114 STAT. 842 PUBLIC LAW 106-279—OCT. 6, 2000 (1) IN GENERAL. —There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to agencies of the Federal Government implementing the Convention and the provisions of this Act. (2) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS. —Amounts appropriated pursuant to paragraph (1) are authorized to remain available until expended. (b) ASSESSMENT OF FEES.— (1) The Secretary may charge a fee for new or enhanced services that will be undertaken by the Department of State to meet the requirements of this Act with respect to intercountry adoptions under the Convention and comparable services with respect to other intercountry adoptions. Such fee shall be prescribed by regulation and shall not exceed the cost of such services. (2) Fees collected under paragraph (1) shall be retained and deposited as an offsetting collection to any Department of State appropriation to recover the costs of providing such services. (3) Fees authorized under this section shall be available for obligation only to the extent and in the amount provided in advance in appropriations Acts. (c) RESTRICTION.—No funds collected under the authority of this section may be made available to an accrediting entity to carry out the purposes of this Act. 42 USC 14944. SEC. 404. ENFORCEMENT. (a) CIVIL PENALTIES. —Any person who— (1) violates section 201; (2) makes a false or fraudulent statement, or misrepresentation, with respect to a material fact, or offers, gives, solicits, or accepts inducement by way of compensation, intended to influence or affect in the United States or a foreign country— (A) a decision by an accrediting entity with respect to the accreditation of an agency or approval of a person under title II; (B) the relinquishment of parental rights or the giving of parental consent relating to the adoption of a child in a case subject to the Convention; or (C) a decision or action of any entity performing a central authority function; or (3) engages another person as an agent, whether in the United States or in a foreign country, who in the course of that agency takes any of the actions described in paragraph (Dor (2), shall be subject, in addition to any other penalty that may be prescribed by law, to a civil money penalty of not more than $50,000 for a first violation, and not more than $100,000 for each succeeding violation. (b) CIVIL ENFORCEMENT.— (1) AUTHORITY OF ATTORNEY GENERAL. —The Attorney General may bring a civil action to enforce subsection (a) against any person in any United States district court. (2) FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED IN IMPOSING PENALTIES.— In imposing penalties the court shall consider the gravity of the violation, the degree of culpability of the defendant, and any history of prior violations by the defendant.
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