El Paso Times - Cornyn Bill Seeks Crack Down on Corruption

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El Paso Times - Cornyn Bill Seeks Crack Down on Corruption

The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee today advanced bipartisan legislation introduced by U.S. Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., to crack down on public corruption, announced Sen. Cornyn's office today.

The Public Corruption Prosecution Improvements Act, S.1946, now moves to the full Senate for consideration. Sen. Cornyn is a member of the Judiciary Committee and Vice Chairman of the Ethics Committee.

"Public corruption is not a Republican or Democratic problem. It's not just in Washington, D.C. either. It is a problem in statehouses and city halls across this country," Sen. Cornyn said in the press release.

According to the announcement the Public Corruption Prosecution Improvements Act strengthens the enforcement of U.S. federal laws for public corruption offenses by increasing the maximum punishments on several offenses, including theft and embezzlement of federal funds, bribery, and a number of corrupt campaign contribution practices.

The announcement revealed that a total of $100 million will go to the Department of Justice and the Offices of Inspectors General for combating public corruption.

The bipartisan legislation will do the following:

* Toughen the prohibition against bribery in connection with programs receiving federal financial assistance.
* Increase maximum penalties for theft of government property, bribery and other public corruption offenses.
* Include certain government theft and bribery offenses as predicates for racketeering prosecutions and wiretaps.
* Revise the definition of "official act" for purposes of public corruption prosecutions.
* Establish a six-year limitation period for the prosecution of certain public corruption crime relating to bribery, theft of government property, mail fraud, and racketeering.
* Revise prohibitions against mail and wire fraud to include the taking of any other thing of value (in addition to money or property) in the commission of such crimes.

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