[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2559 Introduced in Senate (IS)]








109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2559

   To make it illegal for anyone to defraud and deprive the American 
people of the right to the honest services of a Member of Congress and 
  to instill greater public confidence in the United States Congress.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 6, 2006

   Mr. Leahy introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To make it illegal for anyone to defraud and deprive the American 
people of the right to the honest services of a Member of Congress and 
  to instill greater public confidence in the United States Congress.

    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 ``Honest Services Act of 2006''.

SEC. 2. HONEST SERVICES FRAUD INVOLVING MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 63 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 1351. Honest services fraud involving members of Congress
    ``(a) In General.--Whoever knowingly and willfully executes, or 
attempts to execute, a scheme or artifice to defraud and deprive the 
United States, the Congress, or the constituents of a Member of 
Congress, of the right to the honest services of a Member of Congress 
by--
            ``(1) offering and providing to a Member of Congress, or an 
        employee of a Member of Congress, anything of value or a series 
        of things of value, with the intent to influence the 
        performance an official act or series of official acts; or
            ``(2) being a Member of Congress, or an employee of a 
        Member of Congress, accepting anything of value or a series of 
        things of value or holding an undisclosed financial interest, 
        with the intent to be influenced in performing an official act 
        or series of official acts;
shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, 
or both.
    ``(b) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Honest services.--The term `honest services' includes 
        the right to conscientious, loyal, faithful, disinterested, and 
        unbiased service, to be performed free of deceit, undue 
        influence, conflict of interest, self-enrichment, self-dealing, 
        concealment, bribery, fraud, and corruption.
            ``(2) Official act.--The term `official act'--
                    ``(A) has the meaning given that term in section 
                201(a)(3) of this title; and
                    ``(B) includes supporting and passing legislation, 
                placing a statement in the Congressional Record, 
                participating in a meeting, conducting hearings, or 
                advancing or advocating for an application to obtain a 
                contract with the United States Government.
            ``(3) Undisclosed financial interest.--The term 
        `undisclosed financial interest' includes any financial 
        interest not disclosed as required by statute or by the 
        Standing Rules of the Senate.
    ``(c) No Inference and Scope.--Nothing in this section shall be 
construed to--
            ``(1) create any inference with respect to whether the 
        conduct described in section 1351 of this title was already a 
        criminal or civil offense prior to the enactment of this 
        section; or
            ``(2) limit the scope of any existing criminal or civil 
        offense.''.
    (b) Chapter Analysis.--The chapter analysis for chapter 63 of title 
18, United States Code is amended by adding at the end, the following:

        ``1351. Honest services fraud involving Members of Congress.''.

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION FOR ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL TO INVESTIGATE AND 
              PROSECUTE HONEST SERVICES FRAUD, BRIBERY, GRAFT, AND 
              CONFLICTS OF INTEREST OFFENSES.

    There are authorized to be appropriated to the Department of 
Justice, including the Public Integrity Section of the Criminal 
Division, and the Federal Bureau of Investigations, $25,000,000 for 
each of the fiscal years 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010, to increase the 
number of personnel to investigate and prosecute violations of section 
1351 and sections 201, 203 through 209, 1001, 1341, 1343, and 1346 of 
title 18, United States Code, as amended by this Act.
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