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Opinion of the Court
in fighting false claims. See Burns v. United States, 501 U. S. 129, 136 (1991).11
IV
The term "person" in § 3729 included local governments in 1863 and nothing in the 1986 amendments redefined it. The judgment of the Court of Appeals is
Affirmed.
11 The presumption against implied repeal also explains why two of the County's subsidiary arguments cannot succeed here, despite the fact that we gave them credence in Stevens. First, the County contrasts § 3729 with the Civil Investigative Demand provision enacted as part of the 1986 amendments, § 3733, which expressly includes both States and local governments in the definition of "person." In Stevens, supra, at 783-784, we read that express reference in the later § 3733 to confirm the reading of the earlier § 3729, which was based on a common understanding in 1863 that "person" did not include a State; but "person" did presumptively include a municipality in 1863.
The County also argues it is not sensible to expose local governments to FCA liability but not to liability under the Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act of 1986 (PFCRA), Pub. L. 99-509, 100 Stat. 1934 (codified at 31 U. S. C. § 3801 et seq.), a statute enacted just before the FCA amendments and "designed to operate in tandem with the FCA." Stevens, supra, at 786, n. 17. The PFCRA prohibits the same conduct as the FCA and specifically defines a "person" subject to liability as "any individual, partnership, corporation, association, or private organization." § 3801(a)(6). Even assuming the County is correct that local governments are not covered by the PFCRA despite the term "corporation," this is hardly a weighty argument for an implied repeal of municipal liability under the FCA, a separately enacted statute.
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