I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4481 

To amend the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 to prohibit the 

use of public funds to make payments of awards and settlements in 

connection with violations of such Act which are committed by employing 

offices of the House of Representatives and Senate, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 29, 2017 

Mr. LANCE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on House Administration 

A BILL 

To amend the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 to 

prohibit the use of public funds to make payments of 

awards and settlements in connection with violations of 

such Act which are committed by employing offices of 

the House of Representatives and Senate, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. PROHIBITING USE OF PUBLIC FUNDS TO PAY 

2 SETTLEMENTS AND AWARDS FOR CLAIMS 

3 UNDER CONGRESSIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY 

4 ACT OF 1995 INVOLVING EMPLOYING OF5 FICES OF HOUSE AND SENATE. 

6 (a) PROHIBITION.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 415 of the Congres8 sional Accountability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1415) 

9 is amended— 

10 (A) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘sub11 section (c)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsections (c) and 

12 (d)’’; and 

13 (B) by adding at the end the following new 

14 subsection: 

15 ‘‘(d) NO USE OF PUBLIC FUNDS FOR PAYMENTS OF

16 AWARDS AND SETTLEMENTS INVOLVING EMPLOYING OF17 FICES OF HOUSE OR SENATE.—No funds of the Treasury 

18 of the United States, including the account described in 

19 subsection (a), an account of the House of Representatives 

20 or Senate, or any other account of the Federal Govern21 ment, may be used for the payment of an award or settle22 ment in connection with a violation of section 201(a)(1) 

23 by an employing office of the House of Representatives 

24 or an employing office of the Senate.’’. 

25 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 

26 by paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to settleVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:08 Nov 30, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4481.IH H4481

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1 ments and awards paid on or after the date of the 

2 enactment of this Act. 

3 (b) REPORT ON AMOUNTS PREVIOUSLY PAID.— 

4 (1) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after the 

5 date of the enactment of this Act, the Office of Com6 pliance shall submit to Congress and make available 

7 to the public on the Office’s public website a report 

8 on all payments made with public funds prior to the 

9 date of the enactment of this Act for awards and 

10 settlements in connection with violations of section 

11 201(a)(1) of the Congressional Accountability Act of 

12 1995 by employing offices of the House of Rep13 resentatives and employing offices of the Senate, and 

14 shall include in the report the following information: 

15 (A) The amount paid for each such award 

16 or settlement. 

17 (B) The source of the public funds used 

18 for the award or settlement, without regard to 

19 whether the funds were paid from the account 

20 described in section 415(a) of such Act (2 

21 U.S.C. 1415(a)), an account of the House of 

22 Representatives or Senate, or any other account 

23 of the Federal Government. 


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1 (C) The identification of the employing of2 fice involved and any individual who committed 

3 the violation involved. 

4 (2) PROTECTION OF IDENTITY OF INDIVIDUALS

5 RECEIVING AWARDS AND SETTLEMENTS.—In pre6 paring and submitting the report required under this 

7 subsection, the Office of Compliance shall ensure 

8 that the identity of any individual who received an 

9 award or settlement, or who made an allegation of 

10 a violation against an employing office, is not dis11 closed. 

Æ 


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