[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 153 (Thursday, September 28, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S14569]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       ATTORNEY'S FEES EQUITY ACT

  Mr. GRAMM. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 10, S. 144.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows.

       A bill (S. 144) to amend section 526 of title 28, United 
     States Code, to authorize awards of attorney's fees.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection to the immediate 
consideration of the bill?
  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. GRAMM. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be 
deemed read a third time, passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon 
the table, and that any statements related to the bill be printed at 
the appropriate place in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  So the bill (S. 144) was deemed read the third time and passed, as 
follows:

                                 S. 144

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

     SECTION 1. AWARDS OF ATTORNEYS FEES.

       (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Attorney's 
     Fees Equity Act of 1995''.
       (b) Awards of Attorney's Fees.--Section 526 of title 28, 
     United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
     following new subsection:
       ``(c)(1)(A) A current or former Department of Justice 
     attorney; agent; or employee who supervises an agent who is 
     the subject of a criminal or disciplinary investigation, 
     instituted on or after the date of enactment of this 
     subsection, arising out of acts performed in the discharge of 
     his or her duties in prosecuting or investigating a criminal 
     matter, who is not provided representation under Department 
     of Justice regulations, shall be entitled to reimbursement of 
     reasonable attorney's fees incurred during and as a result of 
     the investigation if the investigation does not result in 
     adverse action against the attorney, agent, or employee.
       ``(B) A current or former attorney; agent; or employee who 
     supervises an agent employed as or by a Federal public 
     defender who is the subject of a criminal or disciplinary 
     investigation instituted on or after the date of enactment of 
     this subsection, arising out of acts performed in the 
     discharge of his or her duties in defending or investigating 
     a criminal matter in connection with the public defender 
     program, who is not provided representation by a Federal 
     public defender or the Administrative Office of the United 
     States Courts is entitled to reimbursement of reasonable 
     attorney's fees incurred during and as a result of the 
     investigation if the investigation does not result in adverse 
     action against the attorney, agent, or employee.
       ``(2) For purposes of paragraph (1), an investigation shall 
     be considered not to result in adverse action against an 
     attorney, agent, or employee if--
       ``(A) in the case of a criminal investigation, the 
     investigation does not result in indictment of, the filing of 
     a criminal complaint against, or the entry of a plea of 
     guilty by the attorney, agent, or supervising employee; and
       ``(B) in the case of a disciplinary investigation, the 
     investigation does not result in discipline or results in 
     only discipline less serious than a formal letter of 
     reprimand finding actual and specific wrongdoing.
       ``(3) The Attorney General shall provide notice in writing 
     of the conclusion and result of an investigation described in 
     paragraph (1).
       ``(4) An attorney, agent, or supervising employee who was 
     the subject of an investigation described in paragraph (1) 
     may waive his or her entitlement to reimbursement of 
     attorney's fees under paragraph (1) as part of a resolution 
     of a criminal or disciplinary investigation.
       ``(5) An application for attorney fee reimbursement under 
     this subsection shall be made not later than 180 days after 
     the attorney, agent, or employee is notified in writing of 
     the conclusion and result of the investigation.
       ``(6) Upon receipt of a proper application under this 
     subsection for reimbursement of attorney's fees, the Attorney 
     General and the Director of the Administrative Office of the 
     United States Courts shall award reimbursement for the amount 
     of attorney's fees that are found to have been reasonably 
     incurred by the applicant as a result of an investigation.
       ``(7) The official making an award under this subsection 
     shall make inquiry into the reasonableness of the amount 
     requested, and shall consider--
       ``(A) the sufficiency of the documentation accompanying the 
     request;
       ``(B) the need or justification for the underlying item;
       ``(C) the reasonableness of the sum requested in light of 
     the nature of the investigation; and
       ``(D) current rates for equal services in the community in 
     which the investigation took place.
       ``(8)(A) Reimbursements of attorney's fees ordered under 
     this subsection by the Attorney General shall be paid from 
     the appropriation made by section 1304 of title 31, United 
     States Code.
       ``(B) Reimbursements of attorney's fees ordered under this 
     Act by the Director of the Administrative Office of the 
     United States Courts shall be paid from appropriations 
     authorized by section 3006A(i) of title 18, United States 
     Code.
       ``(9) The Attorney General and the Director of the 
     Administrative Office of the United States Courts may 
     delegate their powers and duties under this subsection to an 
     appropriate subordinate.''.

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