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[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1866 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1866

To require Members of Congress to disclose delinquent tax liability and 
to require an ethics inquiry into, and the garnishment of the wages of, 
                  a Member with Federal tax liability.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 12, 2011

 Mr. Chaffetz introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on 
 Rules, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
   each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the 
                jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
To require Members of Congress to disclose delinquent tax liability and 
to require an ethics inquiry into, and the garnishment of the wages of, 
                  a Member with Federal tax liability.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Members of Congress Tax 
Accountability Act of 2011''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO THE ETHICS IN GOVERNMENT ACT OF 1978.

    (a) In General.--Section 102(a) of the Ethics in Government Act of 
1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(9)(A) For individuals described in section 101(f)(9), the amount 
of any delinquent tax liability owed to the United States or any State 
or local government entity.
    ``(B) In this paragraph, the term `delinquent tax liability' means 
any tax liability which has been assessed and with respect to which all 
judicial and administrative remedies have been exhausted, or have 
lapsed.''.
    (b) Inclusion in Report.--Section 102(b)(1)(A) of the Ethics in 
Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by striking 
``paragraph (1)'' and inserting ``paragraphs (1) and (9)''.

SEC. 3. ETHICS INQUIRY.

    If a Member of Congress reports a delinquent tax liability on the 
Member's annual disclosure form required under section 102(a)(9) of the 
Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (as added by section 2), the 
appropriate congressional ethics committee shall immediately open an 
inquiry into the tax delinquency of that Member for purposes of--
            (1) determining the total delinquent tax liability of the 
        Member;
            (2) determining the reason the Member has incurred a 
        delinquent tax liability;
            (3) determining whether the Member has a plan to eliminate 
        such delinquent tax liability; and
            (4) determining whether such delinquent tax liability has 
        reflected poorly on Congress.

SEC. 4. FEDERAL TAX LIABILITY.

    A Member of Congress who discloses a delinquent tax liability under 
section 102(a)(9) of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (as added by 
section 2) shall, not later than 30 calendar days after filing the 
form, arrange with the Secretary of the Senate or the Chief 
Administrative Officer of the House of Representatives, as appropriate, 
and the Internal Revenue Service to have the Member's salary reduced by 
an amount appropriate to pay the taxes owed to the United States within 
a reasonable time period.

SEC. 5. MEMBER OF CONGRESS DEFINED.

    In this Act, the term ``Member of Congress'' means a Senator or a 
Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the 
Congress.
                                 <all>
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