Senator Lankford's Bill To Reduce Fraud In Federal Retirement Benefits Passes Committee

Press Release

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee today approved Senators James Lankford's (R-OK) and Heidi Heitkamp's (D-ND) Representative Payee Fraud Prevention Act of 2015, a bill that would crack down on federal retirement benefit fraud and misuse.

Lankford and Heitkamp are chairman and ranking member, respectively, of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs and Federal Management.

"I'm pleased the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee endorsed our Representative Payee Fraud Prevention Act of 2015," said Lankford. "This legislation is needed to protect the retirement of federal employees all across America from caretaker misuse and fraud. We call on the Senate and House to move quickly to bring this legislation to their respective floors for a vote. We must fight against the embezzlement of federal government civil worker benefits to ensure a stable retirement for them and their families."

Specifically, the legislation would give U.S. Attorneys the statutory authority to prosecute retiree representatives who misuse funds from the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) and the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS). Because of an increase in embezzlement of government benefits by dishonest representatives of retirees, legislative solutions are needed to help prevent the misuse of these retirement funds. The Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs and Federal Management jurisdiction includes the federal workforce and federal employee issues. FERS and CSRS are the primary retirement funds of federal workers and they're managed by the Office of Personnel Management.

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