412
Ginsburg, J., concurring in judgment
ernment "punishing the denial of wrongdoing more severely than the wrongdoing itself," ante, at 405; it is, instead, Government generation of a crime when the underlying suspected wrongdoing is or has become nonpunishable.
II
It is doubtful Congress intended § 1001 to cast so large a net. First enacted in 1863 as part of the prohibition against filing fraudulent claims with the Government, the false statement statute was originally limited to statements that related to such filings. See Act of Mar. 2, 1863, ch. 67, 12 Stat. 696-697. In 1918, Congress broadened the prohibition to cover other false statements made "for the purpose and with the intent of cheating and swindling or defrauding the Government of the United States." Act of Oct. 23, 1918, ch. 194, § 35, 40 Stat. 1015-1016. But the statute, we held, remained limited to "cheating the Government out of property or money." United States v. Cohn, 270 U. S. 339, 346 (1926).
"The restricted scope of the 1918 Act [as construed in Cohn] became a serious problem with the advent of the New Deal programs in the 1930's." United States v. Yermian, 468 U. S. 63, 80 (1984) (Rehnquist, J., dissenting). The new regulatory agencies relied heavily on self-reporting to assure compliance; if regulated entities could file false reports with impunity, significant Government interests would be subverted even though the Government would not be deprived of any property or money. See generally United States v. Gilliland, 312 U. S. 86, 93-95 (1941). The Secretary of the Interior, in particular, expressed concern that "there were at present no statutes outlawing, for example, the presentation of false documents and statements to the Department of the Interior in connection with the shipment of 'hot oil,' or to the Public Works Administration in connection with the transaction of business with that agency." United States v. Yermian, 468 U. S., at 80 (Rehnquist, J., dissenting).
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