II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1529 

To prohibit the President, Vice President, or any other executive branch 

official from knowingly and willfully misleading the Congress of the 

United States for the purpose of gaining support for the use of force 

by the Armed Forces of the United States. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 28, 2009 

Mr. REID (for Mr. BYRD) introduced the following bill; which was read twice 

and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To prohibit the President, Vice President, or any other executive branch official from knowingly and willfully misleading the Congress of the United States for the purpose of gaining support for the use of force by the 

Armed Forces of the United States. 

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 ‘‘Executive Account5 ability Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) In 1770, John Adams wrote in ‘‘Argument 

2 in Defense of Soldier in the Boston Massacre 

3 Trials’’: ‘‘Facts are stubborn things; and whatever 

4 may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates 

5 of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts 

6 and evidence.’’. 

7 (2) In 1787, John Jay wrote in ‘‘The Federalist 

8 No. 4’’: ‘‘There are pretended as well as just causes 

9 of war.’’. 

10 (3) In 1865, Abraham Lincoln said: ‘‘I have 

11 faith in the people . . . the danger is, they are mis12 led. Let them know the truth and the country is 

13 safe.’’. 

14 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION AGAINST EXECUTIVE BRANCH MIS15 REPRESENTATIONS MADE FOR THE PURPOSE 

16 OF GAINING SUPPORT FOR THE USE OF 

17 FORCE BY THE ARMED FORCES OF THE 

18 UNITED STATES. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 47 of title 18, United 

20 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol21 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘§ 1041. Executive branch misrepresentations for the 

2 purpose of gaining support for the use 

3 force by the Armed Forces of the United 

4 States 

5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for any cov6 ered official, for the purpose of influencing a member of 

7 Congress to authorize the use of force by the Armed 

8 Forces of the United States, to knowingly and willfully— 

9 ‘‘(1) falsify, conceal, or cover up by any trick, 

10 scheme, or device a material fact; 

11 ‘‘(2) make any materially false, fictitious, or 

12 fraudulent statement or representation; or 

13 ‘‘(3) make or use any false writing or document 

14 knowing the same to contain any materially false, 

15 fictitious, or fraudulent statement or entry. 

16 ‘‘(b) PENALTY.—Any covered official who violates 

17 subsection (a) shall be fined under this title, imprisoned 

18 not more than 10 years, or both. 

19 ‘‘(c) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘covered 

20 official’ means the President, Vice President, or an officer 

21 or employee of the executive branch of the Government.’’. 

22 (b) SUSPENSION OF LIMITATIONS DURING PRESI23 DENTIAL TERM.—Chapter 213 of title 18, United States 

24 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘§ 3301. Suspension of limitations during Presidential 

2 term 

3 ‘‘The running of any statute of limitations applicable 

4 to an offense under section 1041 shall be suspended until 

5 the end of the term of the President in office at the time 

6 the offense is committed.’’. 

7 (c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

8 Title 18, United States Code, is amended— 

9 (1) in the table of sections for chapter 47, by 

10 adding at the end the following: 

‘‘1041. Executive branch misrepresentations for the purpose of gaining support 

for the use force by the Armed Forces of the United States.’’; 

and 

11 (2) in the table of sections for chapter 213, by 

12 adding at the end the following: 

‘‘3301. Suspension of limitations during Presidential term.’’. 

13 SEC. 4. REFERRAL OF VIOLATIONS FOR PROSECUTION. 

14 (a) REFERRAL FOR PROSECUTION.—If a House of 

15 Congress passes a resolution or concurrent resolution in 

16 which the House of Congress finds that a violation of sec17 tion 1041 of title 18, United States Code, has occurred, 

18 the referring party of the House of Congress shall trans19 mit a copy of the resolution to the Attorney General. 

20 (b) REFERRING PARTY DEFINED.—In this section, 

21 the term ‘‘referring party’’ means— 

22 (1) in the case of the House of Representatives, 

23 the Clerk of the House of Representatives; or 


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1 (2) in the case of the Senate, the Secretary of 

2 the Senate. 

Æ 


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