Letter to Ron Johnson, Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and Gary Peters, Ranking member of Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee - Daines: It's Time to Pass My Bill to Prevent Child Predators from Receiving Government Pensions

Letter

Chairman Johnson and Ranking Member Peters,
I write to highlight my legislation, the Denying Pensions to Convicted Child Molesters Act,
which has been pending before your committee for more than a year. In that time, perpetrators of
some of the most heinous crimes imaginable remain eligible to receive tax-payer funded
pensions. That this is allowed to continue is unconscionable. I urge your committee to hold a
business meeting on my bill as soon as possible so this common sense solution can be passed
into law.
As you know, Stanley Patrick Weber, during his time as a pediatrician with the Indian Health
Service (IHS), molested a number of Native American children in both Montana and South
Dakota. Despite warnings about his behavior for years, it was only last year that he was finally
brought to justice. In total, between his convictions in Montana and South Dakota, Mr. Weber
has been sentenced to imprisonment of five lifetime terms plus 63 years. Despite this, he is still
set to receive a federal pension nearing $100,000 per year. There have also been recent reports
that another IHS physician, this time within the Fort Belknap unit, has been accused of sexual
assault. That is currently under investigation but highlights the continued potential for federal
employees to commit unthinkable crimes and face no repercussion with respect to federallybacked pensions.
While I understand that my legislation would not impact these particular cases, we must ensure
that going forward, convicted pedophiles are not receiving federal pensions. I again urge you to
immediately bring this bill before committee

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