[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1529 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1529

   To prohibit the President, Vice President, or any other executive 
branch official from knowingly and willfully misleading the Congress of 
  the United States for the purpose of gaining support for the use of 
            force by the Armed Forces of the United States.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 28, 2009

 Mr. Reid (for Mr. Byrd) introduced the following bill; which was read 
          twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To prohibit the President, Vice President, or any other executive 
branch official from knowingly and willfully misleading the Congress of 
  the United States for the purpose of gaining support for the use of 
            force by the Armed Forces of the United States.

    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 ``Executive Accountability Act of 
2009''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) In 1770, John Adams wrote in ``Argument in Defense of 
        Soldier in the Boston Massacre Trials'': ``Facts are stubborn 
        things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or 
        the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of 
        facts and evidence.''.
            (2) In 1787, John Jay wrote in ``The Federalist No. 4'': 
        ``There are pretended as well as just causes of war.''.
            (3) In 1865, Abraham Lincoln said: ``I have faith in the 
        people . . . the danger is, they are misled. Let them know the 
        truth and the country is safe.''.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION AGAINST EXECUTIVE BRANCH MISREPRESENTATIONS MADE 
              FOR THE PURPOSE OF GAINING SUPPORT FOR THE USE OF FORCE 
              BY THE ARMED FORCES OF THE UNITED STATES.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 47 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 1041. Executive branch misrepresentations for the purpose of 
              gaining support for the use force by the Armed Forces of 
              the United States
    ``(a) In General.--It shall be unlawful for any covered official, 
for the purpose of influencing a member of Congress to authorize the 
use of force by the Armed Forces of the United States, to knowingly and 
willfully--
            ``(1) falsify, conceal, or cover up by any trick, scheme, 
        or device a material fact;
            ``(2) make any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent 
        statement or representation; or
            ``(3) make or use any false writing or document knowing the 
        same to contain any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent 
        statement or entry.
    ``(b) Penalty.--Any covered official who violates subsection (a) 
shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 10 years, or 
both.
    ``(c) Definition.--In this section, the term `covered official' 
means the President, Vice President, or an officer or employee of the 
executive branch of the Government.''.
    (b) Suspension of Limitations During Presidential Term.--Chapter 
213 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 
the following:
``Sec. 3301. Suspension of limitations during Presidential term
    ``The running of any statute of limitations applicable to an 
offense under section 1041 shall be suspended until the end of the term 
of the President in office at the time the offense is committed.''.
    (c) Technical and Conforming Amendments.--Title 18, United States 
Code, is amended--
            (1) in the table of sections for chapter 47, by adding at 
        the end the following:

``1041. Executive branch misrepresentations for the purpose of gaining 
                            support for the use force by the Armed 
                            Forces of the United States.''; and
            (2) in the table of sections for chapter 213, by adding at 
        the end the following:

``3301. Suspension of limitations during Presidential term.''.

SEC. 4. REFERRAL OF VIOLATIONS FOR PROSECUTION.

    (a) Referral for Prosecution.--If a House of Congress passes a 
resolution or concurrent resolution in which the House of Congress 
finds that a violation of section 1041 of title 18, United States Code, 
has occurred, the referring party of the House of Congress shall 
transmit a copy of the resolution to the Attorney General.
    (b) Referring Party Defined.--In this section, the term ``referring 
party'' means--
            (1) in the case of the House of Representatives, the Clerk 
        of the House of Representatives; or
            (2) in the case of the Senate, the Secretary of the Senate.
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