Chief Deputy Whip
Rep. Diana DeGette
DeGette is a fourth generation Coloradoan, educated at Denver's South High School and Colorado College. Read More...

The Daily WhipLine

Tuesday, January 23, 2007 : PRINT

Floor Schedule and Procedure

• Suspension Bills: Today, the House will consider several bills on the Suspension calendar.  Bills considered on the Suspension calendar are debatable for 40 minutes; may not be amended; and require a two-thirds vote for passage:

1. H.R. 323  - Seasoned Customer CTR Exemption Act (Reps. Bachus, Frank – Financial Services)
   
   
2. H.R. 392  - District of Columbia and United States Territories Circulating Quarter Dollar Program Act (Rep. Norton – Financial Services)
   
   
3. H.R. 599 – To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to streamline the SAFETY Act and anti-terrorism technology procurement process (Reps. Langevin, Rogers (AL) – Homeland Security)

• Postponed Votes: At some point today, the House is expected to take recorded votes on the following Suspension bills that were debated on Monday:

1. H.R. 476 – Congressional Pension Accountability - To amend title 5, US Code, to make non-creditable for Federal retirement purposes any Member service performed by an individual who is convicted of any of certain offenses committed by that individual while serving as a Member of Congress, and for other purposes (Rep. Boyda – House Administration)
   
   
2. H.Res. 51 – Honoring the Contributions of Catholic Schools (Rep. Lipinski – Education and Labor)
   
   
3. H.Res. 57 – Congratulating Illinois State University as it celebrates its sesquicentennial (Rep. Weller – Education and Labor)
   

Bill Summary and Key Issues

• H.R. 476 – Congressional Pension Accountability: The bill being considered today is almost identical to H.R. 476, introduced by Rep. Boyda on January 17, 2007.  Specifically, the bill:

• Requires that Members convicted of certain federal felonies related to the performance of their official duties forfeit their Congressional pension rights under the Civil Service Retirement System or the Federal Employees Retirement System if the conduct constituting the felony takes place after enactment.

• Applies to bribery of public officials and witnesses; wrongfully acting as agents of foreign principals; conspiracy to commit one of the offenses listed above; conspiracy to violate the post-employment prohibitions; and perjury and subornation of perjury in falsely denying committing one of these crimes;

• Exempts from forfeiture the Member’s own contributions to the retirement fund;

• Permits the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), if it is determined to be necessary under the totality of the circumstances, to provide benefits to the Member’s spouse and children, in which case the lump sum payment due the Member based on his or her own contributions would be reduced by an appropriate amount.
  
  
• Note that the bill was modified to add Subornation of Perjury to the list of crimes in the bill which could result in forfeiture of a Member’s pension.  Also note that the effective date of the bill remains “on the date of enactment,” as it was on introduction. 

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