Title: Administrative False Claims Act of 2021
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics

Summary:
Administrative False Claims Act of 2021
This bill modifies provisions regarding fraud committed against the federal government.
Specifically, the bill raises the maximum amount of a fraud claim that may be handled administratively from $150,000 to $1 million, allows responsibilities in the administrative process assigned to the Attorney General or an Assistant Attorney General to be delegated to other Department of Justice employees, and allows the government to recoup costs for investigating and prosecuting these frauds.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2429 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2429

To amend chapter 38 of title 31, United States Code, relating to civil 
                   remedies, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 22, 2021

 Mr. Grassley (for himself, Mr. Durbin, and Ms. Hassan) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                             the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend chapter 38 of title 31, United States Code, relating to civil 
                   remedies, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Administrative False Claims Act of 
2021''.

SEC. 2. ADMINISTRATIVE FALSE CLAIMS.

    (a) Change in Short Title.--
            (1) In general.--Subtitle B of title VI of the Omnibus 
        Budget Reconciliation Act of 1986 (Public Law 99-509; 100 Stat. 
        1934) is amended--
                    (A) in the subtitle heading, by striking ``Program 
                Fraud Civil Remedies'' and inserting ``Administrative 
                False Claims''; and
                    (B) in section 6101 (31 U.S.C. 3801 note), by 
                striking ``Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act of 1986'' 
                and inserting ``Administrative False Claims Act''.
            (2) References.--Any reference to the Program Fraud Civil 
        Remedies Act of 1986 in any provision of law, regulation, map, 
        document, record, or other paper of the United States shall be 
        deemed a reference to the Administrative False Claims Act.
    (b) Reverse False Claims.--Chapter 38 of title 31, United States 
Code, is amended--
            (1) in section 3801(a)(3), by amending subparagraph (C) to 
        read as follows:
                    ``(C) made to an authority which has the effect of 
                concealing or improperly avoiding or decreasing an 
                obligation to pay or transmit property, services, or 
                money to the authority.''; and
            (2) in section 3802(a)(3)--
                    (A) by striking ``An assessment'' and inserting 
                ``(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), an 
                assessment''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(B) In the case of a claim described in section 
        3801(a)(3)(C), an assessment shall not be made under the second 
        sentence of paragraph (1) in an amount that is more than double 
        the value of the property, services, or money that was 
        wrongfully withheld from the authority.''.
    (c) Increasing Dollar Amount of Claims.--Section 3803(c) of title 
31, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1) by striking ``$150,000'' each place 
        that term appears and inserting ``$1,000,000''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) Adjustment for inflation.--The maximum amount in 
        paragraph (1) shall be adjusted for inflation in the same 
        manner and to the same extent as civil monetary penalties under 
        the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act (28 U.S.C. 
        2461 note).''.
    (d) Recovery of Costs.--Section 3806(g)(1) of title 31, United 
States Code, is amended to read as follows:
    ``(1)(A) Except as provided in paragraph (2)--
            ``(i) any amount collected under this chapter shall be 
        credited first to reimburse the authority or other Federal 
        entity that expended costs in support of the investigation or 
        prosecution of the action, including any court or hearing 
        costs; and
            ``(ii) amounts reimbursed under clause (i) shall--
                    ``(I) be deposited in--
                            ``(aa) the appropriations account of the 
                        authority or other Federal entity from which 
                        the costs described in subparagraph (A) were 
                        obligated;
                            ``(bb) a similar appropriations account of 
                        the authority or other Federal entity; or
                            ``(cc) if the authority or other Federal 
                        entity expended nonappropriated funds, another 
                        appropriate account; and
                    ``(II) remain available until expended.
    ``(B) Any amount remaining after reimbursements described in 
subparagraph (A) shall be deposited as miscellaneous receipts in the 
Treasury of the United States.''.
    (e) Semiannual Reporting.--Section 5(b) of the Inspector General 
Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (4), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) by redesignating paragraph (5) as paragraph (6); and
            (3) by inserting after paragraph (4) the following:
            ``(5) information relating to cases under chapter 38 of 
        title 31, United States, including--
                    ``(A) the number of reports submitted by 
                investigating officials to reviewing officials under 
                section 3803(a)(1) of title 31, United States Code;
                    ``(B) actions taken in response to reports 
                described in subparagraph (A), which shall include 
                statistical tables showing--
                            ``(i) pending cases;
                            ``(ii) resolved cases;
                            ``(iii) the average length of time to 
                        resolve each case;
                            ``(iv) the number of final agency decisions 
                        that were appealed to a district court of the 
                        United States or a higher court; and
                            ``(v) if the total number of cases in a 
                        report is greater than 2--
                                    ``(I) the number of cases that were 
                                settled; and
                                    ``(II) the total penalty or 
                                assessment amount recovered in each 
                                case, including through a settlement or 
                                compromise; and
                    ``(C) instances in which the reviewing official 
                declined to proceed on a case reported by an 
                investigating official; and''.
    (f) Increasing Efficiency of DOJ Processing.--Title 31, United 
States Code, is amended--
            (1) in section 3803(j)--
                    (A) by inserting ``(1)'' before ``The reviewing''; 
                and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(2) A reviewing official shall notify the Attorney General in 
writing not later than 30 days before entering into any agreement to 
compromise or settle allegations of liability under section 3802 of 
this title and before the date on which the reviewing official is 
permitted to refer allegations of liability to a presiding officer 
under subsection (b).''; and
            (2) in section 3812--
                    (A) in the section heading, by striking 
                ``Prohibition against delegation'' and inserting 
                ``Delegation authority''; and
                    (B) by striking ``, shall not be delegated to, or 
                carried out by,'' and inserting ``may be delegated 
                to''.
    (g) Revision of Definition of Hearing Officials.--
            (1) In general.--Chapter 38 of title 31, United States 
        Code, is amended--
                    (A) in section 3801(a)(7)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``or'' 
                        at the end;
                            (ii) in subparagraph (B)(vii), by adding 
                        ``or'' at the end; and
                            (iii) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(C) a member of the board of contract appeals 
                pursuant to section 7105 of title 41, if the authority 
                does not employ an available presiding officer under 
                subparagraph (A);''; and
                    (B) in section 3803(d)(2)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 
                        ``and'' at the end;
                            (ii) in subparagraph (B)--
                                    (I) by striking ``the presiding'' 
                                and inserting ``(i) in the case of a 
                                referral to a presiding officer 
                                described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of 
                                section 3801(a)(7), the presiding'';
                                    (II) in clause (i), as so 
                                designated, by adding ``or'' at the 
                                end; and
                                    (III) by adding at the end the 
                                following:
                    ``(ii) in the case of a referral to a presiding 
                officer described in subparagraph (C) of section 
                3801(a)(7)--
                            ``(I) the reviewing official shall submit a 
                        copy of the notice required by under paragraph 
                        (1) and of the response of the person receiving 
                        such notice requesting a hearing--
                                    ``(aa) to the board of contract 
                                appeals that has jurisdiction over 
                                matters arising from the agency of the 
                                reviewing official pursuant to section 
                                7105(e)(1) of title 41; or
                                    ``(bb) if the Chair of the board of 
                                contract appeals declines to accept the 
                                referral, to any other board of 
                                contract appeals; and
                            ``(II) the reviewing official shall 
                        simultaneously mail, by registered or certified 
                        mail, or shall deliver, notice to the person 
                        alleged to be liable under section 3802 that 
                        the referral has been made to an agency board 
                        of contract appeals with an explanation as to 
                        where the person may obtain the relevant rules 
                        of procedure promulgated by the board.''; and
                            (iii) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(C) in the case of a hearing conducted by a 
                presiding officer described in subparagraph (C) of 
                section 3801(a)(7)--
                            ``(i) the presiding officer shall conduct 
                        the hearing according to the rules and 
                        procedures promulgated by the board of contract 
                        appeals; and
                            ``(ii) the hearing shall not be subject to 
                        the provisions in subsection (g)(2), (h), or 
                        (i).''.
            (2) Agency boards.--Section 7105(e) of title 41, United 
        States Code, is amended--
                    (A) in paragraph (1), by adding at the end the 
                following:
                    ``(E) Administrative false claims act.--
                            ``(i) In general.--The boards described in 
                        subparagraphs (B), (C), and (D) shall have 
                        jurisdiction to hear any case referred to a 
                        board of contract appeals under section 3803(d) 
                        of title 31.
                            ``(ii) Declining referral.--If the Chair of 
                        a board described in subparagraph (B), (C), or 
                        (D) determines that accepting a case under 
                        clause (i) would prevent adequate consideration 
                        of other cases being handled by the board, the 
                        Chair may decline to accept the referral.''; 
                        and
                    (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ``or, in the 
                event that a case is filed under chapter 38 of title 
                31, any relief that would be available to a litigant 
                under that chapter'' before the period at the end.
            (3) Regulations.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, each authority head, as defined in 
        section 3801 of title 31, United States Code, and each board of 
        contract appeals of a board described in subparagraphs (B), 
        (C), and (D) of section 7105(e) of title 41, United States 
        Code, shall amend procedures regarding proceedings as necessary 
        to implement the amendments made by this subsection.
    (h) Revision of Limitations.--Section 3808 of title 31, United 
States Code, is amended by striking subsection (a) and inserting the 
following:
    ``(a) A notice to the person alleged to be liable with respect to a 
claim or statement shall be mailed or delivered in accordance with 
section 3803(d)(1) of this title not later than the later of--
            ``(1) 6 years after the date on which the violation of 
        section 3802 of this title is committed; or
            ``(2) 3 years after the date on which facts material to the 
        action are known or reasonably should have been known by the 
        authority head, but in no event more than 10 years after the 
        date on which the violation is committed.''.
    (i) Definitions.--Section 3801 of title 31, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) in paragraph (8), by striking ``and'' at the 
                end;
                    (B) in paragraph (9), by striking the period at the 
                end and inserting a semicolon; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(10) `material' has the meaning given the term in section 
        3729(b) of this title; and
            ``(11) `obligation' has the meaning given the term in 
        section 3729(b) of this title.''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(d) For purposes of subsection (a)(10), materiality shall be 
determined in the same manner as under section 3729 of this title.''.
    (j) Promulgation of Regulations.--Not later than 180 days after the 
date of enactment of this Act, each authority head, as defined in 
section 3801 of title 31, United States Code, shall--
            (1) promulgate regulations and procedures to carry out this 
        Act and the amendments made by this Act; and
            (2) review and update existing regulations and procedures 
        of the authority to ensure compliance with this Act and the 
        amendments made by this Act.
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