II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1729 

To amend titles 18 and 28 of the United States Code to provide incentives 

for the prompt payments of debts owed to the United States and the 

victims of crime by imposing surcharges on unpaid judgments owed 

to the United States and to the victims of crime, to provide for offsets 

on amounts collected by the Department of Justice for Federal agencies, 

to increase the amount of special assessments imposed upon convicted 

persons, to establish an Enhanced Financial Recovery Fund to enhance, 

supplement and improve the debt collection activities of the Department 

of Justice, to amend title 5, United States Code, to provide to assistant 

United States attorneys the same retirement benefits as are afforded 

to Federal law enforcement officers, and for authorized purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 28, 2007 

Mr. LEAHY (for himself and Mr. COCHRAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend titles 18 and 28 of the United States Code to 

provide incentives for the prompt payments of debts owed 

to the United States and the victims of crime by imposing surcharges on unpaid judgments owed to the United 

States and to the victims of crime, to provide for offsets 

on amounts collected by the Department of Justice for 

Federal agencies, to increase the amount of special assessments imposed upon convicted persons, to establish 

an Enhanced Financial Recovery Fund to enhance, supplement and improve the debt collection activities of the 


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Department of Justice, to amend title 5, United States 

Code, to provide to assistant United States attorneys 

the same retirement benefits as are afforded to Federal 

law enforcement officers, and for authorized 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 ‘‘Enhanced Financial 

5 Recovery and Equitable Retirement Treatment Act of 

6 2007’’. 

7 TITLE I—ENHANCED FINANCIAL 

8 RECOVERY 

9 SEC. 101. IMPOSITION OF CRIMINAL SURCHARGE. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3612 of title 18, United 

11 States Code, is amended by striking subsection (g) and 

12 inserting the following: 

13 ‘‘(g) IMPOSITION OF SURCHARGE.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A surcharge shall be im15 posed upon a defendant if there are any unpaid 

16 criminal monetary penalties as of the date specified 

17 in subsection (f)(1). 

18 ‘‘(2) AMOUNT OF SURCHARGE.—The surcharge 

19 imposed under paragraph (1) shall be— 

20 ‘‘(A) 5 percent of the unpaid principal bal21 ance; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) $50, if the unpaid balance is less 

2 than $1,000. 

3 ‘‘(3) ALLOCATION OF PAYMENTS.— 

4 ‘‘(A) FINE OR SPECIAL ASSESSMENT.—If a 

5 surcharge is imposed under paragraph (1) for a 

6 fine or special assessment— 

7 ‘‘(i) an amount equal to 95 percent of 

8 each principal payment made by a defend9 ant shall be credited to the Crime Victims 

10 Fund established under section 1402 of 

11 the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 (42 

12 U.S.C. 10601); and 

13 ‘‘(ii) an amount equal to 5 percent of 

14 each principal payment shall be credited to 

15 the Department of Justice Enhanced Fi16 nancial Recovery Fund established under 

17 section 104 of the Enhanced Financial Re18 covery and Equitable Retirement Treat19 ment Act of 2007. 

20 ‘‘(B) RESTITUTION.—If a surcharge is im21 posed under paragraph (1) for a restitution ob22 ligation— 

23 ‘‘(i) an amount equal to 95 percent of 

24 each principal payment shall be paid to 

25 any victim identified by the court; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) an amount equal to 5 percent of 

2 each principal payment shall be credited to 

3 the Department of Justice Enhanced Fi4 nancial Recovery Fund established under 

5 section 104 of the Enhanced Financial Re6 covery and Equitable Retirement Treat7 ment Act of 2007. 

8 ‘‘(C) SURCHARGES.—For any payment 

9 made by a defendant after the full amount of 

10 a surcharge imposed under paragraph (1) has 

11 been satisfied, the full amount of such payment 

12 shall be credited to the principal amount due or 

13 accrued interest, as the case may be. 

14 ‘‘(4) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

15 ‘‘(A) the term ‘criminal monetary pen16 alties’ includes the principal amount of any 

17 amount imposed as a fine, restitution obliga18 tion, or special assessment, regardless of wheth19 er any payment schedule has been imposed; and 

20 ‘‘(B) the term ‘principal payment’ does not 

21 include any amount that is imposed as interest, 

22 penalty, or a surcharge.’’. 

23 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 3612 of 

24 title 18, United States Code, is amended— 

25 (1) by striking subsections (d) and (e); and 


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1 (2) by redesignating subsections (f) through (i), 

2 as amended by this Act, as subsection (d) through 

3 (g), respectively. 

4 SEC. 102. IMPOSITION OF CIVIL SURCHARGE. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3011 of title 28, United 

6 States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

7 ‘‘§ 3011. Imposition of surcharge 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A surcharge shall be imposed on 

9 a defendant if there is an unpaid balance due to the 

10 United States on any money judgment in a civil matter 

11 recovered in a district court as of— 

12 ‘‘(1) the fifteenth day after the date of the 

13 judgment; or 

14 ‘‘(2) if the day described in paragraph (1) is a 

15 Saturday, Sunday, or legal public holiday, the next 

16 day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday. 

17 ‘‘(b) AMOUNT OF SURCHARGE.—A surcharge im18 posed under subsection (a) shall be— 

19 ‘‘(1) 5 percent of the unpaid principal balance; 

20 or 

21 ‘‘(2) $50, if the unpaid balance is less than 

22 $1,000. 

23 ‘‘(c) ALLOCATION OF PAYMENTS.—If a surcharge is 

24 imposed under subsection (a)— 


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1 ‘‘(1) an amount equal to 95 percent of each 

2 principal payment made by a defendant shall be 

3 credited as otherwise provided by law; and 

4 ‘‘(2) an amount equal to 5 percent of each prin5 cipal payment shall be credited to the Department of 

6 Justice Enhanced Financial Recovery Fund estab7 lished under section 104 of the Enhanced Financial 

8 Recovery and Equitable Retirement Treatment Act 

9 of 2007. 

10 ‘‘(d) SURCHARGES.—For any payment made by a de11 fendant after the full amount of a surcharge imposed 

12 under subsection(a) has been satisfied, the full amount of 

13 such payment shall be credited to the principal amount 

14 due or accrued interest, as the case may be. 

15 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

16 ‘‘(1) the term ‘principal payment’ does not in17 clude any amount that is imposed as interest, pen18 alty, or a surcharge; and 

19 ‘‘(2) the term ‘unpaid balance due to the 

20 United States’ includes any unpaid balance due to a 

21 person that was represented by the Department of 

22 Justice in the civil matter in which the money judg23 ment was entered.’’. 

24 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

25 The table of sections at the beginning of subchapter A 


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1 of chapter 176 of title 28, United States Code, is amended 

2 by striking the item relating to section 3011 and inserting 

3 the following: 

‘‘3011. Imposition of surcharge.’’. 

4 SEC. 103. INCREASE IN THE AMOUNT OF SPECIAL ASSESS5 MENTS. 

6 Section 3013 of title 18, United States Code, is 

7 amended by striking subsection (a) and inserting the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(a) The court shall assess on any person convicted 

10 of an offense against the United States— 

11 ‘‘(1) in the case of an infraction or a mis12 demeanor— 

13 ‘‘(A) if the defendant is an individual— 

14 ‘‘(i) the amount of $10 in the case of 

15 an infraction or a class C misdemeanor; 

16 ‘‘(ii) the amount of $25 in the case of 

17 a class B misdemeanor; and 

18 ‘‘(iii) the amount of $100 in the case 

19 of a class A misdemeanor; and 

20 ‘‘(B) if the defendant is a person other 

21 than an individual— 

22 ‘‘(i) the amount of $100 in the case of 

23 an infraction or a class C misdemeanor; 

24 ‘‘(ii) the amount of $200 in the case 

25 of a class B misdemeanor; and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) the amount of $500 in the case 

2 of a class A misdemeanor; and 

3 ‘‘(2) in the case of a felony— 

4 ‘‘(A) the amount of $200 if the defendant 

5 is an individual; and 

6 ‘‘(B) the amount of $1,000 if the defend7 ant is a person other than an individual.’’. 

8 SEC. 104. ENHANCED FINANCIAL RECOVERY FUND. 

9 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

10 Treasury a separate account known as the Department 

11 of Justice Enhanced Financial Recovery Fund (in this sec12 tion referred to as the ‘‘Fund’’). 

13 (b) DEPOSITS.—Notwithstanding section 3302 of 

14 title 31, United States Code, or any other law regarding 

15 the crediting of collections, there shall be credited as an 

16 offsetting collection to the Fund an amount equal to— 

17 (1) 2 percent of any amount collected pursuant 

18 to civil debt collection litigation activities of the De19 partment of Justice (in addition to any amount 

20 credited under section 11013 of the 21st Century 

21 Department of Justice Appropriations Authorization 

22 Act (28 U.S.C. 527 note)); 

23 (2) 5 percent of all amounts collected as res24 titution due to the United States pursuant to the 


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1 criminal debt collection litigation activities of the 

2 Department of Justice; 

3 (3) any surcharge collected under section 

4 3612(g) of title 18, United States Code, as amended 

5 by this Act, or section 3011 of title 28, United 

6 States Code, as amended by this Act; and 

7 (4) 50 percent of any special assessment col8 lected under section 3013(a) of title 18, United 

9 States Code, as amended by this Act. 

10 (c) AVAILABILITY.—The amounts credited to the 

11 Fund shall remain available until expended. 

12 (d) PAYMENTS FROM THE FUND.— 

13 (1) AMOUNT.— 

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

15 subparagraph (B), the Attorney General shall 

16 use not less than $20,000,000 of the Fund in 

17 each fiscal year, to the extent that funds are 

18 available, for the civil and criminal debt collec19 tion activities of the Department of Justice, in20 cluding restitution judgments where the bene21 ficiaries are the victims of crime. 

22 (B) EXCEPTIONS.— 

23 (i) ADJUSTMENT OF AMOUNT.—In 

24 each fiscal year following the first fiscal 

25 year in which deposits into the Fund are 


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1 greater than $20,000,000, the amount to 

2 be used under paragraph (1) shall be in3 creased by a percentage equal to the 

4 change in the Consumer Price Index for 

5 the calendar year preceding that fiscal 

6 year. 

7 (ii) LIMITATION.—In any fiscal year, 

8 amounts in the Fund shall be available to 

9 the extent that the amount appropriated in 

10 that fiscal year for the purposes described 

11 in subparagraph (A) is not less than an 

12 amount equal to the amount appropriated 

13 for such activities in fiscal year 2006, ad14 justed annually in the same proportion as 

15 increases reflected in the amount of aggre16 gate level of appropriations for the Execu17 tive Office of United States Attorneys and 

18 United States Attorneys. 

19 (2) USE OF FUNDS.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—Funds used under 

21 paragraph (1) shall be used to enhance, supple22 ment, and improve civil and criminal debt col23 lection litigation activities of the Department of 

24 Justice, primarily such activities by United 

25 States attorneys’ offices. A portion of such 


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1 sums may be used by the Department of Jus2 tice to provide legal, investigative, accounting, 

3 and training support to the United States attor4 neys’ offices. 

5 (B) LIMITATION ON USE.—Funds used 

6 under paragraph (1) may not be used to deter7 mine whether a defendant is guilty of an of8 fense or liability to the United States (except 

9 incidentally for the provision of assistance nec10 essary or desirable in a case to ensure the pres11 ervation of assets or the imposition of a judg12 ment which assists in the enforcement of a 

13 judgment or in a proceeding directly related to 

14 the failure of a defendant to satisfy the mone15 tary portion of a judgment). 

16 (e) OTHER USE OF FUNDS.—After using funds 

17 under subsection (d), the Attorney General may use 

18 amounts remaining in the Fund for additional civil or 

19 criminal debt collection activities, for personnel expenses, 

20 for personnel benefit expenses incurred as a result of this 

21 Act or the amendments made by this Act, or for other 

22 prosecution and litigation expenses. The availability of 

23 amounts from the Fund shall have no effect on the imple24 mentation of title II or the amendments made by title II. 


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1 (f) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘United 

2 States’’— 

3 (1) includes— 

4 (A) the executive departments, the judicial 

5 and legislative branches, the military depart6 ments, and independent establishments of the 

7 United States; and 

8 (B) corporations primarily acting as in9 strumentalities or agencies of the United 

10 States; and 

11 (2) except as provided in paragraph (1), does 

12 not include any contractor of the United States. 

13 SEC. 105. EFFECTIVE DATES. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by section 

15 101 and section 103 shall apply to any offense committed 

16 on or after the date of enactment of this Act, including 

17 any offense involving conduct that continued on or after 

18 the date of enactment of this Act. 

19 (b) FUND AND SURCHARGES.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 104 and the amend21 ments made by section 102 shall take effect 30 days 

22 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

23 (2) PENDING CASES.—The amendments made 

24 by section 102 shall apply to any case pending on 

25 or after the date of enactment of this Act. 


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1 TITLE II—EQUITABLE RETIRE2 MENT TREATMENT OF AS3 SISTANT UNITED STATES AT4 TORNEYS 

5 SEC. 201. RETIREMENT TREATMENT OF ASSISTANT UNITED 

6 STATES ATTORNEYS. 

7 (a) CIVIL SERVICE RETIREMENT SYSTEM.— 

8 (1) ASSISTANT UNITED STATES ATTORNEY DE9 FINED.—Section 8331 of title 5, United States 

10 Code, is amended— 

11 (A) in paragraph (28), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

12 at the end; 

13 (B) in paragraph (29) relating to dynamic 

14 assumptions, by striking the period and insert15 ing a semicolon; 

16 (C) by redesignating paragraph (29) relat17 ing to air traffic controllers as paragraph (30); 

18 (D) in paragraph (30), as so redesignated, 

19 by striking the period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 

20 and 

21 (E) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(31) ‘assistant United States attorney’ means 

23 an assistant United States attorney appointed under 

24 section 542 of title 28.’’. 


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1 (2) RETIREMENT TREATMENT.—Chapter 83 of 

2 title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding 

3 after section 8351 the following: 

4 ‘‘§ 8352. Assistant United States attorneys 

5 ‘‘Except as provided under the Enhanced Financial 

6 Recovery and Equitable Retirement Treatment Act of 

7 2007 (including the provisions relating to the non-applica8 bility of mandatory separation requirements under section 

9 8335(b) and 8425(b) of this title), an assistant United 

10 States attorney shall be treated in the same manner and 

11 to the same extent as a law enforcement officer for pur12 poses of this chapter.’’. 

13 (3) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND14 MENTS.— 

15 (A) TABLE OF SECTIONS.—The table of 

16 sections for chapter 83 of title 5, United States 

17 Code, is amended by inserting after the item re18 lating to section 8351 the following: 

‘‘8352. Assistant United States attorneys.’’. 

19 (B) MANDATORY SEPARATION.—Section 

20 8335(a) of title 5, United States Code, is 

21 amended by striking ‘‘8331(29)(A)’’ and insert22 ing ‘‘8331(30)(A)’’. 

23 (b) FEDERAL EMPLOYEES’ RETIREMENT SYSTEM.— 


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1 (1) ASSISTANT UNITED STATES ATTORNEY DE2 FINED.—Section 8401 of title 5, United States 

3 Code, is amended— 

4 (A) in paragraph (34), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

5 at the end; 

6 (B) in paragraph (35), by striking the pe7 riod and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

8 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(36) ‘assistant United States attorney’ means 

10 an assistant United States attorney appointed under 

11 section 542 of title 28.’’. 

12 (2) RETIREMENT TREATMENT.—Section 8402 

13 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding 

14 at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(h) Except as provided under the Enhanced Finan16 cial Recovery and Equitable Treatment Act of 2006 (in17 cluding the provisions relating to the non-applicability of 

18 mandatory separation requirements under section 8335(b) 

19 and 8425(b) of this title), an assistant United States at20 torney shall be treated in the same manner and to the 

21 same extent as a law enforcement officer for purposes of 

22 this chapter.’’. 

23 (c) MANDATORY SEPARATION.—Sections 8335(b)(1) 

24 and 8425(b)(1) of title 5, United States Code, are each 

25 amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘This subVerDate Aug 31 2005 22:52 Jun 29, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1729.IS S1729

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1 section shall not apply in the case of an assistant United 

2 States attorney.’’. 

3 SEC. 202. PROVISIONS RELATING TO INCUMBENTS. 

4 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

5 (1) the term ‘‘assistant United States attorney’’ 

6 means an assistant United States attorney appointed 

7 under section 542 of title 28, United States Code. 

8 (2) the term ‘‘incumbent’’ means an individual 

9 who is serving as an assistant United States attor10 ney on the effective date of this section. 

11 (b) NOTICE REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 9 

12 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the De13 partment of Justice shall take measures reasonably de14 signed to provide notice to incumbents on— 

15 (1) their election rights under this title; and 

16 (2) the effects of making or not making a time17 ly election under this title. 

18 (c) ELECTION AVAILABLE TO INCUMBENTS.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—An incumbent may elect, for 

20 all purposes, to be treated— 

21 (A) in accordance with the amendments 

22 made by this title; or 

23 (B) as if this title had never been enacted. 

24 (2) FAILURE TO ELECT.—Failure to make a 

25 timely election under this subsection shall be treated 


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1 in the same way as an election under paragraph 

2 (1)(A), made on the last day allowable under para3 graph (3). 

4 (3) TIME LIMITATION.—An election under this 

5 subsection shall not be effective unless the election 

6 is made not later than the earlier of— 

7 (A) 120 days after the date on which the 

8 notice under subsection (b) is provided; or 

9 (B) the date on which the incumbent in10 volved separates from service. 

11 (d) LIMITED RETROACTIVE EFFECT.— 

12 (1) EFFECT ON RETIREMENT.—In the case of 

13 an incumbent who elects (or is deemed to have elect14 ed) the option under subsection (c)(1)(A), all service 

15 performed by that individual as an assistant United 

16 States attorney (and, with respect to subparagraph 

17 (B) of this paragraph, any service performed by 

18 such individual pursuant to an appointment under 

19 sections 515, 541, 543, and 546 of title 28, United 

20 States Code) shall— 

21 (A) to the extent performed on or after the 

22 effective date of that election, be treated in ac23 cordance with applicable provisions of sub24 chapter III of chapter 83 or chapter 84 of title 


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1 5, United States Code, as amended by this title; 

2 and 

3 (B) to the extent performed before the ef4 fective date of that election, be treated in ac5 cordance with applicable provisions of sub6 chapter III of chapter 83 or chapter 84 of title 

7 5, United States Code, as if the amendments 

8 made by this title had then been in effect. 

9 (2) NO OTHER RETROACTIVE EFFECT.—Noth10 ing in this title (including the amendments made by 

11 this title) shall affect any of the terms or conditions 

12 of an individual’s employment (apart from those 

13 governed by subchapter III of chapter 83 or chapter 

14 84 of title 5, United States Code) with respect to 

15 any period of service preceding the date on which 

16 such individual’s election under subsection (c) is 

17 made (or is deemed to have been made). 

18 (e) INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTIONS FOR PRIOR SERV19 ICE.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—An individual who makes an 

21 election under subsection (c)(1)(A) shall, with re22 spect to prior service performed by such individual, 

23 deposit, with interest, to the Civil Service Retire24 ment and Disability Fund the difference between the 

25 individual contributions that were actually made for 


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1 such service and the individual contributions that 

2 would have been made for such service if the amend3 ments made by section 202 of this title had then 

4 been in effect. 

5 (2) EFFECT OF NOT CONTRIBUTING.—If the 

6 deposit required under paragraph (1) is not paid, all 

7 prior service of the incumbent shall remain fully 

8 creditable as law enforcement officer service, but the 

9 resulting annuity shall be reduced in a manner simi10 lar to that described in section 8334(d)(2)(B) of 

11 title 5, United States Code. 

12 (3) PRIOR SERVICE DEFINED.—In this sub13 section, the term ‘‘prior service’’ means, with respect 

14 to any individual who makes an election (or is 

15 deemed to have made an election) under subsection 

16 (c)(1)(A), all service performed as an assistant 

17 United States attorney, but not exceeding 20 years, 

18 performed by such individual before the date as of 

19 which applicable retirement deductions begin to be 

20 made in accordance with such election. 

21 (f) REGULATIONS.—The Office of Personnel Manage22 ment shall prescribe regulations necessary to carry out 

23 this title, including provisions under which any interest 

24 due on the amount described under subsection (e) shall 

25 be determined. 


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1 SEC. 203. EFFECTIVE DATES. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by section 

3 201 shall take effect on the first day of the first applicable 

4 pay period beginning on or after 120 days after the date 

5 of enactment of this Act. 

6 (b) INCUMBENTS.—Section 202 of this title shall take 

7 effect 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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