On the recordSeptember 7, 2016
Mr. Chairman, this amendment would exempt settlements providing restitution to a State, but that is unnecessary. Nothing in the underlying bill prevents States that have been wronged from obtaining restitution. The Stop Settlement Slush Funds Act of 2016 explicitly permits remedial payments to third-party victims who are directly and proximately harmed by the defendant's wrongdoing, which would include States. If there is no State that is a true victim, the defendant is not let off the hook. It still must pay. But in the absence of direct victims, the money goes to the U.S. Treasury. That is appropriate because if the State is not a direct victim, accountable Representatives in Congress, not agency bureaucrats, should decide whether the State should receive money recovered by the Federal Government. Accordingly, I urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment. I reserve the balance of my time.
