| 1 | 1 | | II |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION S. 285 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To curtail the use of changes in mandatory programs affecting the Crime |
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| 6 | 6 | | Victims Fund to inflate spending. |
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| 7 | 7 | | IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES |
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| 8 | 8 | | JANUARY28, 2025 |
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| 9 | 9 | | Mr. L |
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| 10 | 10 | | ANKFORD(for himself, Mr. CRAPO, and Mr. RISCH) introduced the fol- |
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| 11 | 11 | | lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the |
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| 12 | 12 | | Budget |
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| 13 | 13 | | A BILL |
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| 14 | 14 | | To curtail the use of changes in mandatory programs |
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| 15 | 15 | | affecting the Crime Victims Fund to inflate spending. |
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| 16 | 16 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 17 | 17 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 18 | 18 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 19 | 19 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fairness for Crime 4 |
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| 20 | 20 | | Victims Act of 2025’’. 5 |
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| 21 | 21 | | SEC. 2. POINT OF ORDER AGAINST CERTAIN CHANGES IN 6 |
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| 22 | 22 | | MANDATORY PROGRAMS AFFECTING THE 7 |
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| 23 | 23 | | CRIME VICTIMS FUND. 8 |
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| 24 | 24 | | (a) F |
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| 25 | 25 | | INDINGS.—Congress finds that— 9 |
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| 27 | 27 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 |
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| 28 | 28 | | •S 285 IS |
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| 29 | 29 | | (1) the Crime Victims Fund was created in 1 |
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| 30 | 30 | | 1984, with the support of overwhelming bipartisan 2 |
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| 31 | 31 | | majorities in the House of Representatives and the 3 |
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| 32 | 32 | | Senate and the support of President Ronald Reagan, 4 |
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| 33 | 33 | | who signed the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 (Pub-5 |
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| 34 | 34 | | lic Law 98–473) into law; 6 |
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| 35 | 35 | | (2) the Crime Victims Fund was created based 7 |
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| 36 | 36 | | on the principle that funds the Federal Government 8 |
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| 37 | 37 | | collects from those convicted of crime should be used 9 |
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| 38 | 38 | | to aid those who have been victimized by crime; 10 |
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| 39 | 39 | | (3) the Crime Victims Fund is funded from 11 |
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| 40 | 40 | | fines, penalties, and forfeited bonds in Federal court 12 |
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| 41 | 41 | | and private donations; 13 |
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| 42 | 42 | | (4) the Crime Victims Fund receives no tax-14 |
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| 43 | 43 | | payer dollars; 15 |
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| 44 | 44 | | (5) Federal law provides that funds deposited 16 |
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| 45 | 45 | | into the Crime Victims Fund shall be used to pro-17 |
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| 46 | 46 | | vide services to victims of crime in accordance with 18 |
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| 47 | 47 | | the Victims of Crime Act of 1984; 19 |
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| 48 | 48 | | (6) the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 gives pri-20 |
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| 49 | 49 | | ority to victims of child abuse, sexual assault, and 21 |
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| 50 | 50 | | domestic violence; 22 |
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| 51 | 51 | | (7) since fiscal year 2000, Congress has been 23 |
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| 52 | 52 | | accounting for funds collected by the Crime Victims 24 |
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| 54 | 54 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 |
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| 55 | 55 | | •S 285 IS |
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| 56 | 56 | | Fund, but not disbursing the full amount provided 1 |
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| 57 | 57 | | for under the Victims of Crime Act of 1984; 2 |
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| 58 | 58 | | (8) over $10,000,000,000 has been withheld 3 |
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| 59 | 59 | | from victims of child abuse, sexual assault, domestic 4 |
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| 60 | 60 | | violence, and other crimes; 5 |
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| 61 | 61 | | (9) from fiscal year 2010 through fiscal year 6 |
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| 62 | 62 | | 2014, the Crime Victims Fund collected 7 |
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| 63 | 63 | | $12,000,000,000, but Congress disbursed only 8 |
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| 64 | 64 | | $3,600,000,000 (or 30 percent) to victims of crime; 9 |
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| 65 | 65 | | (10) since fiscal year 2015, Congress has in-10 |
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| 66 | 66 | | creased disbursals from the Crime Victims Fund to 11 |
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| 67 | 67 | | victims of crime, but a permanent solution is nec-12 |
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| 68 | 68 | | essary to ensure consistent disbursals to victims of 13 |
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| 69 | 69 | | crime who rely on these funds every year; 14 |
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| 70 | 70 | | (11) under budget rules, Congress represents 15 |
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| 71 | 71 | | that the money it has already spent in prior years 16 |
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| 72 | 72 | | is still in the Crime Victims Fund and available for 17 |
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| 73 | 73 | | victims of crime; 18 |
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| 74 | 74 | | (12) it is time to restore fairness to crime vic-19 |
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| 75 | 75 | | tims; and 20 |
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| 76 | 76 | | (13) funds collected by the Crime Victims Fund 21 |
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| 77 | 77 | | should be used for services to and compensation of 22 |
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| 78 | 78 | | crime victims in accordance with the Victims of 23 |
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| 79 | 79 | | Crime Act of 1984. 24 |
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| 81 | 81 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4 |
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| 82 | 82 | | •S 285 IS |
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| 83 | 83 | | (b) AMENDMENT.—Title IV of the Congressional 1 |
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| 84 | 84 | | Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 651 et seq.) is amended 2 |
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| 85 | 85 | | by adding at the end the following: 3 |
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| 86 | 86 | | ‘‘PART C—ADDITIONAL LIMITATIONS ON BUDG-4 |
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| 87 | 87 | | ETARY AND APPROPRIATIONS LEGISLATION 5 |
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| 88 | 88 | | ‘‘SEC. 441. POINT OF ORDER AGAINST CHANGES IN MANDA-6 |
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| 89 | 89 | | TORY PROGRAMS AFFECTING THE CRIME 7 |
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| 90 | 90 | | VICTIMS FUND. 8 |
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| 91 | 91 | | ‘‘(a) D |
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| 92 | 92 | | EFINITIONS.—In this section— 9 |
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| 93 | 93 | | ‘‘(1) the term ‘CHIMP’ means a provision 10 |
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| 94 | 94 | | that— 11 |
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| 95 | 95 | | ‘‘(A) would have been estimated as affect-12 |
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| 96 | 96 | | ing direct spending or receipts under section 13 |
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| 97 | 97 | | 252 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency 14 |
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| 98 | 98 | | Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 902) (as 15 |
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| 99 | 99 | | in effect prior to September 30, 2002) if the 16 |
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| 100 | 100 | | provision was included in legislation other than 17 |
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| 101 | 101 | | an appropriation Act; and 18 |
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| 102 | 102 | | ‘‘(B) results in a net decrease in budget 19 |
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| 103 | 103 | | authority in the current year or the budget 20 |
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| 104 | 104 | | year, but does not result in a net decrease in 21 |
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| 105 | 105 | | outlays over the period of the total of the cur-22 |
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| 106 | 106 | | rent year, the budget year, and all fiscal years 23 |
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| 107 | 107 | | covered under the most recently adopted con-24 |
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| 108 | 108 | | current resolution on the budget; 25 |
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| 110 | 110 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5 |
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| 111 | 111 | | •S 285 IS |
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| 112 | 112 | | ‘‘(2) the term ‘Crime Victims Fund’ means the 1 |
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| 113 | 113 | | Crime Victims Fund established under section 1402 2 |
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| 114 | 114 | | of the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 (34 U.S.C. 3 |
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| 115 | 115 | | 20101); and 4 |
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| 116 | 116 | | ‘‘(3) the term ‘3-year average amount’ means 5 |
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| 117 | 117 | | the annual average amount that was deposited into 6 |
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| 118 | 118 | | the Crime Victims Fund during the 3-fiscal-year pe-7 |
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| 119 | 119 | | riod beginning on October 1 of the fourth fiscal year 8 |
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| 120 | 120 | | before the fiscal year to which a CHIMP affecting 9 |
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| 121 | 121 | | the Crime Victims Fund applies. 10 |
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| 122 | 122 | | ‘‘(b) P |
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| 123 | 123 | | OINT OFORDER IN THESENATE.— 11 |
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| 124 | 124 | | ‘‘(1) P |
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| 125 | 125 | | OINT OF ORDER.— 12 |
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| 126 | 126 | | ‘‘(A) I |
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| 127 | 127 | | N GENERAL.—Except as provided in 13 |
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| 128 | 128 | | subparagraph (C), in the Senate, it shall not be 14 |
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| 129 | 129 | | in order to consider a provision in a bill or joint 15 |
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| 130 | 130 | | resolution making appropriations for all or a 16 |
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| 131 | 131 | | portion of a fiscal year, or an amendment there-17 |
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| 132 | 132 | | to, amendment between the Houses in relation 18 |
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| 133 | 133 | | thereto, conference report thereon, or motion 19 |
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| 134 | 134 | | thereon, that contains a CHIMP that, if en-20 |
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| 135 | 135 | | acted, would cause the amount available for ob-21 |
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| 136 | 136 | | ligation during the fiscal year from the Crime 22 |
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| 137 | 137 | | Victims Fund to be less than the 3-year average 23 |
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| 138 | 138 | | amount. 24 |
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| 140 | 140 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 6 |
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| 141 | 141 | | •S 285 IS |
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| 142 | 142 | | ‘‘(B) POINT OF ORDER SUSTAINED .—If a 1 |
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| 143 | 143 | | point of order is made by a Senator against a 2 |
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| 144 | 144 | | provision described in subparagraph (A), and 3 |
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| 145 | 145 | | the point of order is sustained by the Chair, 4 |
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| 146 | 146 | | that provision shall be stricken from the meas-5 |
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| 147 | 147 | | ure and may not be offered as an amendment 6 |
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| 148 | 148 | | from the floor. 7 |
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| 149 | 149 | | ‘‘(C) L |
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| 150 | 150 | | IMITATION.—A point of order shall 8 |
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| 151 | 151 | | not lie in the Senate under this paragraph if 9 |
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| 152 | 152 | | the difference between the amount in the Crime 10 |
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| 153 | 153 | | Victims Fund as of September 30 of the fiscal 11 |
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| 154 | 154 | | year immediately preceding the fiscal year to 12 |
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| 155 | 155 | | which the CHIMP described in subparagraph 13 |
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| 156 | 156 | | (A) relates and the amount available for obliga-14 |
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| 157 | 157 | | tion under the CHIMP described in subpara-15 |
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| 158 | 158 | | graph (A) is not more than $2,000,000,000. 16 |
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| 159 | 159 | | ‘‘(2) F |
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| 160 | 160 | | ORM OF THE POINT OF ORDER .—A point 17 |
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| 161 | 161 | | of order under paragraph (1) may be raised by a 18 |
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| 162 | 162 | | Senator as provided in section 313(e). 19 |
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| 163 | 163 | | ‘‘(3) C |
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| 164 | 164 | | ONFERENCE REPORTS .—When the Sen-20 |
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| 165 | 165 | | ate is considering a conference report on, or an 21 |
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| 166 | 166 | | amendment between the Houses in relation to, a bill 22 |
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| 167 | 167 | | or joint resolution, upon a point of order being made 23 |
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| 168 | 168 | | by any Senator pursuant to paragraph (1), and such 24 |
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| 169 | 169 | | point of order being sustained, such material con-25 |
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| 172 | 172 | | •S 285 IS |
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| 173 | 173 | | tained in such conference report or House amend-1 |
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| 174 | 174 | | ment shall be stricken, and the Senate shall proceed 2 |
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| 175 | 175 | | to consider the question of whether the Senate shall 3 |
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| 176 | 176 | | recede from its amendment and concur with a fur-4 |
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| 177 | 177 | | ther amendment, or concur in the House amendment 5 |
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| 178 | 178 | | with a further amendment, as the case may be, 6 |
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| 179 | 179 | | which further amendment shall consist of only that 7 |
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| 180 | 180 | | portion of the conference report or House amend-8 |
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| 181 | 181 | | ment, as the case may be, not so stricken. Any such 9 |
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| 182 | 182 | | motion in the Senate shall be debatable to the same 10 |
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| 183 | 183 | | extent as the conference report or House amend-11 |
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| 184 | 184 | | ment, as the case may be. In any case in which such 12 |
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| 185 | 185 | | point of order is sustained against a conference re-13 |
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| 186 | 186 | | port (or Senate amendment derived from such con-14 |
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| 187 | 187 | | ference report by operation of this subsection), no 15 |
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| 188 | 188 | | further amendment shall be in order. 16 |
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| 189 | 189 | | ‘‘(4) S |
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| 190 | 190 | | UPERMAJORITY WAIVER AND APPEAL .— 17 |
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| 191 | 191 | | In the Senate, this subsection may be waived or sus-18 |
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| 192 | 192 | | pended only by an affirmative vote of three-fifths of 19 |
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| 193 | 193 | | the Members, duly chose and sworn. An affirmative 20 |
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| 194 | 194 | | vote of three-fifths of Members of the Senate, duly 21 |
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| 195 | 195 | | chosen and sworn shall be required to sustain an ap-22 |
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| 196 | 196 | | peal of the ruling of the Chair on a point of order 23 |
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| 197 | 197 | | raised under this subsection. 24 |
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| 199 | 199 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 8 |
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| 200 | 200 | | •S 285 IS |
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| 201 | 201 | | ‘‘(5) DETERMINATION.—For purposes of this 1 |
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| 202 | 202 | | subsection, budgetary levels shall be determined on 2 |
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| 203 | 203 | | the basis of estimates provided by the Chairman of 3 |
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| 204 | 204 | | the Committee on the Budget of the Senate. 4 |
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| 205 | 205 | | ‘‘(c) P |
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| 206 | 206 | | OINT OFORDER IN THE HOUSE OFREP-5 |
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| 207 | 207 | | RESENTATIVES.— 6 |
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| 208 | 208 | | ‘‘(1) I |
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| 209 | 209 | | N GENERAL.— 7 |
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| 210 | 210 | | ‘‘(A) P |
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| 211 | 211 | | OINT OF ORDER.—Except as pro-8 |
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| 212 | 212 | | vided in subparagraph (B), a provision in a bill 9 |
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| 213 | 213 | | or joint resolution making appropriations for a 10 |
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| 214 | 214 | | fiscal year that proposes a CHIMP that, if en-11 |
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| 215 | 215 | | acted, would cause the amount available for ob-12 |
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| 216 | 216 | | ligation during the fiscal year from the Crime 13 |
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| 217 | 217 | | Victims Fund to be less than the 3-year average 14 |
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| 218 | 218 | | amount shall not be in order in the House of 15 |
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| 219 | 219 | | Representatives. 16 |
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| 220 | 220 | | ‘‘(B) L |
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| 221 | 221 | | IMITATION.—Subparagraph (A) 17 |
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| 222 | 222 | | shall not apply if the difference between the 18 |
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| 223 | 223 | | amount in the Crime Victims Fund as of Sep-19 |
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| 224 | 224 | | tember 30 of the fiscal year immediately pre-20 |
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| 225 | 225 | | ceding the fiscal year to which the CHIMP de-21 |
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| 226 | 226 | | scribed in subparagraph (A) relates and the 22 |
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| 227 | 227 | | amount available for obligation under the 23 |
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| 228 | 228 | | CHIMP described in subparagraph (A) is not 24 |
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| 229 | 229 | | more than $2,000,000,000. 25 |
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| 231 | 231 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 9 |
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| 232 | 232 | | •S 285 IS |
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| 233 | 233 | | ‘‘(2) AMENDMENTS AND CONFERENCE RE -1 |
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| 234 | 234 | | PORTS.—It shall not be in order in the House of 2 |
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| 235 | 235 | | Representatives to consider an amendment to, or a 3 |
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| 236 | 236 | | conference report on, a bill or joint resolution mak-4 |
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| 237 | 237 | | ing appropriations for a fiscal year if such amend-5 |
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| 238 | 238 | | ment thereto or conference report thereon proposes 6 |
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| 239 | 239 | | a CHIMP that, if enacted, would cause the amount 7 |
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| 240 | 240 | | available for obligation during the fiscal year from 8 |
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| 241 | 241 | | the Crime Victims Fund to be less than the 3-year 9 |
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| 242 | 242 | | average amount. 10 |
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| 243 | 243 | | ‘‘(3) D |
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| 244 | 244 | | ETERMINATION.—For purposes of this 11 |
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| 245 | 245 | | subsection, budgetary levels shall be determined on 12 |
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| 246 | 246 | | the basis of estimates provided by the Chairman of 13 |
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| 247 | 247 | | the Committee on the Budget of the House of Rep-14 |
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| 248 | 248 | | resentatives.’’. 15 |
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| 249 | 249 | | (c) T |
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| 250 | 250 | | ECHNICAL AND CONFORMINGAMENDMENT.— 16 |
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| 251 | 251 | | The table of contents in section 1(b) of the Congressional 17 |
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| 252 | 252 | | Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 is amend-18 |
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| 253 | 253 | | ed by inserting after the item relating to section 428 the 19 |
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| 254 | 254 | | following: 20 |
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| 255 | 255 | | ‘‘PART C—ADDITIONALLIMITATIONS ONBUDGETARY AND APPROPRIATIONS |
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| 256 | 256 | | L |
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| 257 | 257 | | EGISLATION |
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| 258 | 258 | | ‘‘Sec. 441. Point of order against changes in mandatory programs affecting the |
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| 259 | 259 | | Crime Victims Fund.’’. |
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| 260 | 260 | | Æ |
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