Judgment Fund Transparency Act of 2017

Judgment Fund Transparency Act of 2017

(Sec. 2) This bill requires the Department of the Treasury to disclose details regarding payments made from the Judgment Fund on or after January 1, 2016. (The Judgment Fund is a permanent and indefinite appropriation to pay judgments against the United States.)

Unless the disclosure is prohibited by law or a court order, Treasury must disclose to the public on a website:

• the agency or entity whose actions gave rise to the claim or judgment,
• the plaintiff or claimant,
• the counsel for the plaintiff or claimant,
• the amount paid representing principal liability and any amounts paid representing any ancillary liability,
• a description of the facts that gave rise to the claim,
• the agency that submitted the claim, and
• any information available on reports generated by the Judgment Fund Payment Search administered by Treasury.

If the payment is made to a foreign state, Treasury must also disclose:

• the method of payment;
• the currency denomination used for the payment; and
• the name and location of each financial institution owned or controlled by a foreign state or an agent of a foreign state through which the payment passed, from which the payment was withdrawn, or that is holding the payment.

By January 1, 2018, and annually thereafter, Treasury must disclose on the website: (1) the total amounts paid from the fund during the preceding year; and (2) the amounts paid during the preceding year for attorney fees, interest, and for all other payments.

No payments from the fund may be made to a state sponsor of terrorism or an organization that has been designated as a foreign terrorist organization under the Immigration and Nationality Act.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1096 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1096

 To amend title 31, United States Code, to provide for transparency of 
                 payments made from the Judgment Fund.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 15, 2017

    Mr. Stewart (for himself, Mr. Long, Mr. Roskam, Mr. Tipton, Mr. 
   Chaffetz, Mr. Pearce, Mr. McClintock, Mr. Bishop of Utah, and Mr. 
   Burgess) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title 31, United States Code, to provide for transparency of 
                 payments made from the Judgment Fund.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Judgment Fund Transparency Act of 
2017''.

SEC. 2. JUDGMENT FUND TRANSPARENCY.

    (a) Transparency Requirement.--Section 1304 of title 31, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(d)(1) Unless the disclosure of such information is otherwise 
prohibited by law or court order, the Secretary of the Treasury shall 
make available to the public on a website, as soon as practicable, but 
not later than 30 days after the date on which a payment under this 
section is tendered on or after January 1, 2016, the following 
information with regard to that payment:
            ``(A) The name of the specific agency or entity whose 
        actions gave rise to the claim or judgment.
            ``(B) The name of the plaintiff or claimant.
            ``(C) The name of counsel for the plaintiff or claimant.
            ``(D) The amount paid representing principal liability, and 
        any amounts paid representing any ancillary liability, 
        including attorney fees, costs, and interest.
            ``(E) A brief description of the facts that gave rise to 
        the claim.
            ``(F) The name of the agency that submitted the claim.
            ``(G) Any information available on reports generated by the 
        Judgment Fund Payment Search administered by the Treasury 
        Department.
    ``(2) In addition to the information described in paragraph (1), if 
a payment under this section is made to a foreign state on or after 
January 1, 2016, the Secretary of the Treasury shall make available to 
the public in accordance with paragraph (1), the following information 
with regard to that payment:
            ``(A) A description of the method of payment.
            ``(B) A description of the currency denominations used for 
        the payment.
            ``(C) The name and location of each financial institution 
        owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by a foreign state 
        or an agent of a foreign state through which the payment passed 
        or from which the payment was withdrawn, including any 
        financial institution owned or controlled, directly or 
        indirectly, by a foreign state or an agent of a foreign state 
        that is holding the payment as of the date on which the 
        information is made available.
            ``(3) In this subsection, the term `foreign state' has the 
        meaning given the term in section 1603 of title 28.
    ``(e) Except with regard to children under eighteen, the disclosure 
of information required in this section shall not be considered a 
`clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy' for purposes of 
title 5, United States Code.
    ``(f) No payment may be made under this section to a state sponsor 
of terrorism, as defined in section 1605A(h) of title 28.''.
    (b) Implementation.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall carry out 
the amendment made by this section by not later than 60 days after the 
date of enactment of this Act.
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