II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4691 

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 

SEPTEMBER 24, 2020 

Mr. LANKFORD (for himself, Mr. TILLIS, Mr. CORNYN, and Mr. INHOFE) 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 2020’’. 

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.— 


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•S 4691 IS

1 (1) IN GENERAL.—An official or agent of the 

2 Government may not enter into or enforce any set3 tlement agreement on behalf of the United States, 

4 directing or providing for a payment or loan to any 

5 person or entity other than the United States, other 

6 than a payment or loan that— 

7 (A) provides restitution for or is otherwise 

8 intended to directly remedy actual harm (in9 cluding to the environment) directly caused by 

10 the party making the payment or loan, and, to 

11 the extent any victim thereof was an identifiable 

12 person, suffered by the payee or lendee; or 

13 (B) constitutes payment for services ren14 dered in connection with the case, including for 

15 settlement or compliance monitoring or for di16 vestiture trustee services, or a payment pursu17 ant to section 3663 of title 18, United States 

18 Code. 

19 (2) EXCEPTIONS.—Nothing in this subsection 

20 shall— 

21 (A) prohibit the United States from par22 ticipating in a settlement through which claims 

23 against one or more third parties are resolved 

24 through payments to the same third parties; 


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1 (B) limit any payment under section 

2 110(l)(4)(A) of title 11, United States Code; 

3 (C) prohibit the United States from par4 ticipating in a settlement agreement that, pur5 suant to a non-prosecution agreement, deferred 

6 prosecution agreement, or plea agreement, pro7 vides for remedial training, establishment of a 

8 compliance program, or enhancement of a com9 pliance program designed to remediate the al10 leged criminal violations identified in the settle11 ment, or avoid such violations in the future; 

12 (D) proscribe or otherwise limit the man13 ner in which forfeited assets linked to foreign 

14 corruption affecting the United States financial 

15 system or assets recovered following the filing 

16 of an asset forfeiture action to recover assets 

17 linked to foreign corruption shall be returned 

18 for the benefit of the people harmed by the cor19 ruption; 

20 (E) prohibit the United States from par21 ticipating in a settlement or resolution with a 

22 party in which the United States coordinates 

23 with any other domestic or foreign civil, crimi24 nal, or regulatory authority to credit payments 

25 the party makes to any other such authority so 


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•S 4691 IS

1 as to avoid duplicative penalties, fines, for2 feiture, and disgorgement; or 

3 (F) limit payments expressly authorized by 

4 law. 

5 (b) PROHIBITION ON CY-PRE`S REDISTRIBUTIONS IN

6 SETTLEMENTS.—Except as otherwise provided by law, 

7 when the United States has entered into a settlement in8 volving a fund for payments to individual claimants, 

9 amounts remaining after all claims on the settlement fund 

10 have been satisfied shall be repaid proportionally to each 

11 party who contributed to the settlement fund. 

12 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Subsections (a) and (b) 

13 apply only in the case of a settlement agreement concluded 

14 on or after the date of enactment of this Act. 

15 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

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

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

18 including constructive transfer in lieu of money. 

19 (2) SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT.—The term 

20 ‘‘settlement agreement’’ means a settlement agree21 ment resolving a civil action or potential civil action, 

22 participation in any pretrial diversion program, a 

23 plea agreement, a deferred prosecution agreement, 

24 or a non-prosecution agreement. 

25 (e) REPORTS ON SETTLEMENT AGREEMENTS.— 


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•S 4691 IS

1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning at the end of the 

2 first fiscal year that begins after the date of the en3 actment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the 

4 head of each Federal agency shall submit electroni5 cally to the Congressional Budget Office a report on 

6 each settlement agreement entered into by that 

7 agency (other than a settlement agreement for a qui 

8 tam action or under section 586(a) of title 28, 

9 United States Code) during that fiscal year that di10 rects or provides for a payment or loan to a person 

11 or entity other than the United States that provides 

12 restitution for or otherwise directly remedies actual 

13 harm (including to the environment) directly caused 

14 by the party making the payment or loan, or con15 stitutes payment for services rendered in connection 

16 with the case, including the parties to each settle17 ment agreement, the source of the settlement funds, 

18 and where and how such funds were and will be dis19 tributed. 

20 (2) PROHIBITION ON ADDITIONAL FUNDING.— 

21 No additional funds are authorized to be appro22 priated to carry out this subsection. 

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

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

25 of the enactment of this Act. 


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•S 4691 IS

1 (f) ANNUAL AUDIT REQUIREMENT.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning at the end of the 

3 first fiscal year that begins after the date of the en4 actment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the In5 spector General of each Federal agency shall submit 

6 a report to the Committees on the Judiciary, on the 

7 Budget and on Appropriations of the House of Rep8 resentatives and the Senate, on any settlement 

9 agreement entered into in violation of this section by 

10 that agency. 

11 (2) PROHIBITION ON ADDITIONAL FUNDING.— 

12 No additional funds are authorized to be appro13 priated to carry out this subsection. 

Æ 


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