Bipartisan legislation giving prosecutors new tools to identify, investigate and prosecute criminal conduct by public officials — including an extension of the statute of limitations and an increase in maximum penalties — was approved Thursday by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Authored by Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, Vermont Democrat and committee chairman, and Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Republican, the legislation seeks to strengthen existing federal law for acts of public corruption, clarify the definition of what it means to perform an “official act,” and amend the federal bribery statute to show that corrupt payments can be made to influence more than one official act.
The Public Corruption Prosecution Improvements Act also amends the federal gratuities statute to make clear that a public official cannot accept anything of value given to them because of their official position other than as permitted by existing rules or regulations.
“This kind of corruption erodes the trust the American people have in those given the privilege of public service,” Mr. Leahy said. “Prosecutors and law enforcement need meaningful tools to help stamp out corruption. Sen. Cornyn has been a real partner on this issue over the years, and the agreement we have reached with the bill’s sponsors in the House will, I hope, enable us to make real progress on this anti-corruption bill.”
Mr. Cornyn noted that public corruption “is not a Republican or Democrat problem.
“It is a problem across this country,” he said. “Our citizens deserve to be governed by the rule of law, not the rule of men. I’ve worked with Sen. Leahy on several bipartisan bills and this bill is another great example of our combined effort to help clean up government and promote transparency.”
Other key provisions of the legislation include an extension of the statute of limitations from five to six years for bribery, honest-services fraud and extortion of a public official.
The Justice Department traditionally has used “honest services” as a catchall in corruption cases, virtually anytime the public has been denied “the intangible rights of honest services.” Mr. Leahy has said the honest-services law plays “an important role in combating public corruption, corporate fraud and self-dealing.”
But in a case brought by former Enron official Jeffrey Skilling, the Supreme Court scaled back the scope of the crime. The court said the law was drafted with unconstitutional vagueness and could cover only “fraudulent schemes to deprive another of honest services through bribes or kickbacks supplied by a third party” who had not been deceived.
In the new legislation, the senators also noted that investigations of public corruption cases are time consuming, and that the extension of the statute of limitations provides prosecutors the time necessary to investigate cases.
The legislation also raises statutory maximum penalties for select anti-corruption statutes to ensure the most serious corrupt acts result in significant jail time.
The bill approved by the committee on Thursday is the result of a bipartisan, bicameral agreement reached with Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner, Wisconsin Republican, and Rep. Mike Quigley, Illinois Democrat, the lead sponsors of companion legislation in the House.
• Jerry Seper can be reached at jseper@washingtontimes.com.
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