HR 1555 · 115th Congress 2017–2019, ended

FAIR Act

Introduced Mar 15, 2017 Originated House Sponsor Tim Walberg R-MI

Latest action · Mar 31, 2017 Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.

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.

IntroducedMar 15, 2017
Passed HouseNot reached
Passed SenateNot reached
To the PresidentNot reached
Became lawNot reached

Summary

Fifth Amendment Integrity Restoration Act of 2017 or the FAIR Act

This bill modifies general rules governing civil forfeiture proceedings to: (1) ensure that a person contesting a civil forfeiture has legal representation without regard to whether the property subject to forfeiture is being used by such person as a primary residence; (2) increase the federal government's burden of proof in civil forfeiture proceedings to clear and convincing evidence; (3) require the government, in addition to showing a substantial connection between the seized property and an offense, to establish by clear and convincing evidence that the owner of any interest in the seized property used the property with intent to facilitate the offense or knowingly consented or was willfully blind to the use of the property by another in connection with the offense; and (4) expand the proportionality criteria used by a court to determine whether a civil forfeiture was constitutionally excessive.

To remove incentives for carrying out civil forfeitures, the bill requires proceeds from the disposition of seized property to be deposited into the General Fund of the Treasury, rather than to Department of Justice accounts for law enforcement activities.

The bill adds a mens rea requirement (i.e., a knowing violation) to the prohibition against structuring financial transactions to evade reporting requirements.

A court shall conduct a probable cause hearing to determine if there is a violation of the prohibition against structuring transactions to evade reporting requirements involving a monetary instrument and to return such instrument if probable cause is not established.

Cosponsors 55

Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Mar 15, 2017 to May 8, 2018; 3 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.

Seat	Cosponsor		Signed on
D-MN	Keith Ellison	Original	Mar 15, 2017
R-CA	Tom McClintock	Original	Mar 15, 2017
D-CA	Tony Cárdenas	Original	Mar 15, 2017
D-DC	Eleanor Holmes Norton		Mar 20, 2017
D-VA	Gerald E. Connolly		Mar 20, 2017
D-CA	Jackie Speier		Mar 20, 2017
R-MI	John R. Moolenaar		Mar 20, 2017
D-CA	Mark Takano		Mar 20, 2017
R-TX	Randy K. Weber, Sr.		Mar 20, 2017
D-TN	Steve Cohen		Mar 20, 2017
R-MS	Steven M. Palazzo		Mar 20, 2017
R-KY	Thomas Massie		Mar 20, 2017
R-OK	Tom Cole		Mar 20, 2017
R-WV	Alexander X. Mooney		Mar 22, 2017
D-WI	Gwen Moore		Mar 22, 2017
D-PA	Robert A. Brady		Mar 22, 2017
D-TX	Beto O'Rourke		Mar 27, 2017
R-TN	John J. Duncan, Jr.		Mar 27, 2017
D-NJ	Bonnie Watson Coleman		Apr 4, 2017
D-IL	Janice D. Schakowsky		Apr 4, 2017
D-NY	Jose E. Serrano		Apr 4, 2017
R-NM	Stevan Pearce		Apr 4, 2017
D-OH	Tim Ryan		Apr 4, 2017
R-IN	Todd Rokita		Apr 4, 2017
R-OK	Markwayne Mullin		Apr 25, 2017
R-OK	Steve Russell		Apr 26, 2017
D-CA	Mark DeSaulnier		May 3, 2017
R-ID	Raul R. Labrador		May 17, 2017
R-FL	Ted S. Yoho		May 17, 2017
R-MN	Jason Lewis		May 24, 2017
R-MN	Tom Emmer		May 24, 2017
R-AZ	Paul A. Gosar		Jun 7, 2017
D-CO	Jared Polis		Jun 20, 2017
R-MI	Mike Bishop		Jun 27, 2017
R-MS	Gregg Harper		Jul 20, 2017
D-FL	Alcee L. Hastings		Jul 24, 2017
R-FL	Bill Posey		Jul 24, 2017
R-FL	Daniel Webster		Jul 24, 2017
R-AK	Don Young		Jul 24, 2017
D-NY	Hakeem S. Jeffries		Jul 24, 2017
R-OK	Frank D. Lucas		Jul 25, 2017
D-CA	Zoe Lofgren		Jul 25, 2017
R-TN	David P. Roe		Jul 27, 2017
D-VA	Donald S. Beyer, Jr.		Jul 27, 2017
D-OR	Earl Blumenauer		Jul 27, 2017
R-GA	Earl L. "Buddy" Carter		Jul 27, 2017
R-FL	Ron DeSantis		Jul 27, 2017
D-PA	Brendan F. Boyle		Aug 25, 2017
D-VA	A. Donald McEachin		Sep 5, 2017
I-MI	Paul Mitchell		Sep 8, 2017
D-CA	Alan S. Lowenthal		Oct 11, 2017
D-NY	Grace Meng		Dec 11, 2017
R-MO	Jason Smith		Dec 11, 2017
R-CA	Dana Rohrabacher		Dec 13, 2017
R-OH	Warren Davidson		May 8, 2018

Committees 4

Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.

Chamber	Committee	What it did
House	Judiciary Committee	Referred Mar 15, 2017
	Crime and Federal Government Surveillance Subcommittee	Referred Mar 31, 2017
House	Energy and Commerce Committee	Referred Mar 15, 2017
	Health Subcommittee	Referred Mar 17, 2017
House	Ways and Means Committee	Referred Mar 15, 2017
House	Financial Services Committee	Referred Mar 15, 2017

Actions 4

Everything that happened, newest first.

Mar 31, 2017Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Mar 17, 2017Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
Mar 15, 2017Introduced in House
Mar 15, 2017Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means, and Financial Services, 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.

Research

What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.

Constitutional authority

[Pages H2083-H2084] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] By Mr. WALBERG: H.R. 1555. Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant to the following: Article I, Section 8, Clause 9 of the Constitution of the United States; the power to constitute Tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court. The purpose of the bill is to amend the civil asset forfeiture procedures and Section 8, Clause 9 extends to Congress the power to create inferior courts and to make rules of procedure and evidence for such courts.

The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 163, no. 45, March 15, 2017, page H2084.

Related bills 3

Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.

Bill	Title	Relationship	Latest action
HR 540	FAIR Act	Reintroduction of	Feb 19, 2015
S 642	FAIR Act	Identical bill	Mar 15, 2017
HR 1895	FAIR Act	Reintroduced Bill	May 3, 2019

Titles 3

Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.

Official Title as Introduced: To restore the integrity of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and for other purposes.
Short Titles as Introduced: FAIR Act; Fifth Amendment Integrity Restoration Act of 2017

Subjects

Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement.

Text 1

Each version as it was printed, newest first.

Mar 15, 2017Introduced in House

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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; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.