I

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1371

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

NOVEMBER 13, 1997

Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

AN ACT

To establish felony violations for the failure to pay legal

child support obligations 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 ‘‘Deadbeat Parents

5 Punishment Act of 1997’’.
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1 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF FELONY VIOLATIONS.

2 Section 228 of title 18, United States Code, is

3 amended to read as follows:

4 ‘‘§ 228. Failure to pay legal child support obligations

5 ‘‘(a) OFFENSE.—Any person who—

6 ‘‘(1) willfully fails to pay a support obligation

7 with respect to a child who resides in another State,

8 if such obligation has remained unpaid for a period

9 longer than 1 year, or is greater than $5,000;

10 ‘‘(2) travels in interstate or foreign commerce

11 with the intent to evade a support obligation, if such

12 obligation has remained unpaid for a period longer

13 than 1 year, or is greater than $5,000; or

14 ‘‘(3) willfully fails to pay a support obligation

15 with respect to a child who resides in another State,

16 if such obligation has remained unpaid for a period

17 longer than 2 years, or is greater than $10,000;

18 shall be punished as provided in subsection (c).

19 ‘‘(b) PRESUMPTION.—The existence of a support ob20 ligation that was in effect for the time period charged in

21 the indictment or information creates a rebuttable pre22 sumption that the obligor has the ability to pay the sup23 port obligation for that time period.

24 ‘‘(c) PUNISHMENT.—The punishment for an offense

25 under this section is—
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1 ‘‘(1) in the case of a first offense under sub2 section (a)(1), a fine under this title, imprisonment

3 for not more than 6 months, or both; and

4 ‘‘(2) in the case of an offense under paragraph

5 (2) or (3) of subsection (a), or a second or subse6 quent offense under subsection (a)(1), a fine under

7 this title, imprisonment for not more than 2 years,

8 or both.

9 ‘‘(d) MANDATORY RESTITUTION.—Upon a conviction

10 under this section, the court shall order restitution under

11 section 3663A in an amount equal to the total unpaid sup12 port obligation as it exists at the time of sentencing.

13 ‘‘(e) VENUE.—With respect to an offense under this

14 section, an action may be inquired of and prosecuted in

15 a district court of the United States for—

16 ‘‘(1) the district in which the child who is the

17 subject of the support obligation involved resided

18 during a period during which a person described in

19 subsection (a) (referred to in this subsection as an

20 ‘obliger’) failed to meet that support obligation;

21 ‘‘(2) the district in which the obliger resided

22 during a period described in paragraph (1); or

23 ‘‘(3) any other district with jurisdiction other24 wise provided for by law.

25 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section—
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1 ‘‘(1) the term ‘Indian tribe’ has the meaning

2 given that term in section 102 of the Federally Rec3 ognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C.

4 479a);

5 ‘‘(2) the term ‘State’ includes any State of the

6 United States, the District of Columbia, and any

7 commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United

8 States; and

9 ‘‘(3) the term ‘support obligation’ means any

10 amount determined under a court order or an order

11 of an administrative process pursuant to the law of

12 a State or of an Indian tribe to be due from a per13 son for the support and maintenance of a child or

14 of a child and the parent with whom the child is liv15 ing.’’.

Passed the Senate November 13, 1997.

Attest: GARY SISCO,

Secretary.