I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 3501

To impose mandatory sentence for crimes of violence and fraud against

senior citizens, to provide for the death penalty for the homicide of

a senior citizen, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

NOVEMBER 10, 1993

Mr. MANTON introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to the

Committees on the Judiciary, Energy and Commerce, Banking, Finance

and Urban Affairs, and Ways and Means

A BILL

To impose mandatory sentence for crimes of violence and

fraud against senior citizens, to provide for the death

penalty for the homicide of a senior citizen, 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 ‘‘Senior Citizen Protec5 tion Act of 1993’’.
2

•HR 3501 IH

1 TITLE I—VIOLENT CRIMES

2 SEC. 101. MANDATORY PRISON TERMS.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 227 of title 18, United

4 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the follow5 ing:

6 ‘‘§ 3581. Mandatory sentence for felony against indi7 vidual of age sixty-five or over

8 ‘‘(a) Upon conviction of any Federal felony crime of

9 violence, if any victim of such crime is an individual who

10 had attained the age of 65 years on or before the date

11 that the offense was committed, the court shall sentence

12 the defendant to imprisonment—

13 ‘‘(1) for a term of not less than three fourths

14 of the maximum term of imprisonment provided for

15 such crime, in the case of a first offense to which

16 this section is applicable; and

17 ‘‘(2) for a term of not less than the maximum

18 term of imprisonment provided for such crime, in

19 the case of a second or subsequent offense to which

20 this section is applicable.

21 ‘‘(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, with

22 respect to a sentence imposed under subsection (a) of this

23 section—

24 ‘‘(1) the court shall not suspend such sentence;
3

•HR 3501 IH

1 ‘‘(2) the court shall not give the defendant a

2 probationary sentence;

3 ‘‘(3) such sentence shall be served consecutively

4 to any other sentence imposed for a Federal offense;

5 and

6 ‘‘(4) the court shall reject any plea agreement

7 which would result in the imposition of a term of im8 prisonment less than that which would have been

9 imposed under subsection (a) of this section in con10 nection with any charged offense.’’.

11 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections

12 for chapter 227 of title 18, United States Code, is amend13 ed by adding at the end the following new item:

‘‘3581. Mandatory sentence for felony against individual of age sixty-five or

over.’’.

14 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS TO RULES OF PRO15 CEDURE.—

16 (1) Rule 32(c) of the Federal Rules of Criminal

17 Procedure is amended—

18 (A) by adding at the end of the first para19 graph in paragraph (1) the following new sen20 tence: ‘‘Neither the defendant nor the court

21 may waive a presentence investigation and re22 port unless there is in the record information

23 sufficient for the court to determine whether a

24 mandatory sentence must be imposed pursuant
4

•HR 3501 IH

1 to title 18, United States Code, section 3581.’’;

2 and

3 (B) in paragraph (2)(D), by inserting after

4 ‘‘the offense’’ the following: ‘‘and information

5 relating to whether any victim of the offense

6 had attained age 65 on the date that the of7 fense was committed’’.

8 (2) Rule 11(e)(1) of the Federal Rules of

9 Criminal Procedure is amended by striking out

10 ‘‘The’’ after ‘‘In General.’’ and inserting in lieu

11 thereof ‘‘Except as provided in title 18, United

12 States Code, section 3581, the’’.

13 SEC. 102. DEATH PENALTY.

14 In any case in which Federal law punishes conduct

15 that is murder in the first degree, as defined in section

16 1111 of title 18, United States Code, shall, in addition

17 to any penalties imposed by the provision of law prohibit18 ing that conduct, be subject to the penalty of death. When

19 the Government seeks a sentence of death under this sec20 tion, the procedures with respect to death penalties under

21 section 903 of the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 shall, as

22 nearly as may be, apply with respect to death penalties

23 under this section.
5

•HR 3501 IH

1 TITLE II—FRAUD

2 SEC. 201. FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION.

3 (a) PARTICIPATION IN THE FINANCIAL CRIMES EN4 FORCEMENT CENTER.—The Federal Trade Commission

5 shall participate in, and be on the receiving list of law en6 forcement products of, the Financial Crimes Enforcement

7 Center of the Department of the Treasury.

8 (b) VENUE.—Subsections (a) and (b) of section 13

9 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 53) are

10 each amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘When11 ever it appears to the court that the interests of justice

12 require that any other person, partnership, or corporation

13 should be a party in such suit, the court may cause such

14 person, partnership, or corporation to be summoned with15 out regard to whether they reside or transact business in

16 the district in which the suit is brought, and to that end

17 process may be served wherever the person, partnership,

18 or corporation may be found.’’.

19 (c) CRIMINAL CONTEMPT AUTHORITY.—Section

20 16(a)(1) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C.

21 56(a)(1)) is amended—

22 (1) in subparagraph (A) by striking ‘‘civil’’ the

23 first place it appears and inserting in lieu thereof

24 ‘‘Federal court’’; and
6

•HR 3501 IH

1 (2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘The

2 Commission may bring a criminal contempt action

3 for violations of orders obtained in cases brought

4 under section 13(b) of this Act in the same manner

5 as civil penalty and other Federal court actions to

6 which this subsection applies. Such cases may be ini7 tiated by the Commission on its own complaint, or

8 pursuant to its acceptance of an appointment by a

9 court to assist it in enforcing such orders pursuant

10 to Rule 42(b) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Pro11 cedure.’’.

12 SEC. 202. SENTENCING GUIDELINES.

13 (a) FRAUD AND DECEIT.—The United States Sen14 tencing Commission shall amend its sentencing guidelines

15 relating to fraud and deceit so as to provide for increases

16 in offense levels based on the number of persons that the

17 offender has victimized.

18 (b) ELDERLY VICTIMS.—The United States Sentenc19 ing Commission shall amend its sentencing guidelines re20 lating to vulnerable victims so as to provide that if the

21 offender knew or should have known that the victim was

22 65 years of age or old, the offense level shall be increased

23 by 7 levels.
7

•HR 3501 IH

1 SEC. 203. MANDATORY RESTITUTION.

2 (a) ORDER OF RESTITUTION.—Section 3663(a) of

3 title 18, United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘may

4 order’’ and inserting ‘‘shall order’’.

5 (b) PROCEDURE.—Section 3664(a) of title 18,

6 United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘in determin7 ing whether to order restitution under section 3663 of this

8 title and the amount of such restitution’’ and inserting

9 ‘‘in determining the amount of restitution under section

10 3663’’.

11 SEC. 204. SENSE OF CONGRESS CONCERNING THE NA12 TIONAL TELEMARKETING FRAUD WORKING

13 GROUP.

14 It is the sense of Congress that—

15 (1) all United States Attorneys should regularly

16 enter information on telemarketing fraud into the

17 database of the National Telemarketing Fraud

18 Working Group; and

19 (2) the National Telemarketing Fraud Working

20 Group and the States should continue to cooperate

21 with each other in coordinating the prosecution of

22 offenders in venues that are convenient to the vic23 tims of their offenses.

24 SEC. 205. CONSUMER AND ANTI-FRAUD ACTIVITIES.

25 The Attorney General shall designate 50 existing full26 time equivalent positions for attorneys and sufficient sup-
8

•HR 3501 IH

1 port staff to be assigned to the prosecution of consumer

2 fraud and for law enforcement and consumer fraud edu3 cation programs.

4 SEC. 206. FORFEITURES.

5 (a) CIVIL FORFEITURE.—Section 981 of title 18,

6 United States Code, is amended—

7 (1) in subsection (a)(1)—

8 (A) in subparagraph (D) by inserting ‘‘(i)’’

9 before ‘‘Any’’ and redesignating clauses (i), (ii),

10 (iii), (iv), (v), and (vi) as subclauses (I), (II),

11 (III), (IV), (V), and (VI), respectively;

12 (B) by striking ‘‘(E) With respect to an of13 fense listed in subsection (a)(1)(D)’’ and insert14 ing ‘‘(ii) With respect to an offense described in

15 clause (i)’’; and

16 (C) by adding at the end the following new

17 subparagraph:

18 ‘‘(E) Any property, real or personal, that con19 stitutes, represents, is derived from, or is traceable

20 to the proceeds of a violation of section 1029, 1341,

21 or 1343 of this title if such violation relates to

22 crimes against individuals 65 years of age or older.

23 Notwithstanding the provisions of section 524 of

24 title 28, United States Code, up to 25 percent of the

25 amounts forfeited pursuant to this subparagraph for
9

•HR 3501 IH

1 an offense may be used to provide restitution to any

2 victim of the offense.’’.

3 (b) CRIMINAL FORFEITURE.—Section 982(a) of title

4 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end

5 thereof the following:

6 ‘‘(5) The court, in imposing sentence on a person con7 victed of a violation of, or a conspiracy to violate, section

8 1029, 1341 or 1343 of this title, affecting an individual

9 65 years of age or older, shall order that the person forfeit

10 to the United States any property constituting, or derived

11 from, proceeds the person obtained directly or indirectly,

12 as the result of such violation. Notwithstanding the provi13 sions of section 524 of title 28, United States Code, up

14 to 25 percent of the amounts forfeited pursuant to this

15 paragraph for an offense may be used to provide restitu16 tion to any victim of the offense.’’.

17 (c) CRIMINAL CONTEMPT AUTHORITY.—Section

18 16(a)(1) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C.

19 56(a)(1)) is amended—

20 (1) in subparagraph (A) by striking ‘‘civil’’ the

21 first place it appears and inserting in lieu thereof

22 ‘‘Federal court’’; and

23 (2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘The

24 Commission may bring a criminal contempt action

25 for violations of orders obtained in cases brought
10

•HR 3501 IH

1 under section 13(b) of this Act in the same manner

2 as civil penalty and other Federal court actions to

3 which this subsection applies. Such cases may be ini4 tiated by the Commission on its own complaint, or

5 pursuant to its acceptance of an appointment by a

6 court to assist it in enforcing such orders pursuant

7 to Rule 42(b) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Pro8 cedure.’’.

9 SEC. 207. UNIFORM LAWS GOVERNING LICENSING OF

10 HOME REPAIR CONTRACTORS, MORTGAGE

11 COMPANIES, AND PRIZE GIVEAWAY COMPA12 NIES.

13 The Attorney General, in consultation with the Amer14 ican Law Institute, the National Conference of Commis15 sioners on Uniform State Laws, or other interested per16 sons, shall prepare model State law on each of the follow17 ing subjects:

18 (1) Licensing of home repair contractors.

19 (2) Licensing of mortgage companies.

20 (3) Licensing of prize giveaway companies.

21 SEC. 208. MAIL FRAUD.

22 (a) OFFENSE.—Section 1341 of title 18, United

23 States Code, is amended—

24 (1) by inserting ‘‘or places in any private cou25 rier service office or authorized depository for receipt
11

•HR 3501 IH

1 of matter to be delivered by private courier service,’’

2 after ‘‘mail matter,’’;

3 (2) by inserting ‘‘or by a private courier serv4 ice’’ after ‘‘Postal Service’’; and

5 (3) by inserting ‘‘or private courier service’’

6 after ‘‘by mail’’.

7 (b) DEFINITION.—

8 (1) PRIVATE COURIER SERVICE.—Section 1346

9 of title 18, United States Code, is amended to read

10 as follows:

11 ‘‘§ 1346. Definitions

12 ‘‘In this chapter—

13 ‘‘ ‘private courier service’ means a private entity

14 providing services provided by the United States

15 Postal Service.

16 ‘‘ ‘scheme or artifice to defraud’ includes a

17 scheme or artifice to deprive another of the intangi18 ble right of honest services.’’.

19 (2) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—The chapter

20 analysis for chapter 63 of title 18, United States

21 Code, is amended by striking the item for section

22 1346 and inserting the following item:

‘‘1346. Definitions.’’.
12

•HR 3501 IH

1 SEC. 209. STUDY ON MEDICAID FRAUD AND SOCIAL SECU2 RITY FRAUD.

3 The Social Security Administration shall conduct a

4 study of Medicaid fraud and Social Security fraud. Not

5 later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of

6 this Act, the Administration shall report to Congress the

7 results of that study.

Æ