[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5290 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5290

To provide that the false claims provisions of title 31, United States 
Code, include claims for Iraqi property or money administered or in the 
         custody of the United States, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 4, 2006

 Mr. Baird (for himself and Ms. Zoe Lofgren of California) introduced 
    the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the 
                               Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide that the false claims provisions of title 31, United States 
Code, include claims for Iraqi property or money administered or in the 
         custody of the United States, 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 ``Stop Fraud in Iraq Act''.

SEC. 2. CLAIMS FOR IRAQI MONEY OR PROPERTY.

    (a) In General.--
            (1) Definition of claim.--The term ``claim'' in sections 
        3729(c) and 3801(a)(3) of title 31, United States Code, 
        includes any request, demand, or submission which is made for 
        Iraqi property or money, during the applicable period, if the 
        United States Government partially or fully controls, 
        administers, has custody of, or has legal possession of, such 
        property or money.
            (2) Applicable period.--For purposes of paragraph (1), the 
        term ``applicable period'' means the period beginning on March 
        19, 2003, and ending on such date that all military action 
        concludes that is authorized by the Authorization for Use of 
        Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 (Public Law 107-
        243).
    (b) Waiver of Statutes of Limitations.--If, by reason of subsection 
(a)--
            (1) an action under section 3730 of title 31, United States 
        Code, would be precluded because of the time limitation 
        contained in section 3731(b) of such title, or
            (2) a hearing under section 3803(d) of title 31, United 
        States Code, would be precluded because of the time limitation 
        contained in section 3808(a) of such title,
such time limitation shall not apply if the action or hearing, as the 
case may be, is commenced not later than 1 year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act.
    (c) Return of Certain Property and Money.--If an action is brought 
under section 3730 of title 31, United States Code, by reason of 
subsection (a), the court shall order that any proceeds of the action 
or settlement of the claim that the court determines is derived from 
Iraqi property or money be returned to the owner or owners of the 
property or money, except for such portion of the proceeds or 
settlement that is awarded to any private person who brought the action 
under section 3720(b) of such title.

SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON EXTENSIONS OF TIME COMPLAINTS REMAIN UNDER SEAL 
              IN FALSE CLAIMS ACTIONS.

    Section 3730(b)(3) of title 31, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by striking ``(3)'' and inserting ``(3)(A)'';
            (2) in the first sentence, by striking ``extensions of the 
        time'' and inserting ``an extension of not more than 6 months 
        of the period'';
            (3) in the second sentence, by striking ``motions'' and 
        inserting ``motion'';
            (4) by inserting after the second sentence the following: 
        ``The court may not grant more than 1 extension under this 
        subparagraph with respect to the complaint.''; and
            (5) in the third sentence, by striking ``The defendant'' 
        and inserting
    ``(B) The defendant''.
                                 <all>