter II or any other provision of law to deny or withhold 
benefits authorized by statute.
    ``(6) For purposes of this subsection, the term `Member' has the 
meaning given such term by section 2106, notwithstanding section 
8331(2).''.
    (b) Federal Employees' Retirement System.--Section 8411 of title 5, 
United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(i)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the 
service of an individual convicted of an offense described in paragraph 
(2) shall not, if or to the extent rendered as a Member (irrespective 
of when rendered), be taken into account for purposes of this chapter. 
Any such individual (or other person determined under section 8424(d), 
if applicable) shall be entitled to be paid so much of such 
individual's lump-sum credit as is attributable to service to which the 
preceding sentence applies.
    ``(2) An offense described in this paragraph is any offense 
described in section 8332(o)(2)(B) for which the following apply:
            ``(A) The offense is committed by the individual (referred 
        to in paragraph (1)) while a Member.
            ``(B) The conduct on which the offense is based is directly 
        related to the individual's service as a Member.
            ``(C) The offense is committed during the One Hundred Tenth 
        Congress or later.
    ``(3) An individual convicted of an offense described in paragraph 
(2) shall not, after the date of the conviction, be eligible to 
participate in the retirement system under this chapter while serving 
as a Member.
    ``(4) Except as provided in paragraph (5), the Office shall 
prescribe such regulations as may be necessary to carry out this 
subsection, including provisions under which interest on any lump-sum 
payment under the second sentence of paragraph (1) shall be limited in 
a manner similar to that specified in the last sentence of section 
8316(b).
    ``(5) Nothing in this subsection shall restrict any authority under 
subchapter II of chapter 83 or any other provision of law to deny or 
withhold benefits authorized by statute.
    ``(6) For purposes of this subsection, the term `Member' has the 
meaning given such term by section 2106, notwithstanding section 
8401(20).''.
    (c) Thrift Savings Plan.--Paragraph (5) of section 8432(g) of title 
5, United States Code, is amended by striking ``(5)'' and inserting 
``(5)(A)'' and by adding at the end the following:
    ``(B) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, contributions 
made by the Government under subsection (c) for the benefit of an 
individual and all earnings attributable to such contributions shall be 
forfeited--
            ``(i) if any service rendered by such individual as a 
        Member is made noncreditable as a result of a conviction 
        described in section 8411(i); but only
            ``(ii) to the extent of any contributions attributable to 
        periods of service rendered by such individual as a Member (as 
        described in section 8411(i)(1)) and earnings thereon.''.
                                 <all>