San Diego congressman's crimes spark call for bill to deny pensions

The Daily Breeze

Originally published Thursday, December 15, 2005

San Diego congressman's crimes spark call for bill to deny pensions
Lawmakers say they are spurred by the fact that Randy "Duke" Cunningham will get a taxpayer-funded pension despite taking massive bribes.
By Toby Eckert and Otto Kreisher
Copley News Service

WASHINGTON -- Spurred by the fact that Randy "Duke" Cunningham will get a taxpayer-funded pension despite taking massive bribes, several Republican lawmakers Wednesday said they would introduce legislation to make sure that federal employees convicted of white-collar crimes cannot collect in the future.

The bill would add bribery and other breaches of "public trust" to the list of crimes that cost members of Congress and other government employees their pensions. Current law denies federal benefits only for convictions for treason and other national security violations.

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Several Republican co-sponsors appeared at a Capitol Hill news conference where Terry unveiled the legislation, underlining GOP concerns about the potential toll that scandals involving Cunningham and several other Republican lawmakers could take in next year's congressional elections.

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The legislation Lee Terry, R-Neb., author of the proposed legislation introduced would not affect Cunningham because criminal punishments cannot be made retroactive.


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