Pair of Rosen bills on corruption, drug smuggling advance out of committee

WASHINGTON D.C., Virginia (KOLO) - A pair of bills advanced and introduced by Senator Jacky Rosen have advanced out of committee.

One of the bills regards corruption, and the other on preventing drug smuggling.

The No CORRUPTION Act would bar members of Congress convicted of felonies related to their official duties from collecting taxpayer-funded pensions. Rosen introduced the bill.

“It’s common-sense that any member of Congress convicted of a felony during their time in office should never receive a pension from taxpayers,” said Senator Rosen. “My bipartisan legislation will prevent convicted, corrupt officials from pocketing a dime of Americans’ hard-earned dollars as a federal pension. I will continue working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to make sure this legislation passes the Senate and gets closer to becoming law.”

Currently, the law states that former members of Congress convicted of a felony must forfeit their pensions only after exhausting their appeals. Rosen says this allows convicted former members to file numerous appeals while still being allowed to collect a pension.

The bill was introduced with Senator Rick Scott of Florida (R).

The other bill, the END FENTANYL Act, would require the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection to update its drug interaction guide regularly to ensure it provides guidance on how to handle drugs like fentanyl.

“Action must also be taken to combat fentanyl smuggling that is having deadly consequences in Nevada and across our country,” Senator Rosen continued. “I’m proud to see that bipartisan legislation I helped introduce to give law enforcement officials the updated training necessary to stop fentanyl and drug smuggling has advanced out of committee.”

The bill is backed by Rosen and also has the support of Scott.

She says her bill builds off a 2019 GAO report which found the guidance had not been updated in 20 years.