I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3037 

To amend titles 5 and 28, United States Code, with respect to the award 

of fees and other expenses in cases brought against agencies of the 

United States, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 2, 2013 

Mrs. LUMMIS (for herself, Mr. GOSAR, Mr. CONAWAY, Mr. COFFMAN, Mr. 

FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. SMITH of Nebraska, Mr. NUNES, Mr. SIMPSON, 

Mr. DUNCAN of South Carolina, Mr. STEWART, Mr. TIPTON, Mr. WALDEN, Mr. CHAFFETZ, and Mr. PEARCE) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend titles 5 and 28, United States Code, with respect 

to the award of fees and other expenses in cases brought 

against agencies of the United States, 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 ‘‘Government Litigation 

5 Savings Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. MODIFICATION OF EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE 

2 PROVISIONS. 

3 (a) AGENCY PROCEEDINGS.—Section 504 of title 5, 

4 United States Code, is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (a)— 

6 (A) in paragraph (1)—— 

7 (i) by inserting after the first sentence 

8 the following: ‘‘Fees and other expenses 

9 may be awarded under this subsection only 

10 to a prevailing party who has a direct and 

11 personal interest in the adversary adjudica12 tion because of medical costs, property 

13 damage, determination of benefits, unpaid 

14 disbursement, fees and other expenses in15 curred in defense of the adjudication, in16 terest in a policy concerning such medical 

17 costs, property damage, determination of 

18 benefits, unpaid disbursement, fees and 

19 other expenses, or otherwise.’’; and 

20 (ii) by adding at the end the fol21 lowing: ‘‘The agency conducting the adver22 sary adjudication shall make any party 

23 against whom the adjudication is brought, 

24 at the time the adjudication is commenced, 

25 aware of the provisions of this section.’’; 

26 and 


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1 (B) in paragraph (3), in the first sen2 tence— 

3 (i) by striking ‘‘may reduce’’ and in4 serting ‘‘shall reduce’’; and 

5 (ii) by striking ‘‘unduly and unreason6 ably’’ and inserting ‘‘unduly or unreason7 ably’’; 

8 (2) in subsection (b)(1)— 

9 (A) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by striking 

10 ‘‘$125 per hour’’ and all that follows through 

11 the end and inserting ‘‘$200 per hour.);’’; and 

12 (B) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking ‘‘; 

13 except that’’ and all that follows through ‘‘sec14 tion 601;’’ and inserting ‘‘except that— 

15 ‘‘(I) the net worth of a party (other than 

16 an individual or a unit of local government) 

17 shall include the net worth of any parent entity 

18 or subsidiary of that party; and 

19 ‘‘(II) for purposes of subclause (I)— 

20 ‘‘(aa) a ‘parent entity’ of a party is an 

21 entity that owns or controls the equity or 

22 other evidences of ownership in that party; 

23 and 

24 ‘‘(bb) a ‘subsidiary’ of a party is an 

25 entity the equity or other evidences of ownVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:51 Aug 09, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3037.IH H3037

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1 ership in which are owned or controlled by 

2 that party;’’; 

3 (3) in subsection (c)(1), by striking ‘‘, United 

4 States Code’’; and 

5 (4) by adding at the end the following new sub6 section: 

7 ‘‘(g) The Director of the Office of Management and 

8 Budget shall adjust the maximum hourly fee set forth in 

9 subsection (b)(1)(A)(ii) for the fiscal year beginning Octo10 ber 1, 2015, and for each fiscal year thereafter, to reflect 

11 changes in the Consumer Price Index, as determined by 

12 the Secretary of Labor.’’. 

13 (b) COURT CASES.—Section 2412(d) of title 28, 

14 United States Code, is amended— 

15 (1) by amending paragraph (1)(A) to read as 

16 follows: ‘‘(A) Except as otherwise specifically pro17 vided by statute, a court, in any civil action (other 

18 than cases sounding in tort), including proceedings 

19 for judicial review of agency action, brought by or 

20 against the United States in any court having juris21 diction of that action, shall award to a prevailing 

22 party (other than the United States) fees and other 

23 expenses, in addition to any costs awarded pursuant 

24 to subsection (a), incurred by that party in the civil 

25 action, unless the court finds that the position of the 


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1 United States was substantially justified or that spe2 cial circumstances make an award unjust. Fees and 

3 other expenses may be awarded under this para4 graph only to a prevailing party who has a direct 

5 and personal interest in the civil action because of 

6 medical costs, property damage, determination of 

7 benefits, unpaid disbursement, fees and other ex8 penses incurred in defense of the civil action, inter9 est in a policy concerning such medical costs, prop10 erty damage, determination of benefits, unpaid dis11 bursement, fees and other expenses, or otherwise.’’; 

12 (2) in paragraph (1)(C)— 

13 (A) by striking ‘‘court, in its discretion, 

14 may’’ and inserting ‘‘court shall’’; and 

15 (B) by striking ‘‘unduly and unreasonably’’ 

16 and inserting ‘‘unduly or unreasonably’’; 

17 (3) in paragraph (2)— 

18 (A) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by striking 

19 ‘‘$125’’ and all that follows through the end 

20 and inserting ‘‘$200 per hour.);’’; 

21 (B) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking ‘‘; 

22 except that’’ and all that follows through ‘‘sec23 tion 601 of Title 5;’’ and inserting ‘‘except 

24 that— 


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1 ‘‘(I) the net worth of a party (other than 

2 an individual or a unit of local government) 

3 shall include the net worth of any parent entity 

4 or subsidiary of that party; and 

5 ‘‘(II) for purposes of subclause (I)— 

6 ‘‘(aa) a ‘parent entity’ of a party is an 

7 entity that owns or controls the equity or 

8 other evidences of ownership in that party; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(bb) a ‘subsidiary’ of a party is an 

11 entity the equity or other evidences of own12 ership in which are owned or controlled by 

13 that party;’’; and 

14 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(5) The Director of the Office of Management and 

16 Budget shall adjust the maximum hourly fee set forth in 

17 paragraph (2)(A)(ii) for the fiscal year beginning October 

18 1, 2015, and for each fiscal year thereafter, to reflect 

19 changes in the Consumer Price Index, as determined by 

20 the Secretary of Labor.’’. 

21 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—Section 2412 of title 

22 28, United States Code, is amended— 

23 (1) in subsection (d)(3), by striking ‘‘United 

24 States Code,’’; and 

25 (2) in subsection (e)— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘of section 2412 of title 

2 28, United States Code,’’ and inserting ‘‘of this 

3 section’’; and 

4 (B) by striking ‘‘of such title’’ and insert5 ing ‘‘of this title’’. 

6 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.— Subject to paragraph (2), 

8 this Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 

9 take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

10 (2) APPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN AMEND11 MENTS.—The amendments made by subsections (a) 

12 and (b) shall first apply with respect to awards of 

13 fees and other expenses that are made under section 

14 504 of title 5, United States Code, or section 

15 2412(d) of title 28, United States Code, on or after 

16 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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