I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4615 

To amend the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 to require Members 

of Congress to reimburse the Treasury for amounts paid as awards 

and settlements resulting from violations of such Act consisting of acts 

of sexual harassment which were committed personally by the Members, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 11, 2017 

Ms. SINEMA (for herself and Mr. DESANTIS) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on House Administration 

A BILL 

To amend the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 to 

require Members of Congress to reimburse the Treasury 

for amounts paid as awards and settlements resulting 

from violations of such Act consisting of acts of sexual 

harassment which were committed personally by the 

Members, 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 ‘‘Garnishing for Uneth5 ical Actions to Restore Dignity Act’’ or the ‘‘GUARD 

6 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PERSONAL LIABILITY OF MEMBERS OF CONGRESS 

2 TO REIMBURSE TREASURY FOR AMOUNTS 

3 PAID AS SETTLEMENTS AND AWARDS UNDER 

4 CONGRESSIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY ACT OF 

5 1995 FOR ACTS OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT. 

6 (a) MANDATING REIMBURSEMENT OF AMOUNTS

7 PAID.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 415 of the Congres9 sional Accountability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1415) 

10 is amended by adding at the end the following new 

11 subsection: 

12 ‘‘(d) PERSONAL LIABILITY OF MEMBERS OF CON13 GRESS FOR PAYMENT OF SETTLEMENTS AND AWARDS

14 FOR SEXUAL HARASSMENT.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If a payment is made from 

16 the account described in subsection (a) for an award 

17 or settlement resulting from a violation of part A of 

18 title II consisting of an act of sexual harassment 

19 which was committed personally by a Member of the 

20 House of Representatives or a Senator, the Member 

21 or Senator shall reimburse the account for the 

22 amount of the award or settlement. 

23 ‘‘(2) WITHHOLDING AMOUNTS FROM SALARY.— 

24 If a Member or Senator is subject to paragraph (1), 

25 the applicable payroll administrator shall withhold 

26 from the Member’s or Senator’s compensation and 


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1 transfer to the account described in subsection (a) 

2 such amounts as may be necessary to reimburse the 

3 account, in accordance with such timetable and pro4 cedures as may be established by— 

5 ‘‘(A) the Committee on House Administra6 tion of the House of Representatives, in the 

7 case of a Member of the House; or 

8 ‘‘(B) the Committee on Rules and Admin9 istration of the Senate, in the case of a Sen10 ator. 

11 ‘‘(3) APPLICABLE PAYROLL ADMINISTRATOR

12 DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘applicable pay13 roll administrator’ means— 

14 ‘‘(A) in the case of a Member of the House 

15 of Representatives, the Chief Administrative Of16 ficer of the House of Representatives, or an em17 ployee of the Office of the Chief Administrative 

18 Officer who is designated by the Chief Adminis19 trative Officer to carry out this subsection; or 

20 ‘‘(B) in the case of a Senator, the Sec21 retary of the Senate, or an employee of the Of22 fice of the Secretary of the Senate who is des23 ignated by the Secretary to carry out this sub24 section.’’. 


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1 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

2 by paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to pay3 ments made before, on, or after the date of the en4 actment of this Act. 

5 (b) PUBLICATION OF INFORMATION ON MEMBERS

6 SUBJECT TO WITHHOLDING.— 

7 (1) MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE.—Section 106(b) 

8 of the House of Representatives Administrative Re9 form Technical Corrections Act (2 U.S.C. 5535(b)) 

10 is amended— 

11 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para12 graph (5); 

13 (B) by redesignating paragraph (6) as 

14 paragraph (7); and 

15 (C) by inserting after paragraph (5) the 

16 following new paragraph: 

17 ‘‘(6) if during the period covered by the report, 

18 the Chief Administrative Officer withheld amounts 

19 from a Member’s compensation under section 415(d) 

20 of the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 as 

21 reimbursement for an award or settlement paid 

22 under such Act, the identification of the Member 

23 and the amount withheld; and’’. 

24 (2) SENATORS.—Section 105(a) of the Legisla25 tive Branch Appropriations Act, 1965 (2 U.S.C. 


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1 4108(a)) is amended by adding at the end the fol2 lowing new paragraph: 

3 ‘‘(7) If during the period covered by a report under 

4 paragraph (1), the Secretary of the Senate withheld 

5 amounts from a Senator’s compensation under section 

6 415(d) of the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 

7 as reimbursement for an award or settlement paid under 

8 such Act, the Secretary shall include in the report the 

9 identification of the Senator and the amount withheld.’’. 

Æ 


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