II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4444 

To limit donations made pursuant to settlement agreements to which the 

United States is a party, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 22, 2022 

Mr. LANKFORD (for himself, Mr. INHOFE, and Mr. TILLIS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To limit donations made pursuant to settlement agreements 

to which the United States is a party, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Safeguarding Awards 

5 for Victims and Enforcement Settlements Act of 2022’’. 

6 SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON DONATIONS MADE PURSUANT TO 

7 SETTLEMENT AGREEMENTS TO WHICH THE 

8 UNITED STATES IS A PARTY. 

9 (a) LIMITATION ON REQUIRED DONATIONS.— 


jspears on DSK121TN23PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 4444 IS

1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para2 graph (2), an official or agent of the Government 

3 may not enter into or enforce any settlement agree4 ment on behalf of the United States, directing or 

5 providing for a payment or loan, in cash or in kind, 

6 to any person or entity other than the United States 

7 that is not a party to the dispute. 

8 (2) EXCEPTIONS.—An official or agency of the 

9 Government may enter into or enforce a settlement 

10 agreement on behalf of the United States described 

11 in paragraph (1) only if— 

12 (A) the payment or loan provides restitu13 tion for or is otherwise intended to directly 

14 remedy actual harm (including to the environ15 ment) directly caused by the party making the 

16 payment or loan, and, to the extent any victim 

17 thereof was an identifiable person, suffered by 

18 the payee or lendee, which shall not include an 

19 agreement that requires a defendant in an envi20 ronmental case, in lieu of payment to the Fed21 eral Government, to expend funds to provide 

22 goods or services to third parties for supple23 mental environmental projects; 

24 (B) the payment or loan constitutes pay25 ment for services rendered in connection with 


jspears on DSK121TN23PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 4444 IS

1 the case, including for settlement or compliance 

2 monitoring or for divestiture trustee services, or 

3 a payment pursuant to section 3663 of title 18, 

4 United States Code; 

5 (C) in cases of foreign official corruption, 

6 a trusted third party is required to facilitate the 

7 repatriation and use of funds to directly benefit 

8 those harmed by the foreign corruption; or 

9 (D) payment is expressly authorized by 

10 statute or regulation, including restitution and 

11 forfeiture. 

12 (b) PROHIBITION ON CY-PRES REDISTRIBUTIONS IN

13 SETTLEMENTS.—Except as otherwise provided by law, 

14 when the United States has entered into a settlement in15 volving a fund for payments to individual claimants, 

16 amounts remaining after all claims on the settlement fund 

17 have been satisfied shall be repaid proportionally to each 

18 party who contributed to the settlement fund. 

19 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Subsections (a) and (b) shall 

20 apply to any settlement agreement concluded on or after 

21 the date of enactment of this Act. 

22 (d) REPORTS ON SETTLEMENT AGREEMENTS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than September 

24 30 of the first fiscal year that begins after the date 

25 of the enactment of this Act, and of each fiscal year 


jspears on DSK121TN23PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 4444 IS

1 thereafter, the head of each Federal agency shall 

2 submit electronically to the Congressional Budget 

3 Office a report on each settlement agreement de4 scribed in subsection (a)(1) entered into by that 

5 Federal agency during such fiscal year (other than 

6 a settlement agreement for a qui tam action or 

7 under section 586(a) of title 28, United States 

8 Code) that meets the requirements of an exception 

9 described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of subsection 

10 (a)(2), which shall include including the parties to 

11 each such settlement agreement, the source of the 

12 settlement funds, and where and how such funds 

13 were and will be distributed. 

14 (2) PROHIBITION ON ADDITIONAL FUNDING.— 

15 No additional funds are authorized to be appro16 priated to carry out this subsection. 

17 (3) SUNSET.—This subsection shall cease to be 

18 effective on the date that is 7 years after the date 

19 of enactment of this Act. 

20 (e) ANNUAL AUDIT REQUIREMENT.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than September 

22 30 of the first fiscal year that begins after the date 

23 of the enactment of this Act, and of each fiscal year 

24 thereafter, the Inspector General of each Federal 

25 agency shall submit a report on any settlement 


jspears on DSK121TN23PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 4444 IS

1 agreement entered into by that Federal agency dur2 ing such fiscal year in violation of this section to— 

3 (A) the Committee on the Judiciary, the 

4 Committee on the Budget, and the Committee 

5 on Appropriations of the Senate; and 

6 (B) the Committee on the Judiciary, the 

7 Committee on the Budget, and the Committee 

8 on Appropriations of the House of Representa9 tives. 

10 (2) PROHIBITION ON ADDITIONAL FUNDING.— 

11 No additional funds are authorized to be appro12 priated to carry out this subsection. 

13 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

14 (1) PAYMENT.—The term ‘‘payment’’ means 

15 any transfer of money, cash, or other consideration, 

16 including constructive transfer in lieu of money. 

17 (2) SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT.—The term 

18 ‘‘settlement agreement’’ means a settlement agree19 ment resolving a civil action or potential civil action, 

20 participation in any pretrial diversion program, a 

21 plea agreement, a deferred prosecution agreement, 

22 or a non-prosecution agreement. 

Æ 


jspears on DSK121TN23PROD with BILLS