I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2260

To amend subchapter III of chapter 83 and chapter 84 of title 5, United 

States Code, to include assistant United States attorneys within the 

definition of a law enforcement officer, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 22, 2003

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN (for herself, Mr. BOUCHER, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of 

Florida, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida, Mrs. 

JONES of Ohio, Mr. LATOURETTE, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. MATHESON, Mr. 

MEEK of Florida, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. POMEROY, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. 

WELLER, Mr. WEXLER, and Ms. WOOLSEY) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Government Reform 

A BILL

To amend subchapter III of chapter 83 and chapter 84 

of title 5, United States Code, to include assistant 

United States attorneys within the definition of a law 

enforcement officer, 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 ‘‘Assistant United 

5 States Attorneys Retirement Benefit Equity Act of 2003’’. 
2

•HR 2260 IH 

1 SEC. 2. INCLUSION OF ASSISTANT UNITED STATES ATTOR2 NEYS IN THE DEFINITION OF A LAW EN3 FORCEMENT OFFICER. 

4 (a) CIVIL SERVICE RETIREMENT SYSTEM.—

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (20) of section 

6 8331 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by 

7 striking ‘‘position.’’ and inserting ‘‘position and an 

8 assistant United States attorney.’’. 

9 (2) ASSISTANT UNITED STATES ATTORNEY DE10 FINED.—Section 8331 of title 5, United States 

11 Code, is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of 

12 paragraph (27), by striking the period at the end of 

13 paragraph (28) and inserting ‘‘; and’’, and by add14 ing at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(29) ‘assistant United States attorney’ means 

16 an assistant United States attorney under section 

17 542 of title 28.’’. 

18 (b) FEDERAL EMPLOYEES’ RETIREMENT SYSTEM.—

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (17) of section 

20 8401 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by 

21 striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subparagraph (C), by 

22 adding ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon at the end of sub23 paragraph (D), and by adding at the end the fol24 lowing: 

25 ‘‘(E) an assistant United States attor26 ney;’’. 
3

•HR 2260 IH 

1 (2) ASSISTANT UNITED STATES ATTORNEY DE2 FINED.—Section 8401 of title 5, United States 

3 Code, is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of 

4 paragraph (33), by striking the period at the end of 

5 paragraph (34) and inserting ‘‘; and’’, and by add6 ing at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(35) ‘assistant United States attorney’ means 

8 an assistant United States attorney under section 

9 542 of title 28.’’. 

10 (c) TREATMENT UNDER CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF

11 LAW TO REMAIN UNCHANGED.—

12 (1) ORIGINAL APPOINTMENTS.—Subsections (d) 

13 and (e) of section 3307 of title 5, United States 

14 Code, are amended by adding at the end of each the 

15 following: ‘‘The preceding sentence shall not apply in 

16 the case of an original appointment under section 

17 542 of title 28 (relating to assistant United States 

18 attorneys).’’. 

19 (2) MANDATORY SEPARATION.—Sections 

20 8335(b) and 8425(b) of title 5, United States Code, 

21 are amended by adding at the end of each the fol22 lowing: ‘‘The preceding provisions of this subsection 

23 shall not apply in the case of an assistant United 

24 States attorney.’’.
4

•HR 2260 IH 

1 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section and the amend2 ments made by this section shall take effect on the first 

3 day of the first applicable pay period beginning after the 

4 end of the 90-day period beginning on the date of the en5 actment of this Act. 

6 SEC. 3. PROVISIONS RELATING TO INCUMBENTS. 

7 (a) INCUMBENT DEFINED.—For purposes of this sec8 tion, the term ‘‘incumbent’’ means an individual who is 

9 serving as an assistant United States attorney on the date 

10 as of which the amendments made by this Act take effect. 

11 (b) NOTICE REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 9 

12 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

13 Department of Justice shall take measures reasonably de14 signed to provide notice to incumbents as to their election 

15 rights under this Act, and the effects of making or not 

16 making a timely election under this Act. 

17 (c) ELECTION AVAILABLE TO INCUMBENTS.—

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—An incumbent may elect, for 

19 all purposes, either—

20 (A) to be treated in accordance with the 

21 amendments made by this Act; or

22 (B) to be treated as if this Act had never 

23 been enacted. 

24 Failure to make a timely election under this sub25 section shall be treated in the same way as an elec-
5

•HR 2260 IH 

1 tion under subparagraph (A), made on the last day 

2 allowable under paragraph (2). 

3 (2) DEADLINE.—An election under this sub4 section shall not be effective unless it is made before 

5 the 90th day after the date on which the notice 

6 under subsection (b) is provided or the date on 

7 which the incumbent involved separates from service, 

8 whichever is earlier. 

9 (d) LIMITED RETROACTIVE EFFECT.—

10 (1) EFFECT ON RETIREMENT.—In the case of 

11 an incumbent who elects (or is deemed to have elect12 ed) the option under subsection (c)(1)(A), all service 

13 performed by that individual as an assistant United 

14 States attorney shall—

15 (A) to the extent performed on or after the 

16 effective date of that election, be treated in ac17 cordance with applicable provisions of sub18 chapter III of chapter 83 or chapter 84 of title 

19 5, United States Code, as amended by this Act; 

20 and 

21 (B) to the extent performed before the ef22 fective date of that election, be treated in ac23 cordance with applicable provisions of sub24 chapter III of chapter 83 or chapter 84 of such 
6

•HR 2260 IH 

1 title, as if the amendments made by this Act 

2 had then been in effect. 

3 (2) NO OTHER RETROACTIVE EFFECT.—Noth4 ing in this Act or any amendment made by this Act 

5 shall affect any of the terms or conditions of an indi6 vidual’s employment (apart from those governed by 

7 subchapter III of chapter 83 or chapter 84 of title 

8 5, United States Code) with respect to any period of 

9 service preceding the date on which such individual’s 

10 election under subsection (c) is made (or is deemed 

11 to have been made). 

12 (e) MAKEUP CONTRIBUTIONS.—

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to any other 

14 payment that it is required to make under sub15 chapter III of chapter 83 or chapter 84 of title 5, 

16 United States Code—

17 (A) the Department of Justice shall remit 

18 to the Office of Personnel Management the 

19 amount described in paragraph (2)—

20 (i) in 30 equal annual installments, 

21 with the first payment thereof due by the 

22 end of the fiscal year in which the amend23 ments made by this Act take effect; and 

24 (ii) in such form and manner as the 

25 Office may require; and 
7

•HR 2260 IH 

1 (B) any amount so remitted shall be de2 posited in the Treasury of the United States to 

3 the credit of the Civil Service Retirement and 

4 Disability Fund. 

5 (2) AMOUNT TO BE REMITTED.—The amount 

6 described in this paragraph is the total amount of 

7 additional individual and Government contributions 

8 to the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund 

9 that would have been required (for all incumbents 

10 described in subsection (d), for all service performed 

11 by them as an assistant United States attorney be12 fore the effective date of their election under sub13 section (c)), if the amendments made by this Act 

14 had then been in effect, plus interest. 

15 (3) NO INDIVIDUAL LIABILITY.—Nothing in 

16 this Act or in subchapter III of chapter 83 or chap17 ter 84 of title 5, United States Code (as amended 

18 by this Act) shall be considered to create any indi19 vidual liability for any shortfall in any contributions 

20 required to be made up in the manner provided for 

21 under this subsection. 

22 (f) REGULATIONS.—The Office of Personnel Manage23 ment shall prescribe any regulations necessary to carry out 

24 this Act, including provisions under which any interest due 
8

•HR 2260 IH 

1 on the amount described in subsection (e) shall be deter2 mined. 

3 (g) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the 

4 term ‘‘assistant United States attorney’’ means an assist5 ant United States attorney under section 542 of title 28, 

6 United States Code.

Æ