I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4615 
To amend the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 to require Members 
of Congress to reimburse the Treasury for amounts paid as awards 
and settlements resulting from violations of such Act consisting of acts 
of sexual harassment which were committed personally by the Members, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 11, 2017 
Ms. SINEMA (for herself and Mr. DESANTIS) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on House Administration 
A BILL 
To amend the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 to 
require Members of Congress to reimburse the Treasury 
for amounts paid as awards and settlements resulting 
from violations of such Act consisting of acts of sexual 
harassment which were committed personally by the 
Members, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Garnishing for Uneth-
ical Actions to Restore Dignity Act’’ or the ‘‘GUARD 
Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. PERSONAL LIABILITY OF MEMBERS OF CONGRESS 
TO REIMBURSE TREASURY FOR AMOUNTS 
PAID AS SETTLEMENTS AND AWARDS UNDER 
CONGRESSIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY ACT OF 
1995 FOR ACTS OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT. 
(a) MANDATING
REIMBURSEMENT
OF
AMOUNTS 
PAID.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 415 of the Congres-
sional Accountability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1415) 
is amended by adding at the end the following new 
subsection: 
‘‘(d) PERSONAL LIABILITY OF MEMBERS OF CON-
GRESS FOR PAYMENT OF SETTLEMENTS AND AWARDS 
FOR SEXUAL HARASSMENT.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If a payment is made from 
the account described in subsection (a) for an award 
or settlement resulting from a violation of part A of 
title II consisting of an act of sexual harassment 
which was committed personally by a Member of the 
House of Representatives or a Senator, the Member 
or Senator shall reimburse the account for the 
amount of the award or settlement. 
‘‘(2) WITHHOLDING AMOUNTS FROM SALARY.— 
If a Member or Senator is subject to paragraph (1), 
the applicable payroll administrator shall withhold 
from the Member’s or Senator’s compensation and 
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transfer to the account described in subsection (a) 
such amounts as may be necessary to reimburse the 
account, in accordance with such timetable and pro-
cedures as may be established by— 
‘‘(A) the Committee on House Administra-
tion of the House of Representatives, in the 
case of a Member of the House; or 
‘‘(B) the Committee on Rules and Admin-
istration of the Senate, in the case of a Sen-
ator. 
‘‘(3) APPLICABLE
PAYROLL
ADMINISTRATOR 
DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘applicable pay-
roll administrator’ means— 
‘‘(A) in the case of a Member of the House 
of Representatives, the Chief Administrative Of-
ficer of the House of Representatives, or an em-
ployee of the Office of the Chief Administrative 
Officer who is designated by the Chief Adminis-
trative Officer to carry out this subsection; or 
‘‘(B) in the case of a Senator, the Sec-
retary of the Senate, or an employee of the Of-
fice of the Secretary of the Senate who is des-
ignated by the Secretary to carry out this sub-
section.’’. 
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(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 
by paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to pay-
ments made before, on, or after the date of the en-
actment of this Act. 
(b) PUBLICATION OF INFORMATION ON MEMBERS 
SUBJECT TO WITHHOLDING.— 
(1) MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE.—Section 106(b) 
of the House of Representatives Administrative Re-
form Technical Corrections Act (2 U.S.C. 5535(b)) 
is amended— 
(A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para-
graph (5); 
(B) by redesignating paragraph (6) as 
paragraph (7); and 
(C) by inserting after paragraph (5) the 
following new paragraph: 
‘‘(6) if during the period covered by the report, 
the Chief Administrative Officer withheld amounts 
from a Member’s compensation under section 415(d) 
of the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 as 
reimbursement for an award or settlement paid 
under such Act, the identification of the Member 
and the amount withheld; and’’. 
(2) SENATORS.—Section 105(a) of the Legisla-
tive Branch Appropriations Act, 1965 (2 U.S.C. 
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4108(a)) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new paragraph: 
‘‘(7) If during the period covered by a report under 
paragraph (1), the Secretary of the Senate withheld 
amounts from a Senator’s compensation under section 
415(d) of the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 
as reimbursement for an award or settlement paid under 
such Act, the Secretary shall include in the report the 
identification of the Senator and the amount withheld.’’. 
Æ 
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