I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1788 
To amend the provisions of title 31, United States Code, relating to false 
claims to clarify and make technical amendments to those provisions, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 30, 2009 
Mr. BERMAN (for himself, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN 
of California, Mr. CONYERS, and Mr. COHEN) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To amend the provisions of title 31, United States Code, 
relating to false claims to clarify and make technical 
amendments to those provisions, 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 ‘‘False Claims Act Cor-
rection Act of 2009’’. 
SEC. 2. LIABILITY FOR FALSE CLAIMS. 
Section 3729 of title 31, United States Code, is 
amended to read as follows: 
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‘‘§ 3729. False claims 
‘‘(a) LIABILITY FOR CERTAIN ACTS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any person who— 
‘‘(A) knowingly presents, or causes to be 
presented for payment or approval, a false or 
fraudulent claim for Government money or 
property, 
‘‘(B) knowingly makes, uses, or causes to 
be made or used, a false record or statement to 
get a false or fraudulent claim for Government 
money or property paid or approved, 
‘‘(C) has possession, custody, or control of 
Government money or property and either— 
‘‘(i) fails to comply with a statutory 
or contractual obligation to disclose an 
overpayment about which the person is on 
actual notice, or 
‘‘(ii) intending to— 
‘‘(I) defraud the Government, or 
‘‘(II) 
knowingly 
convert 
the 
money or property, permanently or 
temporarily, to an unauthorized use, 
fails to deliver or return, or fails to cause 
the return or delivery of, the money or 
property, or delivers, returns, or causes to 
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be delivered or returned less money or 
property than the amount due or owed, 
‘‘(D) authorized to make or deliver a docu-
ment certifying receipt of property used, or to 
be used, by the Government and, intending to 
defraud the Government, makes or delivers the 
receipt without completely knowing that the in-
formation on the receipt is true, 
‘‘(E) knowingly buys, or receives as a 
pledge of an obligation or debt, Government 
money or property from an officer or employee 
of the Government, or a member of the Armed 
Forces, who lawfully may not sell or pledge the 
money or property, 
‘‘(F) knowingly makes, uses, or causes to 
be made or used, a false record or statement to 
conceal, avoid, or decrease an obligation to pay 
or transmit money or property to the Govern-
ment, or 
‘‘(G) conspires to commit any violation set 
forth in any of subparagraphs (A) through (F), 
is liable to the United States Government for a civil 
penalty of not less than $5,000 and not more than 
$10,000, plus 3 times the amount of damages that 
the Government or its administrative beneficiary 
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sustains because of the act of that person, subject 
to paragraphs (2) and (3). 
‘‘(2) LESSER PENALTY IF DEFENDANT COOPER-
ATES WITH INVESTIGATION.—In an action brought 
for a violation under paragraph (1), the court may 
assess not less than 2 times the amount of damages 
that the Government or its administrative bene-
ficiary sustains because of the act of the person 
committing the violation if the court finds that— 
‘‘(A) such person provided to those officials 
of the United States who are responsible for in-
vestigating false claims violations, all informa-
tion known to the person about the violation 
within 30 days after the date on which the per-
son first obtained the information; 
‘‘(B) such person fully cooperated with any 
Government investigation of the violation; and 
‘‘(C) at the time such person provided to 
the United States the information about the 
violation under subparagraph (A), no criminal 
prosecution, civil action, or administrative ac-
tion had commenced with respect to such viola-
tion, and the person did not have actual knowl-
edge of the existence of an investigation into 
such violation. 
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‘‘(3) ASSESSMENT
OF
COSTS.—A person vio-
lating paragraph (1) shall, in addition to a penalty 
or damages assessed under paragraph (1) or (2), be 
liable to the United States Government for the costs 
of a civil action brought to recover such penalty or 
damages. 
‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 
‘‘(1) the terms ‘known’, ‘knowing’, and ‘know-
ingly’ mean that a person, with respect to informa-
tion— 
‘‘(A) has actual knowledge of the informa-
tion, 
‘‘(B) acts in deliberate ignorance of the 
truth or falsity of the information, or 
‘‘(C) acts in reckless disregard of the truth 
or falsity of the information, 
and no proof of specific intent to defraud is re-
quired; 
‘‘(2) the term ‘Government money or property’ 
means— 
‘‘(A) money or property belonging to the 
United States Government; 
‘‘(B) money or property that— 
‘‘(i) the United States Government 
provides or has provided to a contractor, 
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grantee, agent, or other recipient, or for 
which the United States Government will 
reimburse a contractor, grantee, agent, or 
other recipient; and 
‘‘(ii) is to be spent or used on the 
Government’s behalf or to advance a Gov-
ernment program; and 
‘‘(C) money or property that the United 
States holds in trust or administers for any ad-
ministrative beneficiary; 
‘‘(3) the term ‘claim’ includes any request or 
demand, whether under a contract or otherwise, for 
Government money or property; and 
‘‘(4) the term ‘administrative beneficiary’ 
means any entity, including any governmental or 
quasi-governmental entity, on whose behalf the 
United States Government, alone or with others, 
serves as custodian or trustee of money or property 
owned by that entity. 
‘‘(c) STATUTORY
CAUSE
OF
ACTION.—Liability 
under this section is a statutory cause of action all ele-
ments of which are set forth in this section. No proof of 
any additional element of common law fraud or other 
cause of action is implied or required for liability to exist 
for a violation of subsection (a). 
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