[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9084 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 9084
To amend section 102 of the Revised Statutes of the United States to
provide that a person who refuses to answer certain questions or is
finally convicted of perjury before either House of Congress shall be
debarred from Federal employment, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 22, 2024
Mr. McCormick (for himself, Mr. Nehls, and Mr. Van Orden) introduced
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Oversight and
Accountability, and Rules, for a period to be subsequently determined
by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as
fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
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A BILL
To amend section 102 of the Revised Statutes of the United States to
provide that a person who refuses to answer certain questions or is
finally convicted of perjury before either House of Congress shall be
debarred from Federal employment, 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 ``Safeguarding Transparency and
Oversight to Prevent the Spread of Washington's Administrative
Misconduct and Partisanship Act'' or the ``STOP the SWAMP Act''.
SEC. 2. IN GENERAL.
(a) Debarment of Certain Witnesses From Federal Employment.--
Section 102 of the Revised Statutes of the United States relating to
congressional investigations (2 U.S.C. 192) is amended--
(1) by striking ``Every'' at the beginning and inserting
the following:
``(a) Every'';
(2) by striking ``, or who, having appeared, refuses to
answer any question pertinent to the question under inquiry,'';
and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(b) Every person who having been summoned as a witness pursuant
to subsection (a), having appeared, refuses to answer any question
pertinent to the question under inquiry, shall, in addition to any
other penalties provided by law, be--
``(1) deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine
of not more than $1,000 nor less than $100 and imprisoned in a
common jail for not less than one month nor more than twelve
months; and
``(2) debarred from Federal employment.
``(c) --
``(1) Every person who having been summoned as a witness
pursuant to subsection (a), having appeared, is finally
convicted of perjury under section 1621 of title 18, United
States Code, or an offense under section 1001 of title 18,
United States Code, shall, in addition to any other penalties
provided by law, be debarred from Federal employment.
``(2) In this subsection, the term `finally convicted'
refers to a conviction--
``(A) which has not been appealed and is no longer
appealable because the time for taking an appeal has
expired; or
``(B) which has been appealed and the appeals
process for which is completed.
``(d) A person who is found in violation of subsection (b) or (c)
who is a Federal employee shall, in addition to any other penalties
provided by law, be removed from the civil service, as such term is
defined in section 2101 of title 5, United States Code.
``(e) Any debarment from Federal employment pursuant to this
section shall be subject to judicial review.''.
(b) Procedures for Rescinding Salary Funds.--Section 104 of the
Revised Statutes of the United States relating to congressional
investigations (2 U.S.C. 194) is amended--
(1) by striking ``Whenever'' at the beginning and inserting
the following:
``(a) Whenever'';
(2) by striking ``filed with the President of the Senate or
the Speaker of the House, it shall be the duty of the said
President of the Senate or Speaker of the House,'' and
inserting ``filed with an appropriate Member of Congress, it
shall be the duty of the said appropriate Member of
Congress,''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(b) Not later than 180 days after the date of certification of a
statement of facts to a United States attorney pursuant to subsection
(a), any member of either House may introduce a joint resolution to
rescind funds appropriated or otherwise made available for the salary
and expenses of a witness who is a Federal employee from the employing
entity of the witness for the fiscal year. Such joint resolution shall
be privileged, subject to judicial review, and further subject to the
following procedures:
``(1) A joint resolution shall be referred to the Committee
on Appropriations of the House of Representatives or the
Committee on Appropriations of the Senate, as the case may be,
and one such joint resolution shall be reported out by such
committee together with its recommendations within fifteen
calendar days, unless such House shall otherwise determine by
the yeas and nays.
``(2) A joint resolution so reported shall become the
pending business of the House in question (in the case of the
Senate the time for debate shall be equally divided between the
proponents and the opponents) and shall be voted on within
twenty calendar days thereafter, unless such House shall
otherwise determine by yeas and nays.
``(3) A joint resolution passed by one House shall be
referred to the committee of the other House named in
subsection (a) and shall be reported out by such committee
together with its recommendations within fifteen calendar days
and shall thereupon become the pending business of such House
and shall be voted upon within three calendar days, unless such
House shall otherwise determine by yeas and nays.
``(4) In the case of any disagreement between the two
Houses of Congress with respect to a joint resolution passed by
both Houses, conferees shall be promptly appointed and the
committee of conference shall make and file a report with
respect to such joint resolution within six calendar days after
the legislation is referred to the committee of conference.
Notwithstanding any rule in either House concerning the
printing of conference reports in the Record or concerning any
delay in the consideration of such reports, such report shall
be acted on by both Houses not later than six calendar days
after the conference report is filed. In the event the
conferees are unable to agree within fifteen days, the
conferees shall report back to their respective Houses in
disagreement.
``(c) In this section, the term `appropriate Member of Congress'
means--
``(1) the President of the Senate;
``(2) the Speaker of the House;
``(3) the Chairman or ranking minority member of the
standing committee of the House of Congress in which the
witness appeared pursuant to section 102; or
``(4) the Chairman or ranking minority member of the
Committee on Oversight and Accountability of the House of
Representatives.''.
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