Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, S. 4548 makes technical and conforming changes to the Foreign Extortion Prevention Act, which was enacted as part of last year's National Defense Authorization Act. The FEPA was introduced to create a Federal offense that would contemplate a Foreign Corruption Practices Act. Again, the Foreign Corruption Practices Act, which has been in place for many years, is the act that the American people rely on to make sure that Americans, no matter where they are doing business, abide by U.S. practices, no bribes, and no mislaid funds. In fact, it is the reason that the United States is the envy of the world when it comes to contracting with our companies. While the FCPA prohibits the paying of a bribe to a foreign official, the FEPA prohibits the demanding of a bribe by a foreign official. However, the FEPA text that was enacted last year in the NDAA had several flaws. First, the law was added to the domestic bribery statute in title 18, creating an inconsistency in the sections that are being defined in the elements of the crime. These inconsistencies may prevent the FEPA and the domestic bribery statute from operating in the way that Congress intended. Second, there were inconsistencies between the language of the FCPA and the FEPA. Because these statutes are intended to be complementary, with parts of them addressing the same problem, we need to harmonize it.…”