II

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1371

To establish felony violations for the failure to pay legal child support

obligations and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

NOVEMBER 5, 1997

Mr. KOHL (for himself and Mr. DEWINE) introduced the following bill; which

was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

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’’.

6 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF FELONY VIOLATIONS.

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

8 amended to read as follows:

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

10 ‘‘(a) OFFENSE.—Any person who—
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•S 1371 IS

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

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

3 if such obligation has remained unpaid for a period

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

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

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

7 obligation has remained unpaid for a period longer

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

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

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

11 if such obligation has remained unpaid for a period

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

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

14 ‘‘(b) PRESUMPTION.—The existence of a support ob15 ligation that was in effect for the time period charged in

16 the indictment or information creates a rebuttable pre17 sumption that the obligor has the ability to pay the sup18 port obligation for that time period.

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

20 under this section is—

21 ‘‘(1) in the case of a first offense under sub22 section (a)(1), a fine under this title, imprisonment

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

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

25 (2) or (3) of subsection (a), or a second or subse-
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•S 1371 IS

1 quent offense under subsection (a)(1), a fine under

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

3 or both.

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

5 under this section, the court shall order restitution under

6 section 3663A in an amount equal to the total unpaid sup7 port obligation as it exists at the time of sentencing.

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

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

10 a district court of the United States for—

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

12 subject of the support obligation involved resided

13 during a period during which a person described in

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

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

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

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

18 ‘‘(3) any other district with jurisdiction other19 wise provided for by law.

20 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section—

21 ‘‘(1) the term ‘Indian tribe’ has the meaning

22 given that term in section 102 of the Federally Rec23 ognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C.

24 479a);
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1 ‘‘(2) the term ‘State’ includes any State of the

2 United States, the District of Columbia, and any

3 commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United

4 States; and

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

6 amount determined under a court order or an order

7 of an administrative process pursuant to the law of

8 a State or of an Indian tribe to be due from a per9 son for the support and maintenance of a child or

10 of a child and the parent with whom the child is liv11 ing.’’.

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