I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 3491

To amend the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act, and title 18 of the

United States Code, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

NOVEMBER 10, 1993

Mr. FAWELL (for himself, Mr. GOODLING, and Mr. BALLENGER) introduced

the following bill; which was referred jointly to the Committees on Education and Labor and the Judiciary

A BILL

To amend the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act, and

title 18 of the United States Code, 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 ‘‘FECA Fraud Deter5 rence Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. DETERRENCE OF FRAUD AND ABUSE IN THE FECA

7 PROGRAM.

8 (a) SECTION 8102.—Section 8102 of title 5, United

9 States Code, is amended by redesignating subsection (b)
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1 as subsection (c), and by adding after subsection (a) the

2 following:

3 ‘‘(b) An individual convicted of a violation of section

4 1920 of title 18, United States Code, or of any other fraud

5 related to the application for or receipt of benefits under

6 subchapter I or III of this chapter shall, as of the date

7 of the conviction, forfeit all entitlement to any prospective

8 benefits provided by subchapter I or III of this chapter

9 for any injury occurring on or before the date of the con10 viction. Such a forfeiture of benefits shall be in addition

11 to any action the Secretary may take under section 8106

12 or 8129 of title 5, United States Code.’’.

13 (b) SECTION 8116(e).—Section 8116 of title 5,

14 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the

15 following:

16 ‘‘(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this title,

17 no benefits under this subchapter shall be paid or provided

18 to any individual during any period during which such in19 dividual is confined in a jail, prison, or other penal institu20 tion or correctional facility pursuant to that individual’s

21 conviction of an offense that constituted a felony under

22 applicable law, except where such individual has one or

23 more dependents within the meaning of section 8110, in

24 which case the Secretary may, during the period of incar25 ceration, pay to such dependents a percentage of the bene-
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1 fits that would have been payable to such individual com2 puted according to the percentages set forth in paragraphs

3 (1) through (5) of section 8133(a).’’.

4 (c) SECTION 8116(f).—Section 8116 of title 5,

5 United States Code, as amended by subsection (b), is fur6 ther amended by adding at the end the following:

7 ‘‘(f) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 552a

8 or any other provision of Federal or State law, any agency

9 of the United States Government or of any State (or polit10 ical subdivision thereof) shall make available to the Sec11 retary, upon written request, the names and social security

12 account numbers of any individual, who is confined in a

13 jail, prison, or other penal institution or correctional facil14 ity under the jurisdiction of such agency, pursuant to the

15 individual’s conviction of an offense that constituted a fel16 ony under applicable law, which the Secretary may require

17 to carry out the provisions of this subsection.’’.

18 (d) SECTION 1920.—The text of section 1920 of title

19 18, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:

20 ‘‘Whoever knowingly and willfully falsifies, conceals, or

21 covers up a material fact or makes a false, fictitious, or

22 fraudulent statement or representation, or makes or uses

23 a false statement or report knowing the same to contain

24 any false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or entry in

25 connection with the application for or receipt of compensa-
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1 tion or other benefit or payment under subchapter I or

2 III of chapter 81 of title 5, United States Code, shall be

3 guilty of a felony, and on conviction thereof shall be pun4 ished by a fine of not more than $250,000, or by imprison5 ment for not more than 5 years, or both.’’.

6 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.

7 (a) SECTION 2(a).—The amendments made by sec8 tion 2(a) shall be effective on the date of enactment of

9 this Act and shall apply to actions taken on or after such

10 date of enactment both with respect to claims filed after

11 such date and to claims pending on such date.

12 (b) SECTIONS 2(b) AND 2(c).—The amendments

13 made by sections 2(b) and 2(c) shall be effective on the

14 date of enactment of this Act and shall apply to any per15 son convicted or imprisoned on or after the date of enact16 ment of this Act.

17 (c) SECTION 2(d).—The amendment made by section

18 2(d) shall be effective on the date of enactment of this

19 Act and shall apply to any claim, statement, representa20 tion, report, or other written document submitted in con21 nection with a claim filed under subchapter I or III of

22 chapter 81 of title 5, United States Code.

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