II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1261 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to deny retirement benefits accrued 

by an individual as a Member of Congress if such individual is convicted 

of certain offenses. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 22, 2011 

Mr. KIRK (for himself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, and Mr. HELLER) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to deny retirement 

benefits accrued by an individual as a Member of Congress if such individual is convicted of certain offenses. 

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 ‘‘Congressional Integrity 

5 and Pension Forfeiture Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds that— 

8 (1) Members of Congress pledge to uphold the 

9 Constitution and the laws of the United States; 


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1 (2) Members of Congress and other elected gov2 ernment officials are elected to serve in, and pledge 

3 to uphold, the public trust; 

4 (3) a breach of the public trust by a Member 

5 of Congress or other elected government official is a 

6 serious offense that should have serious con7 sequences; and 

8 (4) taxpayers should not pay for the congres9 sional retirement benefits of present or former Mem10 bers of Congress who have been convicted of a felony 

11 committed while serving as an elected government 

12 official. 

13 SEC. 3. APPLICATION TO OTHER ELECTED OFFICIALS AND 

14 CRIMINAL OFFENSES. 

15 (a) APPLICATION TO OTHER ELECTED OFFICIALS.— 

16 (1) CIVIL SERVICE RETIREMENT SYSTEM.—Sec17 tion 8332(o)(2)(A) of title 5, United States Code, is 

18 amended— 

19 (A) in clause (i), by inserting ‘‘, the Presi20 dent, the Vice President, or an elected official 

21 of a State or local government’’ after ‘‘Mem22 ber’’; and 

23 (B) in clause (ii), by inserting ‘‘, the Presi24 dent, the Vice President, or an elected official 


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1 of a State or local government’’ after ‘‘Mem2 ber’’. 

3 (2) FEDERAL EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT SYS4 TEM.—Section 8411(l)(2) of title 5, United States 

5 Code, is amended— 

6 (A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘, 

7 the President, the Vice President, or an elected 

8 official of a State or local government’’ after 

9 ‘‘Member’’; and 

10 (B) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ‘‘, 

11 the President, the Vice President, or an elected 

12 official of a State or local government’’ after 

13 ‘‘Member’’. 

14 (b) CRIMINAL OFFENSES.—Section 8332(o)(2) of 

15 title 5, United States Code, is amended— 

16 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking clause (iii) 

17 and inserting the following: 

18 ‘‘(iii) The offense— 

19 ‘‘(I) is committed after the date 

20 of enactment of this subsection and— 

21 ‘‘(aa) is described under 

22 subparagraph (B)(i), (iv), (xvi), 

23 (xix), (xxiii), (xxiv), or (xxvi); or 

24 ‘‘(bb) is described under 

25 subparagraph (B)(xxvii) or 


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1 (xxviii), but only with respect to 

2 an offense described under sub3 paragraph (B)(i), (iv), (xvi), 

4 (xix), (xxiii), (xxiv), or (xxvi); or 

5 ‘‘(II) is committed after the date 

6 of enactment of the Congressional In7 tegrity and Pension Forfeiture Act of 

8 2011 and— 

9 ‘‘(aa) is described under 

10 subparagraph (B)(ii), (iii), (v), 

11 (vi), (vii), (viii), (ix), (x), (xi), 

12 (xii), (xiii), (xiv), (xv), (xvii), 

13 (xviii), (xx), (xxi), (xxii), or (xxv); 

14 or 

15 ‘‘(bb) is described under 

16 subparagraph (B)(xxvii) or 

17 (xxviii), but only with respect to 

18 an offense described under sub19 paragraph (B)(ii), (iii), (v), (vi), 

20 (vii), (viii), (ix), (x), (xi), (xii), 

21 (xiii), (xiv), (xv), (xvii), (xviii), 

22 (xx), (xxi), (xxii), or (xxv).’’; and 

23 (2) by striking subparagraph (B) and inserting 

24 the following: 


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1 ‘‘(B) An offense described in this subpara2 graph is only the following, and only to the ex3 tent that the offense is a felony: 

4 ‘‘(i) An offense under section 201 of 

5 title 18 (relating to bribery of public offi6 cials and witnesses). 

7 ‘‘(ii) An offense under section 203 of 

8 title 18 (relating to compensation to Mem9 ber of Congress, officers, and others in 

10 matters affecting the Government). 

11 ‘‘(iii) An offense under section 204 of 

12 title 18 (relating to practice in the United 

13 States Court of Federal Claims or the 

14 Unites States Court of Appeals for the 

15 Federal Circuit by Member of Congress). 

16 ‘‘(iv) An offense under section 219 of 

17 title 18 (relating to officers and employees 

18 acting as agents of foreign principals). 

19 ‘‘(v) An offense under section 286 of 

20 title 18 (relating to conspiracy to defraud 

21 the Government with respect to claims). 

22 ‘‘(vi) An offense under section 287 of 

23 title 18 (relating to false, fictitious or 

24 fraudulent claims). 


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1 ‘‘(vii) An offense under section 597 of 

2 title 18 (relating to expenditures to influ3 ence voting). 

4 ‘‘(viii) An offense under section 599 

5 of title 18 (relating to promise of appoint6 ment by candidate). 

7 ‘‘(ix) An offense under section 602 of 

8 title 18 (relating to solicitation of political 

9 contributions). 

10 ‘‘(x) An offense under section 606 of 

11 title 18 (relating to intimidation to secure 

12 political contributions). 

13 ‘‘(xi) An offense under section 607 of 

14 title 18 (relating to place of solicitation). 

15 ‘‘(xii) An offense under section 641 of 

16 title 18 (relating to public money, property 

17 or records). 

18 ‘‘(xiii) An offense under section 666 

19 of title 18 (relating to theft or bribery con20 cerning programs receiving Federal funds). 

21 ‘‘(xiv) An offense under section 1001 

22 of title 18 (relating to statements or en23 tries generally). 

24 ‘‘(xv) An offense under section 1341 

25 of title 18 (relating to frauds and swindles, 


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1 including as part of a scheme to deprive 

2 citizens of honest services thereby). 

3 ‘‘(xvi) An offense under section 1343 

4 of title 18 (relating to fraud by wire, radio, 

5 or television, including as part of a scheme 

6 to deprive citizens of honest services there7 by). 

8 ‘‘(xvii) An offense under section 1503 

9 of title 18 (relating to influencing or injur10 ing officer or juror). 

11 ‘‘(xviii) An offense under section 1505 

12 of title 18 (relating to obstruction of pro13 ceedings before departments, agencies, and 

14 committees). 

15 ‘‘(xix) An offense under section 1512 

16 of title 18 (relating to tampering with a 

17 witness, victim, or an informant). 

18 ‘‘(xx) An offense under section 1951 

19 of title 18 (relating to interference with 

20 commerce by threats of violence). 

21 ‘‘(xxi) An offense under section 1952 

22 of title 18 (relating to interstate and for23 eign travel or transportation in aid of rack24 eteering enterprises). 


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1 ‘‘(xxii) An offense under section 1956 

2 of title 18 (relating to laundering of mone3 tary instruments). 

4 ‘‘(xxiii) An offense under section 1957 

5 of title 18 (relating to engaging in mone6 tary transactions in property derived from 

7 specified unlawful activity). 

8 ‘‘(xxiv) An offense under chapter 96 

9 of title 18 (relating to racketeer influenced 

10 and corrupt organizations). 

11 ‘‘(xxv) An offense under section 7201 

12 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (re13 lating to attempt to evade or defeat tax). 

14 ‘‘(xxvi) An offense under section 

15 104(a) of the Foreign Corrupt Practices 

16 Act of 1977 (relating to prohibited foreign 

17 trade practices by domestic concerns). 

18 ‘‘(xxvii) An offense under section 371 

19 of title 18 (relating to conspiracy to com20 mit offense or to defraud United States), 

21 to the extent of any conspiracy to commit 

22 an act which constitutes— 

23 ‘‘(I) an offense under clause (i), 

24 (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi), (vii), (viii), 

25 (ix), (x), (xi), (xii), (xiii), (xiv), (xv), 


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1 (xvi), (xvii), (xviii), (xix), (xx), (xxi), 

2 (xxii), (xxiii), (xxiv), (xxv), or (xxvi); 

3 or 

4 ‘‘(II) an offense under section 

5 207 of title 18 (relating to restrictions 

6 on former officers, employees, and 

7 elected officials of the executive and 

8 legislative branches). 

9 ‘‘(xxviii) Perjury committed under 

10 section 1621 of title 18 in falsely denying 

11 the commission of an act which con12 stitutes— 

13 ‘‘(I) an offense under clause (i), 

14 (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi), (vii), (viii), 

15 (ix), (x), (xi), (xii), (xiii), (xiv), (xv), 

16 (xvi), (xvii), (xviii), (xix), (xx), (xxi), 

17 (xxii), (xxiii), (xxiv), (xxv), or (xxvi); 

18 or 

19 ‘‘(II) an offense under clause 

20 (xxvii), to the extent provided in such 

21 clause. 

22 ‘‘(xxix) Subornation of perjury com23 mitted under section 1622 of title 18 in 

24 connection with the false denial or false 


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1 testimony of another individual as specified 

2 in clause (xxviii).’’. 

Æ 


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