II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2661 

To curtail the use of changes in mandatory programs affecting the Crime 

Victims Fund to inflate spending. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 27, 2023 

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

Budget 

A BILL 

To curtail the use of changes in mandatory programs 

affecting the Crime Victims Fund to inflate spending. 

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 ‘‘Fairness for Crime 

5 Victims Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. POINT OF ORDER AGAINST CERTAIN CHANGES IN 

7 MANDATORY PROGRAMS AFFECTING THE 

8 CRIME VICTIMS FUND. 

9 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) the Crime Victims Fund was created in 

2 1984, with the support of overwhelming bipartisan 

3 majorities in the House of Representatives and the 

4 Senate and the support of President Ronald Reagan, 

5 who signed the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 (Pub6 lic Law 98–473) into law; 

7 (2) the Crime Victims Fund was created based 

8 on the principle that funds the Federal Government 

9 collects from those convicted of crime should be used 

10 to aid those who have been victimized by crime; 

11 (3) the Crime Victims Fund is funded from 

12 fines, penalties, and forfeited bonds in Federal court 

13 and private donations; 

14 (4) the Crime Victims Fund receives no tax15 payer dollars; 

16 (5) Federal law provides that funds deposited 

17 into the Crime Victims Fund shall be used to pro18 vide services to victims of crime in accordance with 

19 the Victims of Crime Act of 1984; 

20 (6) the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 gives pri21 ority to victims of child abuse, sexual assault, and 

22 domestic violence; 

23 (7) since fiscal year 2000, Congress has been 

24 accounting for funds collected by the Crime Victims 


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1 Fund, but not disbursing the full amount provided 

2 for under the Victims of Crime Act of 1984; 

3 (8) over $10,000,000,000 has been withheld 

4 from victims of child abuse, sexual assault, domestic 

5 violence, and other crimes; 

6 (9) from fiscal year 2010 through fiscal year 

7 2014, the Crime Victims Fund collected 

8 $12,000,000,000, but Congress disbursed only 

9 $3,600,000,000 (or 30 percent) to victims of crime; 

10 (10) since fiscal year 2015, Congress has in11 creased disbursals from the Crime Victims Fund to 

12 victims of crime, but a permanent solution is nec13 essary to ensure consistent disbursals to victims of 

14 crime who rely on these funds every year; 

15 (11) under budget rules, Congress represents 

16 that the money it has already spent in prior years 

17 is still in the Crime Victims Fund and available for 

18 victims of crime; 

19 (12) it is time to restore fairness to crime vic20 tims; and 

21 (13) funds collected by the Crime Victims Fund 

22 should be used for services to and compensation of 

23 crime victims in accordance with the Victims of 

24 Crime Act of 1984. 


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1 (b) AMENDMENT.—Title IV of the Congressional 

2 Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 651 et seq.) is amended 

3 by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘PART C—ADDITIONAL LIMITATIONS ON BUDG5 ETARY AND APPROPRIATIONS LEGISLATION 

6 ‘‘SEC. 441. POINT OF ORDER AGAINST CHANGES IN MANDA7 TORY PROGRAMS AFFECTING THE CRIME 

8 VICTIMS FUND. 

9 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

10 ‘‘(1) the term ‘CHIMP’ means a provision 

11 that— 

12 ‘‘(A) would have been estimated as affect13 ing direct spending or receipts under section 

14 252 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency 

15 Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 902) (as 

16 in effect prior to September 30, 2002) if the 

17 provision was included in legislation other than 

18 an appropriation Act; and 

19 ‘‘(B) results in a net decrease in budget 

20 authority in the current year or the budget 

21 year, but does not result in a net decrease in 

22 outlays over the period of the total of the cur23 rent year, the budget year, and all fiscal years 

24 covered under the most recently adopted con25 current resolution on the budget; 


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1 ‘‘(2) the term ‘Crime Victims Fund’ means the 

2 Crime Victims Fund established under section 1402 

3 of the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 (34 U.S.C. 

4 20101); and 

5 ‘‘(3) the term ‘3-year average amount’ means 

6 the annual average amount that was deposited into 

7 the Crime Victims Fund during the 3-fiscal-year pe8 riod beginning on October 1 of the fourth fiscal year 

9 before the fiscal year to which a CHIMP affecting 

10 the Crime Victims Fund applies. 

11 ‘‘(b) POINT OF ORDER IN THE SENATE.— 

12 ‘‘(1) POINT OF ORDER.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

14 subparagraph (C), in the Senate, it shall not be 

15 in order to consider a provision in a bill or joint 

16 resolution making appropriations for all or a 

17 portion of a fiscal year, or an amendment there18 to, amendment between the Houses in relation 

19 thereto, conference report thereon, or motion 

20 thereon, that contains a CHIMP that, if en21 acted, would cause the amount available for ob22 ligation during the fiscal year from the Crime 

23 Victims Fund to be less than the 3-year average 

24 amount. 


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1 ‘‘(B) POINT OF ORDER SUSTAINED.—If a 

2 point of order is made by a Senator against a 

3 provision described in subparagraph (A), and 

4 the point of order is sustained by the Chair, 

5 that provision shall be stricken from the meas6 ure and may not be offered as an amendment 

7 from the floor. 

8 ‘‘(C) LIMITATION.—A point of order shall 

9 not lie in the Senate under this paragraph if 

10 the difference between the amount in the Crime 

11 Victims Fund as of September 30 of the fiscal 

12 year immediately preceding the fiscal year to 

13 which the CHIMP described in subparagraph 

14 (A) relates and the amount available for obliga15 tion under the CHIMP described in subpara16 graph (A) is not more than $2,000,000,000. 

17 ‘‘(2) FORM OF THE POINT OF ORDER.—A point 

18 of order under paragraph (1) may be raised by a 

19 Senator as provided in section 313(e). 

20 ‘‘(3) CONFERENCE REPORTS.—When the Sen21 ate is considering a conference report on, or an 

22 amendment between the Houses in relation to, a bill 

23 or joint resolution, upon a point of order being made 

24 by any Senator pursuant to paragraph (1), and such 

25 point of order being sustained, such material conVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:14 Aug 16, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2661.IS S2661

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1 tained in such conference report or House amend2 ment shall be stricken, and the Senate shall proceed 

3 to consider the question of whether the Senate shall 

4 recede from its amendment and concur with a fur5 ther amendment, or concur in the House amendment 

6 with a further amendment, as the case may be, 

7 which further amendment shall consist of only that 

8 portion of the conference report or House amend9 ment, as the case may be, not so stricken. Any such 

10 motion in the Senate shall be debatable. In any case 

11 in which such point of order is sustained against a 

12 conference report (or Senate amendment derived 

13 from such conference report by operation of this 

14 subsection), no further amendment shall be in order. 

15 ‘‘(4) SUPERMAJORITY WAIVER AND APPEAL.— 

16 In the Senate, this subsection may be waived or sus17 pended only by an affirmative vote of three-fifths of 

18 the Members, duly chose and sworn. An affirmative 

19 vote of three-fifths of Members of the Senate, duly 

20 chosen and sworn shall be required to sustain an ap21 peal of the ruling of the Chair on a point of order 

22 raised under this subsection. 

23 ‘‘(5) DETERMINATION.—For purposes of this 

24 subsection, budgetary levels shall be determined on 


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1 the basis of estimates provided by the Chairman of 

2 the Committee on the Budget of the Senate. 

3 ‘‘(c) POINT OF ORDER IN THE HOUSE OF REP4 RESENTATIVES.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

6 ‘‘(A) POINT OF ORDER.—Except as pro7 vided in subparagraph (B), a provision in a bill 

8 or joint resolution making appropriations for a 

9 fiscal year that proposes a CHIMP that, if en10 acted, would cause the amount available for ob11 ligation during the fiscal year from the Crime 

12 Victims Fund to be less than the 3-year average 

13 amount shall not be in order in the House of 

14 Representatives. 

15 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—Subparagraph (A) 

16 shall not apply if the difference between the 

17 amount in the Crime Victims Fund as of Sep18 tember 30 of the fiscal year immediately pre19 ceding the fiscal year to which the CHIMP de20 scribed in subparagraph (A) relates and the 

21 amount available for obligation under the 

22 CHIMP described in subparagraph (A) is not 

23 more than $2,000,000,000. 

24 ‘‘(2) AMENDMENTS AND CONFERENCE RE25 PORTS.—It shall not be in order in the House of 


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1 Representatives to consider an amendment to, or a 

2 conference report on, a bill or joint resolution mak3 ing appropriations for a fiscal year if such amend4 ment thereto or conference report thereon proposes 

5 a CHIMP that, if enacted, would cause the amount 

6 available for obligation during the fiscal year from 

7 the Crime Victims Fund to be less than the 3-year 

8 average amount. 

9 ‘‘(3) DETERMINATION.—For purposes of this 

10 subsection, budgetary levels shall be determined on 

11 the basis of estimates provided by the Chairman of 

12 the Committee on the Budget of the House of Rep13 resentatives.’’. 

14 (c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

15 The table of contents in section 1(b) of the Congressional 

16 Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 is amend17 ed by inserting after the item relating to section 428 the 

18 following: 

‘‘PART C—ADDITIONAL LIMITATIONS ON BUDGETARY AND APPROPRIATIONS

LEGISLATION

‘‘Sec. 441. Point of order against changes in mandatory programs affecting the 

Crime Victims Fund.’’. 

Æ 


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