704
Opinion of the Court
amended what was then § 35 of the Criminal Code to provide, in pertinent part:
"[W]hoever shall knowingly and willfully falsify or conceal or cover up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact, or make or cause to be made any false or fraudulent statements or representations, or make or use or cause to be made or used any false bill, receipt, voucher, roll, account, claim, certificate, affidavit, or deposition, knowing the same to contain any fraudulent or fictitious statement or entry, in any matter within the jurisdiction of any department or agency of the United States or of any corporation in which the United States of America is a stockholder . . . [shall be punished]." (Emphasis added.)
This language conveys no different message regarding "department" than the current version of § 1001.
What, then, of the earlier statutory history chronicled in Bramblett? We believe it is at best inconclusive, and that it does not supply a "context" sufficiently clear to warrant departure from the presumptive definition in 18 U. S. C. § 6.
The earliest statutory progenitor of § 1001 was the original false claims statute, adopted as the Act of Mar. 2, 1863, ch. 67, 12 Stat. 696 (1863 Act). That enactment made it a criminal offense for any person, whether a civilian or a member of the military services, to
"present or cause to be presented for payment or approval to or by any person or officer in the civil or military service of the United States, any claim upon or against the Government of the United States, or any department or officer thereof, knowing such claim to be false, fictitious, or fraudulent." 7
7 In Bramblett, the Court incorrectly stated that the 1863 Act only penalized misconduct by members of the military. In fact, § 3 of the Act established criminal and civil penalties for false claims and other misdeeds
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