 The fact that the penalty is exactly the same, even though gratuities are typically punished at a far less severe level than bribes. It's 15 years for a bribe, two years for a gratuity in the other federal statute. If this statute applied to gratuities, it would mean federal officials would take gratuities because this law doesn't apply to federal officials. It would mean federal officials are subject to a two-year penalty for gratuities, but state and local officials would be subject to a 10-year penalty, which doesn't make any sense. Why would Congress do that?