[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 636 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 636

To direct the Inspector General of the Department of Justice to submit 
semi-annual reports regarding settlements relating to false claims and 
                 fraud against the Federal Government.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 16, 2005

 Mr. Grassley introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To direct the Inspector General of the Department of Justice to submit 
semi-annual reports regarding settlements relating to false claims and 
                 fraud against the Federal Government.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. FALSE CLAIMS SETTLEMENTS.

    Section 8E of the Inspector General Act (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended 
by adding at the end the following:
    ``(e)(1) In preparing the semi-annual report under section 5, the 
Inspector General of the Department of Justice shall describe each 
settlement or compromise of any claim, suit, or other action entered 
into with the Department of Justice that--
            ``(A) relates to an alleged violation of section 1031 of 
        title 18, United States Code, or section 3729 of title 31, 
        United States Code (including all settlements of alternative 
        remedies); and
            ``(B) results from a claim of damages in excess of 
        $100,000.
    ``(2) The descriptions of each settlement or compromise required to 
be included in the semi-annual report under paragraph (1) shall 
include--
            ``(A) the overall amount of the settlement or compromise 
        and the portions of the settlement attributed to various 
        statutory authorities;
            ``(B) the amount of actual damages estimated to have been 
        sustained and the minimum and maximum potential civil penalties 
        incurred as a consequence of the defendants that is the subject 
        of the settlement or compromise;
            ``(C) the basis for the estimate of damages sustained and 
        the potential civil penalties incurred;
            ``(D) the amount of the settlement that represents damages 
        and the multiplier or percentage of the actual damages applied 
        in the actual settlement or compromise;
            ``(E) the amount of the settlement that represents civil 
        penalties and the percentage of the potential penalty liability 
        captured by the settlement or compromise;
            ``(F) the amount of the settlement that represents criminal 
        fines and a statement of the basis for such fines;
            ``(G) the length of time involved from the filing of the 
        complaint until the finalization of the settlement or 
        compromise, including--
                    ``(i) the date of the original filing of the 
                complaint;
                    ``(ii) the time the case remained under seal;
                    ``(iii) the date upon which the Department of 
                Justice determined whether or not to intervene in the 
                case; and
                    ``(iv) the date of settlement or compromise;
            ``(H) whether any of the defendants, or any divisions, 
        subsidiaries, affiliates, or related entities, had previously 
        entered into 1 or more settlements or compromises related to 
        section 1031 of title 18, United States Code, or section 
        3730(b) of title 31, United States Code, and if so, the dates 
        and monetary size of such settlements or compromises;
            ``(I) whether the defendant or any of its divisions, 
        subsidiaries, affiliates, or related entities--
                    ``(i) entered into a corporate integrity agreement 
                related to the settlement or compromise; and
                    ``(ii) had previously entered into 1 or more 
                corporate integrity agreements related to section 
                3730(b) of title 31, United States Code, and if so, 
                whether the previous corporate integrity agreements 
                covered the conduct that is the subject of the 
                settlement or compromise being reported on or similar 
                conduct;
            ``(J) in the case of settlements involving medicaid, the 
        amounts paid to the Federal Government and to each of the 
        States participating in the settlement or compromise;
            ``(K) whether civil investigative demands were issued in 
        process of investigating the case;
            ``(L) in qui tam actions, the percentage of the settlement 
        amount awarded to the relator, and whether or not the relator 
        requested a fairness hearing pertaining to the percentage 
        received by the relator or the overall amount of the 
        settlement;
            ``(M) the extent to which officers of the department or 
        agency that was the victim of the loss resolved by the 
        settlement or compromise participated in the settlement 
        negotiations; and
            ``(N) the extent to which relators and their counsel 
        participated in the settlement negotiations.''.
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