Sec. 111. Requiring Members of Congress to reimburse treasury for damages paid as settlements and awards for certain violations
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Section 415 ( 2 U.S.C. 1415 ) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection: If a payment is made from the account described in subsection
(a)for an award or settlement in connection with a claim alleging a violation described in subparagraph
(D)perpetrated directly against a covered employee by an individual who, at the time of committing the violation, was a Member of the House of Representatives (including a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to the Congress) or a Senator, that individual who committed the violation shall reimburse the account for the amount of compensatory damages included in the award or settlement attributable to that violation. Personal liability or a reimbursement requirement may not be imposed on an individual under this subsection unless the hearing officer, the court, or the corresponding committee described in section 416(e)(1) (as the case may be) makes a finding, separate from the finding on the underlying claim, that the individual perpetrated a violation requiring reimbursement under this subsection. If an award or settlement is made for multiple claims, some of which do not require reimbursement under this subsection, the Member or Senator shall only be required to reimburse for the amount of compensatory damages included in the portion of the award or settlement attributable to a claim requiring reimbursement. A violation described in this subparagraph is— unwelcome harassment by an individual described in subparagraph
(A)on any basis protected by section 201(a) or 206(a) that has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering, and is sufficiently severe or pervasive to unreasonably interfere, with a covered employee's work performance or create an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment; or in the case of a violation of section 201(a) on the basis of sex, conduct by an individual described in subparagraph
(A)that is an unwelcome sexual advance or request for sexual favors, when— submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of the covered employee's employment; or submission to or rejection of such conduct by the employee is used as the basis for an employment decision affecting such employee. For purposes of carrying out subparagraph (B), the applicable Committee shall establish a timetable and procedures for the withholding of amounts from the compensation of an individual who is a Member of the House of Representatives or a Senator. The payroll administrator shall withhold from an individual’s compensation and transfer to the account described in subsection
(a)(after transferring to the account of the individual in the Thrift Savings Fund any amount that the individual had requested to be so transferred) such amounts as may be necessary to reimburse the account described in subsection
(a)for the reimbursable portion of the award or settlement described in paragraph
(1)if the individual has not reimbursed the account as required under paragraph
(1)prior to the expiration of the 90-day period which begins on the date a payment is made from the account for such an award or settlement. In this paragraph, the applicable Committee means— the Committee on House Administration of the House of Representatives, in the case of an individual who, at the time of the withholding, is a Member of the House; or the Committee on Rules and Administration of the Senate, in the case of an individual who, at the time of the withholding, is a Senator. Subparagraph
(B)shall apply to an individual who is subject to the reimbursement requirement of this subsection if, by the expiration of the 180-day period that begins on the date a payment is made from the account described in subsection
(a)relating to an award or settlement described in paragraph (1), the individual— has not reimbursed the account for the entire reimbursable portion as required under paragraph (1); and is not employed as a Member of the House of Representatives or a Senator but is employed in a subsequent non-Federal position. On the expiration of that 180-day period, the amount of the reimbursable portion of an award or settlement described in paragraph
(1)(reduced by any amount the individual has reimbursed, taking into account any amounts withheld under paragraph (2)) shall be treated as a delinquent nontax debt and transferred to the Secretary of the Treasury for collection. Upon that transfer, the Secretary of the Treasury shall collect the debt, in accordance with section 3711 of title 31, United States Code, including by administrative wage garnishment of the wages of the individual described in subparagraph
(A)from the position described in subparagraph (A)(ii). The Secretary of the Treasury shall transfer the collected amount to the account described in subsection (a). If the individual does not obtain employment in a subsequent position referred to in paragraph (3)(A)(ii), not later than 90 days after the individual is first no longer receiving compensation as a Member or a Senator, the amounts withheld or collected under this subsection have not been sufficient to reimburse the account described in subsection
(a)for the reimbursable portion of the award or settlement described in paragraph (1), the payroll administrator— shall notify the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, who shall take such actions as the Director considers appropriate to withhold from any annuity payable to the individual under chapter 83 or chapter 84 of title 5, United States Code, and transfer to the account described in subsection (a), such amounts as may be necessary to reimburse the account for the reimbursable portion of an award or settlement described in paragraph (1); and shall notify the Secretary of the Treasury, who (if necessary), notwithstanding section 207 of the Social Security Act ( 42 U.S.C. 407 ), shall take such actions as the Secretary of the Treasury considers appropriate to withhold from any payment to the individual under title II of the Social Security Act ( 42 U.S.C. 401 et seq.) and transfer to the account described in subsection (a), such amounts as may be necessary to reimburse the account for the reimbursable portion of an award or settlement described in paragraph (1). The Director of the Office of Personnel Management and the Secretary of the Treasury shall carry out paragraph
(4)in a manner that ensures the coordination of the withholding and transferring of amounts under such paragraph, in accordance with regulations promulgated by the Director and the Secretary. An individual who is subject to the reimbursement requirement of this subsection shall have the unconditional right to intervene in any mediation, hearing, or civil action under this title to protect the interests of the individual in the determination of whether an award or settlement described in paragraph
(1)should be made, and the amount of any such award or settlement, except that nothing in this paragraph may be construed to require the covered employee who filed the claim to be deposed by counsel for the individual in a deposition that is separate from any other deposition taken from the employee in connection with the hearing or civil action. In this subsection, the term payroll administrator means— in the case of an individual who is a Member of the House of Representatives, the Chief Administrative Officer of the House of Representatives, or an employee of the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer who is designated by the Chief Administrative Officer to carry out this subsection; or in the case of an individual who is a Senator, the Secretary of the Senate, or an employee of the Office of the Secretary of the Senate who is designated by the Secretary to carry out this subsection. . The amendment made by subsection
(a)shall apply with respect to claims made on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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Sec. 111
Requiring Members of Congress to reimburse treasury for damages paid as settlements and awards for certain violations
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