II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2076 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide to assistant United States 

attorneys the same retirement benefits as are afforded to Federal law 

enforcement officers. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 18, 2005 

Mr. LEAHY (for himself, Mr. HATCH, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. 

DEWINE, Mr. BIDEN, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. FEINGOLD, Mr. SMITH, Mr. 

DODD, Mr. CHAMBLISS, Mr. ROCKEFELLER, Mr. LIEBERMAN, Mrs. 

BOXER, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. NELSON of Florida, and Mr. CORZINE) 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 provide to assistant 

United States attorneys the same retirement benefits 

as are afforded to Federal law enforcement officers. 

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 Attorney Retirement Benefit Equity Act of 2005’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. RETIREMENT TREATMENT OF ASSISTANT UNITED 

2 STATES ATTORNEYS. 

3 (a) CIVIL SERVICE RETIREMENT SYSTEM.— 

4 (1) ASSISTANT UNITED STATES ATTORNEY DE5 FINED.—Section 8331 of title 5, United States 

6 Code, is amended— 

7 (A) in paragraph (28), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

8 at the end; 

9 (B) in the first paragraph (29), by striking 

10 the period and inserting a semicolon; 

11 (C) in the second paragraph (29)— 

12 (i) by striking ‘‘(29)’’ and inserting 

13 ‘‘(30)’’; and 

14 (ii) by striking the period and insert15 ing ‘‘; and’’; and 

16 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(31) ‘assistant United States attorney’ 

18 means— 

19 ‘‘(A) an assistant United States attorney 

20 under section 542 of title 28; and 

21 ‘‘(B) any other attorney employed by the 

22 Department of Justice occupying a position des23 ignated by the Attorney General upon finding 

24 that the position— 

25 ‘‘(i) involves routine employee respon26 sibilities that are substantially similar to 
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1 those of assistant United States attorneys; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(ii) is critical to the Department’s 

4 successful accomplishment of an important 

5 mission.’’. 

6 (2) RETIREMENT TREATMENT.—Chapter 83 of 

7 title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding 

8 after section 8351 the following: 

9 ‘‘§ 8352. Assistant United States attorneys 

10 ‘‘Except as provided under the Assistant United 

11 States Attorneys Retirement Benefit Equity Act of 2005 

12 (including the provisions relating to the non-applicability 

13 of mandatory separation requirements under section 

14 8335(b) and 8425(b) of this title), an assistant United 

15 States attorney shall be treated in the same manner and 

16 to the same extent as a law enforcement officer for pur17 poses of this chapter.’’. 

18 (3) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND19 MENTS.—(A) The table of sections for chapter 83 of 

20 title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting 

21 after the item relating to section 8351 the following: 

‘‘8352. Assistant United States attorneys.’’ 

22 (B) Section 8335(a) of such title is amended by 

23 striking ‘‘8331(29)(A)’’ and inserting 

24 ‘‘8331(30)(A)’’. 

25 (b) FEDERAL EMPLOYEES’ RETIREMENT SYSTEM.— 
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1 (1) ASSISTANT UNITED STATES ATTORNEY DE2 FINED.—Section 8401 of title 5, United States 

3 Code, is amended— 

4 (A) in paragraph (34), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

5 at the end; 

6 (B) in paragraph (35), by striking the pe7 riod and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

8 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(36) ‘assistant United States attorney’ 

10 means— 

11 ‘‘(A) an assistant United States attorney 

12 under section 542 of title 28; and 

13 ‘‘(B) any other attorney employed by the 

14 Department of Justice occupying a position des15 ignated by the Attorney General upon finding 

16 that the position— 

17 ‘‘(i) involves routine employee respon18 sibilities that are substantially similar to 

19 those of assistant United States attorneys; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(ii) is critical to the Department’s 

22 successful accomplishment of an important 

23 mission.’’. 
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1 (2) RETIREMENT TREATMENT.—Section 8402 

2 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding 

3 at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(h) Except as provided under the Assistant United 

5 States Attorneys Retirement Benefit Equity Act of 2005 

6 (including the provisions relating to the non-applicability 

7 of mandatory separation requirements under section 

8 8335(b) and 8425(b) of this title), an assistant United 

9 States attorney shall be treated in the same manner and 

10 to the same extent as a law enforcement officer for pur11 poses of this chapter.’’. 

12 (c) MANDATORY SEPARATION.—Sections 8335(b) 

13 and 8425(b) of title 5, United States Code, are amended 

14 by adding at the end the following: ‘‘The preceding provi15 sions of this subsection shall not apply in the case of an 

16 assistant United States attorney as defined under section 

17 8331(31) or 8401(36).’’. 

18 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

19 this section shall take effect on the first day of the first 

20 applicable pay period beginning on or after 120 days after 

21 the date of enactment of this Act. 

22 SEC. 3. PROVISIONS RELATING TO INCUMBENTS. 

23 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

24 (1) the term ‘‘assistant United States attorney’’ 

25 means— 
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1 (A) an assistant United States attorney 

2 under section 542 of title 28, United States 

3 Code; and 

4 (B) any other attorney employed by the 

5 Department of Justice occupying a position des6 ignated by the Attorney General upon finding 

7 that the position— 

8 (i) involves routine employee respon9 sibilities that are substantially similar to 

10 those of assistant United States attorneys; 

11 and 

12 (ii) is critical to the Department’s 

13 successful accomplishment of an important 

14 mission; and 

15 (2) the term ‘‘incumbent’’ means an individual 

16 who is serving as an assistant United States attor17 ney on the effective date of this section. 

18 (b) DESIGNATED ATTORNEYS.—If the Attorney Gen19 eral makes any designation of an attorney to meet the def20 inition under subsection (a)(1)(B) for purposes of being 

21 an incumbent under this section— 

22 (1) such designation shall be made before the 

23 effective date of this section; and 
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1 (2) the Attorney General shall submit to the 

2 Office of Personnel Management before that effec3 tive date— 

4 (A) the name of the individual designated; 

5 and 

6 (B) the period of service performed by that 

7 individual as an assistant United States attor8 ney before that effective date. 

9 (c) NOTICE REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 9 

10 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the De11 partment of Justice shall take measures reasonably de12 signed to provide notice to incumbents on— 

13 (1) their election rights under this Act; and 

14 (2) the effects of making or not making a time15 ly election under this Act. 

16 (d) ELECTION AVAILABLE TO INCUMBENTS.— 

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

18 all purposes, to be treated— 

19 (A) in accordance with the amendments 

20 made by this Act; or 

21 (B) as if this Act had never been enacted. 

22 (2) FAILURE TO ELECT.—Failure to make a 

23 timely election under this subsection shall be treated 

24 in the same way as an election under paragraph 
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1 (1)(A), made on the last day allowable under para2 graph (3). 

3 (3) TIME LIMITATION.—An election under this 

4 subsection shall not be effective unless the election 

5 is made not later than the earlier of— 

6 (A) 120 days after the date on which the 

7 notice under subsection (c) is provided; or 

8 (B) the date on which the incumbent in9 volved separates from service. 

10 (e) LIMITED RETROACTIVE EFFECT.— 

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

12 an incumbent who elects (or is deemed to have elect13 ed) the option under subsection (d)(1)(A), all service 

14 performed by that individual as an assistant United 

15 States attorney and, with respect to (B) below, in16 cluding any service performed by such individual 

17 pursuant to an appointment under sections 515, 

18 541, 543, and 546 of title 28, United States Code, 

19 shall— 

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

21 effective date of that election, be treated in ac22 cordance with applicable provisions of sub23 chapter III of chapter 83 or chapter 84 of title 

24 5, United States Code, as amended by this Act; 

25 and 
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1 (B) to the extent performed before the ef2 fective date of that election, be treated in ac3 cordance with applicable provisions of sub4 chapter III of chapter 83 or chapter 84 of such 

5 title, as if the amendments made by this Act 

6 had then been in effect. 

7 (2) NO OTHER RETROACTIVE EFFECT.—Noth8 ing in this Act (including the amendments made by 

9 this Act) shall affect any of the terms or conditions 

10 of an individual’s employment (apart from those 

11 governed by subchapter III of chapter 83 or chapter 

12 84 of title 5, United States Code) with respect to 

13 any period of service preceding the date on which 

14 such individual’s election under subsection (d) is 

15 made (or is deemed to have been made). 

16 (f) INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTIONS FOR PRIOR SERV17 ICE.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—An individual who makes an 

19 election under subsection (d)(1)(A) shall, with re20 spect to prior service performed by such individual, 

21 deposit, with interest, to the Civil Service Retire22 ment and Disability Fund the difference between the 

23 individual contributions that were actually made for 

24 such service and the individual contributions that 

25 would have been made for such service if the amend-
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1 ments made by section 2 of this Act had then been 

2 in effect. 

3 (2) EFFECT OF NOT CONTRIBUTING.—If the 

4 deposit required under paragraph (1) is not paid, all 

5 prior service of the incumbent shall remain fully 

6 creditable as law enforcement officer service, but the 

7 resulting annuity shall be reduced in a manner simi8 lar to that described in section 8334(d)(2)(B) of 

9 title 5, United States Code. This paragraph shall not 

10 apply in the case of a disability annuity. 

11 (3) PRIOR SERVICE DEFINED.—For purposes of 

12 this section, the term ‘‘prior service’’ means, with re13 spect to any individual who makes an election (or is 

14 deemed to have made an election) under subsection 

15 (d)(1)(A), all service performed as an assistant 

16 United States attorney, but not exceeding 20 years, 

17 performed by such individual before the date as of 

18 which applicable retirement deductions begin to be 

19 made in accordance with such election. 

20 (g) REGULATIONS.—Except as provided under sec21 tion 4, the Office of Personnel Management shall prescribe 

22 regulations necessary to carry out this Act, including pro23 visions under which any interest due on the amount de24 scribed under subsection (e) shall be determined. 
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1 (h) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect 

2 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act. 

3 SEC. 4. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE ADMINISTRATIVE AC4 TIONS. 

5 (a) REGULATIONS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days 

7 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney 

8 General, in consultation with the Office of Personnel 

9 Management, shall promulgate regulations for desig10 nating attorneys described under section 3(a)(1)(B). 

11 (2) CONTENTS.—Any regulation promulgated 

12 under paragraph (1) shall ensure that attorneys des13 ignated as assistant United States attorneys de14 scribed under section 3(a)(1)(B) have routine em15 ployee responsibilities that are substantially similar 

16 to those of assistant United States attorneys. 

17 (b) DESIGNATIONS.—The designation of any attorney 

18 as an assistant United States attorney described under 

19 section 3(a)(1)(B) shall be at the discretion of the Attor20 ney General. 

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