Union Calendar No. 398

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3694

[Report No. 103–721]

A BILL

To amend title 5, United States Code, to permit

ically abusing a child.isfy a judgment against an annuitant for physployees’ Retirement System, if necessary to satService Retirement System or the Federal Emthe garnishment of an annuity under the Civil

SEPTEMBER 19, 1994

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee

dered to be printedof the Whole House on the State of the Union, and or-
IB

Union Calendar No. 398

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3694

[Report No. 103–721]

To amend title 5, United States Code, to permit the garnishment of an

annuity under the Civil Service Retirement System or the Federal Employees’ Retirement System, if necessary to satisfy a judgment against

an annuitant for physically abusing a child.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

NOVEMBER 22, 1993

Mrs. SCHROEDER (for herself, Mr. MARKEY, and Mr. KENNEDY) introduced

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Post Office

and Civil Service

SEPTEMBER 19, 1994

Additional sponsors: Mr. FOGLIETTA, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of

Texas, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota,

Mr. TOWNS, Mr. FROST, Mr. ORTON, Mr. VENTO, Mr. PARKER, Mr.

YATES, Ms. MCKINNEY, Mr. SAWYER, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. SCOTT, Mr.

ENGEL, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut, Mr. CLEMENT,

Mr. HOCHBRUECKNER, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota,

Mr. REYNOLDS, Mr. WASHINGTON, Mr. WYNN, Mr. TORKILDSEN, Mr.

KOPETSKI, Mr. OLVER, Ms. MARGOLIES-MEZVINSKY, Mr. BREWSTER,

Mr. GIBBONS, Mrs. LLOYD, Mr. SARPALIUS, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr.

BARRETT of Wisconsin, Mr. GEJDENSON, Mr. CHAPMAN, Mr. DEFAZIO,

Mr. RAMSTAD, Mr. KYL, Mr. DIXON, Mr. HAYES, Mr. STENHOLM, Ms.

SNOWE, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mrs. UNSOELD, Ms. SCHENK, Mrs. THURMAN,

Ms. FURSE, Mr. WILLIAMS, Mr. MINETA, Mr. LEWIS of Florida, and Mr.

NADLER

SEPTEMBER 19, 1994

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee of the Whole House

on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
2

•HR 3694 RH

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on November 22, 1993]

A BILL

To amend title 5, United States Code, to permit the garnishment of an annuity under the Civil Service Retirement

System or the Federal Employees’ Retirement System,

if necessary to satisfy a judgment against an annuitant

for physically abusing a child.

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 ‘‘Child Abuse Account5 ability Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. GARNISHMENT AUTHORITY.

7 (a) CIVIL SERVICE RETIREMENT SYSTEM.—(1) Sec8 tion 8345(j)(1) of title 5, United States Code, is amended

9 to read as follows:

10 ‘‘(j)(1) Payments under this subchapter which would

11 otherwise be made to an employee, Member, or annuitant

12 based on service of that individual shall be paid (in whole

13 or in part) by the Office to another person if and to the

14 extent expressly provided for in the terms of—

15 ‘‘(A) any court decree of divorce, annulment, or

16 legal separation, or the terms of any court order or

17 court-approved property settlement agreement inci-
3

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1 dent to any court decree of divorce, annulment, or

2 legal separation; or

3 ‘‘(B) any court order or other similar process in

4 the nature of garnishment for the enforcement of a

5 judgment rendered against such employee, Member, or

6 annuitant, for physically, sexually, or emotionally

7 abusing a child.

8 In the event that the Office is served with more than 1 de9 cree, order, or other legal process with respect to the same

10 moneys due or payable to any individual, such moneys

11 shall be available to satisfy such processes on a first-come,

12 first-served basis, with any such process being satisfied out

13 of such moneys as remain after the satisfaction of all such

14 processes which have been previously served.’’.

15 (2) Section 8345(j)(2) of title 5, United States Code,

16 is amended by inserting ‘‘other legal process,’’ after

17 ‘‘order,’’.

18 (3) Section 8345(j)(3) of title 5, United States Code,

19 is amended to read as follows:

20 ‘‘(3) For the purpose of this subsection—

21 ‘‘(A) the term ‘court’ means any court of any

22 State, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of

23 Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, or

24 the Virgin Islands, and any Indian court;
4

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1 ‘‘(B) the term ‘judgment rendered for physically,

2 sexually, or emotionally abusing a child’ means any

3 legal claim perfected through a final enforceable judg4 ment, which claim is based in whole or in part upon

5 the physical, sexual, or emotional abuse of a child,

6 whether or not that abuse is accompanied by other ac7 tionable wrongdoing, such as sexual exploitation or

8 gross negligence; and

9 ‘‘(C) the term ‘child’ means an individual under

10 18 years of age.’’.

11 (b) FEDERAL EMPLOYEES’ RETIREMENT SYSTEM.—

12 (1) Section 8467(a) of title 5, United States Code, is amend13 ed to read as follows:

14 ‘‘(a) Payments under this chapter which would other15 wise be made to an employee, Member, or annuitant (in16 cluding an employee, Member, or annuitant as defined in

17 section 8331) based on service of that individual shall be

18 paid (in whole or in part) by the Office or the Executive

19 Director, as the case may be, to another person if and to

20 the extent expressly provided for in the terms of—

21 ‘‘(1) any court decree of divorce, annulment, or

22 legal separation, or the terms of any court order or

23 court-approved property settlement agreement inci24 dent to any court decree of divorce, annulment, or

25 legal separation; or
5

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1 ‘‘(2) any court order or other similar process in

2 the nature of garnishment for the enforcement of a

3 judgment rendered against such employee, Member, or

4 annuitant, for physically, sexually, or emotionally

5 abusing a child.

6 In the event that the Office or the Executive Director, as

7 the case may be, is served with more than 1 decree, order,

8 or other legal process with respect to the same moneys due

9 or payable to any individual, such moneys shall be avail10 able to satisfy such processes on a first-come, first-served

11 basis, with any such process being satisfied out of such mon12 eys as remain after the satisfaction of all such processes

13 which have been previously served.’’.

14 (2) Section 8467(b) of title 5, United States Code, is

15 amended by inserting ‘‘other legal process,’’ after ‘‘order,’’.

16 (3) Section 8467 of title 5, United States Code, is

17 amended by adding at the end the following:

18 ‘‘(c) For the purpose of this section—

19 ‘‘(1) the term ‘judgment rendered for physically,

20 sexually, or emotionally abusing a child’ means any

21 legal claim perfected through a final enforceable judg22 ment, which claim is based in whole or in part upon

23 the physical, sexual, or emotional abuse of a child,

24 whether or not that abuse is accompanied by other ac-
6

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1 tionable wrongdoing, such as sexual exploitation or

2 gross negligence; and

3 ‘‘(2) the term ‘child’ means an individual under

4 18 years of age.’’.

5 (4) Section 8437(e)(3) of title 5, United States Code,

6 is amended by striking the period at the end of the first

7 sentence and inserting the following: ‘‘or relating to the en8 forcement of a judgment for physically, sexually, or emo9 tionally abusing a child as provided under section

10 8467(a).’’.

11 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.

12 The amendments made by this Act shall take effect on

13 the date of enactment of this Act, and shall apply with re14 spect to any decree, order, or other legal process, or notice

15 of agreement received by the Office of Personnel Manage16 ment or the Executive Director of the Federal Retirement

17 Thrift Investment Board on or after such date of enactment.

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to amend title

5, United States Code, to permit the garnishment of an

annuity under the Civil Service Retirement System or the

Federal Employees’ Retirement System, if necessary to

satisfy a judgment against an annuitant for physically,

sexually, or emotionally abusing a child.’’.