Public Corruption Prosecution Improvements Act
Latest action · Mar 12, 2009 Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 32.
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.
- IntroducedJan 6, 2009
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Public Corruption Prosecution Improvements Act - Amends the federal criminal code to revise and expand prohibitions against bribery, theft of public money, and other public corruption offenses.
(Sec. 2) Establishes a six-year limitation period for the prosecution of public corruption crimes involving bribery, extortion, theft of government property, mail fraud, and racketeering.
(Sec. 3) Expands mail and wire fraud statutes to cover offenses involving any other thing of value (e.g., intangible rights and licenses).
(Sec. 4) Modifies general venue rules for criminal prosecutions to allow prosecutions in any district in which an act in furtherance of an offense is committed.
(Sec. 5) Reduces from $5,000 to $1,000 the threshold amount for theft or bribery involving federally-assisted programs and increases the maximum prison term for such offenses from 10 to 15 years.
(Sec. 6) Increases the maximum term of imprisonment for theft and embezzlement of federal money, property, or records from 10 to 15 years.
(Sec. 7) Increases the maximum term of imprisonment for bribery offenses from 15 to 20 years.
(Sec. 8) Increases to 10 years the maximum term of imprisonment for: (1) solicitation by federal officers and employees of political contributions from other federal officers and employees; (2) promise of employment made possible by an act of Congress for political activity; (3) deprivation of such employment for political activity; (4) intimidation to secure political contributions; (5) solicitation and acceptance of contributions in federal offices; and (6) coercion of political activity by federal employees.
(Sec. 9) Applies the prohibition against embezzlement or theft of federal money or property to government officials and employees of the District of Columbia.
(Sec. 10) Includes embezzlement or theft of government money or property as predicates for racketeering prosecutions and wiretaps.
(Sec. 12) Modifies elements relating to the crime of bribery of public officials and witnesses to: (1) prohibit public officials from accepting anything of value, other than what is permitted by rule or regulation, for or because of the official's or person's official position; (2) expand the definition of "official act" to include any conduct that falls within the range of official duty of a public official; (3) include a course of conduct involving multiple gifts, offers or promises designed to influence a public official.
(Sec. 15) Expands the types of perjury and obstruction of justice offenses for which venue lies in the district in which the official proceeding was intended to be affected or in which the conduct constituting the alleged offense occurred.
(Sec. 16) Authorizes appropriations for FY2010-FY2013 for additional Department of Justice (DOJ) personnel to investigate and prosecute public corruption offenses.
(Sec. 17) Directs the U.S. Sentencing Commission to review and amend its guidelines and policy statements relating to public corruption offenses to reflect the intent of Congress that penalties for such offenses be increased.
Cosponsors 2
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Jan 6, 2009 to Mar 12, 2009, with 1 there on the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| R-TX | John Cornyn | Original | Jan 6, 2009 |
| D-DE | Edward E. Kaufman | Mar 12, 2009 |
Actions 6
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Mar 12, 2009Committee on the Judiciary. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
- Mar 12, 2009Committee on the Judiciary. Reported by Senator Leahy with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. Without written report.
- Mar 12, 2009Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 32.
- Jan 6, 2009Introduced in Senate
- Jan 6, 2009Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (text of measure as introduced: CR S56-58)
Related bills 1
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| HR 2822 | Public Corruption Prosecution Improvements Act | Related bill | Jul 23, 2009 |
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement.
- Administrative law and regulatory procedures
- Crime and Law Enforcement
- Crimes against property
- Criminal investigation, prosecution, interrogation
- Criminal procedure and sentencing
- Department of Justice
- District of Columbia
- Elections, voting, political campaign regulation
- Executive agency funding and structure
- Fraud offenses and financial crimes
- Government ethics and transparency, public corruption
- Organized crime
- U.S. Sentencing Commission
Text 2
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Mar 12, 2009Reported to Senate
- Jan 6, 2009Introduced in Senate
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.