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LaMalfa Votes to Permanently Stop Settlement Slush Funds

October 24, 2017

(Washington, DC) – Congressman Doug LaMalfa (R-Richvale) issued the following statement after the House passed H.R. 732, the Stop Settlement Slush Funds Act. This bill permanently ends the practice used by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to incentivize and sometimes require defendants to pay outside groups as part of their settlement agreements, rather than compensating actual victims.

LaMalfa said: "Federal agencies have no business requiring defendants to donate money to partisan outside organizations instead of properly compensating victims – but under the previous administration, they did just that. Attorney General Jeff Sessions recently halted the use of these settlement slush funds, but now Congress must put a permanent stop to this practice so that settlements cannot be abused in the future. In any court case in which the United States is a party, settlement money should never be awarded to uninvolved organizations and should go only to the victims or to the Treasury, and that's what this legislation will ensure."

Congressman Doug LaMalfa is a lifelong farmer representing California's First Congressional District, including Butte, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou and Tehama Counties.