False Claims Act Correction Act of 2007
Latest action · Jul 16, 2008 Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law Discharged.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedDec 19, 2007
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
False Claims Act Correction Act of 2007 - Amends the False Claims Act to revise requirements and procedures governing civil actions for false claims (qui tam actions) brought by private persons.
Repeals the requirement that a false or fraudulent claim for payment must be presented directly to a federal employee or member of the Armed Forces (thus tying liability for such claims directly to federal money and property, regardless to whom the claim is presented).
Revises requirements for alternate remedies affecting qui tam actions and related qui tam plaintiff awards.
Allows dismissal of a private action based upon prior public disclosures only upon timely motion to dismiss by the Attorney General.
Revises the prohibition of retaliatory action against whistleblowers to include material hindering of the person in obtaining new employment or other business opportunities.
Requires the government to pay from the proceeds of an action for financial losses suffered by administrative beneficiaries (thus permitting actions for fraud instituted against nontaxpayer funds under federal trust and administration).
Expands from six years to ten years the statute of limitations for bringing a civil action.
Requires the government, if it elects to intervene and proceed with an action, to file its own complaint, or amend the complaint of a person who brought a civil action, but in any event to relate back to the filing date of the original qui tam complaint to the extent that such claim arises out of the same set of facts.
Declares that a person bringing a private qui tam action shall not be required to identify specific claims that result from an alleged course of misconduct if: (1) the facts alleged in the complaint, if ultimately proven true, would provide a reasonable indication that one or more false claims are likely to have occurred; and (2) the allegations in the pleading provide adequate notice of the specific nature of the alleged misconduct to permit the government effectively to investigate and defendants fairly to defend such allegations.
Declares void any contracts, agreements, or private terms or conditions of employment that limit or circumvent the rights of a person to bring a qui tam action.
Declares further that no court-ordered seal on a qui tam action shall prevent the government or the person bringing the action from serving the complaint or related documents upon state or local law enforcement authorities.
Modifies procedures for civil investigative demands.
Cites circumstances in which the government may move to dismiss a qui tam action by a federal employee (who has, in effect, not exhausted administrative procedures for addressing the allegations in the false claim complaint).
Cosponsors 2
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Dec 19, 2007 to Jul 16, 2008, with 1 there on the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| R-WI | F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. | Original | Dec 19, 2007 |
| D-CA | Linda T. Sánchez | Jul 16, 2008 |
Actions 11
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Jul 16, 2008Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
- Jul 16, 2008Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by Voice Vote.
- Jul 16, 2008Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law Discharged.
- Jul 16, 2008Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property Discharged.
- Jun 24, 2008Subcommittee Hearings Held.
Related bills 1
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| S 2041 | False Claims Act Correction Act of 2008 | Related bill | Sep 25, 2008 |
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Law.
- Administrative remedies
- Armed Forces and National Security
- Civil actions and liability
- Civil procedure
- Claims
- Commerce
- Congress
- Congressional reporting requirements
- Contracts
- Damages
- Federal employees
- Fraud
- Government Operations and Politics
- Governmental investigations
- Jurisdiction
- Labor and Employment
- Labor contracts
- Law
- Limitation of actions
- Military personnel
- Parties to actions
- Qui tam actions
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Dec 19, 2007Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov.