O:\HEN\HEN18871.xml [file 1 of 7] 115TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S.L.C. S. ll To improve the anti-corruption and public integrity laws, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES Ms. WARREN llllllllll introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on llllllllll A BILL To improve the anti-corruption and public integrity laws, and for other purposes. 1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 3 4 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Anti-Corruption and 5 Public Integrity Act’’. 6 7 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. The table of contents for this Act is as follows: Sec. 1. Short title. Sec. 2. Table of contents. Sec. 3. Applicability. TITLE I—PUBLIC INTEGRITY, ETHICS, CONFLICTS OF INTEREST, AND REVOLVING DOOR O:\HEN\HEN18871.xml [file 1 of 7] S.L.C. 2 Subtitle A—Conflicts of Interest Sec. Sec. Sec. Sec. Sec. Sec. Sec. Sec. 101. 102. 103. 104. 105. 106. 107. 108. Definitions. Lobbyist ban. Conflicts of interest law expansions. Golden parachutes ban. Conflicts of interest rules for senior government officials. General public integrity rules. Legal expense funds. Penalties. Subtitle B—Presidential Conflicts of Interest Sec. 111. Short title. Sec. 112. Divestiture of personal financial interests of the President and Vice President that pose a potential conflict of interest. Sec. 113. Recusal of appointees. Sec. 114. Contracts by the President or Vice President. Sec. 115. Presidential transition ethics programs. Sec. 116. Sense of Congress regarding violations. Sec. 117. Rule of construction. Sec. 118. Severability. TITLE II—LOBBYING REFORM Sec. Sec. Sec. Sec. Sec. Sec. Sec. Sec. Sec. Sec. Sec. Sec. 201. 202. 203. 204. 205. 206. 207. 208. 209. 210. 211. 212. Enforcement by the Office of Public Integrity. Definitions. Registration of lobbyists. Reports by lobbyists. Prohibition on foreign lobbying. Prohibition of contributions by lobbyists. Prohibition on contingent fee lobbying. Prohibition on provision of gifts or travel by registered lobbyists. Application of General Schedule to Congress. Reestablishment of Office of Technology Assessment. Progressive tax on lobbying expenditures. Disclosure of registration status. TITLE III—RULEMAKING REFORM Sec. Sec. Sec. Sec. Sec. Sec. Sec. 301. 302. 303. 304. 305. 306. 307. Sec. Sec. Sec. Sec. Sec. Sec. Sec. Sec. Sec. 308. 309. 310. 311. 312. 313. 314. 315. 316. Disclosure of conflicts of interest. Increasing disclosures relating to studies and research. Disclosure of inter-governmental rule changes. Justification of withdrawn rules. Negotiated rule making. Streamlining OIRA review. Limiting temporary court injunctions and postponing of final rules pending judicial review. Penalizing individuals that submit false information to agencies. Establishment of the Office of the Public Advocate. Actions by private persons. Scope of review. Expanding rule making notifications. Public petitions. Amendment to Congressional Review Act. Cost-benefit analysis. Sense of Congress. O:\HEN\HEN18871.xml [file 1 of 7] S.L.C. 3 TITLE IV—JUDICIAL ETHICS Sec. Sec. Sec. Sec. Sec. Sec. Sec. Sec. 401. 402. 403. 404. 405. 406. 407. 408. Clarification of gift ban. Restrict privately-funded educational events and speeches. Code of Conduct. Improving disclosure. Appointment of administrative law judges. Improve reporting on judicial diversity. Pleading standards. Availability of judicial opinions. TITLE V—ENFORCEMENT Subtitle A—Office of Public Integrity Sec. 511. Establishment of Office of Public Integrity. Sec. 512. Designated agency ethics officials. Subtitle B—Inspectors General Sec. 531. General supervision and removal of Inspectors General. Subtitle C—Office of Congressional Ethics Sec. Sec. Sec. Sec. Sec. Sec. Sec. Sec. 551. 552. 553. 554. 555. 556. 557. 558. Definitions. The Office of Congressional Ethics. Establishment of the Board of the Office of Congressional Ethics. Duties and Powers of the Office and the Board. Review process of complaints. Personnel matters. Authorization of appropriations. Conforming amendments and rules of construction. Subtitle D—Applicability Sec. 571. Applicability. TITLE VI—TRANSPARENCY AND GOVERNMENT RECORDS Subtitle A—Transparency for Federal Personnel and Candidates for Federal Office Sec. 601. Categories relating to the amount or value of certain income. Sec. 602. Disclosure of personal income tax returns by Presidents, Vice Presidents, Members of Congress, and certain candidates. Sec. 603. Transparency relating to candidates for Federal office and Members of Congress. Subtitle B—Think Tank, Nonprofit, and Advocate Transparency Sec. 611. Amendments to the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995. Sec. 612. Amendments to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. Subtitle C—Strengthening FOIA Enforcement Sec. Sec. Sec. Sec. 621. 622. 623. 624. Strengthening FOIA enforcement. Exemptions from disclosure. Public interest balancing test. Affirmative disclosure of agency records on website. O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 4 Sec. 625. Applicability. Subtitle D—Federal Contractor Transparency Sec. 631. Expanding applicability of the Freedom of Information Act to Federal contractors. Sec. 632. Public disclosure by large contractors. Subtitle E—Congressional Transparency Sec. 641. Increased transparency of committee work. Sec. 642. Increased transparency of recorded votes. Sec. 643. Increased transparency of appropriations bills. 1 SEC. 3. APPLICABILITY. 2 Except as provided otherwise in this Act, this Act and 3 the amendments made by this Act shall apply on and after 4 the date that is 1 year after the date of enactment of this 5 Act. 10 TITLE I—PUBLIC INTEGRITY, ETHICS, CONFLICTS OF INTEREST, AND REVOLVING DOOR Subtitle A—Conflicts of Interest 11 SEC. 101. DEFINITIONS. 12 In this title: 6 7 8 9 13 (1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ has the 14 meaning given the term in section 551 of title 5, 15 United States Code. 16 (2) AGENT OF A FOREIGN PRINCIPAL.—The 17 term ‘‘agent of a foreign principal’’ has the meaning 18 given the term in section 1 of the Foreign Agents 19 Registration Act of 1938 (22 U.S.C. 611). O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 5 1 (3) BANK HOLDING COMPANY.—The term 2 ‘‘bank holding company’’ has the meaning given the 3 term in section 2 of the Bank Holding Company Act 4 of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1841). 5 (4) CORPORATE LOBBYIST.—The term ‘‘cor- 6 porate lobbyist’’ has the meaning given the term in 7 section 109 of the Ethics in Government Act of 8 1978, as amended by section 202 of this Act. 9 10 (5) COVERED ENTITY.—The term ‘‘covered en- tity’’ means any entity that is— 11 (A)(i) a for-profit company; or 12 (ii) a bank holding company, a savings and 13 loan holding company, or any other financial in- 14 stitution; and 15 16 (B)(i) operating under Federal settlement, including a Federal consent decree; or 17 (ii) the subject of an enforcement action in 18 a court of the United States or by an agency. 19 (6) EXECUTIVE 20 21 22 23 24 AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Executive agency’’— (A) has the meaning given the term in section 105 of title 5, United States Code; and (B) includes the Executive Office of the President. O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 6 1 (7) GROSS RECEIPTS.—The term ‘‘gross re- 2 ceipts’’ has the meaning given the term in section 3 993(f) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 4 (8) LOBBYIST.—The term ‘‘lobbyist’’ has the 5 meaning given the term in section 109 of the Ethics 6 in Government Act of 1978, as amended by section 7 202 of this Act. 8 (9) QUALIFIED SMALL BUSINESS.—The term 9 ‘‘qualified small business’’ means a corporation, 10 company, firm, partnership, or other business enter- 11 prise, that has gross receipts for the previous tax- 12 able year of less than $5,000,000. 13 (10) SAVINGS AND LOAN HOLDING COMPANY.— 14 The term ‘‘savings and loan holding company’’ has 15 the meaning given the term in section 10(a) of the 16 Home Owners’ Loan Act (12 U.S.C. 1467a(a)). 17 18 (11) SENIOR EXECUTIVE.—The term ‘‘senior executive’’ includes— 19 (A) a chief executive officer; 20 (B) a chief financial officer; 21 (C) a chief operating officer; 22 (D) a chief compliance officer; 23 (E) any senior government relationship of- 24 ficial; and O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 7 1 (F) any other senior executive, as deter- 2 mined by the Director of the Office of Public 3 Integrity. 4 (12) SENIOR 5 GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL.—The term ‘‘senior government official’’ means— 6 (A) any individual described in section 7 101(f) of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 8 (5 U.S.C. App.), including— 9 (i) any individual in a position on any 10 level of the Executive Schedule under sub- 11 chapter II of chapter 53 of title 5, United 12 States Code; 13 (ii) a political appointee in the Execu- 14 tive Office of President or in the Office of 15 the Vice President; and 16 (iii) an individual employed in a posi- 17 tion in the executive branch of the Govern- 18 ment of a confidential or policy-deter- 19 mining character under schedule C of sub- 20 part C of part 213 of title 5, Code of Fed- 21 eral Regulations; 22 (B) an individual employed in a position in 23 24 25 the Senior Executive Service; (C) an individual employed in a position at the GS–14 level or higher; and O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 8 1 (D) an individual employed in a position 2 not under the General Schedule for which the 3 rate of basic pay is equal to or greater than the 4 minimum rate of basic pay payable for GS–14 5 of the General Schedule. 6 7 8 SEC. 102. LOBBYIST BAN. (a) LOBBYISTS.— (1) EXECUTIVE BRANCH.— 9 (A) LOBBYISTS.—No former registered 10 lobbyist or agent of a foreign principal who has 11 engaged in a lobbying contact, as defined in 12 section 3 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 13 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1602), during his or her reg- 14 istration may be hired as an officer or employee 15 of an Executive agency during the 2-year period 16 beginning on the date on which the registered 17 lobbyist terminates his or her registration in ac- 18 cordance with section 4(d) of the Lobbying Dis- 19 closure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1603(d)) or the 20 agent terminates his or her status, as applica- 21 ble. 22 (B) CORPORATE LOBBYISTS.—No former 23 registered corporate lobbyist may be hired as an 24 officer or employee of an Executive agency dur- 25 ing the 6-year period beginning on the date on O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 9 1 which the registered corporate lobbyist termi- 2 nates its registration in accordance with section 3 4(d) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 4 U.S.C. 1603(d)) or the agent terminates its sta- 5 tus, as applicable. 6 7 (C) WAIVER RULES AND ELIGIBILITY.— (i) POSITIONS REQUIRING SENATE 8 CONFIRMATION.—The 9 the ban described in subparagraph (A) for 10 any appointment to a position in an Exec- 11 utive agency that requires the advice and 12 consent of the Senate based on a compel- 13 ling national need. 14 (ii) OTHER President may waive POSITIONS.—The Presi- 15 dent or the Director of the Office of Public 16 Integrity may waive the ban described in 17 subparagraph (A) and the prior employer 18 recusal 19 208(e) of title 18, United States Code, as 20 added by section 103(a) of this Act for any 21 appointment to a position in an Executive 22 agency that does not require the advice 23 and consent of the Senate. 24 25 provision described in section (iii) REQUIREMENTS.—A waiver made under this subparagraph shall— O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 10 1 (I) be made publicly available 2 and searchable by the Director of the 3 Office of Public Integrity; 4 (II) include a justification sent to 5 Congress for why the registered lob- 6 byist or agent of a foreign principal, 7 as applicable, brings unique and rel- 8 evant expertise such that it is not 9 practical to find an alternative can- 10 didate with the same skill set; and 11 (III) with respect to a nomina- 12 tion to a position described in clause 13 (i)— 14 (aa) specifically identify the 15 next-best candidate who was not 16 a registered lobbyist or agent of 17 a foreign principal, as applicable; 18 and 19 (bb) include a justification 20 for why the next-best candidate 21 was not nominated for the posi- 22 tion. 23 (2) LEGISLATIVE BRANCH.— 24 (A) LOBBYISTS.—No former registered 25 lobbyist or agent of a foreign principal may be O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 11 1 hired as an officer or employee of a Member of 2 Congress or a committee of either House of 3 Congress during the 2-year period beginning on 4 the date on which the registered lobbyist termi- 5 nates its registration in accordance with section 6 4(d) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 7 U.S.C. 1603(d)) or the agent terminates its sta- 8 tus, as applicable. 9 (B) CORPORATE LOBBYISTS.—No former 10 registered lobbyist or agent of a foreign prin- 11 cipal may be hired as an officer or employee of 12 a Member of Congress or a committee of either 13 House of Congress during the 6-year period be- 14 ginning on the date on which the registered cor- 15 porate lobbyist terminates its registration in ac- 16 cordance with section 4(d) of the Lobbying Dis- 17 closure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1603(d)) or the 18 agent terminates its status, as applicable. 19 (C) WAIVER 20 (i) IN RULES AND ELIGIBILITY.— GENERAL.—Any Member of 21 Congress may waive the ban described in 22 subparagraph (A) for an officer or em- 23 ployee of that Member of Congress or of a 24 committee of either House of Congress on 25 which the Member serves as a chair or O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 12 1 ranking member based on a compelling na- 2 tional need. 3 4 (ii) REQUIREMENTS.—A waiver made under this subparagraph shall— 5 (I) be submitted to the Select 6 Committee on Ethics of the Senate or 7 the Committee on Ethics of the House 8 of Representatives, as applicable, and 9 to the Office of Congressional Ethics; 10 (II) be made publicly available 11 and searchable by the Office of Con- 12 gressional Ethics; 13 (III) include a justification made 14 publicly available for why the reg- 15 istered lobbyist or agent of a foreign 16 principal, as applicable, brings unique 17 and relevant expertise such that it is 18 not practical to find an alternative 19 candidate with the same skill set; and 20 (IV) be made only after the Con- 21 gressional Ethics Board submits to 22 the Member of Congress and to the 23 Select Committee on Ethics of the 24 Senate or the Committee on Ethics of 25 the House of Representatives, as ap- O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 13 1 plicable, a public recommendation re- 2 garding such a waiver. 3 (b) OTHER BANNED INDIVIDUALS.— 4 (1) CONTRACTORS.— 5 (A) IN GENERAL.—No former employee of 6 a for-profit entity that was awarded a Federal 7 contract or Federal license by an Executive 8 agency may be an officer or employee of the 9 Executive agency that awarded the contract or 10 Federal license during the 4-year period begin- 11 ning on the date on which the employee termi- 12 nates its employment with the entity. 13 (B) WAIVER.—The ban described in sub- 14 paragraph (A) may be waived in accordance 15 with subsection (a)(1)(C). 16 (2) SENIOR 17 COMPANIES.—No 18 ered entity may be an officer or employee of an Ex- 19 ecutive agency, a Member of Congress, a committee 20 of either House of Congress, or either House of Con- 21 gress during the 6-year period beginning on the later 22 of— EXECUTIVES OF LAW-BREAKING former senior executive of a cov- 23 (A) the date of the settlement; and 24 (B) the date on which the enforcement ac- 25 tion has concluded. O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 14 1 2 SEC. 103. CONFLICTS OF INTEREST LAW EXPANSIONS. (a) EXECUTIVE BRANCH.—Section 208 of title 18, 3 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 4 following: 5 ‘‘(e)(1) In this subsection, the term ‘Executive agen- 6 cy’ has the meaning given the term in section 101 of the 7 Anti-Corruption and Public Integrity Act. 8 ‘‘(2)(A) No officer or employee of an Executive agen- 9 cy may own or trade any individual stock, bond, com10 modity, future, and other form of security, including an 11 interest in a hedge fund, a derivative, option, or other 12 complex investment vehicle if the Director of the Office 13 of Public Integrity (or the designated agency ethics official 14 of the agency that employs the individual) determines that 15 the value of the stock or security may be directly influ16 enced by an action of the Executive agency. 17 ‘‘(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to— 18 ‘‘(i) a widely held investment fund described in 19 section 102(f)(8) of the Ethics in Government Act of 20 1978 (5 App. U.S.C. 102(f)(8)), if such investment 21 meets 22 105(b)(2) of the Anti-Corruption and Public Integ- 23 rity Act; the requirements described in section 24 ‘‘(ii) shares of Settlement Common Stock issued 25 under section 7(g)(1)(A) of the Alaska Native O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 15 1 Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1606(g)(1)(A)); 2 or 3 ‘‘(iii) shares of Settlement Common Stock, as 4 defined in section 3 of the Alaska Native Claims 5 Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1602). 6 ‘‘(C) Whoever violates subparagraph (A) shall be 7 punished as provided in section 216. 8 ‘‘(D) The Director of the Office of Public Integrity 9 may waive subparagraph (A) for an officer or employee 10 of an Executive agency on a case-by-case basis if the Di11 rector— 12 13 ‘‘(i) determines that there is no possibility for, or the appearance of, a conflict of interest; or 14 ‘‘(ii) approves a plan for necessary recusals that 15 ensures that no conflict of interest exists. 16 ‘‘(3)(A) Except as provided in subparagraphs (B) 17 and (C), each officer and employee of any Executive agen18 cy shall be recused from, and may not in any way attempt 19 to use their official position to influence, any particular 20 matter, including an adjudication, procurement, or rule21 making, that the officer or employee knows is likely to 22 have a direct and predictable effect on the financial inter23 est of— 24 ‘‘(i) any person for whom the officer or em- 25 ployee had, during the previous 4-year period, served O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 16 1 as an officer, director, trustee, general partner, 2 agent, attorney, consultant, contractor, employee, or 3 direct competitor; or 4 ‘‘(ii) any organization other than a political or- 5 ganization described in section 527(e) of the Inter- 6 nal Revenue Code of 1986 in which the employee is 7 an active participant. 8 ‘‘(B) This paragraph shall not apply to— 9 ‘‘(i) the President; 10 ‘‘(ii) the Vice President; 11 ‘‘(iii) any individual in a position on any level 12 of the Executive Schedule under subchapter II of 13 chapter 53 of title 5; 14 ‘‘(iv) any individual appointed to a position in 15 an Executive agency by and with the advice and con- 16 sent of the Senate; 17 ‘‘(v) an officer or employee who served as an of- 18 ficer, director, trustee, general partner, agent, attor- 19 ney, consultant, contractor, or employee of a tribal 20 organization (as defined in section 4 of the Indian 21 Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act 22 (25 U.S.C. 5304)) or an intertribal consortium of 23 federally recognized Indian tribes with respect to a 24 matter that is likely to have a direct and predictable O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 17 1 effect on the financial interest of the tribal organiza- 2 tion or intertribal consortium; or 3 ‘‘(vi) any individual who receives a waiver under 4 subparagraph (C). 5 ‘‘(C)(i) The Director of Public Integrity may waive 6 the requirements of this paragraph for any officer or em7 ployee (except individuals described in clause (iii)(III)). 8 ‘‘(ii) Officers and employees may only apply to the 9 Director of Public Integrity for a waiver under this sub10 paragraph if the individual agrees to comply with the Con11 flicts of Interest Rules for Senior Government Officials in 12 subsections (a) and (c) of section 105 of the Anti-Corrup13 tion and Public Integrity Act. 14 ‘‘(iii) A waiver made under this subparagraph— 15 16 ‘‘(I) shall be made publicly available and searchable; 17 ‘‘(II) shall include a justification sent to Con- 18 gress for why the waiver is in the national interest; 19 and 20 ‘‘(III) may not be granted if the individual re- 21 ceived a waiver under section 102(a)(1)(C) of the 22 Anti-Corruption and Public Integrity Act. 23 ‘‘(iv) The Director of Public Integrity may deny a 24 waiver under this subparagraph for any reason.’’. 25 (b) LEGISLATIVE BRANCH.— O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 18 1 (1) DIVESTMENT.—Except as provided in para- 2 graph (5), no senior government official in the legis- 3 lative branch (including Members of Congress) may 4 own or trade any individual stock, bonds, com- 5 modity, future, and other form of security, including 6 an interest in a hedge fund, a derivative, option, or 7 other complex investment vehicle. 8 (2) COMMITTEE STAFF RULE.—No officer or 9 employee of a committee of either House of Con- 10 gress may maintain, own, or trade any substantial 11 holdings (including individual stocks and securities) 12 which may be directly affected by the actions of the 13 committee for which the individual works, unless the 14 Select Committee on Ethics of the Senate or the 15 Committee on Ethics of the House of Representa- 16 tives, as applicable, approves of such holdings in 17 writing after consultation with the supervisor of the 18 officer or employee and the Office of Congressional 19 Ethics. 20 (3) GENERAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST RULE 21 FOR CONGRESSIONAL STAFF AND MEMBERS.—No 22 Member, officer, or employee of a committee or 23 Member of either House of Congress may knowingly 24 use his or her official position to introduce or aid the 25 progress or passage of legislation, a principal pur- O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 19 1 pose of which is to further only his or her pecuniary 2 interest, only the pecuniary interest of his or her im- 3 mediate family, or only the pecuniary interest of a 4 limited class of persons or enterprises, when he or 5 she, or his or her immediate family, or enterprises 6 controlled by them, are members of the affected 7 class. 8 (4) GENERAL STOCK AND SECURITIES RULE.— 9 An officer or employee of a committee or Member of 10 either House of Congress, who is not a senior gov- 11 ernment employee covered by paragraph (1), shall be 12 in violation of paragraph (3) if— 13 14 (A) the officer or employee owns or trades individual stocks or securities; and 15 (B) the value of such stocks or securities 16 may be influenced by actions taken by the indi- 17 vidual in his or her official position, as deter- 18 mined by the Select Committee on Ethics of the 19 Senate or the Committee on Ethics of the 20 House of Representatives, as applicable, in con- 21 sultation with the Office of Congressional Eth- 22 ics. 23 (5) EXCEPTION.—Nothing in this subsection 24 shall be construed to prevent an employee or officials O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 20 1 of a Member of Congress or a Member of Congress 2 from owning— 3 (A) a widely held investment fund de- 4 scribed in section 102(f)(8) of the Ethics in 5 Government Act of 1978 (5 App. U.S.C. 6 102(f)(8)), if the investment meets the require- 7 ments described in section 105(b)(2); 8 (B) shares of Settlement Common Stock 9 issued under section 7(g)(1)(A) of the Alaska 10 Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 11 1606(g)(1)(A)); or 12 (C) shares of Settlement Common Stock, 13 as defined in section 3 of the Alaska Native 14 Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1602). 15 16 SEC. 104. GOLDEN PARACHUTES BAN. (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 209 of title 18, United 17 States Code, is amended— 18 19 20 21 (1) in subsection (a)— (A) by striking ‘‘any salary’’ and inserting ‘‘any bonus or salary’’; and (B) by striking ‘‘his services’’ and inserting 22 ‘‘services rendered or to be rendered’’; and 23 (2) in subsection (b)— 24 (A) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(b)’’; and 25 (B) by adding at the end the following: O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 21 1 ‘‘(2)(A) In this paragraph, the term ‘compensation’ 2 includes a retention award or bonus, severance pay, and 3 any other payment linked to future service in the Federal 4 Government in any way. 5 ‘‘(B) For purposes of paragraph (1), a pension, re- 6 tirement, group life, health or accident insurance, profit7 sharing, stock bonus, or other employee welfare or benefit 8 plan that makes payment of compensation contingent on 9 accepting a position in the Federal Government shall not 10 be considered bona fide.’’. 11 (b) PERMISSIBLE PAYMENTS.—Section 1.409A– 12 3(j)(4)(iii) of title 26, Code of Federal Regulations, shall 13 have no force or effect. 14 SEC. 105. CONFLICTS OF INTEREST RULES FOR SENIOR 15 16 17 18 GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS. (a) REQUIRED DIVESTMENTS OF CONFLICTED AS- SETS.— (1) STOCKS AND SECURITIES.—No senior gov- 19 ernment official may own or trade any individual 20 stock, bonds, commodity, future, and other form of 21 security, including an interest in a hedge fund, a de- 22 rivative, option, or other complex investment vehicle. 23 (2) COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE.—No senior 24 government official may maintain ownership in com- 25 mercial real estate, unless ownership of such com- O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 22 1 mercial real estate is necessary for a qualified small 2 business described in paragraph (4)(B). 3 4 (3) TRUSTS.— (A) IN GENERAL.—No senior government 5 official may maintain a financial interest in any 6 trust, including a family trust, if the super- 7 vising ethics agency determines that the trust 8 includes any— 9 10 (i) asset that might present a conflict of interest, or 11 (ii) individual stock, bonds, com- 12 modity, future, and other form of security, 13 including an interest in a hedge fund, a de- 14 rivative, option, or other complex invest- 15 ment vehicle. 16 (B) EXCEPTION.—Subparagraph (A) shall 17 not apply to a trust described in section 18 102(f)(2) of the Ethics in Government Act of 19 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.). 20 (4) BUSINESSES 21 (A) IN AND COMPANIES.— GENERAL.—No senior government 22 official may maintain ownership in a privately 23 owned or closely held corporation, company, 24 firm, partnership, or other business enterprise. O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 23 1 2 3 4 (B) EXCEPTION.—Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to a qualified small business. (b) NONCONFLICTED ASSETS.— (1) IN GENERAL.—A senior government official 5 may maintain assets that do not present a conflict 6 of interest, including— 7 (A) a widely held investment fund— 8 (i) described in section 102(f)(8) of 9 the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 10 11 U.S.C. App.); and (ii) that meets the requirements de- 12 scribed in paragraph (2); 13 (B) real estate used solely as a personal 14 15 16 residence; (C) cash, certificates of deposit, or other forms of savings accounts; 17 (D) a federally managed asset, including— 18 (i) financial interests in or income de- 19 rived from— 20 (I) any retirement system under 21 title 5, United States Code (including 22 the Thrift Savings Plan under sub- 23 chapter III of chapter 84 of such 24 title); or O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 24 1 (II) any other retirement system 2 maintained by the United States for 3 officers or employees of the United 4 States, including the President, or for 5 members of the uniformed services; 6 (ii) benefits received under the Social 7 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 301 et seq.); and 8 (iii) an asset in the Federal Employee 9 Investment Account described in para- 10 graph (3); 11 (E) bonds, bills, and notes issued by a gov- 12 ernmental sources, such as the Federal Govern- 13 ment, State, or other municipality; 14 (F) shares of Settlement Common Stock 15 issued under section 7(g)(1)(A) of the Alaska 16 Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 17 1606(g)(1)(A)); and 18 (G) shares of Settlement Common Stock, 19 as defined in section 3 of the Alaska Native 20 Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1602). 21 (2) WIDELY 22 QUIREMENTS.—A 23 maintain a widely held investment fund, unless— HELD INVESTMENT FUND RE- senior government official may not O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 25 1 (A) the widely held investment fund is cer- 2 tified as not presenting a conflict of interest by 3 the applicable supervising ethics office; and 4 (B) any instructions to a manager of the 5 widely held investment fund are shared with the 6 applicable supervising ethics office. 7 (3) FEDERAL 8 9 EMPLOYEE INVESTMENT AC- COUNT.— (A) IN GENERAL.—There are established 10 in the Treasury of the United States accounts 11 for senior government officials to maintain in- 12 vestments in the stock and securities markets to 13 be known as Federal Employee Investment Ac- 14 counts. 15 (B) DIVESTMENT.—To comply with the re- 16 quirements under this Act, a senior government 17 official may sell an asset or security, including 18 those assets or securities that present a conflict 19 of interest under subsection (a), and invest the 20 resulting funds into the Federal Employee In- 21 vestment Accounts. 22 (C) MANAGEMENT.—The Federal Retire- 23 ment Thrift Investment Board shall manage 24 Federal Employee Investment Accounts in a 25 manner similar to other retirement funds man- O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 26 1 aged by the Board and in accordance with sub- 2 chapter III of chapter 84 of title 5, United 3 States Code, for any Federal employee or offi- 4 cial who wishes to temporarily invest funds. 5 (D) WITHDRAWAL.—A senior government 6 officials may withdraw funds from their Federal 7 Employee Investment Account at any time 8 without penalty. 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 (c) POST-EMPLOYMENT RESTRICTIONS.— (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 207 of title 18, United States Code, is amended— (A) by striking subsections (c), (d), and (e) and inserting the following: ‘‘(c) LOBBYING RESTRICTIONS.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the restric- 16 tions set forth in subsections (a) and (b), any Presi- 17 dent, Vice President, Member of Congress, or officer 18 or employee compensated at a rate of pay specified 19 in or fixed according to subchapter II of chapter 53 20 of title 5, after the termination of his or her service 21 or employment with the United States who— 22 ‘‘(A) works as a registered lobbyist, or 23 ‘‘(B) knowingly makes, with the intent to 24 influence, any communication to or appearance 25 before any officer or employee of any depart- O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 27 1 ment, agency, Member, officer, or employee of 2 either House of Congress or any employee of 3 any other legislative office of the Congress, on 4 behalf of any other person (except the United 5 States or the District of Columbia) for com- 6 pensation, in connection with any matter on 7 which such person seeks official action by any 8 Member, officer, or employee of either House of 9 Congress, or any employee or officer of any de- 10 partment or agency, 11 shall be punished as provided in section 216 of this 12 title. 13 ‘‘(2) OTHER 14 OFFICIALS.— ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any officer or em- 15 ployee in the executive or legislative branch of 16 the United States who, during the time period 17 described in subparagraph (B) makes, with the 18 intent to influence, any communication to or 19 appearance before their former office, agency, 20 or House of Congress, for compensation, shall 21 be punished as provided in section 216 of this 22 title. 23 24 ‘‘(B) TIME PERIOD.—The time period de- scribed in this subparagraph is as follows: O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 28 1 ‘‘(i) With respect to an officer or em- 2 ployee of the legislative branch, 2 years 3 after the termination of service or employ- 4 ment as an officer or employee. 5 ‘‘(ii) With respect to an officer or em- 6 ployee of the executive branch, the later 7 of— 8 ‘‘(I) the date on which a Presi- 9 dent other than the President serving 10 during the employment of the officer 11 or employee takes office; and 12 ‘‘(II) the date on which the 2- 13 year period beginning on the date of 14 the termination of service or employ- 15 ment as an officer or employee ex- 16 pires. 17 ‘‘(iii) With respect to an officer or em- 18 ployee of the executive branch of the 19 United States who becomes a corporate 20 lobbyist, the later of— 21 ‘‘(I) the date on which a Presi- 22 dent other than the President serving 23 during the employment of the officer 24 or employee takes office; and O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 29 1 ‘‘(II) the date on which the 6- 2 year period beginning on the date of 3 the termination of service or employ- 4 ment as an officer or employee ex- 5 pires. 6 ‘‘(iv) With respect to an officer or em- 7 ployee of the legislative branch of the 8 United States who becomes a corporate 9 lobbyist, the date on which the 6-year pe- 10 riod beginning on the date of the termi- 11 nation of service or employment as an offi- 12 cer or employee expires.’’; and 13 (B) by redesignating subsections (f) 14 through (l) as subsections (d) through (j), re- 15 spectively; and 16 17 18 19 20 (C) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘(k) OTHER POST-EMPLOYMENT RESTRICTIONS.— ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: ‘‘(A) GIANT BANK OR COMPANY.—The term ‘giant bank or company’ includes— 21 ‘‘(i) any for-profit company or finan- 22 cial institution with greater than an aver- 23 age of $150,000,000,000 in market cap- 24 italization or revenue for the previous 3- 25 year period; O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 30 1 ‘‘(ii) any Federal contractor that re- 2 ceived greater than $5,000,000,000 in an- 3 nual revenue from the Federal Government 4 during the previous 3-year period; and 5 ‘‘(iii) any for-profit company or finan- 6 cial institution that exerts monopolistic or 7 monopsonistic control over a significant 8 share of the market in its particular indus- 9 try (as defined by the Director of the Of- 10 fice of Public Integrity, in consultation 11 with the Attorney General, by regulation). 12 ‘‘(B) LOBBYING CONTACT.—The term ‘lob- 13 bying contact’ has the meaning given the term 14 in section 3 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 15 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1602). 16 ‘‘(C) REGISTERED LOBBYIST.—The term 17 ‘registered lobbyist’ means a lobbyist registered 18 under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 19 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.). 20 ‘‘(D) SENIOR GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL.— 21 The term ‘senior government official’ means— 22 ‘‘(i) any individual described in sec- 23 tion 101(f) of the Ethics in Government 24 Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.), including— O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 31 1 ‘‘(I) any individual in a position 2 on any level of the Executive Schedule 3 under subchapter II of chapter 53 of 4 title 5, United States Code; 5 ‘‘(II) a political appointee in the 6 Executive Office of President or in the 7 Office of the Vice President; and 8 ‘‘(III) an individual employed in 9 a position in the executive branch of 10 the Government of a confidential or 11 policy-determining 12 schedule C of subpart C of part 213 13 of title 5 of the Code of Federal Reg- 14 ulations; 15 ‘‘(ii) an individual employed in a posi- 16 17 18 character under tion in the Senior Executive Service; ‘‘(iii) an individual employed in a position at the GS–14 level or higher; and 19 ‘‘(iv) an individual employed in a posi- 20 tion not under the General Schedule for 21 which the rate of basic pay is equal to or 22 greater than the minimum rate of basic 23 pay payable for GS–14 of the General 24 Schedule. O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 32 1 ‘‘(2) SENIOR GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL HIRING 2 RESTRICTION.—No 3 firm, partnership, or other business enterprise may 4 hire or directly or indirectly compensate (including 5 as consultants and lawyers) any former senior gov- 6 ernment official, for 1 year after the official leaves 7 government service, from an agency, department, or 8 congressional office that the corporation, company, 9 firm, partnership, or other business enterprise made 10 11 12 for-profit corporation, company, a lobbying contact in the past 2 years. ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULES.— ‘‘(A) PROCUREMENT OFFICERS.—No com- 13 pany that is awarded a contract or license by 14 the Federal Government may hire or com- 15 pensate any former officer or employee in the 16 executive branch of the United States who 17 oversaw any of the company’s contracts or li- 18 censes (including any procurement officer, any 19 Federal employee or official who participated in 20 the contract or license selection, any Federal 21 employee or official who determined or signed 22 off on the technical requirements of the con- 23 tract or license, and any senior government offi- 24 cial in the executive branch of the United 25 States employed at the agency that granted the O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 33 1 contract or license) during the 4-year period be- 2 ginning on the date on which the officer termi- 3 nated employment with the United States. 4 ‘‘(B) GIANT 5 ‘‘(i) IN BANKS AND COMPANIES.— GENERAL.—No giant bank or 6 company may hire or directly or indirectly 7 compensate (including as consultants and 8 lawyers) any senior government official 9 during the 4 year period beginning on the 10 date on which the official terminated em- 11 ployment with the United States. 12 ‘‘(ii) INCOME 13 ‘‘(I) IN DISCLOSURES.— GENERAL.—Not later 14 than 1 year after the date of enact- 15 ment of this clause, each senior gov- 16 ernment official who terminates serv- 17 ice on or after the date that is 1 year 18 after the date of enactment of this 19 clause shall submit to the Director of 20 the Office of Public Integrity an an- 21 nual 22 sources of income for the 4-year pe- 23 riod beginning on the date on which 24 the government official terminated 25 employment with the United States. disclosure that includes all O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 34 1 ‘‘(II) PUBLICLY AVAILABLE.— 2 The Director of the Office of Public 3 Integrity shall make a disclosure 4 made under subclause (I) publicly 5 available for any official who had a re- 6 port made in accordance with title I 7 of the Ethics in Government Act of 8 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) made publicly 9 available. 10 11 12 ‘‘(III) AUTOMATIC DISCLO- SURE.— ‘‘(aa) IN GENERAL.—Each 13 senior government official subject 14 to the disclosure requirement in 15 subclause (I) may consent to 16 allow the Director of the Office 17 of Public Integrity to obtain from 18 the Commissioner of Internal 19 Revenue the information nec- 20 essary to meet the requirements 21 of subclause (I), such that addi- 22 tional action is not required of 23 the senior government official 24 after such individual files a tax 25 return. O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 35 1 ‘‘(bb) SAFE HARBOR.—Any 2 individual who consents under 3 item (aa) shall not be subject to 4 subclause (V). 5 ‘‘(IV) MEMORANDUM OF UNDER- 6 STANDING.—Not 7 after the date of enactment of this 8 subclause, the Director of the Office 9 of Public Integrity and the Commis- 10 sioner of Internal Revenue shall enter 11 into 12 memorandum of understanding to es- 13 tablish secure means to allow for the 14 necessary information exchange in 15 subclause (III) for senior government 16 officials who wish to avail themselves 17 of the automatic disclosure under sub- 18 clause (III). 19 20 a later than 1 year cooperative agreement or ‘‘(V) PENALTIES.— ‘‘(aa) CIVIL ACTION.—The 21 Attorney General or the Director 22 of the Office of Public Integrity 23 may bring a civil action in any 24 appropriate United States dis- 25 trict court against any individual O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 36 1 who knowingly and willfully fal- 2 sifies or who knowingly and will- 3 fully fails to disclose any infor- 4 mation that such individual is re- 5 quired to disclose pursuant to 6 this clause. The court in which 7 such action is brought may as- 8 sess against such individual a 9 civil penalty in any amount, not 10 to exceed $50,000. 11 ‘‘(bb) 12 ALTIES.— CRIMINAL PEN- 13 ‘‘(AA) PROHIBITION.— 14 It shall be unlawful for any 15 person to knowingly and 16 willfully falsify any informa- 17 tion that such person is re- 18 quired to disclose under this 19 clause. It shall be unlawful 20 for any person to fail to dis- 21 close any information that 22 such person is required to 23 disclose under this clause. 24 25 ‘‘(BB) PENALTIES.— Any person who violates the O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 37 1 first sentence of subitem 2 (AA) shall be fined under 3 title 18, United States Code, 4 imprisoned for not more 5 than 1 year, or both. Any 6 person who violates the sec- 7 ond 8 (AA) shall be fined under 9 title 18, United States Code. 10 11 sentence of subitem ‘‘(4) PENALTIES.— ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Director of Office 12 of Public Integrity may impose a civil penalty 13 or a sanction on any entity or giant bank or 14 company upon making a determination, after 15 reasonable notice and opportunity for a hearing, 16 that the entity or giant bank or company has 17 violated paragraph (2) or (3)(B). 18 ‘‘(B) AMOUNT OF CIVIL PENALTIES.—A 19 civil penalty imposed for a violation under sub- 20 paragraph (A) shall— 21 ‘‘(i) in the case of an initial violation, 22 be not less than 1 percent of the net profit 23 of the entity or giant bank or company for 24 the previous year; O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 38 1 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a second violation, 2 not less than 2 percent of the net profit of 3 the entity or giant bank or company for 4 the previous year; and 5 ‘‘(iii) in the case of a third or subse- 6 quent violation, not less than 5 percent of 7 the net profit of the entity or giant bank 8 or company for the previous year. 9 ‘‘(C) OTHER PENALTIES AND SANCTIONS 10 COMPANIES.—In 11 posed under this clause, after reasonable notice 12 and an opportunity for a hearing, if the Direc- 13 tor of the Office of Public Integrity determines 14 that a company has violated paragraph (2) or 15 (3)(B), the Director may impose a sanction on 16 an entity or a giant bank or company, includ- 17 ing— addition to a civil penalty im- 18 ‘‘(i) prohibiting the entity or giant 19 bank or company from employing any 20 former employee or officer of the Federal 21 Government for a period of time not to ex- 22 ceed 8 years; 23 ‘‘(ii) prohibiting the company from 24 doing business with the Federal Govern- 25 ment, receiving a contract or license from O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 39 1 the Federal Government, or otherwise par- 2 ticipating in Federal Government pro- 3 grams, for a period of time not to exceed 4 8 years. 5 ‘‘(D) CIVIL 6 PENALTIES FOR EXECUTIVE OFFICERS OF COMPANIES.— 7 ‘‘(i) DEFINITION.—In this subclause, 8 the term ‘compensation’ includes, based on 9 information required to be reported any 10 Federal agency during the period in which 11 a violation of paragraph (2) or (3)(B) oc- 12 curred— 13 14 ‘‘(I) the proceeds of any sale of stock; and 15 ‘‘(II) any incentive-based com- 16 pensation (including stock options 17 awarded as compensation). 18 ‘‘(ii) CIVIL PENALTY.—In addition to 19 the penalties described in subparagraphs 20 (B) and (C), after reasonable notice and 21 an opportunity for a hearing, that an exec- 22 utive officer of an entity or giant bank or 23 company has knowingly, or with gross neg- 24 ligence, violated paragraph (2) or (3)(B), 25 or contributed to the violation of a para- O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 40 1 graph (2) or (3)(B), the Director may as- 2 sess a civil penalty against the executive 3 officer not to exceed the amount of the of- 4 ficer’s compensation for each year during 5 which the violations occurred. 6 ‘‘(E) MITIGATING FACTORS.—In deter- 7 mining the amount of any penalties assessed 8 under this paragraph, the Director of the Office 9 of Public Integrity or the court shall take into 10 account the appropriateness of the penalty with 11 respect to— 12 ‘‘(i) the size of financial resources and 13 good faith of the entity, giant bank or 14 company, or senior executive; 15 16 17 18 19 ‘‘(ii) the gravity of the violation or failure to pay; ‘‘(iii) the history of previous violations; and ‘‘(iv) such other matters as justice 20 may require. 21 ‘‘(F) AUTHORITY TO MODIFY OR REMIT 22 PENALTY.—The 23 Integrity may compromise, modify, or remit any 24 penalty under this paragraph, which may be as- 25 sessed or had already been assessed. The Director of the Office of Public O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 41 1 amount of such penalty, when finally deter- 2 mined, shall be exclusive of any sums owed by 3 the person to the United States in connection 4 with the costs of the proceeding, and may be 5 deducted from any sums owing by the United 6 States to the person charged. 7 ‘‘(G) NOTICE AND HEARING.—No civil 8 penalty may be assessed under this paragraph 9 with respect to a violation of paragraph (2) or 10 (3)(B) unless— 11 ‘‘(i) the Director of the Office of Pub- 12 lic Integrity gives notice and an oppor- 13 tunity for a hearing to the person accused 14 of the violation; or 15 ‘‘(ii) the appropriate court has or- 16 dered such assessment and entered judg- 17 ment in favor of the Director of the Office 18 of Public Integrity.’’. 19 (2) TECHNICAL 20 MENTS.—Section 21 Code, is amended— AND CONFORMING AMEND- 207 of title 18, United States 22 (A) in subsection (d), as redesignated by 23 paragraph (1) of this subsection, is amended by 24 striking ‘‘(d), or (e)’’; O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 42 1 (B) in subsection (f)(2), as redesignated by 2 paragraph (1) of this subsection, in the second 3 sentence, by striking ‘‘(c)(2)(A)(i) or (iii)’’ and 4 inserting ‘‘(c)’’; 5 6 (C) in subsection (g)(1), as redesignated by paragraph (1) of this subsection— 7 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 8 ‘‘(a), (c), and (d)’’ and inserting ‘‘(a) and 9 (c)’’ ; and 10 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 11 ‘‘(f)’’ and inserting ‘‘(d)’’; and 12 (D) in subsection (h), as redesignated by 13 paragraph (1) of this subsection— 14 (i) by striking ‘‘subsections (c), (d), 15 and (e)’’ each place the term appears and 16 inserting ‘‘subsection (c)’’; 17 (ii) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘(a), 18 (c), and (d)’’ and inserting ‘‘(a) and (c)’’; 19 and 20 (iii) in paragraph (7)(B), by striking 21 ‘‘subsections (c), (d), or (e)’’ and inserting 22 ‘‘subsection (c)’’. 23 24 (3) RESTRICTIONS FINANCIAL ON FEDERAL EXAMINERS OF INSTITUTIONS.—Section 10(k) of the O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 43 1 Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1820(k)) 2 is amended— 3 (A) in the subsection header, by striking 4 ‘‘ONE-YEAR’’ and inserting ‘‘FOUR-YEAR’’; and 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 (B) in paragraph (1)— (i) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘senior’’; and (ii) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘1 year’’ and inserting ‘‘4 years’’. SEC. 106. GENERAL PUBLIC INTEGRITY RULES. (a) OUTSIDE EMPLOYMENT BAN.—The limitations 12 described in section 502 of the Ethics in Government Act 13 of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) shall apply to full-time senior 14 government officials. 15 (b) VOLUNTEER SERVICE RULE.—All Federal laws 16 or regulations relating to conflicts of interest or other eth17 ics issues (as defined in section 409 of the Ethics in Gov18 ernment Act of 1978, as added by section 511 of this Act) 19 shall apply to any individual who is employed by the Fed20 eral Government and voluntarily refuses compensation for 21 such employment consistent with applicable law. 22 (c) SPECIAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEE RULE.—All 23 Federal ethics rules shall apply to a Special Government 24 Employee beginning on the date that is 61 days after the O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 44 1 date on which the Special Government Employee com2 mences employment. 3 4 (d) INDEBTEDNESS RULE.— (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 5 graph (2), no senior government official (except a 6 Member of Congress, the President, and the Vice 7 President) may— 8 (A) in the course of official duty, meet or 9 communicate with, or work on any particular 10 matter that affects, any person to whom the 11 senior government official owes more than 12 $100,000; or 13 (B) receive a loan of more than $100,000 14 from any person the senior government official 15 has met or communicated with, or plans to 16 meet or communicate with, during the course of 17 their official duty. 18 (2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not 19 apply to— 20 (A) commercial debt such as residential 21 mortgages, car loans, credit card debt, student 22 loans, or any debts owed to domestic financial 23 institutions on terms generally available to the 24 public; or O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 45 1 2 3 4 5 6 (B) meetings with domestic financial institutions. SEC. 107. LEGAL EXPENSE FUNDS. (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— (1) the term ‘‘legal expense fund’’ means a fund— 7 (A) to be used to defray legal expenses in- 8 curred in investigative, civil, criminal, or other 9 legal proceedings relating to or arising by virtue 10 of service by an officer or employee as an offi- 11 cer or employee; 12 (B) that may not be used for personal 13 legal matters, including tax planning, personal 14 injury litigation, protection of property rights, 15 divorces, or estate probate; 16 (C) that may only be used to defray legal 17 expenses for a single officer or single employee; 18 (D) that may be established or controlled 19 by the officer or employee, or by a third party, 20 in accordance with the requirements of section; 21 and 22 23 (E) that may accept contributions, in accordance with this section; O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 46 1 (2) the term ‘‘lobbying activity’’ has the mean- 2 ing given that term in section 3 of the Lobbying 3 Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1602); 4 (3) the term ‘‘officer or employee’’ means— 5 (A) an officer, as defined in section 2104 6 of title 5, United States Code; 7 (B) an employee, as defined in section 8 2105 of title 5, United States Code; 9 (C) a Member of Congress, as defined in 10 section 2106 of title 5, United States Code; 11 (D) the Vice President; and 12 (E) the President; 13 (4) the term ‘‘relative’’ has the meaning given 14 that term in section 3110 of title 5, United States 15 Code; and 16 (5) the term ‘‘supervising ethics office’’ has the 17 meaning given that term in section 109 of the Eth- 18 ics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.). 19 (b) AUTHORIZATION FOR LEGAL EXPENSE 20 FUNDS.—Subject to the limitations and regulations pro21 mulgated under this section, an officer or employee may 22 establish, maintain, and use a legal expense fund. 23 (c) LIMITS ON CONTRIBUTIONS.—The Director of the 24 Office of Public Integrity shall promulgate regulations es25 tablishing limits with respect to contributions to legal ex- O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 47 1 pense funds for officers or employees, which shall, at a 2 minimum, prohibit an officer or employee from accepting 3 contributions for a legal expense fund— 4 (1) from a single contributor (other than a rel- 5 ative of the officer or employee) in a total amount 6 of more than $5,000 during any calendar year; 7 (2) from a registered lobbyist; 8 (3) from an agent of a foreign principal; 9 (4) from any person seeking official action from 10 or doing business with the agency, office, or entity 11 employing the officer or employee; 12 (5) from any person conducting activities regu- 13 lated by the agency, office, or entity employing the 14 officer or employee; 15 (6) from any person whose interests may be 16 substantially affected by the performance or non- 17 performance of the official duties of the officer or 18 employee; or 19 (7) for an officer or employee of an Executive 20 agency, from any person that has engaged in lob- 21 bying activities, or on whose behalf lobbying activi- 22 ties have been engaged with, with respect to the Ex- 23 ecutive agency during the 2-year period ending on 24 the date of the contribution. 25 (d) WRITTEN NOTICE.— O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 48 1 (1) IN GENERAL.—An officer or employee who 2 wishes to establish a legal expense fund shall submit 3 to the supervising ethics office with respect to the 4 officer or employee a written notice that includes— 5 (A) the name and contact information for 6 any proposed trustee of the legal expense fund; 7 (B) a copy of any proposed trust document 8 for the legal expense fund; 9 (C) the nature of the legal proceeding (or 10 proceedings) which necessitate the establish- 11 ment of the legal expense fund; 12 (D) an acknowledgment that the officer or 13 employee will be bound by the regulations and 14 limitation under this section; and 15 (E) an acknowledgment that the officer or 16 employee bears ultimate responsibility for prop- 17 er administration of the legal expense fund. 18 (2) APPROVAL.—An officer or employee may 19 not solicit or accept contributions to a legal expense 20 fund until after the supervising ethics office has re- 21 ceived and approved the written notice submitted 22 under paragraph (1). 23 (e) REPORTING.— 24 25 (1) IN GENERAL.—An officer or employee who establishes a legal expense fund shall submit to the O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 49 1 supervising ethics office with respect to the officer or 2 employee a quarterly report that discloses, with re- 3 spect to the quarter covered by the report— 4 5 (A) the source and amount of each contribution to the legal expense fund; and 6 (B) the amount, recipient, and purpose of 7 each expenditure from the legal expense fund. 8 (2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—Each supervising 9 ethics office shall make publicly available online each 10 report submitted under paragraph (1) in a search- 11 able, sortable, and downloadable form. 12 (f) RECUSAL.—An officer or employee in the execu- 13 tive branch, other than the President and the Vice Presi14 dent, who receives a contribution to a legal expense fund 15 of the officer or employee may not participate in any mat16 ter that has or would have a direct and substantial impact 17 on the person making the contribution during the 2-year 18 period beginning on the date on which the contribution 19 is received. 20 21 SEC. 108. PENALTIES. (a) CIVIL FINES.—The Attorney General or the Di- 22 rector of the Office of Public Integrity may bring a civil 23 action in the appropriate United States district court 24 against any person who engages in conduct constituting 25 a violation of this title and, upon proof of such conduct O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 50 1 by a preponderance of the evidence, such person shall be 2 subject to a civil penalty of not more than $50,000 for 3 each violation or the amount of compensation which the 4 person received or offered for the prohibited conduct, 5 whichever amount is greater. The imposition of a civil pen6 alty under this subsection does not preclude any other 7 criminal or civil statutory, common law, or administrative 8 remedy, which is available by law to the United States or 9 any other person. 10 (b) ORDER PROHIBITING CONDUCT.—If the Attorney 11 General or the Director of the Office of Public Integrity 12 has reason to believe that a person is engaging in conduct 13 constituting an offense under this title, the Attorney Gen14 eral or the Director of the Office of Public Integrity, as 15 applicable, may petition an appropriate United States dis16 trict court for an order prohibiting that person from en17 gaging in such conduct. The court may issue an order pro18 hibiting that person from engaging in such conduct if the 19 court finds that the conduct constitutes such an offense. 20 The filing of a petition under this section does not pre21 clude any other remedy which is available by law to the 22 United States or any other person. O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 51 1 2 3 4 Subtitle B—Presidential Conflicts of Interest SEC. 111. SHORT TITLE. This title may be cited as the ‘‘Presidential Conflicts 5 of Interest Act of 2018’’. 6 SEC. 112. DIVESTITURE OF PERSONAL FINANCIAL INTER- 7 ESTS OF THE PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESI- 8 DENT THAT POSE A POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF 9 INTEREST. 10 11 (a) DEFINITIONS.— (1) IN 12 GENERAL.—In this section— (A) the term ‘‘conflict-free holding’’ means 13 a 14 102(f)(8) of the Ethics in Government Act of 15 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.); financial interest described in section 16 (B) the term ‘‘financial interest posing a 17 potential conflict of interest’’ means a financial 18 interest of the President, the Vice President, 19 the spouse of the President or Vice President, 20 or a minor child of the President or Vice Presi- 21 dent, as applicable, that— 22 (i) would constitute a financial inter- 23 est described in subsection (a) of section 24 208 of title 18, United States Code— 25 (I) if— O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 52 1 (aa) for purposes of such 2 section 208, the terms ‘‘officer’’ 3 and 4 President and the Vice President; 5 and ‘‘employee’’ included the 6 (bb) the President or Vice 7 President, as applicable, partici- 8 pated as described in subsection 9 (a) of such section 208 in rela- 10 tion to such financial interest; 11 and 12 (II) if determined without regard 13 to any exception under subsection (b) 14 of such section 208; or 15 (ii) may constitute a present, emolu- 16 ment, office, or title, of any kind whatever, 17 from any king, prince, or foreign state (in- 18 cluding from an entity owned or controlled 19 by a foreign government), within the 20 meaning of article I, section 9 of the Con- 21 stitution of the United States; 22 (C) the term ‘‘qualified blind trust’’ has 23 the meaning given that term in section 24 102(f)(3) of the Ethics in Government Act of O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 53 1 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.), unless otherwise speci- 2 fied in this title; and 3 (D) the term ‘‘tax return’’— 4 (i) means any Federal income tax re- 5 turn and any amendment or supplement 6 thereto, including supporting schedules, at- 7 tachments, or lists which are supplemental 8 to, or part of, the return for the taxable 9 year; and 10 (ii) includes any information return 11 that reports information that does or may 12 affect the liability for tax for the taxable 13 year. 14 (2) APPLICABILITY OF ETHICS IN GOVERNMENT 15 ACT OF 1978.—For 16 ‘‘qualified blind trust’’ in this section, the term ‘‘su- 17 pervising ethics officer’’ in section 102(f)(3) of the 18 Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) 19 means the Director of the Office of Public Integrity. 20 (b) INITIAL FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE.— 21 (1) SUBMISSION 22 (A) IN purposes of the definition of OF DISCLOSURE.— GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days 23 after assuming the office of President or Vice 24 President, respectively, the President and Vice 25 President shall submit to Congress and the Di- O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 54 1 rector of the Office of Public Integrity a disclo- 2 sure of financial interests. 3 (B) APPLICATION 4 AND VICE PRESIDENT.—For 5 is serving as the President or Vice President on 6 the date of enactment of this Act, the disclosure 7 of financial interests shall be submitted to Con- 8 gress and the Director of the Office of Public 9 Integrity not later than 30 days after the date TO SITTING PRESIDENT 10 of enactment of this Act. 11 (2) CONTENTS.— any individual who 12 (A) PRESIDENT.—The disclosure of finan- 13 cial interests submitted under paragraph (1) by 14 the President shall— 15 (i) describe in detail each financial in- 16 terest of the President, the spouse of the 17 President, or a minor child of the Presi- 18 dent; 19 (ii) at a minimum, include the infor- 20 mation relating to each such financial in- 21 terest that is required for reports under 22 section 102 of the Ethics in Government 23 Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.); and 24 25 (iii) include the tax returns filed by or on behalf of the President for— O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 55 1 2 (I) the 3 most recent taxable years; and 3 (II) each taxable year for which 4 an audit of the return by the Internal 5 Revenue Service is pending on the 6 date the report is filed. 7 (B) VICE PRESIDENT.—The disclosure of 8 financial interests submitted under paragraph 9 (1) by the Vice President shall— 10 (i) describe in detail each financial in- 11 terest of the Vice President, the spouse of 12 the Vice President, or a minor child of the 13 Vice President; 14 (ii) at a minimum, include the infor- 15 mation relating to each such financial in- 16 terest that is required for reports under 17 section 102 of the Ethics in Government 18 Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.); and 19 20 21 22 (iii) include the tax returns filed by or on behalf of the Vice President for— (I) the 3 most recent taxable years; and 23 (II) each taxable year for which 24 an audit of the return by the Internal O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 56 1 Revenue Service is pending on the 2 date the report is filed. 3 4 5 (c) DIVESTITURE A OF FINANCIAL INTERESTS POSING POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST.— (1) IN GENERAL.—The President, the Vice 6 President, the spouse of the President or Vice Presi- 7 dent, and any minor child of the President or Vice 8 President shall divest of any financial interest posing 9 a potential conflict of interest by transferring such 10 11 interest to a qualified blind trust. (2) TRUSTEE DUTIES.—Within a reasonable pe- 12 riod of time after the date a financial interest is 13 transferred to a qualified blind trust under para- 14 graph (1), the trustee of the qualified blind trust 15 shall— 16 (A) sell the financial interest; and 17 (B) use the proceeds of the sale of the fi- 18 nancial interest to purchase conflict-free hold- 19 ings. 20 21 (d) REVIEW BY OFFICE OF PUBLIC INTEGRITY.— (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Office of 22 Public Integrity shall submit to Congress, the Presi- 23 dent, and the Vice President an annual report re- 24 garding the financial interests of the President, the 25 Vice President, the spouse of the President or Vice O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 57 1 President, and any minor child of the President or 2 Vice President. 3 4 (2) CONTENTS.—Each report submitted under paragraph (1) shall— 5 (A) indicate whether any financial interest 6 of the President, the Vice President, the spouse 7 of the President or Vice President, or a minor 8 child of the President or Vice President is a fi- 9 nancial interest posing a potential conflict of in- 10 terest; 11 (B) evaluate whether any previously held 12 financial interest of the President, the Vice 13 President, the spouse of the President or Vice 14 President, or a minor child of the President or 15 Vice President that was a financial interest pos- 16 ing a potential conflict of interest was divested 17 in accordance with subsection (c); and 18 (C) redact such information as the Direc- 19 tor of the Office of Public Integrity determines 20 necessary for preventing identity theft, such as 21 social security numbers or taxpayer identifica- 22 tion numbers. 23 24 25 (e) ENFORCEMENT.— (1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General, the attorney general of any State, or any person ag- O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 58 1 grieved by any violation of subsection (c) may seek 2 declaratory or injunctive relief in a court of com- 3 petent jurisdiction if— 4 (A) the Director of the Office of Public In- 5 tegrity is unable to issue a report indicating 6 whether the President or the Vice President is 7 in substantial compliance with subsection (c); or 8 (B) there is probable cause to believe that 9 the President or the Vice President has not 10 complied with subsection (c). 11 (2) FAIR MARKET VALUE.—In granting injunc- 12 tive relief to the plaintiff, the court shall take meas- 13 ures reasonably necessary to ensure that any divest- 14 ment procedure seeks to obtain a fair market value 15 for any asset that is liquidated. 16 17 SEC. 113. RECUSAL OF APPOINTEES. Section 208 of title 18, United States Code, as 18 amended by section 103 of this Act, is amended by adding 19 at the end the following: 20 ‘‘(f)(1) Any officer or employee appointed by the 21 President shall recuse himself or herself from any par22 ticular matter involving specific parties in which a party 23 to that matter is— O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 59 1 ‘‘(A) the President who appointed the officer or 2 employee, which shall include any entity in which the 3 President has a substantial interest; or 4 ‘‘(B) the spouse of the President who appointed 5 the officer or employee, which shall include any enti- 6 ty in which the spouse of the President has a sub- 7 stantial interest. 8 ‘‘(2)(A) Subject to subparagraph (B), if an officer or 9 employee is recused under paragraph (1), a career ap10 pointee in the agency of the officer or employee shall per11 form the functions and duties of the officer or employee 12 with respect to the matter. 13 ‘‘(B)(i) In this subparagraph, the term ‘Commission’ 14 means a board, commission, or other agency for which the 15 authority of the agency is vested in more than 1 member. 16 ‘‘(ii) If the recusal of a member of a Commission 17 from a matter under paragraph (1) would result in there 18 not being a statutorily required quorum of members of the 19 Commission available to participate in the matter, not20 withstanding such statute or any other provision of law, 21 the members of the Commission not recused under para22 graph (1) may— 23 24 ‘‘(I) consider the matter without regard to the quorum requirement under such statute; O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 60 1 ‘‘(II) delegate the authorities and responsibil- 2 ities of the Commission with respect to the matter 3 to a subcommittee of the Commission; or 4 ‘‘(III) designate an officer or employee of the 5 Commission who was not appointed by the President 6 who appointed the member of the Commission 7 recused from the matter to exercise the authorities 8 and duties of the recused member with respect to 9 the matter. 10 ‘‘(3) Any officer or employee who negligently violates 11 paragraph (1) shall be subject to the penalties set forth 12 in section 216. 13 ‘‘(4) For purposes of this section, the term ‘particular 14 matter’ shall have the meaning given the term in section 15 207(g).’’. 16 17 18 SEC. 114. CONTRACTS BY THE PRESIDENT OR VICE PRESIDENT. (a) AMENDMENT.—Section 431 of title 18, United 19 States Code, is amended— 20 (1) in the section heading, by inserting ‘‘the 21 President, Vice President, or a’’ after 22 ‘‘Contracts by’’; and 23 (2) in the first undesignated paragraph, by in- 24 serting ‘‘the President or Vice President,’’ after 25 ‘‘Whoever, being’’. O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 61 1 (b) TABLE OF SECTIONS AMENDMENT.—The table of 2 sections for chapter 23 of title 18, United States Code, 3 is amended by striking the item relating to section 431 4 and inserting the following: ‘‘431. Contracts by the President, Vice President, or a Member of Congress.’’. 5 SEC. 115. PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION ETHICS PROGRAMS. 6 The Presidential Transition Act of 1963 (3 U.S.C. 7 102 note) is amended— 8 9 10 (1) in section 3(f) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘(3) The President-elect shall submit to the Com- 11 mittee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 12 of the Senate and the Committee on Oversight and Gov13 ernment Reform of the House of Representatives a list 14 of— 15 ‘‘(A) any individual for whom an application for 16 a security clearance was submitted, not later than 17 10 days after the date on which the application was 18 submitted; and 19 ‘‘(B) any individual provided a security clear- 20 ance, not later than 10 days after the date on which 21 the security clearance was provided.’’; 22 23 24 25 (2) in section 4— (A) in subsection (a)— (i) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 62 1 2 (ii) by redesignating paragraph (4) as paragraph (5); and 3 4 5 (iii) by inserting after paragraph (3) the following: ‘‘(4) the term ‘nonpublic information’— 6 ‘‘(A) means information from the Federal 7 Government that a transition member obtains 8 as part of the employment of the member that 9 such member knows or reasonably should know 10 has not been made available to the general pub- 11 lic; and 12 ‘‘(B) includes information that a member 13 of the transition team knows or reasonably 14 should know— 15 ‘‘(i) is exempt from disclosure under 16 section 552 of title 5, United States Code, 17 or otherwise protected from disclosure by 18 law; and 19 ‘‘(ii) is not authorized by the appro- 20 priate government agency or official to be 21 released to the public; and’’; and 22 (B) in subsection (g)— 23 24 (i) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘November’’ and inserting ‘‘October’’; and O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 63 1 2 (ii) by adding at the end the following: 3 ‘‘(3) ETHICS 4 ‘‘(A) IN PLAN.— GENERAL.—Each memorandum of 5 understanding under paragraph (1) shall in- 6 clude an agreement that the eligible candidate 7 will implement and enforce an ethics plan to 8 guide the conduct of the transition beginning on 9 the date on which the eligible candidate be- 10 11 12 comes the President-elect. ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—The ethics plan shall include, at a minimum— 13 ‘‘(i) a description of the ethics re- 14 quirements that will apply to all members 15 of the transition team, including any spe- 16 cific requirement for transition team mem- 17 bers who will have access to nonpublic or 18 classified information; 19 20 21 22 23 ‘‘(ii) a description of how the transition team will— ‘‘(I) address the role on the transition team of— ‘‘(aa) lobbyists registered 24 under the Lobbying Disclosure 25 Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 et O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 64 1 seq.) and individuals who were 2 former lobbyists registered under 3 that Act; 4 ‘‘(bb) persons registered 5 under the Foreign Agents Reg- 6 istration Act (22 U.S.C. 611 et 7 seq.), foreign nationals, and other 8 foreign agents; and 9 ‘‘(cc) transition team mem- 10 bers with sources of income or 11 clients that are not disclosed to 12 the public; 13 ‘‘(II) prohibit a transition team 14 member with conflicts of interest, in- 15 cluding conflicts, as described in sec- 16 tion 17 2635.502(a) of title 5, Code of Fed- 18 eral Regulations, related to current or 19 former employment, affiliations, cli- 20 ents, or investments, from working on 21 particular matters involving specific 22 parties that affect the interests of 23 such member; and 2635.402(a) and section 24 ‘‘(III) address how the covered 25 eligible candidate will address their O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 65 1 own conflicts of interest during a 2 Presidential term if the covered eligi- 3 ble candidate becomes the President- 4 elect; 5 ‘‘(iii) a Code of Ethical Conduct, to 6 which each member of the transition team 7 will sign and be subject to, that reflects 8 the content of the ethics plans under this 9 paragraph and at a minimum requires 10 11 transition team members to— ‘‘(I) seek authorization from 12 transition team leaders or their des- 13 ignees before seeking, on behalf of the 14 transition, access to any nonpublic in- 15 formation; 16 ‘‘(II) keep confidential any non- 17 public information provided in the 18 course of the duties of the member 19 with the transition and exclusively use 20 such information for the purposes of 21 the transition; and 22 ‘‘(III) not use any nonpublic in- 23 formation provided in the course of 24 transition duties, in any manner, for 25 personal or private gain for the mem- O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 66 1 ber or any other party at any time 2 during or after the transition; and 3 ‘‘(iv) a description of how the transi- 4 tion team will enforce the Code of Ethical 5 Conduct, including the names of the mem- 6 bers of the transition team responsible for 7 enforcement, oversight, and compliance. 8 ‘‘(C) PUBLICLY AVAILABLE.—The transi- 9 tion team shall make the ethics plan described 10 in this paragraph publicly available on the 11 Internet website of the General Services Admin- 12 istration the earlier of— 13 ‘‘(i) the day on which the memo- 14 randum of understanding is completed; or 15 16 17 18 19 ‘‘(ii) October 1.’’; and (3) in section 6(b)— (A) in paragraph (1)— (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 20 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 21 the period at the end and inserting a semi- 22 colon; and 23 24 (iii) by adding at the end the following: O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 67 1 ‘‘(C) a list of all positions each transition 2 team member has held outside the Federal Gov- 3 ernment for the previous 12-month period, in- 4 cluding paid, unpaid, and uncompensated posi- 5 tions; 6 ‘‘(D) sources of compensation of each tran- 7 sition team member exceeding $5,000 a year for 8 the previous 12-month period; 9 ‘‘(E) a description of the role of the mem- 10 ber on the transition team, including a list of 11 any policy issues that the member expects to 12 work on, and a list of agencies the member ex- 13 pects to interact with, while serving on the 14 transition team; 15 ‘‘(F) a list of any issues from which each 16 transition team member will be recused while 17 serving as a member of the transition team pur- 18 suant to the transition team ethics plan out- 19 lined in section 4(g)(3); and 20 ‘‘(G) an affirmation that the transition 21 team member does not have a financial conflict 22 of interest that precludes the member from 23 working on the matters described in subpara- 24 graph (E).’’; O:\SIL\SIL18974.xml [file 2 of 7] S.L.C. 68 1 (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘not 2 later than 2 business days’’ after ‘‘public’’; and 3 (C) by adding at the end the following: 4 ‘‘(3) The head of a Federal department or 5 agency, or their designee, shall not permit access to 6 the agency or employees of the agency that would 7 not be provided to a member of the public for any 8 transition team member who does not make the dis- 9 closures listed under paragraph (1).’’. 10 11 SEC. 116. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING VIOLATIONS. It is the sense of Congress that a violation of section 12 102 of this Act or the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 13 (5 U.S.C. App.) by the President or the Vice President 14 would constitute a high crime or misdemeanor under arti15 cle II, section 4 of the Constitution of the United States. 16 17 SEC. 117. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. Nothing in this title or an amendment made by this 18 title shall be construed to violate the Constitution of the 19 United States. 20 21 SEC. 118. SEVERABILITY. If any provision of this title or any amendment made 22 by this title, or any application of such provision or 23 amendment to any person or circumstance, is held to be 24 unconstitutional, the remainder of the provisions of this 25 title and the amendments made by this title, and the appli- O:\HEN\HEN18865.xml [file 3 of 7] S.L.C. 69 1 cation of the provision or amendment to any other person 2 or circumstance, shall not be affected. 3 TITLE II—LOBBYING REFORM 4 SEC. 201. ENFORCEMENT BY THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC IN- 5 6 TEGRITY. The Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 7 et seq.) is amended— 8 (1) in section 4 (2 U.S.C. 1603)— 9 (A) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ‘‘Sec- 10 retary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House 11 of Representatives’’ and inserting ‘‘Director of 12 the Office of Public Integrity’’; and 13 (B) in subsection (d), in the flush text fol- 14 lowing paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘Secretary of 15 the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Rep- 16 resentatives’’ and inserting ‘‘Director of the Of- 17 fice of Public Integrity’’; 18 (2) in section 5 (2 U.S.C. 1604)— 19 (A) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘Sec- 20 retary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House 21 of Representatives’’ and inserting ‘‘Director of 22 the Office of Public Integrity’’; 23 (B) in subsection (d)(1), in the matter pre- 24 ceding subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘Sec- 25 retary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House O:\HEN\HEN18865.xml [file 3 of 7] S.L.C. 70 1 of Representatives’’ and inserting ‘‘Director of 2 the Office of Public Integrity’’; and 3 (C) in subsection (e)— 4 (i) by striking ‘‘Secretary of the Sen- 5 ate or the Clerk of the House of Rep- 6 resentatives’’ and inserting ‘‘Director of 7 the Office of Public Integrity’’; and 8 (ii) by striking ‘‘Secretary of the Sen- 9 ate and the Clerk of the House of Rep- 10 resentatives’’ and inserting ‘‘Director of 11 the Office of Public Integrity’’; 12 (3) in section 6(a) (2 U.S.C. 1605(a)), in the 13 matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘Sec- 14 retary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of 15 Representatives’’ and inserting ‘‘Director of the Of- 16 fice of Public Integrity’’; 17 (4) in section 7(a)(1) (2 U.S.C. 1606(a)(1)), by 18 striking ‘‘Secretary of the Senate or the Clerk of the 19 House of Representatives’’ and inserting ‘‘Director 20 of the Office of Public Integrity’’; and 21 (5) in section 8(c) (2 U.S.C. 1607(c)), by strik- 22 ing ‘‘Secretary of the Senate or the Clerk of the 23 House of Representatives’’ and inserting ‘‘Director 24 of the Office of Public Integrity’’. O:\HEN\HEN18865.xml [file 3 of 7] S.L.C. 71 1 2 SEC. 202. DEFINITIONS. Section 3 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 3 U.S.C. 1602) is amended— 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (4) through (16) as paragraphs (6) through (18), respectively; (2) by redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (4); (3) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following: ‘‘(3) CORPORATE LOBBYIST.—The term ‘cor- 11 porate lobbyist’ means a lobbyist that, for financial 12 or other compensation for services that include lob- 13 bying activities, is employed or retained by a client 14 that is— 15 ‘‘(A) a covered for-profit entity; or 16 ‘‘(B) an entity described in section 17 501(c)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 18 of which 1 or more members are covered for- 19 profit entities .’’; 20 (4) by inserting after paragraph (4), as so re- 21 designated, the following: 22 ‘‘(5) COVERED 23 24 FOR-PROFIT ENTITY.—The term ‘covered for-profit entity’— ‘‘(A) means— 25 ‘‘(i) a corporation, limited liability 26 company, or other entity that is created by O:\HEN\HEN18865.xml [file 3 of 7] S.L.C. 72 1 the filing of a public document with a sec- 2 retary of state of a State or similar office; 3 ‘‘(ii) a general partnership; or 4 ‘‘(iii) any similar entity formed under 5 the laws of a foreign jurisdiction; and 6 ‘‘(B) does not include— 7 ‘‘(i) an entity described in paragraph 8 (3), (4), or (5) of section 501(c) of the In- 9 ternal Revenue Code of 1986; 10 ‘‘(ii) a political organization, as de- 11 fined in section 527 of such Code, that is 12 exempt from taxation under that section.’’; 13 (5) in paragraph (9), as so redesignated, by in- 14 serting ‘‘provision of strategic advice, and’’ after 15 ‘‘planning activities,’’; 16 (6) in paragraph (10)(B), as so redesignated— 17 (A) by striking clause (v); and 18 (B) by redesignating clauses (vi) through 19 (xix) as clauses (v) through (xviii), respectively; 20 and 21 (7) by striking paragraph (12), as so redesig- 22 23 nated, and inserting the following: ‘‘(12) LOBBYIST.—The term ‘lobbyist’— O:\HEN\HEN18865.xml [file 3 of 7] S.L.C. 73 1 ‘‘(A) means an individual who is employed 2 or retained by a client for financial or other 3 compensation— 4 5 ‘‘(i) for services that include making 1 or more lobbying contacts; or 6 ‘‘(ii) to engage in lobbying activities 7 that do not include making lobbying con- 8 tacts; and 9 ‘‘(B) includes a corporate lobbyist.’’. 10 11 SEC. 203. REGISTRATION OF LOBBYISTS. Section 4 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 12 U.S.C. 1603) is amended— 13 14 15 16 (1) in subsection (a)— (A) in paragraph (1)— (i) by striking ‘‘45’’ and inserting ‘‘30’’; 17 (ii) by striking ‘‘first makes a lob- 18 bying contact’’ and all that follows through 19 ‘‘retained to make a lobbying contact’’ and 20 inserting ‘‘is first employed or retained to 21 engage in lobbying activities on behalf of a 22 client or first engages in lobbying activi- 23 ties’’; and 24 25 (iii) by striking ‘‘45th’’ each place the term appears and inserting ‘‘30th’’; O:\HEN\HEN18865.xml [file 3 of 7] S.L.C. 74 1 2 (B) in paragraph (3)— (i) in subparagraph (A)— 3 (I) by redesignating clauses (i) 4 and (ii) as subclauses (I) and (II), re- 5 spectively, and adjusting the margins 6 accordingly; 7 (II) in the matter preceding sub- 8 clause (I), as so redesignated, by 9 striking ‘‘entity whose—’’ and insert- 10 ing the following: ‘‘entity— 11 ‘‘(i) of which the—’’; 12 13 (III) in clause (i), as so designated— 14 (aa) in subclause (I), as so 15 redesignated, by inserting ‘‘, as 16 estimated under section 5’’ after 17 ‘‘$2,500’’; and 18 (bb) in subclause (II), as so 19 redesignated, by inserting ‘‘as es- 20 timated under section 5; or’’ 21 after ‘‘$10,000,’’; 22 (IV) by inserting after clause 23 (i)(II), as so designated, the following: 24 ‘‘(ii) that engages in lobbying activi- 25 ties for less than 8 hours,’’; and O:\HEN\HEN18865.xml [file 3 of 7] S.L.C. 75 1 2 (V) in the flush text following clause (ii)— 3 4 (aa) by striking ‘‘(as estimated under section 5)’’; and 5 (bb) by striking ‘‘with re- 6 spect to such client’’ and insert- 7 ing ‘‘, in the case of a person or 8 entity described in subclause (I) 9 or (II) of clause (i), with respect 10 to such client, or, in the case of 11 a person or entity described in 12 clause (ii), with respect to any 13 client of the person or entity.’’; 14 and 15 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 16 ‘‘subparagraph (A)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub- 17 paragraph (A)(i)’’; 18 (2) in subsection (b)— 19 (A) by striking paragraph (4); 20 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (5) and 21 22 23 (6) as paragraphs (4) and (5), respectively; (C) in paragraph (4), as so redesignated— (i) in subparagraph (A)— O:\HEN\HEN18865.xml [file 3 of 7] S.L.C. 76 1 (I) by striking ‘‘the general 2 issues areas’’ and inserting ‘‘each spe- 3 cific issue area’’; and 4 (II) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 5 (ii) by redesignating subparagraph 6 7 (B) as subparagraph (C); (iii) by inserting after subparagraph 8 (A) the following: 9 ‘‘(B) each specific action or inaction that, 10 as of the date of the registration, has already 11 been requested, or that will be requested;’’; and 12 (iv) in subparagraph (C), as so redes- 13 ignated— 14 (I) by striking ‘‘to the extent 15 practicable, specific issues that have’’ 16 and inserting ‘‘each specific issue, in- 17 cluding any Federal legislation, rule, 18 or regulation, or executive order, that 19 has’’; and 20 21 (II) by striking ‘‘are’’ and inserting ‘‘is’’; 22 (D) in paragraph (5), as so redesignated, 23 by striking the period and inserting a semi- 24 colon; and O:\HEN\HEN18865.xml [file 3 of 7] S.L.C. 77 1 (E) by inserting after paragraph (5), as so 2 redesignated, the following: 3 ‘‘(6) the name of each covered legislative 4 branch official or covered executive branch official 5 who, as of the date of the registration, has already 6 been contacted, or is likely to be contacted, in any 7 lobbying activity on behalf of the client; and 8 ‘‘(7) with respect to any person or entity that, 9 as of the date of the registration, or has been re- 10 tained, by the registrant to engage in any lobbying 11 activity on behalf of the client of the registrant— 12 ‘‘(A) the name, address, business telephone 13 number, and principal place of business of the 14 person or entity; 15 ‘‘(B) a description of any lobbying contact 16 that, as of the date of the registration, has been 17 made in, or is likely to be made, on behalf of 18 the client of the registrant by the person or en- 19 tity; 20 ‘‘(C) with respect to the lobbying activity 21 on behalf of the client of the registrant, the 22 amount that the registrant, as of the date of 23 the registration, has paid, or is likely to pay, to 24 the person or entity as compensation for the 25 lobbying activity; and O:\HEN\HEN18865.xml [file 3 of 7] S.L.C. 78 1 ‘‘(D) the name of each employee of the 2 person or entity who, as of the date of the reg- 3 istration, has supervised, or who is likely to su- 4 pervise, any lobbying activity on behalf of the 5 client of the registrant.’’; and 6 (3) by striking subsection (c) and inserting the 7 following: 8 ‘‘(c) MULTIPLE CLIENTS.—In the case of a reg- 9 istrant that engages in lobbying activities on behalf of 10 more than 1 client, the registrant shall file a separate reg11 istration for each client.’’. 12 13 SEC. 204. REPORTS BY LOBBYISTS. (a) QUARTERLY REPORTS.—Section 5(b) of the Lob- 14 bying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1604(b)) is 15 amended— 16 17 18 (1) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the following: ‘‘(2) a statement of— 19 ‘‘(A) each specific issue with respect to 20 which the registrant, or any employee of the 21 registrant, engaged in lobbying activities, in- 22 cluding, to the maximum extent practicable, a 23 statement of each bill number and reference to 24 any specific Federal rule or regulation, execu- O:\HEN\HEN18865.xml [file 3 of 7] S.L.C. 79 1 tive order, or any other program, policy, or po- 2 sition of the United States Government; 3 ‘‘(B) each lobbying activity that the reg- 4 istrant has engaged in on behalf of the client, 5 including— 6 ‘‘(i) each document prepared by the 7 registrant that was submitted to any cov- 8 ered legislative branch official or covered 9 executive branch official; 10 ‘‘(ii) each meeting conducted that con- 11 stituted a lobbying contact, including the 12 subject of the meeting, the date of the 13 meeting, and the name and position of 14 each individual who was a party to the 15 meeting; 16 ‘‘(iii) each phone call made that con- 17 stituted a lobbying contact, including the 18 subject of the phone call, the date of the 19 phone call, and the name and position of 20 each individual who was a party to the 21 phone call; and 22 ‘‘(iv) each email sent that constituted 23 a lobbying contact, including the subject of 24 the email, the date of the email, and the O:\HEN\HEN18865.xml [file 3 of 7] S.L.C. 80 1 name and position of each individual who 2 was a party to the email; 3 ‘‘(C) the name of each employee of the reg- 4 istrant who did not participate in the lobbying 5 contact but engaged in lobbying activities in 6 support of the lobbying contact and a descrip- 7 tion of any such lobbying activity; and 8 ‘‘(D) with respect to any person or entity 9 retained by the registrant to engage in lobbying 10 activities on behalf of the client of the reg- 11 istrant— 12 ‘‘(i) the name, address, business tele- 13 phone number, and principal place of busi- 14 ness of the person or entity; 15 ‘‘(ii) a description of any lobbying ac- 16 tivity by the person or entity on behalf of 17 the client of the registrant; 18 ‘‘(iii) the amount the registrant paid 19 to the person or entity for any lobbying ac- 20 tivity by the person or entity on the behalf 21 of the client of the registrant; 22 ‘‘(iv) the name of each employee of 23 the person or entity who supervised any 24 lobbying activity by the person or entity on 25 behalf of the client of the registrant; and O:\HEN\HEN18865.xml [file 3 of 7] S.L.C. 81 1 ‘‘(v) the official action or inaction re- 2 quested in the course of the lobbying activ- 3 ity;’’. 4 5 6 7 (2) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; (3) in paragraph (5), by striking the period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 8 (4) by adding at the end the following: 9 ‘‘(6) a copy of any document transmitted to a 10 covered legislative branch official or a covered execu- 11 tive branch official in the course of any lobbying ac- 12 tivity by the registrant on behalf of the client.’’. 13 (b) ESTIMATES BASED 14 TEM.—Section ON TAX REPORTING SYS- 15 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act (2 15 U.S.C. 1610) is repealed. 16 17 SEC. 205. PROHIBITION ON FOREIGN LOBBYING. (a) IN GENERAL.—The Lobbying Disclosure Act of 18 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) is amended— 19 20 21 22 (1) by redesignating section 26 (2 U.S.C. 1614) as section 28; and (2) by inserting after section 25 (2 U.S.C. 1613) the following: 23 ‘‘SEC. 26. PROHIBITION ON FOREIGN LOBBYING. 24 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION.—In this section— 25 ‘‘(1) the term ‘covered lobbyist’ means— O:\HEN\HEN18865.xml [file 3 of 7] S.L.C. 82 1 2 ‘‘(A) a lobbyist that is registered or is required to register under section 4(a)(1); 3 ‘‘(B) an organization that employs 1 or 4 more lobbyists and is registered, or is required 5 to register, under section 4(a)(2); and 6 ‘‘(C) an employee listed or required to be 7 listed as a lobbyist by a registrant under section 8 4(b)(6) or 5(b)(2)(C); and 9 ‘‘(2) the terms ‘information-service employee’, 10 ‘public-relations counsel’, and ‘publicity agent’ have 11 the meanings given those terms in section 1 of the 12 Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 (22 U.S.C. 13 611). 14 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION.—Except as provided in sub- 15 section (c), a covered lobbyist may not accept financial or 16 other compensation for services that include lobbying ac17 tivities on behalf of a foreign entity. 18 ‘‘(c) EXEMPTIONS.—The prohibition under sub- 19 section (b) shall not apply the following covered lobbyists: 20 ‘‘(1) DIPLOMATIC OR CONSULAR OFFICERS.—A 21 duly accredited diplomatic or consular officer of a 22 foreign government who is so recognized by the De- 23 partment of State, while the officer is engaged exclu- 24 sively in activities that are recognized by the Depart- O:\HEN\HEN18865.xml [file 3 of 7] S.L.C. 83 1 ment of State as being within the scope of the func- 2 tions of the officer. 3 ‘‘(2) OFFICIALS OF FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS.— 4 An official of a foreign government, if that govern- 5 ment is recognized by the United States, who is not 6 a public-relations counsel, a publicity agent, or an 7 information-service employee, or a citizen of the 8 United States, whose name and status and the char- 9 acter of whose duties as an official are of public 10 record in the Department of State, while said official 11 is engaged exclusively in activities that are recog- 12 nized by the Department of State as being within 13 the scope of the functions of the official. 14 ‘‘(3) STAFF 15 SULAR OFFICERS.—A 16 person employed by, a duly accredited diplomatic or 17 consular officer of a foreign government who is so 18 recognized by the Department of State, other than 19 a public-relations counsel, a publicity agent, or an 20 information-service employee, whose name and sta- 21 tus and the character of whose duties as such mem- 22 ber or employee are of public record in the Depart- 23 ment of State, while the member or employee is en- 24 gaged exclusively in the performance of activities 25 that are recognized by the Department of State as MEMBERS OF DIPLOMATIC OR CON- member of the staff of, or any O:\HEN\HEN18865.xml [file 3 of 7] S.L.C. 84 1 being within the scope of the functions of the mem- 2 ber or employee. 3 ‘‘(4) PERSONS ENGAGING OR AGREEING TO EN- 4 GAGE IN THE SOLICITING OR COLLECTING OF FUNDS 5 FOR HUMANITARIAN RELIEF.—A 6 agreeing to engage only in the soliciting or collecting 7 of funds and contributions within the United States 8 to be used only for medical aid and assistance, or for 9 food and clothing to relieve human suffering, if the 10 solicitation or collection of funds and contributions 11 is in accordance with, and subject to, the provisions 12 of the Neutrality Act of 1939 (22 U.S.C. 441 et 13 seq.), and such rules and regulations as may be pre- 14 scribed thereunder. 15 ‘‘(5) CERTAIN 16 17 person engaging or PERSONS QUALIFIED TO PRAC- TICE LAW.— ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A person qualified to 18 practice law, insofar as the person engages, or 19 agrees to engage in, the legal representation of 20 a disclosed foreign entity before any court of 21 law or any agency of the Government of the 22 United States. 23 ‘‘(B) LEGAL REPRESENTATION.—For the 24 purpose of this paragraph, legal representation 25 does not include any attempt to influence or O:\HEN\HEN18865.xml [file 3 of 7] S.L.C. 85 1 persuade agency personnel or officials other 2 than in the course of— 3 ‘‘(i) a judicial proceeding; 4 ‘‘(ii) a criminal or civil law enforce- 5 ment inquiry, investigation, or proceeding; 6 or 7 ‘‘(iii) an agency proceeding required 8 by statute or regulation to be conducted on 9 the record. 10 ‘‘(d) PENALTIES.—Any person who knowingly vio- 11 lates this section shall be fined not more than $200,000, 12 imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both, and any 13 compensation received for engaging in the unlawful activ14 ity shall be subject to disgorgement.’’. 15 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 7 of the 16 Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1606) is 17 amended— 18 (1) in subsection (a), in the matter preceding 19 paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘Whoever’’ and inserting 20 ‘‘Except as otherwise provided in this Act, whoever’’; 21 and 22 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘Whoever’’ 23 and inserting ‘‘Except as otherwise provided in this 24 Act, whoever’’. O:\HEN\HEN18865.xml [file 3 of 7] S.L.C. 86 1 SEC. 206. PROHIBITION OF CONTRIBUTIONS BY LOBBYISTS. 2 Title III of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 3 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101 et seq.) is amended by adding at 4 the end the following new section: 5 6 7 ‘‘SEC. 325. PROHIBITION OF CONTRIBUTIONS BY LOBBYISTS. ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for any lob- 8 byist to make a contribution to any candidate for Federal 9 office or member of Congress. 10 ‘‘(b) LOBBYIST DEFINED.—In this section, the term 11 ‘lobbyist’ means a lobbyist, as defined in section 3 of the 12 Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1602), that 13 is registered or is required to register under section 4(a) 14 of that Act.’’. 15 16 SEC. 207. PROHIBITION ON CONTINGENT FEE LOBBYING. The Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 17 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 26, as added 18 by section 205, the following: 19 20 21 ‘‘SEC. 27. PROHIBITION ON CONTINGENT FEE ARRANGEMENTS. ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the term ‘cov- 22 ered lobbyist’ means— 23 24 ‘‘(1) a lobbyist that is registered or is required to register under section 4(a)(1); O:\HEN\HEN18865.xml [file 3 of 7] S.L.C. 87 1 ‘‘(2) an organization that employs 1 or more 2 lobbyists and is registered, or is required to register, 3 under section 4(a)(2); and 4 ‘‘(3) an employee listed or required to be listed 5 as a lobbyist by a registrant under section 4(b)(6) 6 or 5(b)(2)(C). 7 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION.—A covered lobbyist may not be 8 employed under, or receive compensation in connection 9 with, an arrangement in which compensation paid to the 10 covered lobbyist is contingent on the result of lobbying ac11 tivities engaged in by the covered lobbyist. 12 ‘‘(c) PENALTIES.—Any person who knowingly vio- 13 lates this section shall be fined not more than $200,000, 14 imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both, and any 15 compensation received for engaging in the unlawful activ16 ity shall be subject to disgorgement.’’. 17 SEC. 208. PROHIBITION ON PROVISION OF GIFTS OR TRAV- 18 EL BY REGISTERED LOBBYISTS. 19 Section 25 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 20 (2 U.S.C. 1613) is amended— 21 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘TO 22 MEMBERS OF CONGRESS AND TO CONGRES- 23 SIONAL EMPLOYEES’’; 24 25 (2) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the following: O:\HEN\HEN18865.xml [file 3 of 7] S.L.C. 88 1 ‘‘(a) PROHIBITION.—Except as provided in sub- 2 section (c), a person described in subsection (b) may not 3 make a gift or provide travel to a covered legislative 4 branch official or a covered executive branch official.’’; and 5 6 (3) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘(c) EXCEPTIONS.—A person described in subsection 7 (b) may make a gift or provide travel to a covered legisla8 tive branch official or a covered executive branch official 9 if— 10 ‘‘(1) the gift or travel complies with any appli- 11 cable rule of the Senate, House of Representatives, 12 or executive branch applicable to the recipient of the 13 gift or travel; and 14 ‘‘(2) the gift or travel— 15 ‘‘(A) is based on the personal or family re- 16 lationship of the person with the covered legis- 17 lative branch official or a covered executive 18 branch official and is given with the knowledge 19 and acquiescence of the covered legislative 20 branch official or a covered executive branch of- 21 ficial, unless the covered legislative branch offi- 22 cial or a covered executive branch official has 23 reason to believe that the gift or travel was 24 given because of the official position of the cov- O:\HEN\HEN18865.xml [file 3 of 7] S.L.C. 89 1 ered legislative branch official or a covered ex- 2 ecutive branch official; 3 ‘‘(B) is a discount or similar benefit; 4 ‘‘(C) results from the business or employ- 5 ment activities of the spouse of the covered leg- 6 islative branch official or a covered executive 7 branch official; 8 ‘‘(D) is a gift or travel customarily pro- 9 vided by a prospective employer in connection 10 with bona fide employment discussions; 11 ‘‘(E) in the case of a covered executive 12 branch official, is of a kind authorized by a 13 supplemental agency regulation that is— 14 15 16 ‘‘(i) issued by the agency that employs the covered executive branch official; and ‘‘(ii) approved by the Director of the 17 Office of Public Integrity; or 18 ‘‘(F) may be accepted by the covered legis- 19 lative branch official or covered executive 20 branch official under specific Federal statutory 21 authority.’’. 22 23 24 SEC. 209. APPLICATION OF GENERAL SCHEDULE TO CONGRESS. (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 5331 of title 5, United 25 States Code, is amended— O:\HEN\HEN18865.xml [file 3 of 7] S.L.C. 90 1 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘this sub- 2 chapter, ‘agency’, ‘employee’, ‘position’,’’ and insert- 3 ing the following: ‘‘this subchapter— 4 5 6 7 8 9 ‘‘(1) ‘agency’— ‘‘(A) has the meaning given that term in section 5102 of this title; and ‘‘(B) includes— ‘‘(i) the Government Accountability Office; and 10 ‘‘(ii) any agency, office, or other enti- 11 ty for which the pay of the employees of 12 the agency, office, or other entity is dis- 13 bursed by the Secretary of the Senate or 14 the Chief Administrative Officer of the 15 House of Representatives; 16 17 18 19 ‘‘(2) ‘employee’— ‘‘(A) means an individual employed in or under an agency; and ‘‘(B) does not include a Member of Con- 20 gress; and 21 ‘‘(3) ‘position’,’’; and 22 (2) in subsection (b), by inserting ‘‘and employ- 23 ees in positions in an agency described in subsection 24 (a)(1)(B)’’ after ‘‘chapter 51 applies’’. 25 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— O:\HEN\HEN18865.xml [file 3 of 7] S.L.C. 91 1 2 (1) Section 5 of the Federal Pay Comparability Act of 1970 (2 U.S.C. 4531) is repealed. 3 (2) Section 311 of the Legislative Branch Ap- 4 propriations Act, 1988 (2 U.S.C. 4532) is repealed. 5 (3) Sections 471 and 475 of the Legislative Re- 6 organization Act of 1970 (2 U.S.C. 4533, 4534) are 7 repealed. 8 9 (4) Section 4 of the Federal Pay Comparability Act of 1970 (2 U.S.C. 4571) is repealed. 10 (5) Section 107 of the Legislative Branch Ap- 11 propriation Act, 1977 (2 U.S.C. 4572) is repealed. 12 (6) Section 315 of the Legislative Branch Ap- 13 propriations Act, 1991 (2 U.S.C. 4573) is repealed. 14 (7) Section 105 of the Legislative Branch Ap- 15 propriation Act, 1968 (2 U.S.C. 4575) is amended— 16 (A) by striking subsection (a); 17 (B) by striking subsection (c); 18 (C) by striking subsection (e); and 19 (D) by striking subsection (f). 20 (8) Section 114 of the Legislative Branch Ap- 21 propriation Act, 1978 (2 U.S.C. 4576) is amended 22 by striking ‘‘maximum rate specified’’ and all that 23 follows and inserting ‘‘rate payable for a position at 24 level 15, step 10 of the General Schedule.’’. O:\HEN\HEN18865.xml [file 3 of 7] S.L.C. 92 1 (9) Section 102(c)(2)(B) of the Legislative 2 Branch 3 4579(c)(2)(B)) is amended by striking ‘‘exceeding’’ 4 and all that follows and inserting ‘‘exceeding 1⁄12th 5 of the maximum annual rate of pay that is payable 6 for positions on the General Schedule under section 7 5304(g)(1) of title 5, United States Code.’’. 8 Act, 2002 (2 U.S.C. SEC. 210. REESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE OF TECHNOLOGY 9 10 Appropriations ASSESSMENT. (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 11 12(a) of the Technology Assessment Act of 1972 (2 12 U.S.C. 481(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘there is hereby’’ 13 and all that follows through the period at the end and 14 inserting ‘‘for each fiscal year there is authorized to be 15 appropriated to the Office such sums as may be nec16 essary.’’. 17 (b) INITIAL APPOINTMENTS.—Not later than 60 days 18 after the date on which appropriations are made available 19 to reestablish the Office of Technology Assessment, the 20 President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of 21 the House of Representatives shall appoint the members 22 of the Technology Assessment Board in accordance with 23 section 4(a) of the Technology Assessment Act of 1972 24 (2 U.S.C. 473(a)). 25 (c) INITIAL RECOMMENDATIONS.— O:\HEN\HEN18865.xml [file 3 of 7] S.L.C. 93 1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 270 days 2 after the date on which all members of the Tech- 3 nology Assessment Board are appointed under sub- 4 section (b), and after reviewing recommendations re- 5 lating to the reestablishment of the Office of Tech- 6 nology Assessment and meeting with relevant stake- 7 holders, the Technology Assessment Board shall sub- 8 mit to Congress recommendations concerning how 9 Congress should enhance technology assessment sup- 10 port for the legislative branch, including whether 11 Congress should enact new or revised authorities 12 that address resources, function, structure, or other 13 matters the Technology Assessment Board deter- 14 mines appropriate. 15 (2) REVIEW.—Not later than 90 days after the 16 date on which Congress receives the recommenda- 17 tions under paragraph (1), each committee of the 18 Senate or the House of Representatives with juris- 19 diction of any issue relating to technology assess- 20 ment support for the legislative branch shall hold a 21 hearing with respect to the recommendations. 22 (d) ADJUSTMENTS TO OTHER LAWS.— 23 (1) ANNUAL REPORTS.—Section 3003(a)(1) of 24 the Federal Reports Elimination and Sunset Act of 25 1995 (31 U.S.C. 1113 note) shall not apply to any O:\HEN\HEN18865.xml [file 3 of 7] S.L.C. 94 1 report submitted under section 11 of the Technology 2 Assessment Act of 1972 (Public Law 92–48, 86 3 Stat. 802). 4 (2) INFORMATION FOR THE CONGRESSIONAL 5 BUDGET OFFICE.—Section 6 sional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 601(e)) is 7 amended— 201(e) of the Congres- 8 (A) by inserting ‘‘the Office of Technology 9 Assessment,’’ after ‘‘Government Accountability 10 11 Office,’’; and (B) by inserting ‘‘the Technology Assess- 12 ment Board,’’ after ‘‘Comptroller General,’’. 13 (3) INCLUSION AS AN INSTRUMENTALITY OF 14 CONGRESS.—Section 510(4) of the Americans with 15 Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12209(4)) is 16 amended by striking ‘‘following:,’’ and inserting ‘‘fol- 17 lowing: the Office of Technology Assessment,’’. 18 (e) TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.—Section 7(e)(1) of 19 the Technology Assessment Act of 1972 (2 U.S.C. 20 476(e)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘section 5702 and in 21 5704 of title 5’’ and inserting ‘‘sections 5702 and 5704 22 of title 5, United States Code’’. 23 24 25 SEC. 211. PROGRESSIVE TAX ON LOBBYING EXPENDITURES. (a) TAX PROVISIONS RELATING PENDITURES.— TO LOBBYING EX- O:\HEN\HEN18865.xml [file 3 of 7] S.L.C. 95 1 (1) EXCISE 2 BYING ACTIVITIES.— 3 (A) IN TAX ON EXPENDITURES FOR LOB- GENERAL.—Chapter 33 of the In- 4 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by in- 5 serting after subchapter C the following new 6 subchapter: ‘‘Subchapter D—Lobbying Activities 7 ‘‘Sec. 4286. Imposition of tax. 8 ‘‘SEC. 4286. IMPOSITION OF TAX. 9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There is hereby imposed on 10 quarterly lobbying expenditures in excess of $125,000 a 11 tax determined in accordance with the following table: ‘‘If quarterly lobbying expenditures are: Over $125,000 but not over $250,000. Over $250,000 but not over $1,250,000. Over $1,250,000 ............................ 12 13 The tax is: 35% of the quarterly lobbying expenditures in excess of $125,000. $43,750, plus 60% of the excess over $250,000. $643,750, plus 75% of the excess over $1,250,000. ‘‘(b) EXCEPTION.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 14 graph (2), the tax imposed by this section shall not 15 apply to any organization described in section 501(c) 16 and exempt from tax under section 501(a). 17 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION TO CERTAIN BUSINESS OR- 18 GANIZATIONS.—Paragraph 19 organization which— (1) shall not apply to any O:\HEN\HEN18865.xml [file 3 of 7] S.L.C. 96 1 ‘‘(A) is described in section 501(c)(6) and 2 exempt from tax under section 501(a), and 3 ‘‘(B) has as a member of such organization 4 an organization that is not described in section 5 501(c) and exempt from tax under section 6 501(a). 7 ‘‘(c) PAYMENT OF TAX.—The tax imposed by this 8 section shall be paid by the person paying for the quarterly 9 lobbying expenditures. 10 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the 11 term ‘quarterly lobbying expenditures’ means, with respect 12 to any calendar quarter, the expenditures paid or incurred 13 for lobbying activities (as defined under section 3 of the 14 Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995) during such calendar 15 quarter. 16 ‘‘(e) SPECIAL RULE.—For purposes of this section, 17 all persons treated as a single employer under subsection 18 (a) or (b) of section 52 shall be treated as a single per19 son.’’. 20 (B) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The 21 table of subchapters for chapter 33 of such 22 Code is amended by inserting after the item re- 23 lated to subchapter C the following new item: ‘‘SUBCHAPTER 24 25 D—LOBBYING ACTIVITIES’’. (C) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by this paragraph shall apply to amounts O:\HEN\HEN18865.xml [file 3 of 7] S.L.C. 97 1 paid or incurred in calendar quarters beginning 2 more than 60 days after the date of the enact- 3 ment of this Act. 4 (2) MODIFICATION OF DEFINITION OF INFLU- 5 ENCING LEGISLATION FOR PURPOSES OF RESTRIC- 6 TIONS ON CERTAIN CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS.— 7 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 4911(e)(2) of 8 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amend- 9 ed— 10 (i) by striking ‘‘includes action with 11 respect to Acts, bills’’ and inserting ‘‘in- 12 cludes— 13 14 15 16 ‘‘(i) the formulation, modification, or adoption of Acts, bills’’, and (ii) by adding at the end the following new subparagraphs: 17 ‘‘(ii) the formulation, modification, or 18 adoption of a Federal rule, regulation, Ex- 19 ecutive order, or any other program, policy, 20 or position of the United States Govern- 21 ment, 22 ‘‘(iii) the administration or execution 23 of a Federal program or policy (including 24 the negotiation, award, or administration O:\HEN\HEN18865.xml [file 3 of 7] S.L.C. 98 1 of a Federal contract, grant, loan, permit, 2 or license), and 3 ‘‘(iv) the nomination or confirmation 4 of a person for a position subject to con- 5 firmation by the Senate.’’. 6 (B) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 7 4911(e) of such Code is amended by striking 8 paragraph (3) and redesignating paragraph (4) 9 as paragraph (3). 10 (C) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments 11 made by this paragraph shall take effect 180 12 days after the date of the enactment of this 13 Act. 14 15 16 (b) LOBBYING DEFENSE TRUST FUND.— (1) ESTABLISHMENT (A) IN OF FUND.— GENERAL.—Subchapter A of chap- 17 ter 98 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 18 amended by adding at the end the following 19 new section: 20 21 ‘‘SEC. 9512. LOBBYING DEFENSE TRUST FUND. ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the 22 Treasury of the United States a trust fund to be known 23 as the ‘Lobbying Defense Trust Fund’, consisting of any 24 amount appropriated or credited to the Trust Fund as 25 provided in this section or section 9602(b). O:\HEN\HEN18865.xml [file 3 of 7] S.L.C. 99 1 ‘‘(b) TRANSFERS TO TRUST FUND.—There is hereby 2 appropriated to the Lobbying Defense Trust Fund 3 amounts equivalent to— 4 5 ‘‘(1) the taxes received in the Treasury under section 4286, and 6 ‘‘(2) the civil penalties collected under the Anti- 7 Corruption and Public Integrity Act and the amend- 8 ments made by that Act. 9 ‘‘(c) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts transferred to the 10 Lobbying Defense Trust Fund shall— 11 ‘‘(1) remain available until expended; and 12 ‘‘(2) be used, without further appropriation, by 13 the Director of the Office of Public Integrity in ac- 14 cordance with subsection (d). 15 ‘‘(d) USE OF FUNDS.— 16 17 ‘‘(1) TRANSFERS ‘‘(A) IN TO AGENCIES.— GENERAL.—For each calendar 18 quarter beginning more than 60 days after the 19 date of the enactment of this section, not later 20 than 30 days after the end of the quarter, the 21 Director of the Office of Public Integrity (in 22 this subsection referred to as the ‘Director’) 23 shall identify specific rules or other agency ac- 24 tions that were the subject of significant lob- O:\HEN\HEN18865.xml [file 3 of 7] S.L.C. 100 1 bying activity directed toward an executive 2 agency during the quarter. 3 ‘‘(B) TRANSFER.—Not later than the end 4 of each calendar quarter beginning more than 5 60 days after the date of the enactment of this 6 section, the Director shall transfer from the 7 Lobbying Defense Trust Fund to each executive 8 agency that was the subject of significant lob- 9 bying activity during the previous quarter an 10 amount equal to the amount obtained by multi- 11 plying— 12 ‘‘(i) the amount of taxes received in 13 the Treasury under section 4286 that are 14 attributable to lobbying expenditures dur- 15 ing the previous quarter; by 16 ‘‘(ii) the percentage of such taxes that 17 were based on lobbying expenditures dur- 18 ing the previous quarter related to rule- 19 making within the jurisdiction of the exec- 20 utive agency. 21 ‘‘(C) USE OF TRANSFERRED FUNDS.—An 22 executive agency may use amounts transferred 23 under subparagraph (B) for salaries and ex- 24 penses relating to researching, reviewing, or fi- 25 nalizing rules or other agency actions in accord- O:\HEN\HEN18865.xml [file 3 of 7] S.L.C. 101 1 ance with section 553 or 554 of title 5, United 2 States Code. 3 ‘‘(D) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts transferred 4 under subparagraph (B) shall remain available 5 until expended. 6 ‘‘(2) OFFICE 7 OF THE PUBLIC ADVOCATE.— ‘‘(A) BUDGET SUBMISSION.—For each fis- 8 cal year beginning more than 60 days after the 9 date of enactment of this section, the National 10 Public Advocate shall submit to the Director a 11 request— 12 ‘‘(i) indicating the amount the Na- 13 tional Public Advocate is requesting be 14 transferred to the Office of the Public Ad- 15 vocate; and 16 ‘‘(ii) describing the activities of the 17 Office of the Public Advocate that would 18 be carried out using the amounts. 19 ‘‘(B) TRANSFER.—After consideration of 20 the request submitted under subparagraph (A) 21 with respect to a fiscal year, the Director shall 22 transfer to the Office of the Public Advocate 23 from the Lobbying Defense Trust Fund the 24 amount determined appropriate by the Director. O:\HEN\HEN18865.xml [file 3 of 7] S.L.C. 102 1 ‘‘(C) USE OF FUNDS.—Amounts trans- 2 ferred under subparagraph (B) may be used for 3 any authorized activity of the Office of the Pub- 4 lic Advocate, including salaries and expenses. 5 ‘‘(D) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts transferred 6 under subparagraph (B) shall remain available 7 until expended. 8 ‘‘(3) CONGRESSIONAL SUPPORT AGENCIES.— 9 ‘‘(A) TRANSFER.—Not later than the end 10 of each calendar quarter beginning more than 11 60 days after the date of the enactment of this 12 section, the Director shall transfer from the 13 Lobbying Defense Trust Fund to the Congres- 14 sional Research Service, the Congressional 15 Budget Office, the Government Accountability 16 Office, and the Office of Technology Assess- 17 ment an amount equal to 25 percent of the dif- 18 ference between— 19 ‘‘(i) the amount of taxes received in 20 the Treasury under section 4286 that are 21 attributable to lobbying expenditures dur- 22 ing the previous quarter; and 23 ‘‘(ii) the amount of such taxes that 24 were based on lobbying expenditures dur- 25 ing the previous quarter related to rule- O:\HEN\HEN18865.xml [file 3 of 7] S.L.C. 103 1 making within the jurisdiction of an execu- 2 tive agency. 3 ‘‘(B) USE OF FUNDS.—Amounts trans- 4 ferred under subparagraph (A) may be used for 5 any authorized activity of the agency receiving 6 the amounts, including salaries and expenses. 7 ‘‘(C) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts transferred 8 under subparagraph (A) shall remain available 9 until expended. 10 ‘‘(4) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days 11 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director 12 shall promulgate regulations defining the term ‘sig- 13 nificant lobbying activity’ for purposes of this sub- 14 section.’’. 15 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec- 16 tions for subchapter A of chapter 98 of such Code 17 is amended by adding at the end the following new 18 item: ‘‘Sec. 9512. Lobbying Defense trust fund.’’. 19 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 20 by this subsection shall take effect on the date of en- 21 actment of this Act. 22 23 SEC. 212. DISCLOSURE OF REGISTRATION STATUS. Section 14 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 24 (2 U.S.C. 1609) is amended— O:\MIR\MIR18852.xml [file 4 of 7] S.L.C. 104 1 (1) by striking subsections (a) and (b) and in- 2 serting the following: 3 ‘‘(a) LOBBYING CONTACTS.—Any person or entity 4 that makes a lobbying contact with a covered legislative 5 branch official or a covered executive branch official shall, 6 at the time of the lobbying contact, state whether the per7 son or entity is registered under this Act and identify the 8 client on whose behalf the lobbying contact is made.’’; and 9 10 (2) by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection (b). 12 TITLE III—RULEMAKING REFORM 13 SEC. 301. DISCLOSURE OF CONFLICTS OF INTEREST. 11 14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 553 of title 5, United 15 States Code, is amended— 16 (1) in subsection (c), in the first sentence, by 17 inserting ‘‘, subject to subsections (f) and (h),’’ after 18 ‘‘the agency shall’’; and 19 20 (2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘(f) With respect to any submission by an interested 21 person under subsection (c) or any other submission by 22 an interested person relating to a proposed rule that incor23 porates or includes a scientific or technical study, or any 24 other result of scientific research not published in a pub- O:\MIR\MIR18852.xml [file 4 of 7] S.L.C. 105 1 licly available peer-reviewed publication, the interested 2 person, in making that submission, shall disclose— 3 4 5 6 ‘‘(1) the source of the funding for that study or research, as applicable; ‘‘(2) any entity that sponsored the study or research; 7 ‘‘(3) the extent to which the findings of the 8 study or research were reviewed by a party that may 9 be affected by the rule making to which the submis- 10 11 12 sion relates; ‘‘(4) the identity of any party identified under paragraph (3); and 13 ‘‘(5) the nature of any financial relationship, in- 14 cluding a consulting agreement, the support of any 15 expert witness, and the funding of research, between 16 any person that conducted the study or research and 17 any interested person with respect to the rule mak- 18 ing to which the submission relates.’’. 19 (b) APPLICATION.—Section 553(f) of title 5, United 20 States Code, as added by subsection (a), shall apply with 21 respect to submissions made by interested persons on and 22 after the date of enactment of this Act. O:\MIR\MIR18852.xml [file 4 of 7] S.L.C. 106 1 2 3 SEC. 302. INCREASING DISCLOSURES RELATING TO STUDIES AND RESEARCH. (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 553 of title 5, United 4 States Code, as amended by section 301 of this Act, is 5 amended by adding at the end the following: 6 ‘‘(g) With respect to a study or research that is sub- 7 mitted by an interested person to an agency under sub8 section (c), the agency shall ensure that the study or re9 search is available to the public, unless disclosure is pro10 hibited under section 552 of this title. 11 ‘‘(h)(1) If a study or research submitted by an inter- 12 ested person to an agency under subsection (c) presents 13 a conflict described in paragraph (2), the agency shall not 14 consider the study or research in a rule making under this 15 section and shall exclude the study or research from con16 sideration, unless the interested person has certified, 17 under standards developed by the National Academy of 18 Sciences with respect to that certification, that the study 19 or research has undergone independent peer review. 20 ‘‘(2) A conflict described in this paragraph means a 21 study or research for which— 22 ‘‘(A) not less than 20 percent of the funding for 23 the study or research is from an entity that is regu- 24 lated by the agency; or 25 ‘‘(B) an entity that is regulated by the agency 26 exercises editorial control over the study or research. O:\MIR\MIR18852.xml [file 4 of 7] S.L.C. 107 1 ‘‘(i) With respect to a rule making under this section, 2 an agency shall include in the notice of proposed rule mak3 ing required under subsection (b) and in the final rule 4 published under subsection (d) a description of how the 5 agency considered scientific evidence, including any study 6 or research.’’. 7 (b) APPLICATION.—Subsections (g), (h), and (i) of 8 section 553 of title 5, United States Code, as added by 9 subsection (a), shall apply with respect to submissions 10 made by interested persons on and after the date of enact11 ment of this Act. 12 SEC. 303. DISCLOSURE OF INTER-GOVERNMENTAL RULE 13 14 15 16 CHANGES. (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— (1) the term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Administrator of the Office; 17 (2) the terms ‘‘agency’’, ‘‘regulatory action’’, 18 and ‘‘significant regulatory action’’ have the mean- 19 ings given those terms in section 3 of the Executive 20 Order; 21 (3) the term ‘‘Executive Order’’ means Execu- 22 tive Order 12866 (5 U.S.C. 601 note; relating to 23 regulatory planning and review); and 24 25 (4) the term ‘‘Office’’ means the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. O:\MIR\MIR18852.xml [file 4 of 7] S.L.C. 108 1 (b) REQUIREMENT.—With respect to any regulatory 2 action that an agency provides to the Office under section 3 6(a)(3) of the Executive Order, and that the Adminis4 trator determines is a significant regulatory action under 5 that section, the agency shall— 6 (1) not later than the date on which the agency 7 publishes the general notice of proposed rule making 8 required under section 553(b) of title 5, United 9 States Code, with respect to the action, place in the 10 rule making docket— 11 (A) the substance of any changes between 12 the text of the draft regulatory action that the 13 agency provided to the Office under section 14 6(a)(3)(B)(i) of the Executive Order and the 15 text published in that general notice with re- 16 spect to the action; and 17 (B) a statement regarding whether any 18 change described in subparagraph (A) was 19 made at the request of— 20 (i) the Office; 21 (ii) another agency; or 22 (iii) a Member of Congress; and 23 (2) not later than the date on which the agency 24 publishes the regulatory action in the Federal Reg- 25 ister, place in the rule making docket— O:\MIR\MIR18852.xml [file 4 of 7] S.L.C. 109 1 (A) the substance of any changes between 2 the text of the regulatory action that the agency 3 provided 4 6(a)(3)(B)(i) of the Executive Order and the 5 text of the regulatory action that the agency 6 published in the Federal Register; and to the Office under section 7 (B) a statement regarding whether any 8 change described in subparagraph (A) was 9 made at the request of— 10 (i) the Office; 11 (ii) another agency; or 12 (iii) a Member of Congress. 13 14 15 16 SEC. 304. JUSTIFICATION OF WITHDRAWN RULES. (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— (1) the term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Administrator of the Office; 17 (2) the terms ‘‘agency’’ and ‘‘regulatory action’’ 18 have the meanings given those terms in section 3 of 19 the Executive Order; 20 (3) the term ‘‘Executive Order’’ means Execu- 21 tive Order 12866 (5 U.S.C. 601 note; relating to 22 regulatory planning and review); and 23 (4) the term ‘‘Office’’ means the Office of In- 24 formation and Regulatory Affairs. 25 (b) REQUIREMENT.— O:\MIR\MIR18852.xml [file 4 of 7] S.L.C. 110 1 (1) IN GENERAL.—If an agency withdraws a 2 regulatory action after providing the action to the 3 Office under section 6(a)(3) of the Executive Order 4 (or, if the agency does not provide the regulatory ac- 5 tion to the Office under that section, after pub- 6 lishing the general notice of proposed rule making 7 with respect to the action under section 553(b) of 8 title 5, United States Code), the agency shall publish 9 in the Federal Register and on the website of the 10 agency a statement regarding the decision by the 11 agency to withdraw the action. 12 (2) CONTENTS.—A statement required under 13 paragraph (1) with respect to a decision by an agen- 14 cy to withdraw a regulatory action shall include, at 15 a minimum— 16 17 (A) a detailed explanation of the reasons that the agency withdrew the action; and 18 (B) an explanation regarding whether the 19 decision by the agency to withdraw the action 20 was based, in whole or in part, on a request by, 21 or input from— 22 (i) the Office; 23 (ii) another agency; 24 (iii) a Member of Congress; O:\MIR\MIR18852.xml [file 4 of 7] S.L.C. 111 1 2 (iv) a State, local, or tribal government; or 3 (v) an organization, a corporation, a 4 member of the public, or another inter- 5 ested party. 6 7 SEC. 305. NEGOTIATED RULE MAKING. (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter III of chapter 5 of 8 title 5, United States Code, is amended— 9 (1) in section 561, in the first sentence, by in- 10 serting ‘‘between agencies and Federal, State, local, 11 or tribal governments. This subchapter shall apply 12 only to information negotiations between Federal, 13 State, local, or tribal governments’’ after ‘‘informal 14 rulemaking process’’; 15 16 (2) in section 563— (A) in subsection (a)— 17 (i) in paragraph (2), by inserting 18 ‘‘Federal, State, local, or tribal govern- 19 ment’’ after ‘‘identifiable’’; and 20 (ii) in paragraph (3), by striking 21 ‘‘persons who’’ and inserting ‘‘representa- 22 tives of Federal, State, local, and tribal 23 governments that’’; 24 (B) in subsection (b)— 25 (i) in paragraph (1)— O:\MIR\MIR18852.xml [file 4 of 7] S.L.C. 112 1 (I) in subparagraph (A)— 2 (aa) by striking ‘‘persons 3 who’’ and inserting ‘‘Federal, 4 State, local, or tribal govern- 5 ments that’’; and 6 (bb) by striking ‘‘, including 7 residents of rural areas’’; and 8 (II) in subparagraph (B)— 9 (aa) by striking ‘‘with such 10 persons’’ and inserting ‘‘with rep- 11 resentatives 12 ments’’; and of those govern- 13 (bb) by striking ‘‘to such 14 persons’’ and inserting ‘‘to those 15 governments’’; and 16 17 (ii) in paragraph (2), in the second sentence— 18 (I) by striking ‘‘persons who’’ 19 and inserting ‘‘representatives of Fed- 20 eral, State, local, or tribal govern- 21 ments that’’; and 22 23 24 (II) by striking ‘‘, including residents of rural areas’’; (3) in section 564— O:\MIR\MIR18852.xml [file 4 of 7] S.L.C. 113 1 (A) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘; 2 applications for membership on com- 3 mittees’’; 4 (B) in subsection (a)— 5 (i) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘the 6 persons’’ and inserting ‘‘the representa- 7 tives of Federal, State, local, and tribal 8 governments’’; 9 10 11 12 13 (ii) in paragraph (6), by adding ‘‘and’’ at the end; and (iii) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and inserting a period; and (iv) by striking paragraph (8); 14 (C) by striking subsection (b); 15 (D) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub- 16 section (b); and 17 (E) in subsection (b), as so redesignated— 18 (i) in the subsection heading, by strik- 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 ing ‘‘AND APPLICATIONS’’; and (ii) by striking ‘‘and applications’’; (4) in section 565(a)— (A) in paragraph (1), in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘and applications’’; and (B) in paragraph (2)— (i) by striking ‘‘and applications’’; and O:\MIR\MIR18852.xml [file 4 of 7] S.L.C. 114 1 (ii) by striking ‘‘publications,’’ and all 2 that follows through the period at the end 3 and inserting ‘‘publications.’’; and 4 (5) in section 569(a), in the first sentence— 5 6 (A) by striking ‘‘and encourage agency use of’’; and 7 (B) by inserting ‘‘between Federal, State, 8 local, and tribal governments’’ after ‘‘negotiated 9 rulemaking’’. 10 11 (b) TECHNICAL AND (1) BALANCED CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— BUDGET ACT OF 1997.—Section 12 4554(b)(1) of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (42 13 U.S.C. 1395u note) is amended by striking ‘‘, using 14 a negotiated rulemaking process under subchapter 15 III of chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code’’. 16 (2) ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION 17 ACT OF 1965.—The 18 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) is 19 amended— 20 Elementary and Secondary Edu- (A) in section 1601 (20 U.S.C. 6571)— 21 (i) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘sub- 22 sections (b) through (d)’’ and insert ‘‘sub- 23 section (b)’’; 24 25 (ii) by striking subsections (b) and (c); and O:\MIR\MIR18852.xml [file 4 of 7] S.L.C. 115 1 (iii) by redesignating subsections (d) 2 and (e) as subsections (b) and (c), respec- 3 tively; 4 (B) by repealing section 1602 (20 U.S.C. 5 6572); and 6 (C) in section 8204(c)(1) (20 U.S.C. 7 7824(c)(1)), by striking ‘‘using a negotiated 8 rulemaking process to develop regulations for 9 implementation no later than the 2017-2018 10 academic year, shall define’’ and inserting 11 ‘‘shall, for implementation no later than the 12 2017-2018 academic year, define’’. 13 (3) HEALTH INSURANCE PORTABILITY AND AC- 14 COUNTABILITY ACT OF 1996.—Section 15 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act 16 of 1996 (42 U.S.C. 1320a–7b note) is amended— 17 18 216(b) of the (A) in the subsection heading, by striking ‘‘NEGOTIATED’’; 19 (B) by striking ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—’’ 20 and all that follows through ‘‘chapter 5 of title 21 5, United States Code, standards’’ and insert- 22 ing the following: 23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health 24 and Human Services (in this subsection referred to 25 as the ‘Secretary’) shall establish standards’’; O:\MIR\MIR18852.xml [file 4 of 7] S.L.C. 116 1 2 (C) by striking paragraphs (2) through (9); 3 (D) by redesignating subparagraph (B) of 4 paragraph (1) as paragraph (2) and adjusting 5 the margins accordingly; and 6 (E) in paragraph (2), as so redesignated, 7 by striking ‘‘subparagraph (A)’’ and inserting 8 ‘‘paragraph (1)’’. 9 (4) HIGHER EDUCATION ACT OF 1965.—The 10 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et 11 seq.) is amended— 12 (A) in section 207 (20 U.S.C. 1022f)— 13 (i) by striking subsection (c); and 14 (ii) by redesignating subsection (d) as 15 subsection (c); 16 (B) in section 422(g)(1) (20 U.S.C. 17 18 19 20 21 1072(g)(1))— (i) in subparagraph (B), by adding ‘‘and’’ at the end; (ii) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and inserting a period; and 22 (iii) by striking subparagraph (D); 23 (C) in section 487A(b)(3)(B) (20 U.S.C. 24 1094a(b)(3)(B)), by striking ‘‘in the negotiated 25 rulemaking process,’’; O:\MIR\MIR18852.xml [file 4 of 7] S.L.C. 117 1 (D) in section 491(l)(4)(A) (20 U.S.C. 2 1098(l)(4)(A)), by striking ‘‘, not later than two 3 years after the completion of the negotiated 4 rulemaking process required under section 492 5 resulting from the amendments to this Act 6 made by the Higher Education Opportunity 7 Act,’’; and 8 9 10 11 12 13 (E) in section 492 (20 U.S.C. 1098a)— (i) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘NEGOTIATED’’; and (ii) by amending subsection (b) to read as follows: ‘‘(b) ISSUANCE OF REGULATIONS.—After obtaining 14 the advice and recommendations described in subsection 15 (a)(1), the Secretary shall issue final regulations within 16 the 360-day period described in section 437(e) of the Gen17 eral Education Provisions Act (12 U.S.C. 1232(e)).’’. 18 (5) HOUSING ACT OF 1949.—Section 515(r)(3) 19 of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1485) is 20 amended by striking ‘‘in accordance with’’ and all 21 that follows through the period at the end and in- 22 serting ‘‘under the rule making authority contained 23 in section 557 of title 5, United States Code.’’. 24 25 (6) MAGNUSON-STEVENS FISHERY CONSERVA- TION AND MANAGEMENT ACT.—Section 305(g) of O:\MIR\MIR18852.xml [file 4 of 7] S.L.C. 118 1 the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 2 Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1855(g)) is amended— 3 (A) by striking paragraphs (2) and (3); 4 (B) in paragraph (1)— 5 (i) by striking ‘‘(A)’’; and 6 (ii) by redesignating subparagraph 7 (B) as paragraph (2) and adjusting the 8 margins accordingly; and 9 (C) in paragraph (2), as so redesignated, 10 by striking the second sentence. 11 (7) MANDATORY PRICE REPORTING ACT OF 12 2010.—Section 13 ing Act of 2010 (Public Law 111–239; 124 Stat. 14 2501) is amended— 2(b) of the Mandatory Price Report- 15 (A) by striking ‘‘WHOLESALE PORK CUTS’’ 16 and all that follows through ‘‘Chapter 3’’ and 17 inserting ‘‘WHOLESALE PORK CUTS.—Chapter 18 3’’; and 19 (B) by striking paragraphs (2), (3), and 20 (4) (7 U.S.C. 1635k note). 21 (8) PATIENT PROTECTION AND AFFORDABLE 22 CARE ACT.—Section 23 and Affordable Care Act (42 U.S.C. 254b note) is 24 amended— 5602 of the Patient Protection O:\MIR\MIR18852.xml [file 4 of 7] S.L.C. 119 1 2 (A) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘NEGOTIATED’’; 3 4 5 (B) by striking subsections (b) through (h); (C) in subsection (a)— 6 (i) by redesignating paragraph (2) as 7 subsection (b) and adjusting the margins 8 accordingly; and 9 (ii) in paragraph (1)— 10 (I) by striking ‘‘(1) 11 ERAL.—’’; IN GEN- and 12 (II) by redesignating subpara- 13 graphs (A) and (B) as paragraphs (1) 14 and (2), respectively; and 15 (D) in subsection (b), as so redesignated, 16 by striking ‘‘paragraph (1)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub- 17 section (a)’’. 18 (9) PRICE-ANDERSON AMENDMENTS ACT OF 19 1988.—The 20 1988 (Public Law 100–408; 102 Stat. 1066) is 21 amended— Price-Anderson Amendments Act of 22 (A) by striking subsection (b); and 23 (B) in subsection (a)— 24 (i) by striking ‘‘(1) PURPOSE.—’’; and O:\MIR\MIR18852.xml [file 4 of 7] S.L.C. 120 1 (ii) by redesignating paragraph (2) as 2 subsection (b) and adjusting the margins 3 accordingly. 4 (10) SOCIAL SECURITY ACT.—Title XVIII of 5 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395 et seq.) is 6 amended— 7 (A) in section 1834(l)(1) (42 U.S.C. 8 1395m(l)(1)), by striking ‘‘through a negotiated 9 rulemaking process described in title 5, United 10 11 12 States Code, and’’; and (B) in section 1856(a) (42 U.S.C. 1395w– 26(a))— 13 14 15 16 17 (i) by striking paragraphs (2) through (9); (ii) in paragraph (1)— (I) by striking ‘‘(A) IN GEN- ERAL.—’’; 18 (II) by striking ‘‘and using a ne- 19 gotiated rulemaking process under 20 subchapter III of chapter 5 of title 21 5’’; and 22 (III) by redesignating subpara- 23 graph (B) as paragraph (2) and ad- 24 justing the margins accordingly; and O:\MIR\MIR18852.xml [file 4 of 7] S.L.C. 121 1 (iii) in paragraph (2), as so redesig- 2 nated, by striking ‘‘subparagraph (A)’’ and 3 inserting ‘‘paragraph (1)’’. 4 (11) TITLE 5.—The table of sections for sub- 5 chapter III of chapter 5 of title 5, United States 6 Code, is amended by striking the item relating to 7 section 564 and inserting the following: ‘‘564. Publication of notice.’’. 8 9 (12) TITLE 49.—Section 31136(g)(1) of title 49, United States Code, is amended— 10 (A) by striking ‘‘shall—’’ and all that fol- 11 lows through ‘‘issue’’ and inserting ‘‘shall 12 issue’’; 13 (B) by striking ‘‘; or’’ and inserting a pe- 14 riod; and 15 (C) by striking subparagraph (B). 16 (13) TOXIC SUBSTANCES CONTROL ACT.—Sec- 17 tion 8(a) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (15 18 U.S.C. 2607(a)) is amended by striking paragraph 19 (6). 20 (14) UNITED STATES HOUSING ACT OF 1937.— 21 Section 9 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 22 (42 U.S.C. 1437g) is amended by repealing sub- 23 section (f). 24 25 SEC. 306. STREAMLINING OIRA REVIEW. (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— O:\MIR\MIR18852.xml [file 4 of 7] S.L.C. 122 1 2 (1) the term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Administrator of the Office; 3 (2) the terms ‘‘agency’’, ‘‘regulatory action’’, 4 and ‘‘significant regulatory action’’ have the mean- 5 ings given those terms in section 3 of the Executive 6 Order; 7 (3) the term ‘‘Executive Order’’ means Execu- 8 tive Order 12866 (5 U.S.C. 601 note; relating to 9 regulatory planning and review); and 10 (4) the term ‘‘Office’’ means the Office of In- 11 formation and Regulatory Affairs. 12 (b) PROHIBITIONS.— 13 (1) NON-EXECUTIVE BRANCH OFFICIALS.— 14 With respect to a regulatory action of an agency, the 15 Office may not engage in communications or meet- 16 ings with an individual that is not employed by the 17 executive branch of the Federal Government if the 18 regulatory action is or may be subject to review by 19 the Office under section 6(b) of the Executive Order. 20 (2) INFORMAL REVIEW.—With respect to a reg- 21 ulatory action of an agency that may be subject to 22 review by the Office under section 6(b) of the Execu- 23 tive Order, the Office may not engage in commu- 24 nications or meetings with the agency before the 25 date on which the agency submits the regulatory ac- O:\MIR\MIR18852.xml [file 4 of 7] S.L.C. 123 1 tion to the Office under section 6(a)(3) of the Exec- 2 utive Order. 3 (c) TIME PERIOD FOR OIRA REVIEW.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 5 graph (2), the Office shall complete a review of a 6 significant regulatory action under section 6(b) of 7 the Executive Order not less than 45 days after the 8 date on which the Office receives the significant reg- 9 ulatory action under section 6(a)(3) of the Executive 10 Order. 11 (2) EXTENSION.—The Office may extend the 12 45-day period described in paragraph (1) by a single 13 30-day period if the Office provides the agency with, 14 and makes publicly available, a written justification 15 for the extension. 16 (3) PUBLICATION OF REGULATORY ACTION.—If 17 the Office waives review of a significant regulatory 18 action of an agency under section 6(b)(2) of the Ex- 19 ecutive Order without a request for further consider- 20 ation or does not notify the agency in writing of the 21 results of the review under section 6(b) of the Exec- 22 utive Order within the time frame described in para- 23 graph (1) or (2), the agency may publish the signifi- 24 cant regulatory action in the Federal Register. O:\MIR\MIR18852.xml [file 4 of 7] S.L.C. 124 1 SEC. 307. LIMITING TEMPORARY COURT INJUNCTIONS AND 2 POSTPONING OF FINAL RULES PENDING JU- 3 DICIAL REVIEW. 4 Section 705 of title 5, United States Code, is amend- 5 ed— 6 (1) by striking the first sentence; and 7 (2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘Not- 8 withstanding the preceding sentence, with respect to 9 agency action relating to notice and comment rule 10 making under section 553 of this title, on such con- 11 ditions as may be required and to the extent nec- 12 essary to prevent irreparable injury, only the review- 13 ing court to which a case may be taken on appeal 14 from or on application for certiorari or other writ to 15 a reviewing court may issue all necessary and appro- 16 priate process to postpone the effective date of the 17 agency action or to preserve status or rights pending 18 conclusion of the review proceedings.’’. 19 20 21 SEC. 308. PENALIZING INDIVIDUALS THAT SUBMIT FALSE INFORMATION TO AGENCIES. Section 553 of title 5, United States Code, as amend- 22 ed by section 302 of this Act, is amended by adding at 23 the end the following: 24 ‘‘(j) Any person that uses any false writing or docu- 25 ment knowing the same to contain any materially false, 26 fictitious, or fraudulent statement or entry with respect O:\MIR\MIR18852.xml [file 4 of 7] S.L.C. 125 1 to a rule making under this section shall be fined not more 2 than $250,000, imprisoned not more than 5 years, or 3 both.’’. 4 SEC. 309. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE OFFICE OF THE PUBLIC 5 6 ADVOCATE. Section 401 of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 7 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by adding at the end the fol8 lowing: 9 ‘‘(d)(1)(A) There is established in the Office of Public 10 Integrity an office to be known as the ‘Office of the Public 11 Advocate’. 12 ‘‘(B) The Office of the Public Advocate shall be under 13 the supervision of an official to be known as the ‘National 14 Public Advocate’, who shall— 15 16 17 18 19 20 ‘‘(i) be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate; ‘‘(ii) report to the Director of the Office of Public Integrity; ‘‘(iii) not be an employee of the Federal Government; 21 ‘‘(iv) be entitled to compensation at the same 22 rate as the highest rate of basic pay established for 23 the Senior Executive Service under section 5382 of 24 title 5, United States Code; O:\MIR\MIR18852.xml [file 4 of 7] S.L.C. 126 1 2 ‘‘(v) have a background in customer service, consumer protection, and administrative law; 3 ‘‘(vi) have experience representing the public in 4 cases involving rules (as defined in section 551 of 5 title 5, United States Code); 6 ‘‘(vii) not have worked as an officer or employee 7 in any Federal agency during the 2-year period pre- 8 ceding appointment under this subparagraph; and 9 ‘‘(viii) agree not to accept an offer of employ- 10 ment with a Federal agency for not less than 5 11 years after ceasing to serve as the National Public 12 Advocate. 13 ‘‘(2) The duties of the Office of the Public Advocate 14 shall include— 15 16 17 18 19 20 ‘‘(A) assisting individuals in resolving conflicts with agencies; ‘‘(B) assisting agencies in soliciting public participation in the rule making process; ‘‘(C) assisting individuals in participating in the rule making process; and 21 ‘‘(D) identifying areas in which the public has 22 problems in dealing with agencies and proposing 23 changes to mitigate those problems. 24 ‘‘(3) Not later than 180 days after the date on which 25 the National Public Advocate is appointed under this sub- O:\MIR\MIR18852.xml [file 4 of 7] S.L.C. 127 1 section or 180 days after the date of enactment of this 2 subsection, whichever is later, the National Public Advo3 cate shall propose regulations to carry out this sub4 section.’’. 5 6 SEC. 310. ACTIONS BY PRIVATE PERSONS. (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms ‘‘agen- 7 cy’’ and ‘‘rule’’ have the meanings given those terms in 8 section 551 of title 5, United States Code. 9 (b) ACTIONS.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—A person may bring a civil 11 action for the person and for the United States Gov- 12 ernment, in the name of the Government, against 13 any person, including the United States Government 14 and any other governmental instrumentality or agen- 15 cy to the extent permitted by the Eleventh Amend- 16 ment to the Constitution of the United States, for— 17 (A) a violation of a final rule issued by an 18 19 agency; or (B) the failure of the head of an agency to 20 comply with any requirement under this Act. 21 (2) NOTICE.—A copy of the complaint and 22 written disclosure of substantially all material evi- 23 dence and information the person possesses shall be 24 served on the Government pursuant to rule 4(d)(4) 25 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The Gov- O:\MIR\MIR18852.xml [file 4 of 7] S.L.C. 128 1 ernment may elect to intervene and proceed with the 2 action within 60 days after it receives both the com- 3 plaint and the material evidence and information. 4 (3) PARTY CONDUCTING THE ACTION.—Before 5 the expiration of the 60-day period under paragraph 6 (2), the Government shall— 7 (A) proceed with the action, in which case 8 the action shall be conducted by the Govern- 9 ment; or 10 (B) notify the court that it declines to pro- 11 ceed with the action, in which case the person 12 bringing the action shall have the right to con- 13 duct the action. 14 (4) AWARD 15 TO PLAINTIFF.— (A) GOVERNMENT PROCEEDS WITH AC- 16 TION.—If 17 tion brought by a person under this subsection, 18 the person shall receive at least 15 percent but 19 not more than 25 percent of the proceeds of the 20 action or settlement of the claim, depending 21 upon the extent to which the person substan- 22 tially contributed to the prosecution of the ac- 23 tion. Any payment to a person under this sub- 24 paragraph shall be made from the proceeds. 25 The person shall also receive an amount for the Government proceeds with an ac- O:\MIR\MIR18852.xml [file 4 of 7] S.L.C. 129 1 reasonable expenses that the court finds to have 2 been necessarily incurred, plus reasonable attor- 3 ney’s fees and costs. The expenses, fees, and 4 costs shall be awarded against the defendant. 5 (B) GOVERNMENT DOES NOT PROCEED 6 WITH ACTION.—If 7 proceed with an action under this subsection, 8 the person bringing the action or settling the 9 claim shall receive an amount which the court 10 decides is reasonable for collecting the civil pen- 11 alty and damages. The amount shall be not less 12 than 25 percent and not more than 30 percent 13 of the proceeds of the action or settlement and 14 shall be paid out of the proceeds. The person 15 shall also receive an amount for reasonable ex- 16 penses that the court finds to have been nec- 17 essarily incurred, plus reasonable attorney’s 18 fees and costs. The expenses, fees, and costs 19 shall be awarded against the defendant. 20 the Government does not SEC. 311. SCOPE OF REVIEW. 21 Section 706 of title 5, United States Code, is amend- 22 ed— 23 (1) in the first sentence of the matter preceding 24 paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘To the extent nec- O:\MIR\MIR18852.xml [file 4 of 7] S.L.C. 130 1 essary’’ and inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—To the 2 extent necessary’’; 3 (2) in subsection (a), as so designated, by in- 4 serting after the first sentence the following: ‘‘If a 5 statute that an agency administers is silent or am- 6 biguous, and an agency has followed the procedures 7 in section 553 or 554 of this title, as applicable, a 8 reviewing court shall defer to the agency’s reason- 9 able or permissible interpretation of that statute.’’; 10 (3) by striking ‘‘In making the foregoing deter- 11 minations’’ and inserting the following: 12 ‘‘(b) REVIEW OF RECORD.—In making the deter- 13 minations under subsection (a)’’; 14 (4) in subsection (b), as so designated, by in- 15 serting ‘‘except any part of the record that the agen- 16 cy excluded from consideration pursuant to section 17 553(h)(1) of this title,’’ after ‘‘party,’’; and 18 (5) by adding at the end the following: 19 ‘‘(c) UNREASONABLE DELAY.—For purposes of sub- 20 section (a)(1), unreasonable delay shall include— 21 ‘‘(1) when an agency has not issued a notice of 22 proposed rule making within 1 year of the date of 23 enactment of the legislation mandating the rule 24 making, where no deadline for the rule making was 25 specified in the enacted law; O:\MIR\MIR18852.xml [file 4 of 7] S.L.C. 131 1 ‘‘(2) when an agency has not issued a final 2 version of a proposed rule within 1 year of date on 3 which the proposed rule was published in the Fed- 4 eral Register; and 5 ‘‘(3) when an agency has not implemented a 6 final rule within 1 year of the implementation date 7 published in the Federal Register or, if no imple- 8 mentation date was provided, within 1 year of the 9 date on which the final rule was published in the 10 11 12 Federal Register.’’. SEC. 312. EXPANDING RULE MAKING NOTIFICATIONS. Section 553 of title 5, United States Code, as amend- 13 ed by section 308 of this Act, is amended by adding at 14 the end the following: 15 ‘‘(k)(1) Not later than 2 business days after the date 16 on which an agency publishes a notice of proposed rule 17 making or a final rule under this section, the agency shall 18 notify interested parties of the publication. 19 ‘‘(2) The Director of the Government Printing Office 20 shall establish a process under which an agency shall no21 tify interested parties under paragraph (1) through e-mail 22 or postal mail.’’. 23 24 SEC. 313. PUBLIC PETITIONS. Section 553(e) of title 5, United States Code, is 25 amended— O:\MIR\MIR18852.xml [file 4 of 7] S.L.C. 132 1 2 3 4 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘Each agency’’; and (2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘(2) If, during a 60-day period, an agency receives 5 more than 100,000 signatures on a single petition under 6 paragraph (1), the agency shall, not later than 30 days 7 after the date on which the agency receives the petition, 8 provide a written response that includes— 9 ‘‘(A) an explanation of whether the agency has 10 engaged or is engaging in the requested issuance, 11 amendment, or repeal of a rule; and 12 ‘‘(B) if the agency has not engaged in the re- 13 quested issuance, amendment, or repeal of a rule, a 14 written explanation for not engaging in the re- 15 quested issuance, amendment, or repeal.’’. 16 17 SEC. 314. AMENDMENT TO CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW ACT. Section 801(b) of title 5, United States Code, is 18 amended— 19 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘(1)’’; and 20 (2) by striking paragraph (2). 21 22 SEC. 315. COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS. (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms ‘‘agen- 23 cy’’ and ‘‘regulation’’ have the meanings given those terms 24 in section 3 of Executive Order 12866 (5 U.S.C. 601 note; 25 relating to regulatory planning and review). O:\MIR\MIR18852.xml [file 4 of 7] S.L.C. 133 1 (b) REQUIREMENT.—If an agency is performing a 2 cost-benefit analysis in the course of issuing a regulation, 3 the agency shall— 4 (1) take into account the benefits of the regula- 5 tion to the public, including the nonquantifiable ben- 6 efits of the regulation; and 7 8 9 10 (2) adopt a regulation that prioritizes benefits to the public, including nonquantifiable benefits. SEC. 316. SENSE OF CONGRESS. It is the sense of Congress that— 11 (1) the Federal Employees Pay Comparability 12 Act of 1990 (as enacted by section 529 of Public 13 Law 101–509), which was designed to ensure that 14 the disparity in pay between Federal employees on 15 the General Schedule and non-Federal employees is 16 not greater than 5 percent, has not been imple- 17 mented as envisioned, resulting in significant pay 18 disparities between Federal Government and non- 19 Federal employees, including private-sector employ- 20 ees; 21 (2) Federal employees have experienced pay 22 challenges in recent years owing to pay freezes, re- 23 duced pay increases, and unpaid furlough days, 24 which have adversely impacted the ability of the O:\HEN\HEN18866.xml [file 5 of 7] S.L.C. 134 1 Federal Government to recruit and retain skilled 2 employees; and 3 (3) the President and Congress should allow the 4 statutory pay laws to be implemented as intended, 5 providing an annual across-the-board pay adjust- 6 ment and a locality pay adjustment that varies by 7 specific pay locality area. 8 TITLE IV—JUDICIAL ETHICS 9 10 SEC. 401. CLARIFICATION OF GIFT BAN. (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7353 of title 5, United 11 States Code, is amended— 12 (1) in subsection (a), in the matter preceding 13 paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘anything of value’’ and 14 inserting ‘‘a gift’’; and 15 16 17 18 19 (2) in subsection (d)— (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; (B) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 20 (C) by adding at the end the following: 21 ‘‘(3) the term ‘gift’ means anything of value, in- 22 cluding transportation, travel, lodgings and meals, 23 whether provided in-kind, by purchase of a ticket, 24 payment in advance, or reimbursement after the ex- 25 pense has been incurred.’’. O:\HEN\HEN18866.xml [file 5 of 7] S.L.C. 135 1 (b) REGULATIONS.—The Judicial Conference of the 2 United States shall promulgate regulations to carry out 3 the amendment made by subsection (a) with respect to 4 the judicial branch. 5 6 7 SEC. 402. RESTRICT PRIVATELY-FUNDED EDUCATIONAL EVENTS AND SPEECHES. (a) JUDICIAL EDUCATION FUND.— 8 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Chapter 42 of title 28, 9 United States Code, is amended by adding at the 10 end the following: 11 ‘‘§ 630. Judicial Education Fund 12 13 14 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— ‘‘(1) the term ‘Fund’ means the Judicial Education Fund established under subsection (b); 15 ‘‘(2) the term ‘institution of higher education’ 16 has the meaning given that term under section 17 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 18 U.S.C. 1001(a)); 19 ‘‘(3) the term ‘national bar association’ means 20 a national organization that is open to general mem- 21 bership to all members of the bar; 22 ‘‘(4) the term ‘private judicial seminar’— 23 ‘‘(A) means a seminar, symposia, panel 24 discussion, course, or a similar event that pro- 25 vides continuing legal education to judges; and O:\HEN\HEN18866.xml [file 5 of 7] S.L.C. 136 1 ‘‘(B) does not include— 2 ‘‘(i) seminars that last 1 day or less 3 and are conducted by, and on the campus 4 of, an institute of higher education; 5 ‘‘(ii) seminars that last 1 day or less 6 and are conducted by a national bar asso- 7 ciation or State or local bar association for 8 the benefit of the bar association member- 9 ship; or 10 ‘‘(iii) seminars of any length con- 11 ducted by, and on the campus of an insti- 12 tute of higher education or by a national 13 bar association or State or local bar asso- 14 ciation, where a judge is a presenter and 15 at which judges constitute less than 25 16 percent of the participants; and 17 ‘‘(5) the term ‘State or local bar association’ 18 means a State or local organization that is open to 19 general membership to all members of the bar in the 20 specified geographic region. 21 ‘‘(b) FUND.—There is established within the United 22 States Treasury a fund to be known as the ‘Judicial Edu23 cation Fund’. 24 ‘‘(c) USE OF AMOUNTS.—Amounts in the Fund may 25 be made available for the payment of necessary expenses, O:\HEN\HEN18866.xml [file 5 of 7] S.L.C. 137 1 including reasonable expenditures for transportation, food, 2 lodging, private judicial seminar fees and materials, in3 curred by a judge or justice in attending a private judicial 4 seminar approved by the Board of the Federal Judicial 5 Center. Necessary expenses shall not include expenditures 6 for recreational activities or entertainment other than that 7 provided to all attendees as an integral part of the private 8 judicial seminar. Any payment from the Fund shall be ap9 proved by the Board. 10 ‘‘(d) REQUIRED INFORMATION.—The Board may ap- 11 prove a private judicial seminar after submission of infor12 mation by the sponsor of that private judicial seminar that 13 includes— 14 ‘‘(1) the content of the private judicial seminar 15 (including a list of presenters, topics, and course 16 materials); and 17 ‘‘(2) the litigation activities of the sponsor and 18 the presenters at the private judicial seminar (in- 19 cluding the litigation activities of the employer of 20 each presenter) on the topic related to those ad- 21 dressed at the private judicial seminar. 22 ‘‘(e) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—If the Board approves 23 a private judicial seminar, the Board shall make the infor24 mation submitted under subsection (d) relating to the pri- O:\HEN\HEN18866.xml [file 5 of 7] S.L.C. 138 1 vate judicial seminar available to judges and the public 2 by posting the information online. 3 ‘‘(f) GUIDELINES.—The Judicial Conference shall 4 promulgate guidelines to ensure that the Board only ap5 proves private judicial seminars that are conducted in a 6 manner so as to maintain the public’s confidence in an 7 unbiased and fair-minded judiciary. 8 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 9 are authorized to be appropriated for deposit in the Fund 10 $3,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019, 2020, and 2021, 11 to remain available until expended.’’. 12 (2) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND- 13 MENT.—The 14 28, United States Code, is amended by adding at 15 the end the following: table of sections for chapter 42 of title ‘‘630. Judicial Education Fund’’. 16 17 18 (b) PRIVATE JUDICIAL SEMINAR GIFTS PROHIBITED.— (1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 19 (A) the term ‘‘gift’’ has the meaning given 20 that term under section 7353 of title 5, United 21 States Code, as amended by section 401; 22 (B) the term ‘‘institution of higher edu- 23 cation’’ has the meaning given that term under 24 section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 25 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)); and O:\HEN\HEN18866.xml [file 5 of 7] S.L.C. 139 1 (C) the terms ‘‘national bar association’’, 2 ‘‘private judicial seminar’’, and ‘‘State or local 3 bar association’’ have the meanings given those 4 terms under section 630 of title 28, United 5 States Code, as added by subsection (a). 6 (2) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days 7 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Judicial 8 Conference of the United States shall promulgate 9 regulations to apply section 7353(a) of title 5, 10 United States Code, to prohibit the solicitation or 11 acceptance of a gift in connection with a private ju- 12 dicial seminar. 13 (3) EXCEPTION.—The prohibition under the 14 regulations promulgated under paragraph (2) shall 15 not apply if— 16 (A) the judge participates in a private judi- 17 cial seminar as a speaker, panel participant, or 18 otherwise presents information; 19 20 21 (B) Federal judges are not the primary audience at the private judicial seminar; and (C) the gift accepted is— 22 (i) reimbursement from the private ju- 23 dicial seminar sponsor of reasonable trans- 24 portation, food, or lodging expenses on any 25 day on which the judge speaks, partici- O:\HEN\HEN18866.xml [file 5 of 7] S.L.C. 140 1 pates, or presents information, as applica- 2 ble; 3 (ii) attendance at the private judicial 4 seminar on any day on which the judge 5 speaks, participates, or presents informa- 6 tion, as applicable; or 7 (iii) anything excluded from the defi- 8 nition of a gift under regulations of the 9 Judicial Conference of the United States 10 under sections 7351 and 7353 of title 5, 11 United States Code, as in effect on the 12 date of enactment of this Act. 13 14 SEC. 403. CODE OF CONDUCT. (a) APPLICABILITY.—The Code of Conduct for 15 United States Judges adopted by the Judicial Conference 16 of the United States shall apply to the justices of the Su17 preme Court of the United States to the same extent as 18 such Code applies to circuit and district judges. 19 (b) ENFORCEMENT.—The Judicial Conference shall 20 establish procedures, modeled after the procedures set 21 forth in chapter 16 of title 28, United States Code, under 22 which— 23 (1) complaints alleging that a justice of the Su- 24 preme Court of the United States has violated the O:\HEN\HEN18866.xml [file 5 of 7] S.L.C. 141 1 Code of Conduct referred to in subsection (a) may 2 be filed with or identified by the Conference; 3 4 (2) such complaints are reviewed and investigated by the Conference; and 5 (3) further action, where appropriate, is taken 6 by the Conference, with respect to such complaints. 7 (c) SUBMISSION 8 TO CONGRESS; EFFECTIVE DATE.— (1) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 9 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 10 Judicial Conference shall submit to Congress the 11 procedures established under subsection (b). 12 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The procedures estab- 13 lished under subsection (b) shall take effect 270 14 days after the date of enactment of this Act. 15 16 SEC. 404. IMPROVING DISCLOSURE. (a) FINANCIAL REPORTS.—Section 103(h) of the 17 Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is 18 amended by adding at the end the following: 19 ‘‘(3) The Judicial Conference shall make publicly 20 available online, at no cost, each report required under 21 this title that is filed with the Judicial Conference in a 22 searchable, sortable, machine readable, and downloadable 23 format.’’. O:\HEN\HEN18866.xml [file 5 of 7] S.L.C. 142 1 (b) RECUSAL DECISIONS.—Section 455 of title 28, 2 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 3 following: 4 ‘‘(g) Each justice, judge, and magistrate judge of the 5 United States shall maintain a list of each association or 6 interest that would require the justice, judge, or mag7 istrate to be recused under subsection (b)(4).’’. 8 (c) SPEECHES.— 9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each justice, judge, and 10 magistrate judge of the United States shall maintain 11 and submit to the Judicial Conference of the United 12 States a copy of each speech or other significant oral 13 communication made by the justice, judge or mag- 14 istrate. 15 (2) AVAILABILITY.—The Judicial Conference of 16 the United States shall maintain and make each 17 speech or other significant oral communication sub- 18 mitted under paragraph (1) available to the public 19 in printed form, upon request, and online, at no 20 cost, in a searchable, sortable, machine readable, 21 and downloadable format. 22 (3) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days 23 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Judicial 24 Conference of the United States shall promulgate 25 regulations regarding the types of oral communica- O:\HEN\HEN18866.xml [file 5 of 7] S.L.C. 143 1 tions that are required to be maintained, submitted, 2 and made publicly available under this subsection. 3 (d) LIVESTREAMING JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS.— 4 (1) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term 5 ‘‘appellate court of the United States’’ means any 6 United States circuit court of appeals and the Su- 7 preme Court of the United States. 8 (2) STREAMING OF COURT PROCEEDINGS.—In 9 accordance with procedures established by the Judi- 10 cial Conference of the United States, the audio of 11 each open session conducted by an appellate court of 12 the United States shall be made available online con- 13 temporaneously with the session, unless the appel- 14 late court of the United States, by a majority vote, 15 determines that making audio of the session avail- 16 able online would violate the constitutional rights of 17 any party to the proceeding. 18 (e) PUBLICIZING CASE ASSIGNMENT INFORMA- 19 20 TION.— (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 21 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Judicial 22 Conference of the United States shall promulgate 23 regulations requiring each court of the United States 24 to make case assignment data available to the public O:\HEN\HEN18866.xml [file 5 of 7] S.L.C. 144 1 online, at no cost, in a searchable, sortable, machine 2 readable, and downloadable. 3 (2) CONTENTS.—The case assignment data 4 made available under paragraph (1) shall include, at 5 a minimum, and to the extent available, the case 6 title, docket number, case origin, filing date, and 7 name of each authoring judge, concurring judge, and 8 dissenting judge for each opinion issued in the case. 9 (f) MAKING WEBSITES USER-FRIENDLY.—Not later 10 than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 11 the Judicial Conference of the United States shall promul12 gate regulations requiring an evaluation of, and improve13 ments to, the website of each district court of the United 14 States to ensure the website is easy to understand, includ15 ing that it is clear how to file a complaint relating to a 16 judge or an employee of the district court. 17 18 19 SEC. 405. APPOINTMENT OF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGES. (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3105 of title 5, United 20 States Code is amended by inserting after the first sen21 tence the following: ‘‘Administrative law judge positions 22 shall be positions in the competitive service.’’. 23 (b) CONVERSION OF POSITIONS.—With respect to 24 any individual serving on the date of enactment of this 25 Act in an excepted service position as an administrative O:\HEN\HEN18866.xml [file 5 of 7] S.L.C. 145 1 law judge appointed under section 3105 of title 5, United 2 States Code, as in effect on the day before the date of 3 enactment of this Act, the head of the agency employing 4 the administrative law judge shall convert the appointment 5 to a permanent appointment in the competitive service in 6 the agency. 7 (c) APPLICABILITY.—This section and the amend- 8 ments made by this section shall apply on and after the 9 date of enactment of this Act. 10 11 SEC. 406. IMPROVE REPORTING ON JUDICIAL DIVERSITY. Section 331 of title 28, United States Code, is 12 amended in the eighth undesignated paragraph by adding 13 at the end the following: ‘‘The report submitted by the 14 Chief Justice under this paragraph shall include a report 15 on the diversity of the Federal judiciary, including diver16 sity of justices and judges of the United States based on 17 gender, race, ethnicity, disability status, sexual orienta18 tion, gender identity, national origin, and professional ex19 perience before being appointed a justice or judge of the 20 United States.’’. 21 22 SEC. 407. PLEADING STANDARDS. (a) IN GENERAL.—Rule 12 of the Federal Rules of 23 Civil Procedure is amended by adding at the end the fol24 lowing: O:\HEN\HEN18866.xml [file 5 of 7] S.L.C. 146 1 ‘‘(j) PLEADING STANDARDS. A court shall not dismiss 2 a complaint under Rule 12 (b)(6), (c) or (e): 3 ‘‘(1) unless it appears beyond doubt that the 4 plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of the 5 claim which would entitle the plaintiff to relief; or 6 ‘‘(2) on the basis of a determination by the 7 court that the factual contents of the complaint do 8 not show the plaintiff’s claim to be plausible or are 9 insufficient to warrant a reasonable inference that 10 the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.’’. 11 (b) APPLICABILITY.—Rule 12(j) of the Federal Rules 12 of Civil Procedure, as added by subsection (a) shall apply 13 with respect to the dismissal of complaints except as other14 wise expressly provided by an Act of Congress enacted 15 after the date of the enactment of this Act or by amend16 ments made after such date of enactment to the Federal 17 Rules of Civil Procedure pursuant to the procedures pre18 scribed by the Judicial Conference of the United States 19 under chapter 131 of title 28, United States Code. 20 21 SEC. 408. AVAILABILITY OF JUDICIAL OPINIONS. Section 205 of the E-Government Act of 2002 (44 22 U.S.C. 3501 note) is amended— 23 (1) in subsection (a)(5), by striking ‘‘text 24 searchable format’’ and inserting ‘‘text searchable 25 and machine-readable file format that may be cited O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 147 1 using a vendor-neutral and medium-neutral citation 2 system’’; and 3 4 5 (2) in subsection (b), by adding at the end the following: ‘‘(3) BULK 6 ACCESS.— ‘‘(A) PROVISION TO GPO.—Each written 7 opinion required to be made accessible on a 8 website under subsection (a)(5) shall be pro- 9 vided to the Government Publishing Office. 10 ‘‘(B) ACCESS.—The Director of the Gov- 11 ernment Publishing Office shall make available 12 to the public for bulk download all written opin- 13 ions provide to the Government Publishing Of- 14 fice under subparagraph (A).’’. 17 TITLE V—ENFORCEMENT Subtitle A—Office of Public Integrity 18 SEC. 511. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE OF PUBLIC INTEG- 15 16 19 20 RITY. (a) IN GENERAL.—The Ethics in Government Act of 21 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 22 (1) in title I, by striking ‘‘Government Ethics’’ 23 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘Public Integ- 24 rity’’; O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 148 1 (2) in the heading for title IV, by striking 2 ‘‘GOVERNMENT ETHICS’’ and inserting ‘‘PUB- 3 LIC INTEGRITY’’; 4 (3) in section 401— 5 (A) by striking ‘‘Government Ethics’’ each 6 place it appears and inserting ‘‘Public Integ- 7 rity’’; 8 (B) in subsection (a)— 9 (i) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘There is 10 established’’; and 11 (ii) by adding at the end the fol- 12 13 lowing: ‘‘(2) The purposes of the Office of Public Integrity 14 are— 15 ‘‘(A) to consolidate and strengthen Federal eth- 16 ics enforcement and anti-corruption public integrity 17 efforts; 18 ‘‘(B) to conduct anti-corruption, ethics, and 19 public integrity oversight of officers and employees 20 of the Federal Government through investigations, 21 corrective action, and other actions and penalties; 22 ‘‘(C) to promote public integrity and prevent 23 corruption within the Federal Government through 24 education, advisory, guidance, and rulemaking; O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 149 1 ‘‘(D) to facilitate accountability through affirm- 2 ative public disclosures, lobbying registration, and 3 the promotion of transparency across the Federal 4 Government; and 5 6 ‘‘(E) to protect the public’s interest in democracy and Federal policymaking.’’; and 7 (C) by adding after subsection (d), as 8 added by section 309 of this Act, the following: 9 ‘‘(e)(1) There is established within the Office of Pub- 10 lic Integrity a division to be known as the ‘Government 11 Ethics Division’. 12 ‘‘(2) The Government Ethics Division shall carry out 13 all functions of the Office of Government Ethics under this 14 Act as of the day before the date of enactment of this 15 subsection, including— 16 ‘‘(A) providing advice to designated agency eth- 17 ics officials, including legal advisories, education 18 advisories, and program management advisories on 19 substantive ethics issues; 20 ‘‘(B) providing training and education opportu- 21 nities to designated agency ethics officials on an on- 22 going basis; and 23 ‘‘(C) providing confidential advice, which, sub- 24 ject to paragraph (3), shall not lead to enforcement O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 150 1 action, for any agency employee seeking confidential 2 ethics advice. 3 ‘‘(3)(A) The Government Ethics Division may refer 4 a matter for enforcement based on information obtained 5 in providing advice to an employee under paragraph 6 (2)(C) if the employee— 7 ‘‘(i) knowingly makes a material misrepresenta- 8 tion, including making a significant omission in pro- 9 viding information, to the Government Ethics Divi- 10 sion; 11 ‘‘(ii) has already taken the action in violation of 12 the laws or regulations relating to conflicts of inter- 13 est or other ethics issues; 14 ‘‘(iii) reveals significant criminal activity, par- 15 ticularly criminal activity outside the jurisdiction of 16 the Office of Public Integrity; 17 ‘‘(iv) engaged in a prohibited personnel practice 18 described in paragraph (8) or subparagraph (A)(i), 19 (B), (C), or (D) of paragraph (9) of section 2302(b) 20 of title 5, United States Code; or 21 ‘‘(v) engaged in other actions, as established by 22 the Director by regulation. 23 ‘‘(B) An employee who seeks advice under paragraph 24 (2)(C) may be subject to administrative remedies, such as O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 151 1 reprimand, divestiture, forced recusal, or other corrective 2 actions to remedy the violation. 3 ‘‘(C) Notwithstanding any other provision in this 4 paragraph, the Director may promulgate regulations (in5 cluding regulations under subparagraph (A)(v)) to ensure 6 that— 7 ‘‘(i) an employee who engages in conduct in 8 good faith reliance upon an advisory opinion issued 9 to the employee by the Government Ethics Division 10 or a designated agency ethics official generally shall 11 not be subject to civil, criminal, or disciplinary ac- 12 tion by the Office of Public Integrity; 13 ‘‘(ii) an advisory opinion issued to an employee 14 by the Government Ethics Division or a designated 15 agency ethics official shall not prevent the employee 16 from being subject to other civil or disciplinary ac- 17 tion if the conduct of the employee violates another 18 law, rule, regulation, or lawful management policy or 19 directive; and 20 ‘‘(iii) if an employee has actual knowledge or 21 reason to believe that an advisory opinion issued to 22 the employee by the Government Ethics Division or 23 a designated agency ethics official is based on fraud- 24 ulent, misleading, or otherwise incorrect information, O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 152 1 the reliance of the employee on the opinion not be 2 deemed to be in good faith.’’; 3 (4) in section 403, by striking ‘‘Government 4 Ethics’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘Public 5 Integrity’’; and 6 (5) in section 503(2), by striking ‘‘Government 7 Ethics’’ and inserting ‘‘Public Integrity’’. 8 (b) OFFICERS.— 9 (1) DIRECTOR.—Section 401(b) of the Ethics 10 in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is 11 amended— 12 13 (A) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘There shall be’’; 14 (B) by inserting ‘‘without regard to polit- 15 ical affiliation and solely on the basis of integ- 16 rity and demonstrated ability to fulfill the re- 17 sponsibilities of the role of Director’’ after ‘‘who 18 shall be appointed’’; 19 20 21 22 23 24 (C) by striking ‘‘Effective with respect’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘(3) Effective with respect’’; (D) by inserting after paragraph (1), as so designated, the following: ‘‘(2) Each individual appointed by the President to 25 the position of Director— O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 153 1 ‘‘(A) shall not have any conflict of interest with 2 respect to any aspect of performing the duties and 3 responsibilities of the Director; 4 5 ‘‘(B) shall have a demonstrated record in public integrity and ethics enforcement; 6 ‘‘(C) shall not have ever been registered, or re- 7 quired to be registered, as a lobbyist under the Lob- 8 bying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 et 9 seq.); 10 ‘‘(D) during the 4-year period ending on the 11 date on which the President nominates the indi- 12 vidual to the position of Director, shall not have en- 13 gaged in any significant political activity (including 14 being a candidate for public office, fundraising for a 15 candidate for public office or a political party, or 16 serving as an officer or employee of a political cam- 17 paign or party); 18 ‘‘(E) shall not have ever been an agent of a for- 19 eign principal registered under the Foreign Agents 20 Registration Act of 1938 (22 U.S.C. 611 et seq.); 21 and 22 ‘‘(F) during the 4-year period ending on the 23 date on which the President nominates the indi- 24 vidual to the position of Director, shall not served as 25 a fiduciary or personal attorney for an officer or em- O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 154 1 ployee of the Federal Government, including anyone 2 elected to public office.’’; and 3 4 (E) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘(4) The Director may only be removed from office 5 by the President for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or mal6 feasance in office. 7 ‘‘(5) Not later than 30 days before the date on which 8 the President removes the Director from office or trans9 fers the Director to another position or location for ineffi10 ciency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office, the Presi11 dent shall submit to the Senate and the House of Rep12 resentatives written notice of the reasons for the removal 13 or transfer. 14 ‘‘(6) During the period of any absence or unavail- 15 ability of the Director, including a vacancy in the office 16 of the Director, all powers and duties of the Director shall 17 be vested in the Deputy Director. 18 ‘‘(7) The Director may continue to serve beyond the 19 expiration of the term of the Director until a successor 20 is appointed, by and with the advice and consent of the 21 Senate.’’. 22 (2) ASSISTANT DIRECTORS.—Section 401(c)(1) 23 of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. 24 App.) is amended by inserting ‘‘and Assistant Direc- 25 tors (which may include an Assistant Director for O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 155 1 Investigations, an Assistant Director for Govern- 2 ment Transparency, and an Assistant Director for 3 the Government Ethics Division)’’ after ‘‘including 4 attorneys’’. 5 (3) DEPUTY DIRECTOR.—Section 401 of the 6 Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) 7 is amended by adding after subsection (e), as added 8 by subsection (a) of this section, the following: 9 ‘‘(f)(1) There shall be in the Office of Public Integrity 10 a Deputy Director, who shall— 11 ‘‘(A) be appointed by the President in accord- 12 ance with paragraph (2), by and with the advice and 13 consent of the Senate; and 14 ‘‘(B) serve as acting Director in the event of 15 the absence or unavailability of the Director, includ- 16 ing a vacancy in the office of the Director. 17 ‘‘(2) Each individual appointed by the President to 18 the position of Deputy Director— 19 ‘‘(A) shall not have any conflict of interest with 20 respect to any aspect of performing the duties and 21 responsibilities of the Deputy Director; 22 23 ‘‘(B) shall have a demonstrated record in public integrity and ethics enforcement; 24 ‘‘(C) shall not have ever been registered, or re- 25 quired to be registered, as a lobbyist under the Lob- O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 156 1 bying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 et 2 seq.); 3 ‘‘(D) during the 4-year period ending on the 4 date on which the President nominates the indi- 5 vidual to the position of Deputy Director, shall not 6 have engaged in any significant political activity (in- 7 cluding being a candidate for public office, fund- 8 raising for a candidate for public office or a political 9 party, or serving as an officer or employee of a polit- 10 ical campaign or party); 11 ‘‘(E) shall not have ever been an agent of a for- 12 eign principal registered under the Foreign Agents 13 Registration Act of 1938 (22 U.S.C. 611 et seq.); 14 and 15 ‘‘(F) during the 4-year period ending on the 16 date on which the President nominates the indi- 17 vidual to the position of Deputy Director, shall not 18 served as a fiduciary or personal attorney for an of- 19 ficer or employee of the Federal Government, includ- 20 ing anyone elected to public office.’’. 21 (c) AUTHORITY AND FUNCTIONS.—Section 402 of 22 the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App) 23 is amended— 24 (1) in subsection (a)— O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 157 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 (A) by striking ‘‘shall provide’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘shall— ‘‘(1) provide’’; (B) by striking the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and (C) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘(2) investigate potential violations by officers and 8 employees in all branches of the Federal Government or 9 by any other person of the laws or regulations relating 10 to conflicts of interest or other ethics issues, to the extent 11 allowable by law and the Constitution.’’; 12 13 (2) in subsection (b)— (A) in paragraph (1)— 14 (i) by striking ‘‘the President or’’; 15 (ii) by striking ‘‘ethics’’ and inserting 16 17 ‘‘other ethics issues’’; and (iii) by striking ‘‘title II of this Act’’ 18 and inserting ‘‘title I’’; 19 (B) in paragraph (2)— 20 (i) by striking ‘‘the President or’’; and 21 (ii) by inserting ‘‘and other ethics 22 issues’’ before the semicolon; 23 (C) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘title II 24 25 of this Act’’ and inserting ‘‘title I’’; (D) in paragraph (4)— O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 158 1 (i) by striking ‘‘conflict of interest 2 laws or regulations’’ and inserting ‘‘laws or 3 regulations relating to conflicts of interest 4 or other ethics issues’’; and 5 (ii) by striking ‘‘ethical problems’’ and 6 inserting ‘‘other ethics issue’’; 7 (E) in paragraph (6)— 8 (i) by striking ‘‘the President or’’; and 9 (ii) by striking ‘‘ethical problems’’ and 10 inserting ‘‘other ethics issues’’; 11 (F) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘conflict 12 of interest problems’’ and inserting ‘‘conflicts of 13 interest or other ethics issues’’; 14 (G) by striking paragraph (9) and insert- 15 ing the following: 16 ‘‘(9)(A) investigating potential violations by of- 17 ficers and employees in the Federal Government (in- 18 cluding officers and employees in positions in the 19 Executive Office of the President (including the 20 White House Office)) of the laws or regulations re- 21 lating to conflicts of interest or other ethics issues; 22 ‘‘(B) ordering (or with respect to the President, 23 recommending) corrective action on the part of 24 agencies, officers, and employees, as determined ap- 25 propriate by the Director; O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 159 1 ‘‘(C) as the Director determines appropriate, 2 referring an alleged violation of the laws or regula- 3 tions relating to conflicts of interest or other ethics 4 issues to the Attorney General or the head of the ap- 5 propriate agency for civil or criminal enforcement; 6 and 7 ‘‘(D) order appropriate disciplinary action with 8 respect to an officer or employee in the executive 9 branch, in accordance with subsection (f)(2);’’; 10 (H) by striking paragraph (11) and insert- 11 ing the following: 12 ‘‘(11)(A) evaluating the effectiveness of the 13 laws and regulations relating to conflicts of interest 14 and other ethics issues and recommending to Con- 15 gress appropriate amendments to prevent corruption 16 and to improve Government ethics, accountability, 17 public integrity, and transparency; and 18 19 20 21 ‘‘(B) preparing an annual report to Congress, which shall include— ‘‘(i) any recommended amendments described in subparagraph (A); 22 ‘‘(ii) a description of any significant ac- 23 tions taken by the Director in carrying out the 24 duties of the Director, including specific steps 25 taken to ensure that Federal officers and em- O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 160 1 ployees are complying with the laws and regula- 2 tions relating to conflicts of interest or other 3 ethics issues; 4 ‘‘(iii) information concerning significant 5 violations of the laws or regulations relating to 6 conflicts of interest or other ethics issues; and 7 ‘‘(iv) corrective action concerning violations 8 described in clause (iii) and progress made in 9 implementing such corrective action;’’; 10 (I) in paragraph (12), by striking ‘‘conflict 11 of interest and ethical problems’’ and inserting 12 ‘‘conflicts of interest and other ethics issues’’; 13 (J) by striking paragraph (13) and insert- 14 ing the following: 15 ‘‘(13) referring any potential violation of the 16 laws and regulations relating to conflicts of interest 17 and other ethics issues determined appropriate by 18 the Director for criminal enforcement to the Attor- 19 ney General, accompanied by any evidence in the 20 possession of the Director and recommendations, if 21 any, of the Director regarding the appropriate 22 charges or penalties;’’; 23 24 (K) in paragraph (14), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 161 1 2 (L) in paragraph (15), by striking ‘‘title II of this Act.’’ and inserting ‘‘title I;’’; and 3 (M) by adding at the end the following: 4 ‘‘(16)(A) assuming responsibilities for disclo- 5 sures of Executive Branch financial holdings, lob- 6 bying, and influencing activities; 7 ‘‘(B) conducting periodic and routine audits of 8 disclosures described in subparagraph (A) to ensure 9 the accuracy of the documents; and 10 ‘‘(C) conducting targeted audits of disclosures 11 described in subparagraph (A) when the Director 12 has reason to believe such disclosures contain inac- 13 curacies or misinformation; 14 ‘‘(17) receiving, and within a reasonable time- 15 frame responding to, complaints from members of 16 the public of alleged violations of the laws or regula- 17 tions relating to conflicts of interest or other ethics 18 issues; 19 ‘‘(18) reporting publicly anonymized informa- 20 tion regarding the resolution of complaints received 21 under paragraph (17); 22 ‘‘(19) making available online on a central 23 website that allows records to be available in a 24 searchable, sortable, and downloadable format all 25 ethics records that are required to be made publicly O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 162 1 available under any provision of law, or that the Di- 2 rector determines may and should be made publicly 3 available, including ethics records described sub- 4 section (j)(1); 5 ‘‘(20) after providing notice and an opportunity 6 for a hearing, imposing appropriate civil monetary 7 penalties against individuals and entities who violate 8 the laws or regulations relating to conflicts of inter- 9 est or other ethics issues; 10 ‘‘(21) making appropriate enforcement referrals 11 to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Of- 12 fice of the Special Counsel, and other relevant Fed- 13 eral or State law enforcement agencies in instances 14 of violations of Federal or State law, where appro- 15 priate; 16 ‘‘(22) except as otherwise required by law or re- 17 served to the President, making and overseeing any 18 waiver of the laws or regulations relating to conflicts 19 of interest or other ethics issues; 20 21 ‘‘(23) testifying before each House of Congress at least annually; 22 ‘‘(24) approving any significant determination 23 by a designated agency ethics official, including any 24 ethics agreement, financial disclosure, recusal agree- O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 163 1 ment, or divestment determination, for any indi- 2 vidual serving in a position— 3 ‘‘(A) on any level of the Executive Sched- 4 ule under subchapter II of chapter 53 of title 5 5, United States Code; 6 ‘‘(B) in the executive branch pursuant to 7 an appointment by the President, by and with 8 the advice and consent of the Senate; or 9 ‘‘(C) in the Executive Office of the Presi- 10 dent; 11 ‘‘(25) overseeing the day to day activities of 12 each Inspector General in the executive branch, ex- 13 cept to the extent provided otherwise by law; and 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 ‘‘(26) administering the provisions of this title as they pertain to the heads of agencies.’’; (3) in subsection (e)— (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; (B) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 21 (C) by adding at the end the following: 22 ‘‘(3) each executive agency shall furnish to the 23 Director all information and records in the posses- 24 sion of the executive agency that the Director deter- O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 164 1 mines to be necessary for the performance of the du- 2 ties of the Director.’’; 3 4 (4) in subsection (f)— (A) in paragraph (1)(A)— 5 (i) in clause (i), by inserting ‘‘(or, 6 with 7 ommend)’’ after ‘‘order’’ the first place it 8 appears; and 9 respect to the rec- (ii) in clause (ii), by inserting ‘‘(or, 10 with 11 ommend)’’ after ‘‘order’’; 12 (B) in paragraph (2)— 13 President, respect to the President, rec- (i) in subparagraph (A)— 14 (I) in clause (ii)(II), by inserting 15 ‘‘and Congress’’ after the ‘‘the Presi- 16 dent’’; and 17 (II) in clause (iv)— 18 (aa) in subclause (I), by 19 striking ‘‘may recommend’’ and 20 all that follows through ‘‘brought 21 against the officer or employee’’ 22 and inserting ‘‘may recommend 23 that the agency head take a spe- 24 cific disciplinary action (including 25 reprimand, suspension, demotion, O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 165 1 or dismissal) or that the agency 2 head take such disciplinary ac- 3 tion as the agency head deter- 4 mines appropriate with respect to 5 the officer or employee’’; and 6 (bb) by striking subclause 7 (II) and inserting the following: 8 ‘‘(II) if the Director recommends 9 a specific disciplinary action under 10 subclause (I) and the head of the 11 agency (not including the President) 12 has not taken appropriate disciplinary 13 action within 90 days after the Direc- 14 tor recommends such action, may, 15 after notifying the President and Con- 16 gress in writing, order appropriate 17 disciplinary action with respect to the 18 officer or employee, in accordance 19 with subparagraph (B), including rep- 20 rimand, suspension, demotion, or dis- 21 missal of the officer or employee.’’; 22 (ii) in subparagraph (B)— 23 24 (I) by striking clause (iii) and inserting the following: O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 166 1 ‘‘(iii) Subject to clause (iv) of this subparagraph, be- 2 fore the Director orders any action under subparagraph 3 (A)(iii) or orders any disciplinary action under subpara4 graph (A)(iv), the Director shall afford the officer or em5 ployee involved an opportunity for a hearing, if requested 6 by such officer or employee, which shall be conducted on 7 the record.’’; 8 (II) by redesignating clause (iv) 9 as clause (vi); 10 (III) by inserting after clause 11 12 (iii) the following: ‘‘(iv) The Director shall make publicly available any 13 recommendation of a specific disciplinary action made by 14 the Director under subparagraph (A)(iv)(I). 15 ‘‘(v) The authority of the Director under subpara- 16 graph (A)(iv)(II) to order disciplinary action may not be 17 delegated.’’; and 18 19 20 21 22 (IV) in clause (vi), as so redesignated— (aa) by striking ‘‘title 2’’ and inserting ‘‘title I’’; and (bb) by striking ‘‘section 23 206’’ 24 104’’; and and inserting ‘‘section O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 167 1 (iii) by adding at the end the fol- 2 3 lowing: ‘‘(C)(i)(I) A political appointee (as defined in section 4 714(h) of title 38, United States Code) with respect to 5 whom the Director orders a disciplinary action under sub6 paragraph (A)(iv) may appeal the order to the President. 7 ‘‘(II) A determination by the President in an appeal 8 under subclause (I) shall be— 9 ‘‘(aa) made in writing; 10 ‘‘(bb) submitted to Congress; and 11 ‘‘(cc) made publicly available by the President. 12 ‘‘(III) A determination by the President in an appeal 13 under subclause (I) shall not be subject to judicial review. 14 ‘‘(ii) An officer or employee who is not a political ap- 15 pointee with respect to whom the Director orders a dis16 ciplinary action under subparagraph (A)(iv) may— 17 ‘‘(I) appeal a final order or decision of the Di- 18 rector to the Merit Systems Protection Board under 19 section 7701 of title 5, United States Code; and 20 ‘‘(II) seek judicial review of a final order or de- 21 cision of the Merit Systems Protection Board in the 22 Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in accord- 23 ance with section 7703 of title 5, United States 24 Code.’’; O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 168 1 (C) in paragraph (3), in the matter pre- 2 ceding subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘para- 3 graph (2)(A)(iii)’’ and inserting ‘‘clause (iii) or 4 (iv) of paragraph (2)(A)’’; 5 (D) by striking paragraph (5); and 6 (E) by redesignating paragraph (6) as 7 paragraph (5); and 8 (5) by adding at the end the following: 9 ‘‘(g) As part of an investigation of potential violations 10 of the laws or regulations relating to conflicts of interest 11 or other ethics issues, the Director may require by sub12 poena the attendance of and testimony by witnesses and 13 the production any book, check, canceled check, cor14 respondence, communication, document, email, papers, 15 physical evidence, record, recording, tape, or other mate16 rial (including electronic records) relating to any matter 17 or question the Director is authorized to investigate from 18 any individual or entity. 19 ‘‘(h)(1) If the Attorney General declines to prosecute 20 a criminal matter referred by the Director, the Attorney 21 General shall submit to the Director and make publicly 22 available written notice regarding the declination. 23 ‘‘(2) The Attorney General may redact information 24 from the publicly available written notice under paragraph 25 (1) if the Attorney General determines that disclosure of O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 169 1 the information would constitute a clearly unwarranted in2 vasion of personal privacy. 3 ‘‘(i)(1) In addition to the authority otherwise pro- 4 vided by this Act, the Director, any Assistant Director for 5 Investigations under the Director who is appointed by the 6 Director, and any special agent supervised by the Director 7 or Assistant Director may be authorized by the Attorney 8 General to seek warrants for search of a premises or sei9 zure of evidence issued under the authority of the United 10 States upon probable cause to believe that a violation has 11 been committed. 12 ‘‘(2) The Attorney General shall promulgate, and re- 13 vise as appropriate, guidelines which shall govern the exer14 cise of the law enforcement powers established under para15 graph (1). 16 ‘‘(3)(A) The power authorized for the Office of Public 17 Integrity under paragraph (1) may be rescinded or sus18 pended upon— 19 ‘‘(i) a determination by the Attorney General 20 that the exercise of authorized power by the Office 21 of Public Integrity has not complied with the guide- 22 lines promulgated by the Attorney General under 23 paragraph (2); or 24 ‘‘(ii) a determination by the Attorney General 25 that available assistance from other law enforcement O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 170 1 agencies is sufficient to meet the need for such pow- 2 ers. 3 ‘‘(B) The powers authorized to be exercised by any 4 individual under paragraph (1) may be rescinded or sus5 pended with respect to that individual upon a determina6 tion by the Attorney General that such individual has not 7 complied with guidelines promulgated by the Attorney 8 General under paragraph (2). 9 ‘‘(4) No provision of this subsection shall limit the 10 exercise of law enforcement powers established under any 11 other statutory authority, including United States Mar12 shals Service special deputation. 13 ‘‘(j)(1) In carrying out subsection (b)(19), except for 14 classified records and any specific record described in this 15 paragraph the Director determines should not be made 16 publicly available, the website described in subsection 17 (b)(19) shall include— 18 ‘‘(A) public financial disclosure reports of nomi- 19 nees and appointees to positions on any level of the 20 Executive Schedule under subchapter II of chapter 21 53 of title 5, United States Code; 22 23 24 25 ‘‘(B) other public financial disclosure reports reviewed by the Office of Public Integrity; ‘‘(C) ethics agreements of individuals nominated or appointed to a position by the President; O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 171 1 ‘‘(D) certifications of compliance with ethics 2 agreements by individuals appointed to a position by 3 the President; 4 ‘‘(E) ethics agreements of individuals appointed 5 pursuant to subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of section 6 105(a)(2) or subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of sec- 7 tion 106(a)(1) of title 3, United States Code; 8 ‘‘(F) certifications of compliance with ethics 9 agreements by individuals appointed pursuant to 10 subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of section 105(a)(2) 11 or subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of section 12 106(a)(1) of title 3, United States Code; 13 ‘‘(G) all ethics waivers, including waivers for 14 senior government officials as defined in section 101 15 of the Anti-Corruption and Public Integrity Act, 16 issued pursuant to— 17 18 ‘‘(i) section 207 or 208 of title 18, United States Code; 19 20 ‘‘(ii) section 2635.502(d) of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor thereto; 21 ‘‘(iii) section 2635.503(c) of title 5, Code 22 of Federal Regulations, or any successor there- 23 to; 24 ‘‘(iv) any Executive Order; and O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 172 1 ‘‘(v) any other authority to waive other 2 ethics requirements or extend any ethics-related 3 deadlines; 4 ‘‘(H) certificates of divestiture; 5 ‘‘(I) records of approval by agencies of the ac- 6 ceptance of gifts by individuals appointed to a posi- 7 tion by the President from outside sources for which 8 employees must obtain agency approval; 9 ‘‘(J) records relating to the initial ethics brief- 10 ings of individuals appointed to a position by the 11 President required by section 2638.305 of title 5, 12 Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor there- 13 to; 14 15 16 17 ‘‘(K) records of ethics training completed by individuals appointed to a position by the President; ‘‘(L) reports of the review by the Office of Public Integrity of agency ethics programs; 18 ‘‘(M) report filed by executive agencies with the 19 General Services Administration regarding the use 20 of Government aircraft by senior officials, which 21 shall be posted at least every 90 days and shall con- 22 tain a complete explanation of the decision to use a 23 Government aircraft, the cost of the use of a Gov- 24 ernment aircraft, and the selection of the type of 25 aircraft used; O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 173 1 2 3 ‘‘(N) any reports submitted to Congress by the Office of Public Integrity; and ‘‘(O) any other ethics records that the Director 4 makes available to the public. 5 ‘‘(2) The Director shall ensure that— 6 ‘‘(A) all ethics agreements approved by the Di- 7 rector specify conflicts of interest for each indi- 8 vidual, including all matters from which the indi- 9 vidual shall be recused; and 10 ‘‘(B) the information relating to ethics agree- 11 ments made available under subsection (b)(19) is 12 updated to reflect any additional matters from which 13 the individual shall be recused.’’. 14 (d) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Section 408 of the 15 Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is 16 amended— 17 18 19 20 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a)’’ before ‘‘The Director shall,’’; and (2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law or 21 any rule, regulation, or policy directive, upon request by 22 a committee or subcommittee of Congress, the Director, 23 or any employee of the Office of Public Integrity des24 ignated by the Director, may transmit to the committee 25 or subcommittee, by report, testimony, or otherwise, infor- O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 174 1 mation and views on functions, responsibilities, or other 2 matters relating to the Office of Public Integrity, without 3 review, clearance, or approval by any other administrative 4 authority. 5 ‘‘(c)(1) For each fiscal year, the Director may trans- 6 mit a budget estimate and request to Congress. 7 ‘‘(2) The President shall include in each budget sub- 8 mitted under section 1105 of title 31, United States 9 Code— 10 11 ‘‘(A) a separate statement of the budget estimate and request prepared with the Director; 12 13 ‘‘(B) the amount requested by the President for the Office of Public Integrity; and 14 ‘‘(C) any comments of the Director with respect 15 to the proposal by the President if the Director con- 16 cludes that the budget submitted by the President 17 would substantially inhibit the Director from per- 18 forming the duties of the office.’’. 19 (e) DEFINITIONS.—Title IV of the Ethics in Govern- 20 ment Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by adding 21 at the end the following: 22 ‘‘SEC. 409. DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this 23 title— 24 25 ‘‘(1) the term ‘agency’ includes the Executive Office of the President; O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 175 1 ‘‘(2) the term ‘head of an agency’ includes the 2 President or a designee of the President, for pur- 3 poses of applying this title to the White House and 4 the Executive Office of the President; and 5 ‘‘(3) the term ‘laws or regulations relating to 6 conflicts of interest or other ethics issues’ includes 7 this Act, sections 203 through 209 of title 18, 8 United States Code, the Stop Trading on Congres- 9 sional Knowledge Act of 2012 (Public Law 112–105; 10 5 U.S.C. App., note to section 101 of Public Law 11 95–521), any Executive order substantially con- 12 cerning Government ethics, any written ethics agree- 13 ment or pledge signed by a Presidential appointee, 14 and any other relevant ethics statutes or regula- 15 tions.’’. 16 (f) PROVISION 17 OFFICE OF OF FINANCIAL DISCLOSURES TO THE PUBLIC INTEGRITY.—Section 103(j) of the 18 Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is 19 amended— 20 (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘and the Di- 21 rector of the Office of Public Integrity’’ after ‘‘Offi- 22 cial Conduct of the House of Representatives’’; and 23 (2) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘and the Di- 24 rector of the Office of Public Integrity’’ after ‘‘Eth- 25 ics of the Senate’’. O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 176 1 (g) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 2 (1) Section 5314 of title 5, United States Code, 3 is amended by striking the item relating to the Di- 4 rector of the Office of Government Ethics and in- 5 serting the following: 6 ‘‘Director of the Office of Public Integrity.’’. 7 (2) Section 7302(a) of title 5, United States 8 Code, is amended by striking ‘‘Government Ethics’’ 9 and inserting ‘‘Public Integrity’’. 10 (3) Section 7353(d)(1)(D) of title 5, United 11 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘Government 12 Ethics’’ and inserting ‘‘Public Integrity’’. 13 (4) Section 11(b)(1)(E) of the Inspector Gen- 14 eral Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by 15 striking ‘‘Government Ethics’’ and inserting ‘‘Public 16 Integrity’’. 17 (5) Section 12(f) of the Federal Deposit Insur- 18 ance Act (12 U.S.C. 1822(f)) is amended by striking 19 ‘‘Government Ethics’’ each place it appears and in- 20 serting ‘‘Public Integrity’’. 21 (6) Section 152(g) of the Financial Stability 22 Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5342(g)) is amended by 23 striking ‘‘Government Ethics’’ and inserting ‘‘Public 24 Integrity’’. O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 177 1 (7) Section 9(o)(12) of the Small Business Act 2 (15 U.S.C. 638(o)(12)) is amended by striking 3 ‘‘Government Ethics’’ and inserting ‘‘Public Integ- 4 rity’’. 5 (8) Section 207 of title 18, United States Code, 6 is amended by striking ‘‘Government Ethics’’ each 7 place it appears and inserting ‘‘Public Integrity’’. 8 (9) Section 208 of title 18, United States Code, 9 is amended by striking ‘‘Government Ethics’’ each 10 place it appears and inserting ‘‘Public Integrity’’. 11 (10) Section 1043(b) of the Internal Revenue 12 Code of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘Government 13 Ethics’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘Public 14 Integrity’’. 15 (11) Section 594(j)(5) of title 28, United States 16 Code, is amended by striking ‘‘Government Ethics’’ 17 and inserting ‘‘Public Integrity’’. 18 (12) Section 1353 of title 31, United States 19 Code, is amended by striking ‘‘Government Ethics’’ 20 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘Public Integ- 21 rity’’. 22 (13) Section 2303(c) of title 41, United States 23 Code, is amended by striking ‘‘Government Ethics’’ 24 and inserting ‘‘Public Integrity’’. O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 178 1 (14) Section 3(d)(3) of the Department of the 2 Interior Volunteer Recruitment Act of 2005 (43 3 U.S.C. 1475b(d)(3)) is amended by striking ‘‘Gov- 4 ernment Ethics’’ and inserting ‘‘Public Integrity’’. 5 (15) Section 40122(d) of title 49, United States 6 Code, is amended by striking ‘‘Government Ethics’’ 7 and inserting ‘‘Public Integrity’’. 8 (16) Section 102A of the National Security Act 9 of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3024) is amended by striking 10 ‘‘Government Ethics’’ each place it appears and in- 11 serting ‘‘Public Integrity’’. 12 (17) Section 12(g) of the Central Intelligence 13 Agency Act of 1949 (50 U.S.C. 3512(g)) is amended 14 in the matter preceding paragraph (1) by striking 15 ‘‘Government Ethics’’ and inserting ‘‘Public Integ- 16 rity’’. 17 18 SEC. 512. DESIGNATED AGENCY ETHICS OFFICIALS. (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 109(3) of the Ethics in 19 Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended to 20 read as follows: 21 22 ‘‘(3) ‘designated agency ethics official’ means an officer or employee of an agency— 23 ‘‘(A) who is appointed and supervised by 24 the head of the agency, after consultation with O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 179 1 the Director of the Office of Public Integrity 2 and the Inspector General of the agency; 3 ‘‘(B) who may only be removed by the 4 head of the agency, after consultation with the 5 Director of the Office of Public Integrity and 6 the Inspector General of the agency; 7 ‘‘(C) has a permanent duty station in the 8 same physical building as the head of the agen- 9 cy employing the officer or employee, unless the 10 head of the agency is the President; 11 ‘‘(D) is designated to administer the provi- 12 sions of this title within the agency, except as 13 they pertain to the head of the agency; 14 ‘‘(E) may not have other significant duties 15 or responsibilities that might distract from the 16 duty of the officer or employee to administer 17 the provisions of this title within the agency; 18 ‘‘(F) who shall not, at any time or in any 19 manner, be prevented, inhibited, or prohibited 20 by the head of the agency from administering 21 the provisions of this title within the agency.’’. 22 (b) REVIEW BY DIRECTOR.—Section 111 of the Eth- 23 ics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amend24 ed— 25 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a)’’ before ‘‘The provisions’’; O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 180 1 2 3 4 (2) by inserting ‘‘(subject to subsection (b))’’ after ‘‘designated agency ethics official’’; and (3) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘(b)(1) A designated agency ethics official shall sub- 5 mit to the Director of the Office of Public Integrity— 6 ‘‘(A) each significant determination (in- 7 cluding any ethics agreement, financial disclo- 8 sure, recusal agreement, or divestment deter- 9 mination ) by the designated agency ethics offi- 10 cial relating to the application or implementa- 11 tion of the laws or regulations relating to con- 12 flicts of interest or other ethics issues (includ- 13 ing this title) for any individual serving in a po- 14 sition— 15 ‘‘(i) on any level of the Executive 16 Schedule under subchapter II of chapter 17 53 of title 5, United States Code; 18 ‘‘(ii) in the executive branch pursuant 19 to an appointment by the President, by 20 and with the advice and consent of the 21 Senate; or 22 ‘‘(iii) in the Executive Office of the 23 President; 24 ‘‘(B) any determination by the designated 25 agency ethics official relating to the application O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 181 1 or implementation of the laws or regulations re- 2 lating to conflicts of interest or other ethics 3 issues (including this title) that the Director re- 4 quests from the designated agency ethics offi- 5 cial. 6 ‘‘(2) The Director of the Office of Public Integ- 7 rity— 8 9 ‘‘(A) may review any determination received under paragraph (1); 10 ‘‘(B) shall notify and advise the designated 11 agency ethics official if the Director determines 12 that the determination received under para- 13 graph (1) does not comport with the laws or 14 regulations relating to conflicts of interest or 15 other ethics issues; 16 ‘‘(C) not later than 30 days after the noti- 17 fication and advice under subparagraph (B), 18 may reverse or modify the determination if the 19 Director determines that the determination does 20 not comport with the laws or regulations relat- 21 ing to conflicts of interest or other ethics issues; 22 and 23 ‘‘(D) shall periodically audit a sample of 24 determinations received under paragraph (1).’’. O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 182 1 (c) AUTHORITY TO RECOMMEND DISCIPLINE.—Sec- 2 tion 111 of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 3 U.S.C. App.), as amended by subsection (b), is amended 4 by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘(c)(1) If a designated agency ethics official has cred- 6 ible evidence or reason to believe that an officer or em7 ployee of the agency is violating, or has violated, any rule, 8 regulation, or Executive order relating to conflicts of inter9 est or standards of conduct, the designated agency ethics 10 official may— 11 ‘‘(A) refer potential violations to the Inspector 12 General or the Director of the Office of Public In- 13 tegrity; and 14 ‘‘(B) recommend that the head of the agency 15 take a specific disciplinary action (including dis- 16 missal). 17 ‘‘(2) A designated agency ethics official shall make 18 publicly available any recommendation of a specific dis19 ciplinary action made by the designated agency ethics offi20 cial under paragraph (1).’’. 21 (d) CURRENT DAEOS.—An individual serving as a 22 designated agency ethics official on the day before the date 23 of enactment of this Act may continue to serve as the des24 ignated agency ethics official for the agency employing the 25 individual if— O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 183 1 (1) determined appropriate by the head of the 2 agency employing the designated agency ethics offi- 3 cial; and 4 5 (2) after the date of enactment of this Act, the individual— 6 (A) reports directly to the head of the 7 agency employing the designated agency ethics 8 official; and 9 (B) may only be removed by the head of 10 the agency, after consultation with the Director 11 of the Office of Public Integrity and the Inspec- 12 tor General of the agency. 13 Subtitle B—Inspectors General 14 SEC. 531. GENERAL SUPERVISION AND REMOVAL OF IN- 15 16 SPECTORS GENERAL. (a) IN GENERAL.—The Inspector General Act of 17 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 18 (1) in section 3— 19 (A) in subsection (a), by striking the sec- 20 ond sentence and inserting the following: ‘‘Each 21 Inspector General shall report to and be under 22 the general supervision of the Director of the 23 Office of Public Integrity, and shall not report 24 to, or be subject to supervision by, any other of- 25 ficer of the establishment involved.’’; and O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 184 1 2 (B) in subsection (b)— (i) in the first sentence— 3 4 (I) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘An Inspector General’’; and 5 (II) by inserting ‘‘for inefficiency, 6 neglect of duty, or malfeasance in of- 7 fice’’ before the period at the end; 8 (ii) by striking the second sentence 9 and inserting the following: ‘‘The Director 10 of the Office of Public Integrity may make 11 a formal recommendation to the President 12 for the removal of an Inspector General 13 under this subsection. If an Inspector Gen- 14 eral is removed from office, is transferred 15 to another position or location within an 16 establishment, or is placed on paid or un- 17 paid leave, the President shall commu- 18 nicate in writing the reasons for any such 19 removal, leave placement, or transfer to 20 both Houses of Congress and to the Direc- 21 tor of the Office of Public Integrity not 22 later than 30 days before the removal, 23 leave placement, or transfer.’’; and 24 25 (iii) by adding at the end the following: O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 185 1 ‘‘(2)(A) In the event of a vacancy in the position of 2 Inspector General of an establishment of more than 210 3 days, the Director of the Office of Public Integrity may 4 direct an officer or employee of the establishment to per5 form the functions and duties of the position of Inspector 6 General temporarily in an acting capacity for a period of 7 not more than 365 days. 8 ‘‘(B) If an Inspector General of an establishment is 9 not appointed during the 365-day period described in sub10 paragraph (A), the Director of the Office of Public Integ11 rity may direct the same or another officer or employee 12 of the establishment to perform the functions and duties 13 of the position of Inspector General temporarily in an act14 ing capacity for a period of not more than 365 days. 15 ‘‘(C) If an Inspector General of an establishment is 16 not appointed during the 365-day period described in sub17 paragraph (B), the Director of the Office of Public Integ18 rity may direct the same or another officer or employee 19 of the establishment to perform the functions and duties 20 of the position of Inspector General temporarily in an act21 ing capacity for a period of not more than 365 days.’’; 22 (2) in section 8A(a), by inserting ‘‘and the Di- 23 rector of the Office of Public Integrity’’ before the 24 period at the end; O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 186 1 (3) in section 8B, by amending subsection (a) 2 to read as follows: 3 ‘‘(a) The Director of the Office of Public Integrity— 4 ‘‘(1) may delegate the authority specified in the 5 second sentence of section 3(a) to the Chairman or 6 another member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commis- 7 sion; and 8 ‘‘(2) may not delegate the authority specified in 9 the second sentence of section 3(a) to any other offi- 10 cer or employee of the Nuclear Regulatory Commis- 11 sion.’’; 12 (4) in section 8C, by amending subsection (a) 13 to read as follows: 14 ‘‘(a) DELEGATION.—The Director of the Office of 15 Public Integrity— 16 ‘‘(1) may delegate the authority specified in the 17 second sentence of section 3(a) to the Chairperson 18 or Vice Chairperson of the Federal Deposit Insur- 19 ance Corporation; and 20 ‘‘(2) may not delegate the authority specified in 21 the second sentence of section 3(a) to any other offi- 22 cer or employee of the Federal Deposit Insurance 23 Corporation.’’; 24 25 (5) in section 8G— (A) in subsection (a)— O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 187 1 2 (i) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 3 (ii) in paragraph (6), by striking the 4 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 5 and 6 7 8 9 (iii) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘(7) the term ‘Director’ means the Director of the Office of Public Integrity.’’; 10 (B) in subsection (c), in the first sentence, 11 by inserting ‘‘, after consulting with the Direc- 12 tor,’’ after ‘‘head of the designated Federal en- 13 tity’’; 14 (C) in subsection (d)(1), by striking the 15 first sentence and inserting the following: 16 ‘‘Each Inspector General shall report to and be 17 under the general supervision of the Director, 18 and shall not report to, or be subject to super- 19 vision by, any other officer or employee of the 20 designated Federal entity.’’; and 21 (D) in subsection (e)— 22 (i) in paragraph (1), by inserting 23 ‘‘and after consulting with the Director’’ 24 before the period at the end; and O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 188 1 (ii) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘An 2 Inspector General may be removed from 3 office by the head of the designated Fed- 4 eral entity for inefficiency, neglect of duty, 5 or malfeasance in office after the head of 6 the designated entity consults with the Di- 7 rector, or by the President for inefficiency, 8 neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.’’ 9 before ‘‘If an Inspector’’; and 10 11 12 (6) in section 8M(b)(1)— (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 13 (B) in subparagraph (B)(iii)(II), by strik- 14 ing the period at the end and inserting a semi- 15 colon; and 16 (C) by adding at the end the following: 17 ‘‘(C) ensure that, if any portion of a report 18 described in subparagraph (A) contains infor- 19 mation that is classified, sensitive, or otherwise 20 prohibited from disclosure by law, a redacted 21 version of the report be posted on the website 22 of the Office of Inspector General that does not 23 contain the classified, sensitive, or prohibited 24 information; O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 189 1 ‘‘(D) ensure that, if an entire report de- 2 scribed in subparagraph (A) is classified, sen- 3 sitive, or otherwise prohibited from disclosure 4 by law, the Inspector General posts the title of 5 the report, the date of publication of the report, 6 a general description of the subject matter of 7 the report, and a justification for the report not 8 to be posted on the website of the Office of In- 9 spector General; and 10 ‘‘(E) include on the website of the Office 11 of Inspector General a listing of each report de- 12 scribed in subparagraph (D) that is not posted 13 on the website.’’. 14 (b) INSPECTOR GENERAL 15 LIGENCE OF THE CENTRAL INTEL- AGENCY.—Section 17(b) of the Central Intel- 16 ligence Agency Act of 1949 (50 U.S.C. 3517(b)) is amend17 ed— 18 (1) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘of the Office 19 of Public Integrity, who may delegate that authority 20 to the Director of the Agency’’ before the period at 21 the end; and 22 (2) in paragraph (6)— 23 (A) in the first sentence, by inserting ‘‘for 24 inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in 25 office’’ before the period at the end; and O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 190 1 (B) by inserting after the first sentence 2 the following: ‘‘The Director of the Office of 3 Public Integrity may make a formal rec- 4 ommendation to the President for the removal 5 of the Inspector General under this para- 6 graph.’’. 7 (c) INSPECTOR GENERAL OF THE INTELLIGENCE 8 COMMUNITY.—Section 103H(c) of the National Security 9 Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3033(c)) is amended— 10 (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘National In- 11 telligence’’ and inserting ‘‘the Office of Public Integ- 12 rity, who may delegate that authority to the Director 13 of National Intelligence’’; and 14 (2) in paragraph (4)— 15 (A) in the first sentence, by inserting ‘‘for 16 inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in 17 office’’ before the period at the end; and 18 (B) by inserting after the first sentence 19 the following: ‘‘The Director of the Office of 20 Public Integrity may make a formal rec- 21 ommendation to the President for the removal 22 of the Inspector General under this para- 23 graph.’’. 24 (d) INSPECTOR GENERAL OF SIGAR.—Section 25 1229(e)(1) of the National Defense Authorization Act for O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 191 1 Fiscal Year 2008 (Public Law 110–181; 122 Stat. 379) 2 is amended by striking ‘‘the Secretary of State and the 3 Secretary of Defense’’ and inserting ‘‘the Director of the 4 Office of Public Integrity, who may delegate that authority 5 to the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense’’. 6 (e) INSPECTOR GENERAL OF SIGTARP.—Section 7 121(b) of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 8 2008 (12 U.S.C. 5231(b)) is amended by adding at the 9 end the following: 10 ‘‘(7) The Special Inspector General shall report to 11 and be under the general supervision of the Director of 12 the Office of Public Integrity, who may delegate that au13 thority to the Secretary.’’. 14 15 (f) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS CANCIES TO FEDERAL VA- REFORM ACT.—Subchapter III of chapter 33 of 16 title 5, United States Code, is amended— 17 (1) in section 3345— 18 (A) in subsection (a), in the matter pre- 19 ceding paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘If’’ and in- 20 serting ‘‘Subject to subsection (d), if’’ and 21 22 (B) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘(d) After the date that is 210 days after the date 23 on which a vacancy in the office of the Inspector General 24 of an agency described in subsection (a) begins, the Presi25 dent may not exercise the authority under this section with O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 192 1 respect to that vacancy in the office of the Inspector Gen2 eral.’’; 3 (2) in section 3346— 4 (A) in subsection (a), in the matter pre- 5 ceding paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘and subject 6 to subsection (d),’’ after ‘‘sickness,’’; and 7 8 (B) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘(d) A person serving as acting officer in the office 9 of the Inspector General of an agency under section 3345 10 may not serve in the office after the date that is 210 days 11 after the date on which the vacancy in the office begins, 12 without regard to whether a nomination to the office has 13 been submitted to, is pending in, has been rejected by, 14 has been withdrawn by the President from, or has been 15 returned to the President by the Senate.’’; 16 (3) in section 3349(b), in the matter preceding 17 paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘, or, in the case of an 18 Inspector General, that an officer is serving after 19 the end of the 210 day period under section 20 3346(d),’’ after ‘‘3349a,’’; and 21 (4) in section 3349a(b), in the matter preceding 22 paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘With’’ and inserting 23 ‘‘Except in the case of an Inspector General, with’’. O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 193 2 Subtitle C—Office of Congressional Ethics 3 SEC. 551. DEFINITIONS. 1 4 In this subtitle— 5 (1) the term ‘‘applicable ethics committee’’ 6 means the Select Committee on Ethics of the Senate 7 (for Senators and employees of the Senate) or the 8 Committee on Ethics of the House of Representa- 9 tives (for Members of the House of Representatives 10 11 12 and employees of the House of Representatives); (2) the term ‘‘Board’’ means the Congressional Ethics Board established under section 553(a); 13 (3) the term ‘‘employee of Congress’’ means an 14 employee of the House of Representatives or an em- 15 ployee of the Senate; 16 (4) the term ‘‘employee of the House of Rep- 17 resentatives’’ has the meaning given the term in sec- 18 tion 101 of the Congressional Accountability Act of 19 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1301) and includes an elected or ap- 20 pointed officer of the House of Representatives; 21 (5) the term ‘‘employee of the Senate’’ has the 22 meaning given the term in section 101 of the Con- 23 gressional Accountability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 24 1301) and includes an elected or appointed officer of 25 the Senate; and O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 194 1 (6) the term ‘‘Member’’ means any Senator or 2 Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Commis- 3 sioner to, the Congress. 4 5 SEC. 552. THE OFFICE OF CONGRESSIONAL ETHICS. For the purpose of assisting the House of Represent- 6 atives and the Senate in carrying out the responsibilities 7 under article I, section 5, clause 2 of the Constitution of 8 the United States (commonly referred to as the ‘‘Dis9 cipline Clause’’), there is established an independent office 10 in the legislative branch to be known as the ‘‘Office of 11 Congressional Ethics’’ (referred to in this subtitle as the 12 ‘‘Office’’), which shall be governed by the Congressional 13 Ethics Board established under section 553(a). 14 15 16 17 SEC. 553. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE BOARD OF THE OFFICE OF CONGRESSIONAL ETHICS. (a) BOARD.— (1) ESTABLISHMENT OF BOARD.—The Office 18 shall be governed by a Congressional Ethics Board 19 consisting of 9 members, of whom— 20 21 22 23 24 25 (A) 2 shall be appointed by the Majority Leader of the Senate; (B) 2 shall be appointed by the Minority Leader of the Senate; (C) 2 shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives; O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 195 1 2 (D) 2 shall be appointed by the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives; and 3 (E) 1 shall be appointed by agreement of 4 the Majority Leader of the Senate, the Minority 5 Leader of the Senate, the Speaker of the House 6 of Representatives, and the Minority Leader of 7 the House of Representatives, or by agreement 8 of not less than 3 of those individuals. 9 (2) QUALIFICATIONS OF BOARD MEMBERS.— 10 (A) EXPERTISE.—Each member of the 11 Board shall be an individual of exceptional pub- 12 lic standing who is specifically qualified to serve 13 on the Board by virtue of the individual’s edu- 14 cation, training, or experience in 1 or more of 15 the legislative, judicial, regulatory, professional 16 ethics, business, legal, or academic fields. 17 (B) SELECTION BASIS.—Selection and ap- 18 pointment of each member of the Board shall 19 be without regard to political affiliation and 20 solely on the basis of fitness to perform the du- 21 ties of a member of the Board. 22 23 (C) CITIZENSHIP.—Each member of the Board shall be a United States citizen. O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 196 1 (D) DISQUALIFICATIONS.—No individual 2 shall be eligible for appointment to, or service 3 on, the Board who— 4 (i) has ever been registered, or re- 5 quired to be registered, as a lobbyist under 6 the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 7 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.); 8 9 (ii) engages in, or is otherwise employed in, lobbying of the Congress; 10 (iii) is registered or is required to be 11 registered as an agent of a foreign prin- 12 cipal under the Foreign Agents Registra- 13 tion Act of 1938 (22 U.S.C. 611 et seq.); 14 (iv) is, or has been in the 4 years pre- 15 ceding the date of appointment, a Member, 16 employee of the Senate, or employee of the 17 House of Representatives; 18 19 (v) is an officer or employee of the Federal Government; 20 (vi) during the 4 years preceding the 21 date of appointment, engaged in any sig- 22 nificant political activity (including being a 23 candidate for public office, fundraising for 24 a candidate for public office or a political O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 197 1 party, or serving as an officer or employee 2 of a political campaign or party); or 3 (vii) during the 4 years preceding the 4 date of appointment, served as a fiduciary 5 or personal attorney for an officer or em- 6 ployee of the Federal Government, includ- 7 ing any Member. 8 9 10 11 (3) TERM AND REMOVAL.— (A) LENGTH OF TERM.—The term of a member of the Board shall be for 2 Congresses. (B) TERM LIMITS.—A member of the 12 Board may not serve during 4 consecutive Con- 13 gresses. 14 (C) REMOVAL.—A member of the Board 15 may be removed only for cause and upon unani- 16 mous agreement among the Majority Leader 17 and the Minority Leader of the Senate and the 18 Speaker and the Minority Leader of the House 19 of Representatives. 20 (D) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy on the 21 Board shall be filled for the unexpired portion 22 of the term in the same manner, and by the 23 same appointing authority, as the original ap- 24 pointment under paragraph (1). 25 (b) CHAIRPERSON AND VICE-CHAIRPERSON.— O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 198 1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The members of the Board 2 shall elect a chairperson and a vice-chairperson of 3 the Board by a majority vote. The chairperson and 4 the vice-chairperson shall serve a 1-year term, and 5 may be reelected for additional 1-year terms. 6 (2) DUTIES.—The chairperson of the Board 7 shall preside at the meetings of the Board, and the 8 vice-chairperson shall preside in the absence or dis- 9 ability of the chairperson. 10 (c) MEETINGS.— 11 (1) QUORUM.—A majority of the members of 12 the Board shall constitute a quorum, except that a 13 lesser number of members may hold hearings. 14 (2) MEETINGS.—The Board shall meet at the 15 call of the chairperson or the call of a majority of 16 its members, pursuant to the rules of the Board. 17 (3) VOTING.—Except as otherwise specifically 18 provided, a majority vote of the Board under this 19 subtitle shall require an affirmative vote of 5 or 20 more members. 21 (d) COMPENSATION.—A member of the Board shall 22 not be considered to be an officer or employee of the 23 House or Senate, but shall be compensated at a rate equal 24 to the daily equivalent of the minimum annual rate of 25 basic pay prescribed for GS–15 of the General Schedule O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 199 1 under section 5107 of title 5, United States Code, for each 2 day (including travel time) during which such member is 3 engaged in the performance of the duties of the Board. 4 5 (e) DUTIES OF BOARD.— (1) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall— 6 (A) be the governing body of the Office, 7 and oversee the Office in the implementation of 8 all duties required under this subtitle; and 9 (B) review each complaint made against a 10 Member or employee of Congress through the 11 review process described in section 555(b). 12 (2) HEARINGS.—The Board may hold such 13 hearings as are necessary and may sit and act only 14 in executive session at such times and places, solicit 15 such testimony, and receive such relevant evidence, 16 as may be necessary to carry out its duties. 17 (f) FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE REPORTS.— 18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each member of the Board 19 shall file an annual financial disclosure report with 20 the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the 21 House of Representatives on or before May 15 of 22 each calendar year immediately following any year in 23 which the member served on the Board. Each such 24 report shall be on a form prepared jointly by the 25 Clerk and the Secretary that is substantially similar O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 200 1 to the form required for individuals at the executive 2 branch who must complete a confidential financial 3 disclosure report under section 102 of the Ethics in 4 Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.). 5 (2) DISTRIBUTION OF REPORT.—The Secretary 6 of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Rep- 7 resentatives, working jointly, shall— 8 (A) not later than 7 days after the date 9 each financial disclosure report under para- 10 graph (1) is filed, send a copy of each such re- 11 port to the applicable ethics committees; and 12 (B) annually print all such financial disclo- 13 sure reports as a document of Congress, and 14 make the document available to the public. 15 16 SEC. 554. DUTIES AND POWERS OF THE OFFICE AND THE BOARD. 17 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Office is authorized— 18 (1) in accordance with section 555— 19 (A) to investigate any alleged violation, by 20 a Member or employee of Congress, of any eth- 21 ics law (including regulations), rule, or other 22 standard of conduct applicable to the conduct of 23 such Member or employee under applicable 24 House or Senate rules in the performance of O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 201 1 the duties, or the discharge of the responsibil- 2 ities, of the Member or employee; and 3 (B) in any case where the Board deter- 4 mines, after the investigation described in sub- 5 paragraph (A), that there was a probable viola- 6 tion of any ethics law, rule, or other standard 7 of conduct described in such subparagraph, to 8 present the probable ethics violation to the ap- 9 plicable ethics committee; 10 (2) to refer to appropriate Federal or State au- 11 thorities, including the Office of Public Integrity and 12 the Department of Justice as appropriate, any evi- 13 dence of a violation by a Member or employee of 14 Congress of any law (including laws applicable to the 15 performance of the duties, or the discharge of the 16 responsibilities, of the Member or employee), which 17 may have been disclosed in an investigation by the 18 Office, in accordance with subsection (b); 19 (3) to provide advice and informal guidance to 20 Members and employees of Congress regarding any 21 ethics law (including regulations), rule, or other 22 standard of conduct applicable to such individuals in 23 their official capacities, and develop and carry out 24 periodic educational briefings for Members and em- O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 202 1 ployees of Congress on those laws, rules, and other 2 standards; 3 (4)(A) to give consideration to the request of 4 any Member or employee of Congress for a formal 5 advisory opinion or other formal ruling, subject to 6 the approval of the applicable ethics committee, with 7 respect to the general propriety of any current or 8 proposed conduct of such Member or employee; 9 (B) to provide a formal advisory opinion or 10 other formal ruling, in accordance with subpara- 11 graph (A), in situations that the Board determines 12 appropriate; and 13 (C) subject to the requirement for approval by 14 the applicable ethics committee in accordance with 15 subsection (c), and with appropriate deletions to as- 16 sure the privacy of the individual concerned, to pub- 17 lish such opinion for the guidance of other Members 18 and employees of Congress; 19 (5) if the Office determines, during the course 20 of any investigation under this subtitle, that a lob- 21 byist or lobbying firm may be in noncompliance with 22 the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 23 et seq.),— 24 (A) to notify the United States Attorney 25 for the District of Columbia and the Director of O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 203 1 the Office of Public Integrity of the potential 2 violation; and 3 (B) to notify the lobbyist or lobbying firm 4 of such determination, in writing; 5 (6) to provide informal guidance to lobbyists or 6 lobbying firms engaged in lobbying activity or lob- 7 bying contacts under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 8 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) to covered legislative 9 branch officials (as defined in section 3 of such Act 10 (2 U.S.C. 1602)) of their responsibilities under such 11 Act; 12 (7) to aid in the enforcement of ethics require- 13 ments for Members or employees of Congress under 14 this subtitle or any other provision of law; and 15 (8) to administer the process for Members and 16 employees of Congress to seek and receive any waiv- 17 ers from any ethics law (including regulations), rule, 18 or other standard that applies to Members and em- 19 ployees of Congress, subject to approval of the appli- 20 cable ethics committee. 21 (b) REFERRALS 22 23 TO LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFI- CIALS.— (1) IN GENERAL.—Upon a majority vote of the 24 Board, the Office may refer potential legal violations 25 committed by a Member or employee of Congress to O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 204 1 the Department of Justice or other relevant Federal 2 or State law enforcement officials, which referral 3 shall include all appropriate evidence gathered dur- 4 ing any review conducted under this subtitle. 5 (2) NO APPROVAL REQUIRED.—A referral 6 under paragraph (1) does not require the approval 7 of either of the applicable ethics committees. 8 (3) NOTIFICATION.—The Board shall notify the 9 Select Committee on Ethics of the Senate or the 10 Committee on Ethics of the House of Representa- 11 tives, and the Director of the Office of Public Integ- 12 rity of all referrals under this subsection. 13 (c) ADVISORY OPINIONS.— 14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Upon a majority vote of the 15 Board, the Office may draft and publish rec- 16 ommended formal advisory opinions and interpreta- 17 tions of rules and other standards of conduct appli- 18 cable to Members and employees of Congress, which 19 shall be submitted to each applicable ethics com- 20 mittee for approval. 21 (2) REQUIREMENTS FOR ETHICS COMMITTEE 22 REVIEW.—Each 23 vise, overturn, dismiss, or issue any recommended 24 formal advisory opinions or interpretations under 25 paragraph (1) that is applicable to the Members and applicable ethics committee may re- O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 205 1 employees of that House of Congress. A rec- 2 ommended formal advisory opinion or interpretation 3 under paragraph (1) is only binding if issued by one 4 of the applicable ethics committees. 5 (3) REQUIREMENTS.—Any applicable ethics 6 committee decision described in paragraph (2) shall 7 be recorded and made publicly available, and shall 8 be accompanied by a written explanation for that ac- 9 tion. Dissenting members of the applicable ethics 10 committee are allowed to issue their own report de- 11 tailing reasons for disagreeing with the decision. 12 (d) LIMITATIONS ON REVIEW.—No review shall be 13 undertaken by the Board of any alleged violation of law, 14 rule, regulation or standard of conduct not in effect at 15 the time of the alleged violation, nor shall any review be 16 undertaken by the Board of any alleged violation that oc17 curred before the date of enactment of this Act. 18 19 20 (e) PROHIBITION ON PUBLIC DISCLOSURE.— (1) IN GENERAL.— (A) REQUIRED AFFIRMATION BY MEMBERS 21 AND STAFF.—When 22 member of the Board or employee of the Office, 23 that individual shall execute the following oath 24 or affirmation in writing: ‘‘I do solemnly swear 25 (or affirm) that I will not disclose to any person an individual becomes a O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 206 1 or entity outside of the Office any information 2 received in the course of my service with the 3 Office, except as authorized by the Board by 4 majority vote as necessary to conduct official 5 business or pursuant to its rules.’’. Copies of 6 the executed oath shall be provided to the Clerk 7 of the House of Representatives and the Sec- 8 retary of the Senate as part of the records of 9 the House and Senate. 10 (B) PROHIBITION ON PUBLIC DISCLO- 11 SURE.—No 12 formation obtained, by a member of the Board 13 or employee of the Office shall be publicly dis- 14 closed to any person or entity outside the Of- 15 fice, unless approved by a majority vote of the 16 Board. Any communication to any person or en- 17 tity outside the Office may occur only as au- 18 thorized by the Board. 19 (C) PROCEDURES testimony received, or any other in- AND INVESTIGATION.— 20 The Office shall establish procedures necessary 21 to prevent the unauthorized disclosure of any 22 information 23 breaches of confidentiality shall be investigated 24 by the Board and appropriate action shall be 25 taken. received by the Office. Any O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 207 1 (2) PROVISION WITH RESPECT TO OFFICE OF 2 PUBLIC INTEGRITY OR ETHICS COMMITTEES.—Para- 3 graph (1) shall not preclude— 4 (A) any member of the Board or any em- 5 ployee of the Office from presenting a report or 6 findings of the Board, or testifying before the 7 Select Committee on Ethics of the Senate or 8 the Committee on Ethics of the House of Rep- 9 resentatives by any member of the Board or 10 employee of the Office, if requested by either 11 committee pursuant to the rules of the com- 12 mittee; 13 14 (B) any necessary communication with the Office of Public Integrity; 15 (C) any necessary communication with the 16 Department of Justice or any other law en- 17 forcement agency; or 18 (D) any necessary communication with the 19 Majority Leader of the Senate, Minority Leader 20 of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Rep- 21 resentatives, or Minority Leader of the House 22 of Representatives. 23 (3) OPPORTUNITY TO PRESENT.—Before the 24 Board votes on a recommendation or statement to 25 be transmitted to the appropriate congressional com- O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 208 1 mittee relating to official conduct of any Member or 2 employee of Congress, the Board shall provide that 3 individual the opportunity to present, orally or in 4 writing (at the discretion of the Board), a statement 5 to the Board. 6 (f) PRESENTATION 7 MITTEE ON 8 ON ETHICS ETHICS OF OF THE OF THE REPORTS SENATE HOUSE OF TO SELECT COM- OR THE COMMITTEE REPRESENTATIVES.— 9 Whenever the Board transmits any report to the applica10 ble ethics committee relating to the official conduct of any 11 Member or employee of Congress, it shall designate a 12 member of the Board or employee to present the report 13 to such committee if requested by such committee. 14 15 (g) MAINTAINING PORTS.—The OF FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE RE- Office shall receive, and maintain, a copy 16 of each report filed under section 101 of the Ethics in 17 Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) by a Member 18 or employee of Congress. 19 (h) MEMORANDUM 20 OFFICE OF OF UNDERSTANDING WITH THE PUBLIC INTEGRITY.—The Office shall enter 21 into a memorandum of understanding with the Director 22 of the Office of Public Integrity in order— 23 (1) to share any information necessary for the 24 execution of each office’s respective duties and re- O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 209 1 sponsibilities, including the copies of reports de- 2 scribed in subsection (g); 3 (2) to ensure consistent interpretation and en- 4 forcement of the Nation’s ethics laws for executive 5 and legislative branch employees and officials; and 6 7 8 9 (3) to reduce and mitigate jurisdictional confusion. SEC. 555. REVIEW PROCESS OF COMPLAINTS. (a) SOURCE OF COMPLAINTS.— 10 (1) CITIZEN 11 (A) COMPLAINTS.— CITIZEN INITIATED SWORN COM- 12 PLAINT.—Any 13 cluding a Member or employee of Congress, 14 may file with the Office a sworn complaint al- 15 leging a violation by a Member or employee of 16 Congress of any law (including any regulation), 17 rule, or other standard of conduct applicable to 18 the conduct of such Member or employee in the 19 performance of the duties, or the discharge of 20 the responsibilities, of the Member or employee, 21 subject to subparagraph (B). 22 (B) BAN citizen of the United States, in- ON FILING PRIOR TO ELEC- 23 TION.—The 24 plaints regarding the conduct of a Member filed 25 in the— Board may not accept citizen com- O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 210 1 (i) 30 days prior to a primary election 2 for which the Member in question is a can- 3 didate; and 4 (ii) 60 days prior to a general election 5 for which the Member in question is a can- 6 didate. 7 (C) CONTENT.—The complaint under sub- 8 paragraph (A) shall be a notarized written 9 statement alleging a violation against 1 or more 10 named persons and stating the essential facts 11 constituting the violation charged. 12 (2) BOARD MEMBER OR OFFICE OF CONGRES- 13 SIONAL ETHICS INITIATED COMPLAINT.—A 14 of the Board or an employee of the Office may file 15 a complaint alleging a violation by a Member or em- 16 ployee of Congress of any law (including any regula- 17 tion), rule, or other standard of conduct applicable 18 to the conduct of such Member or employee in the 19 performance of the duties, or the discharge of the 20 responsibilities, of the Member or employee. member 21 (3) NOTIFICATION.—Upon receipt of a com- 22 plaint filed under paragraph (1) or (2) that meets 23 the requirements of this subsection, the Office 24 shall— O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 211 1 (A) notify the person alleged to have com- 2 mitted the violation that a complaint has been 3 filed; and 4 (B) refer the complaint to the Board for 5 consideration under the review process de- 6 scribed in subsection (b). 7 (b) REVIEW PROCESS OF ALLEGED VIOLATIONS BY 8 MEMBERS OR EMPLOYEES OF CONGRESS.— 9 (1) REQUEST.—After receiving a complaint 10 under subsection (a)(3)(B), 2 or more members of 11 the Board may submit a joint written statement to 12 all members of the Board authorizing the Office to 13 undertake a preliminary review of any alleged viola- 14 tion by a Member or employee of Congress of any 15 law (including any regulation), rule, or other stand- 16 ard of conduct applicable to the conduct of such 17 Member or employee in the performance of the du- 18 ties, or the discharge of the responsibilities, of the 19 Member or employee, along with a brief description 20 of the specific matter. 21 (2) PRELIMINARY 22 (A) IN REVIEW.— GENERAL.—Not later than 7 busi- 23 ness days after receipt of an authorization 24 statement from 2 or more members of the 25 Board under paragraph (1), the Board shall— O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 212 1 (i) instruct the Office to initiate a 2 preliminary review of the alleged violation; 3 and 4 (ii) provide a written notification of 5 the commencement of the preliminary re- 6 view, including a statement of the nature 7 of the review, to— 8 (I) the applicable ethics com- 9 mittee; 10 (II) any individual who is the 11 subject of the preliminary review; and 12 (III) the Director of the Office of 13 Public Integrity. 14 (B) OPPORTUNITY TO TERMINATE PRE- 15 LIMINARY REVIEW.—At any time, the Board 16 may, by a majority vote, terminate a prelimi- 17 nary review on any ground, including that the 18 matter under review is de minimis in nature. If 19 the Board votes to terminate the preliminary 20 review— 21 (i) the review process under this sec- 22 tion is completed and no further actions 23 shall be taken; and 24 (ii) the Board— O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 213 1 (I) shall notify, in writing, the in- 2 dividual who was the subject of the 3 preliminary review, the Director of the 4 Office of Public Integrity, and the ap- 5 plicable ethics committee, of its deci- 6 sion to terminate the review of the 7 matter; and 8 (II) may, in any case where the 9 Board votes to terminate the prelimi- 10 nary review, send a report, including 11 any findings of the Board, to the ap- 12 plicable ethics committee and to the 13 Director of the Office of Public Integ- 14 rity. 15 (3) SECOND-PHASE 16 (A) VOTE 17 (i) IN REVIEW PROCESS.— FOR SECOND-PHASE REVIEW.— GENERAL.—After the prelimi- 18 nary review conducted under paragraph 19 (2) is completed, the Board shall vote on 20 whether to authorize a second-phase review 21 of the matter under consideration. If there 22 is an affirmative vote of 4 or more mem- 23 bers of the Board to authorize the second- 24 phase review, the Board shall authorize the O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 214 1 second-phase review process in accordance 2 with subparagraph (B). 3 (ii) TERMINATION OF MATTER.—If a 4 vote to authorize a second-phase review 5 under clause (i) does not succeed, the re- 6 view process under this section shall be 7 completed and no further actions shall be 8 taken. 9 10 (iii) NOTIFICATION TO PARTIES.—The Board— 11 (I) shall notify, in writing, the in- 12 dividual who was the subject of the 13 preliminary review, the Director of the 14 Office of Public Integrity, and the ap- 15 plicable ethics committee, of its deci- 16 sion to authorize a second-phase re- 17 view of the matter or to terminate the 18 review process; and 19 (II) may, in any case where the 20 Board decides to terminate the review 21 process of the violation under clause 22 (ii), send a report, including any find- 23 ings of the Board, to the applicable 24 ethics committee and to the Director 25 of the Office of Public Integrity. O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 215 1 (B) SECOND-PHASE REVIEW.—In any case 2 where a second-phase review is required, the 3 Board shall authorize the Office to commence, 4 and complete, a second-phase review. 5 (C) COMPLETION OF SECOND-PHASE RE- 6 VIEW.—Upon 7 phase review, the Board shall— 8 9 the completion of any second- (i) evaluate the review and determine, based on a majority vote, whether— 10 (I) the applicable ethics com- 11 mittee should dismiss the matter that 12 was the subject of such review, which 13 may be made on any ground, includ- 14 ing that the matter under review is de 15 minimis in nature; 16 (II) the matter requires further 17 review by the applicable ethics com- 18 mittee; or 19 (III) the applicable ethics com- 20 mittee should take action relating to 21 the 22 ommendation for the disciplinary ac- 23 tion or sanctions that the committee 24 should take; matter, including any rec- O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 216 1 (ii) transmit to the applicable ethics 2 committee a written report that includes— 3 (I) a statement of the nature of 4 the review and the Member or em- 5 ployee of Congress who is the subject 6 of the review, including any probable 7 ethics violations uncovered in either 8 the preliminary or second-phase re- 9 view; 10 (II) any recommendations of the 11 Board based on votes conducted under 12 clause (i), or a statement that the 13 matter is unresolved because of a tie 14 vote of the Board or a failure to meet 15 the majority vote threshold established 16 under section 553(c)(3); 17 (III) a description of the number 18 of members voting in the affirmative 19 and in the negative for any action de- 20 scribed in clause (i); 21 22 (IV) any findings of the Board, including— 23 (aa) any findings of fact; 24 (bb) a description of any rel- 25 evant information that the Board O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 217 1 was unable to obtain or witnesses 2 whom the Board was unable to 3 interview, and the reasons there- 4 for; and 5 (cc) a citation of any rel- 6 evant law, regulation, or stand- 7 ard of conduct relating to the 8 violation; and 9 (V) any supporting documenta- 10 tion; 11 (iii) transmit to the individual who is 12 the subject of the second-phase review the 13 written report of the Board described in 14 clause (ii); 15 (iv) transmit to the Director of the 16 Office of Public Integrity the written re- 17 port of the Board described in clause (ii), 18 and may include any recommendations for 19 action by the Director that the Board may 20 recommend; and 21 (v) make public, on a website main- 22 tained by the Office, the written report of 23 the Board described in clause (ii), unless a 24 majority of the members of the Board vote 25 to withhold the report from the public O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 218 1 where public disclosure could compromise 2 the ability of the applicable ethics com- 3 mittee or a law enforcement agency to act 4 on probable ethics violations. 5 (D) AUTHORITY FOR REPRIMAND.—Upon 6 the completion of any second-phase review, the 7 Board— 8 (i) may, upon a majority vote, rep- 9 rimand, in writing, the alleged violator for 10 potential violations of the law; 11 (ii) in any case where a reprimand 12 under clause (i) is issued, shall provide a 13 copy of the reprimand to— 14 (I) the presiding officer of the 15 House of Congress in which the al- 16 leged violator serves (if such indi- 17 vidual is a Member of Congress); or 18 (II) the alleged violator’s em- 19 ployer, if the individual is an employee 20 of Congress; and 21 (iii) may make the reprimand avail- 22 23 24 able to the public. (c) REQUESTS FROM APPLICABLE ETHICS COMMITTEES.— O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 219 1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 2 provision of this subtitle, upon receipt of a written 3 request from an applicable ethics committee that the 4 Board cease its review of any matter and refer such 5 matter to the committee because of the ongoing in- 6 vestigation of such matter by the committee, the 7 Board shall refer such matter to the committee, 8 cease its preliminary or second-phase review, as ap- 9 plicable, of that matter and so notify any individual 10 who is the subject of the review. In any such case, 11 the Board shall send a written report to the com- 12 mittee containing a statement that, upon the request 13 of that committee, the matter is referred to it for its 14 consideration. Nothing in this paragraph shall be 15 construed to prevent the Board from sending any in- 16 formation regarding the matter to the Director of 17 the Office of Public Integrity or to other law en- 18 forcement agencies. 19 (2) RESUMPTION OF REVIEW.—If the applicable 20 ethics committee notifies the Board in writing that 21 it is unable to resolve any matter described in para- 22 graph (1), the Board may begin or continue, as the 23 case may be, a second-phase review of the matter in 24 accordance with subsection (b)(3). 25 (d) PROCEDURES.— O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 220 1 (1) REVIEW POWERS.—Members of the Board 2 or employees of the Office may, during either an ini- 3 tial review or second-phase review— 4 (A) administer oaths; 5 (B) require, by subpoena or otherwise, the 6 attendance and testimony of such witnesses and 7 the production of such books, records, cor- 8 respondence, accounts, memoranda, papers, 9 documents, tapes, and materials as the Board 10 or the Office considers advisable; 11 (C) take the deposition of witnesses; and 12 (D) conduct general audits of filings under 13 the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 14 1601 et seq.). 15 (2) WITNESSES.— 16 (A) WITNESSES.—Any witness interviewed 17 as part of a review under this section shall sign 18 a statement acknowledging that the witness un- 19 derstands that section 1001 of title 18, United 20 States Code (popularly known as the ‘‘False 21 Statements Act’’) applies to the testimony of 22 the witness and to any documents the witness 23 provides. 24 (B) PAYMENT.—Witnesses appearing be- 25 fore the Office may be paid in the same manner O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 221 1 as prescribed by clause 5 of rule XI of the 2 Rules of the House of Representatives, as in ef- 3 fect on the day before the date of enactment of 4 this Act. 5 (3) PROHIBITION OF EX PARTE COMMUNICA- 6 TIONS.—There 7 between any member of the Board or employee of 8 the Office and any individual who is the subject of 9 any review by the Board or between any member of 10 the Board and any interested party, and no Member 11 or employee of the Congress may communicate with 12 any member of the Board or employee of the Office 13 regarding any matter under review by the Board ex- 14 cept as authorized by the Board. 15 shall be no ex parte communications (4) CONTEMPT OF CONGRESS.—If a person dis- 16 obeys or refuses to comply with a subpoena, or if a 17 witness refuses to testify to a matter, the Board 18 may recommend to the applicable ethics committee 19 that such person be held in contempt of Congress. 20 (e) PROTECTION FROM FRIVOLOUS CHARGES.— 21 22 (1) CIVIL PENALTY FOR INITIAL COMPLAINT.— (A) FALSE COMPLAINT.—It shall be un- 23 lawful for any person to knowingly file with the 24 Office a false complaint of misconduct by any 25 Member or employee of Congress. O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 222 1 (B) ENCOURAGEMENT TO FILE FALSE 2 COMPLAINT.—It 3 son to encourage another person to file a false 4 complaint of misconduct by any Member or em- 5 ployee of Congress. 6 (C) ACTION shall be unlawful for any per- BY OFFICE OF PUBLIC INTEG- 7 RITY.—The 8 tegrity, after providing notice and an oppor- 9 tunity for a hearing, may impose a civil penalty 10 on any person who violates subparagraph (A) or 11 (B) in the amount of the greater of— Director of the Office of Public In- 12 (i) $10,000; or 13 (ii) the cost of the preliminary review. 14 (2) BAN ON ALL SUBSEQUENT COMPLAINTS.— 15 Any person upon whom the Director of the Office of 16 Public Integrity imposes a civil penalty under para- 17 graph (1)(C) may not file a complaint with the 18 Board again. 19 20 SEC. 556. PERSONNEL MATTERS. (a) COMPENSATION OF EMPLOYEES.— 21 (1) APPOINTMENT.—Upon a majority vote of 22 the Board, the Board may appoint and fix the com- 23 pensation of such professional, nonpartisan staff (in- 24 cluding staff with relevant experience in investiga- O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 223 1 tions and law enforcement) of the Office as the 2 Board considers necessary to perform its duties. 3 (2) QUALIFICATIONS.—Each employee of the 4 Office shall be professional and demonstrably quali- 5 fied for the position for which the employee is hired. 6 7 (3) STAFFING (A) IN REQUIREMENTS.— GENERAL.—The employees of the 8 Office shall be assembled and retained as a pro- 9 fessional, nonpartisan staff, and the Office as a 10 whole, and each individual employee, shall per- 11 form all official duties in a nonpartisan manner. 12 (B) NO PARTISAN POLITICAL ACTIVITY.— 13 No employee of the Office shall engage in any 14 partisan political activity directly affecting any 15 congressional or presidential election. 16 (C) LIMITATION OR PUBLIC SPEAKING OR 17 PUBLICATION.—No 18 accept public speaking engagements or write for 19 publication on any subject that is in any way 20 related to the employee’s employment or duties 21 with the Office without specific prior approval 22 from the chairperson and vice-chairperson of 23 the Board. employee of the Office may O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 224 1 (b) TERMINATION OF EMPLOYEES.—The employ- 2 ment of an employee of the Office may be terminated dur3 ing a Congress solely by a majority vote of the Board. 4 (c) REIMBURSEMENTS.—Members of the Board, and 5 employees of the Office, may be reimbursed for travel, sub6 sistence, and other necessary expenses incurred by mem7 bers or employees in the performance of their duties in 8 the same manner as is permissible for such expenses of 9 other employees of the House or Senate. 10 (d) AGREEMENTS FOR MEMBERS AND EMPLOYEES; 11 RETENTION OF DOCUMENTS BY THE CLERK.— 12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Before any individual who is 13 appointed to serve on the Board or before any indi- 14 vidual is hired to be an employee of the Office may 15 do so, the individual shall execute a signed document 16 containing the following statement: ‘‘I agree not to 17 be a candidate for the office of Senator or Rep- 18 resentative in, or Delegate or Resident Commis- 19 sioner to, the Congress for purposes of the Federal 20 Election Campaign Act of 1971 until at least 4 21 years after I am no longer a member of the Congres- 22 sional Ethics Board or employee of the Office of 23 Congressional Ethics.’’. 24 25 (2) RETENTION OF DOCUMENTS.—Copies of the signed and executed document shall be retained by O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 225 1 the Clerk of the House of Representatives and the 2 Secretary of the Senate as part of the records of the 3 House and the Senate. The Clerk and the Secretary, 4 working jointly, shall make the signatures a matter 5 of public record, causing the names of each indi- 6 vidual who has signed the document to be published 7 in a portion of the Congressional Record designed 8 for that purpose, and make cumulative lists of such 9 names available on the websites of the Clerk and the 10 Secretary. 11 (e) CODE OF CONDUCT.—The Board— 12 (1) shall establish a code of conduct to govern 13 the behavior of the members of the Board and the 14 employee of the Office, which shall include the avoid- 15 ance of conflicts of interest; and 16 (2) may issue other rules as the Board deter- 17 mines necessary to carry out the functions of the 18 Board and the Office. 19 20 SEC. 557. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 21 this subtitle such sums as may be necessary. 22 23 24 SEC. 558. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS AND RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. (a) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS 25 GOVERNMENT ACT OF TO THE ETHICS IN 1978.—Section 109(18) of the O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 226 1 Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is 2 amended— 3 (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) through 4 (D), as amended, as subparagraphs (B) through 5 (E), respectively; 6 (2) by inserting before subparagraph (B), as re- 7 designated by paragraph (1) of this subsection, the 8 following: 9 ‘‘(A) the Office of Congressional Ethics es- 10 tablished under section 552 of the Anti-Corrup- 11 tion and Public Integrity Act, for Senators, 12 Members of the House of Representatives, offi- 13 cers and employees of the Senate, and officers 14 and employees of the House of Representatives 15 required to file financial disclosure reports with 16 the Secretary of the Senate pursuant to section 17 103(h) of this title;’’; 18 (3) in subparagraph (B) (as so redesignated), 19 by striking ‘‘Senators, officers and employees of the 20 Senate, and other officers or employees of the legis- 21 lative branch’’ and inserting ‘‘officers or employees 22 of the legislative branch not described in subpara- 23 graph (A)’’; and 24 (4) in subparagraph (C) (as so redesignated), 25 by striking ‘‘Members, officers and employees of the O:\HEN\HEN18867.xml [file 6 of 7] S.L.C. 227 1 House of Representatives and other officers or em- 2 ployees of the legislative branch’’ and inserting ‘‘offi- 3 cers or employees of the legislative branch not de- 4 scribed in subparagraph (A)’’. 5 (b) TERMINATION 6 SIONAL ETHICS OF THE OF THE HOUSE OFFICE OF OF CONGRES- REPRESENTATIVES.— 7 Beginning on the date on which all members of the Board 8 are appointed, the Office of Congressional Ethics of the 9 House of Representatives shall be eliminated and section 10 1 of H. Res. 895 (110th Congress, March 11, 2008) shall 11 cease to have any force or effect. 12 (c) RULEMAKING AUTHORITY.—The provisions of 13 this subtitle are enacted— 14 (1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of 15 the Senate and of the House of Representatives, and 16 as such they shall be considered as part of the rules 17 of the Senate and the House, respectively, and shall 18 supersede other rules only to the extent that they 19 are inconsistent therewith; and 20 (2) with full recognition of the constitutional 21 right of the Senate and the House of Representa- 22 tives to change such rules at any time, in the same 23 manner, and to the same extent as in the case of 24 any other rule of the Senate or House of Represent- 25 atives. O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 228 1 2 3 Subtitle D—Applicability SEC. 571. APPLICABILITY. This title and the amendments made by this title 4 shall apply on and after the date of enactment of this Act. 9 TITLE VI—TRANSPARENCY AND GOVERNMENT RECORDS Subtitle A—Transparency for Federal Personnel and Candidates for Federal Office 10 SEC. 601. CATEGORIES RELATING TO THE AMOUNT OR 5 6 7 8 11 12 VALUE OF CERTAIN INCOME. Section 102 of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 13 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 14 15 (1) in subsection (a)— (A) in paragraph (1)(B)— 16 (i) in the matter preceding clause (i), 17 by striking ‘‘which of the following cat- 18 egories the amount or value of such item 19 of income is within’’ and inserting ‘‘the 20 amount or value of such item of income in 21 accordance with the following’’; 22 (ii) by redesignating clauses (i) 23 through (iv) as subclauses (I) through 24 (IV), respectively, and adjusting the mar- 25 gin accordingly; O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 229 1 2 (iii) by inserting before subclause (I), as so redesignated, the following: 3 ‘‘(i) For items of income with an 4 amount or value of not more than 5 $25,000, which of the following categories 6 the amount or value of such item of in- 7 come is within:’’; 8 9 (iv) in clause (i)(III), as so designated, by adding ‘‘or’’ at the end; 10 (v) in clause (i)(IV), as so designated, 11 by 12 ‘‘$25,000.’’; and 13 14 striking ‘‘$15,000,’’ and inserting (vi) by striking clauses (v) through (ix) and inserting the following: 15 ‘‘(ii) For items of income with an 16 amount or value of greater than $25,000, 17 the amount or value of the item of income, 18 rounded as follows: 19 ‘‘(I) For items of income with an 20 amount or value of greater than 21 $25,000 but not more than $100,000, 22 the amount or value rounded to the 23 nearest $10,000. 24 ‘‘(II) For items of income with 25 an amount or value of greater than O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 230 1 $100,000 2 $1,000,000, the amount or value 3 rounded to the nearest $100,000. but not more than 4 ‘‘(III) For items of income with 5 an amount or value of greater than 6 $1,000,000, the amount or value 7 rounded to the nearest $1,000,000.’’; 8 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘cat- 9 egory of value’’ and inserting ‘‘value, in accord- 10 ance with subsection (d)(2),’’; and 11 (C) in paragraph (4), in the matter pre- 12 ceding subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘category 13 of value’’ and inserting ‘‘value, in accordance 14 with subsection (d)(2),’’; and 15 (2) in subsection (d)— 16 (A) in paragraph (1), in the matter pre- 17 ceding subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘(3), (4), 18 (5), and (8)’’ and inserting ‘‘(5) and (8)’’; 19 20 (B) by redesignating paragraph (2) as paragraph (3); and 21 22 23 (C) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following: ‘‘(2) The amount or value of the items covered in 24 paragraphs (3) and (4) of subsection (a) shall be reported 25 as follows: O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 231 1 ‘‘(A) For items with an amount or value of not 2 more than $25,000, which of the following categories 3 the amount or value of such item is within: 4 ‘‘(i) Not more than $15,000. 5 ‘‘(ii) Greater than $15,000 but not more 6 than $25,000. 7 ‘‘(B) For items with an amount or value of 8 greater than $25,000, the amount or value of the 9 item, rounded as follows: 10 ‘‘(i) For items with an amount or value of 11 greater than $25,000 but not more than 12 $100,000, the amount or value rounded to the 13 nearest $10,000. 14 ‘‘(ii) For items with an amount or value of 15 greater than $100,000 but not more than 16 $1,000,000, the amount or value rounded to the 17 nearest $100,000. 18 ‘‘(iii) For items with an amount or value 19 of greater than $1,000,000, the amount or 20 value rounded to the nearest $1,000,000.’’. O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 232 1 SEC. 602. DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL INCOME TAX RE- 2 TURNS BY PRESIDENTS, VICE PRESIDENTS, 3 MEMBERS OF CONGRESS, AND CERTAIN CAN- 4 DIDATES. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title I of the Ethics in Govern- 6 ment Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 7 (1) by inserting after section 102 the following: 8 ‘‘SEC. 102A. DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL INCOME TAX RE- 9 TURNS BY PRESIDENTS, VICE PRESIDENTS, 10 MEMBERS OF CONGRESS, AND CERTAIN CAN- 11 DIDATES. 12 13 14 15 16 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— ‘‘(1) the term ‘covered candidate’ means an individual— ‘‘(A) required to file a report under section 101(c); and 17 ‘‘(B) who is nominated by a major party 18 as a candidate for the office of President, Vice 19 President, or Member of Congress; 20 ‘‘(2) the term ‘covered individual’ means— 21 ‘‘(A) a President, Vice President, or Mem- 22 ber of Congress required to file a report under 23 subsection (a) or (d) of section 101; and 24 ‘‘(B) an individual who occupies the office 25 of the President, Vice President, or a Member O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 233 1 of Congress required to file a report under sec- 2 tion 101(e); 3 ‘‘(3) the term ‘income tax return’ means, with 4 respect to any covered candidate or covered indi- 5 vidual, any return (within the meaning of section 6 6103(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) re- 7 lated to Federal income taxes, but does not in- 8 clude— 9 ‘‘(A) information returns issued to persons 10 other than such covered candidate or covered 11 individual; and 12 ‘‘(B) declarations of estimated tax; and 13 ‘‘(4) the term ‘major party’ has the meaning 14 given the term in section 9002 of the Internal Rev- 15 enue Code of 1986. 16 ‘‘(b) DISCLOSURE.— 17 18 ‘‘(1) COVERED ‘‘(A) IN INDIVIDUALS.— GENERAL.—In addition to the in- 19 formation described in subsections (a) and (b) 20 of section 102, a covered individual shall in- 21 clude in each report required to be filed under 22 this title a copy of the income tax returns of the 23 covered individual for— 24 ‘‘(i) with respect to the President or 25 Vice President, the 8 most recent taxable O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 234 1 years and every year the individual was in 2 Federal elected office for which a return 3 have been filed with the Internal Revenue 4 Service as of the date on which the report 5 is filed; and 6 ‘‘(ii) with respect to a Member of 7 Congress, the 2 most recent taxable years 8 and every year the individual was in Fed- 9 eral elected office for which a return has 10 been filed with the Internal Revenue Serv- 11 ice as of the date on which the report is 12 filed. 13 ‘‘(B) FAILURE TO DISCLOSE.—If an in- 14 come tax return is not disclosed under subpara- 15 graph (A), the Director of the Office of Public 16 Integrity shall submit to the Secretary of the 17 Treasury a request that the Secretary of the 18 Treasury provide the Director of the Office of 19 Public Integrity with a copy of the income tax 20 return. 21 ‘‘(C) PUBLICLY AVAILABLE.—Each income 22 tax return submitted under this paragraph shall 23 be filed with the Director of the Office of Public 24 Integrity and made publicly available in the O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 235 1 same manner as the information described in 2 subsections (a) and (b) of section 102. 3 ‘‘(D) REDACTION OF CERTAIN INFORMA- 4 TION.—Before 5 submitted under this paragraph available to the 6 public, the Director of the Office of Public In- 7 tegrity shall redact such information as the Di- 8 rector of the Office of Public Integrity, in con- 9 sultation with the Secretary of the Treasury de- making any income tax return 10 termines appropriate. 11 ‘‘(2) CANDIDATES.— 12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 15 13 days after the date on which a covered can- 14 didate is nominated, the covered candidate shall 15 amend the report filed by the covered candidate 16 under section 101(c) with the Federal Election 17 Commission to include a copy of the income tax 18 returns of the covered candidate for— 19 ‘‘(i) with respect to a candidate for 20 nomination or election to the office of 21 President or Vice President, the 8 most re- 22 cent taxable years and every year the indi- 23 vidual was in Federal elected office for 24 which a return has been filed with the In- 25 ternal Revenue Service; and O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 236 1 ‘‘(ii) with respect to a candidate for 2 nomination or election to the office of 3 Member of Congress, the 2 most recent 4 taxable years and every year the individual 5 was in Federal elected office for which a 6 return has been filed with the Internal 7 Revenue Service. 8 ‘‘(B) FAILURE TO DISCLOSE.—If an in- 9 come tax return is not disclosed under subpara- 10 graph (A) the Federal Election Commission 11 shall submit to the Secretary of the Treasury a 12 request that the Secretary of the Treasury pro- 13 vide the Federal Election Commission with the 14 income tax return. 15 ‘‘(C) PUBLICLY AVAILABLE.—Each income 16 tax return submitted under this paragraph shall 17 be filed with the Federal Election Commission 18 and made publicly available in the same manner 19 as the information described in section 102(b). 20 ‘‘(D) REDACTION OF CERTAIN INFORMA- 21 TION.—Before 22 submitted under this paragraph available to the 23 public, the Federal Election Commission shall 24 redact such information as the Federal Election 25 Commission, in consultation with the Secretary making any income tax return O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 237 1 of the Treasury and the Director of the Office 2 of Public Integrity, determines appropriate. 3 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULE FOR SITTING PRESI- 4 DENTS.—Not 5 enactment of this section, the President shall submit 6 to the Director of the Office of Public Integrity a 7 copy of the income tax returns described in para- 8 graph (1)(A)(i).’’; and 9 10 later than 30 days after the date of (2) in section 104— (A) in subsection (a)— 11 (i) in paragraph (1), in the first sen- 12 tence, by inserting ‘‘, 102B, or 102C, or 13 any individual who knowingly and willfully 14 falsifies or who knowingly and willfully 15 fails to file an income tax return that such 16 individual is required to disclose pursuant 17 to section 102A, 102B, or 102C’’ before 18 the period; and 19 (ii) in paragraph (2)(A)— 20 (I) in clause (i), by inserting 21 ‘‘102B, or 102C, or falsify any income 22 tax return that such person is re- 23 quired to disclose under section 102A, 24 102B, or 102C’’ before the semicolon; 25 and O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 238 1 (II) in clause (ii), by inserting 2 ‘‘102B, or 102C, or fail to file any in- 3 come tax return that such person is 4 required to disclosed under section 5 102A, 102B, or 102C’’ before the pe- 6 riod; 7 (B) in subsection (b), in the first sentence 8 by inserting ‘‘or willfully failed to file or has 9 willfully falsified an income tax return required 10 to be disclosed under section 102A, 102B, or 11 102C’’ before the period; 12 (C) in subsection (c), by inserting ‘‘or fail- 13 ing to file or falsifying an income tax return re- 14 quired to be disclosed under section 102A, 15 102B, or 102C’’ before the period; and 16 (D) in subsection (d)(1)— 17 (i) in the matter preceding subpara- 18 graph (A), by inserting ‘‘or files an income 19 tax return required to be disclosed under 20 section 102A, 102B, or 102C’’ after 21 ‘‘title’’; and 22 (ii) in subparagraph (A), by inserting 23 ‘‘or such income tax return, as applicable,’’ 24 after ‘‘report’’. 25 (b) AUTHORITY TO DISCLOSE INFORMATION.— O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 239 1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 6103(l) of the Inter- 2 nal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at 3 the end the following new paragraph: 4 ‘‘(23) DISCLOSURE OF RETURN INFORMATION 5 OF PRESIDENTS, VICE PRESIDENTS, MEMBERS OF 6 CONGRESS, AND CERTAIN CANDIDATES.— 7 ‘‘(A) DISCLOSURE OF RETURNS OF PRESI- 8 DENTS, VICE PRESIDENTS, AND MEMBERS OF 9 CONGRESS.— 10 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 11 shall, upon written request from the Direc- 12 tor of the Office of Public Integrity pursu- 13 ant to section 102A(b)(1)(B) of the Ethics 14 in Government Act of 1978, provide to of- 15 ficers and employees of the Office of Public 16 Integrity a copy of any income tax return 17 of any President, Vice President, or Mem- 18 ber of Congress that is required to be filed 19 under section 102A(b)(1) of such Act. 20 ‘‘(ii) DISCLOSURE TO PUBLIC.—The 21 Director of the Office of Public Integrity 22 may disclose to the public any income tax 23 return of any President, Vice President, 24 and Member of Congress that is required 25 to be filed with the Director of the Office O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 240 1 of Public Integrity pursuant to section 2 102A(b)(1) of the Ethics in Government 3 Act of 1978. 4 ‘‘(B) DISCLOSURE OF RETURNS OF CER- 5 TAIN 6 PRESIDENT, AND MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.— 7 CANDIDATES ‘‘(i) IN FOR PRESIDENT, GENERAL.—The VICE Secretary 8 shall, upon written request from the Chair- 9 man of the Federal Election Commission 10 pursuant to section 102A(b)(2)(B) of the 11 Ethics in Government Act of 1978, provide 12 to officers and employees of the Federal 13 Election Commission copies of the applica- 14 ble returns of any covered candidate (as 15 defined in section 102A(a) of such Act). 16 ‘‘(ii) DISCLOSURE TO PUBLIC.—The 17 Federal Election Commission may disclose 18 to the public any applicable return of any 19 covered candidate (as defined in section 20 102A(a) of such Act) that is required to be 21 filed with the Commission pursuant to sec- 22 tion 102A(b)(2) of the Ethics in Govern- 23 ment Act. O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 241 1 ‘‘(iii) APPLICABLE RETURNS.—For 2 purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘ap- 3 plicable returns’ means— 4 ‘‘(I) with respect to any covered 5 candidate for the office of President 6 or Vice President, income tax returns 7 for the 8 most recent taxable years 8 and every year the individual was in 9 Federal elected office for which a re- 10 turn has been filed as of the date of 11 the nomination; and 12 ‘‘(II) with respect to any covered 13 candidate for the office of Member of 14 Congress, income tax returns for the 15 2 most recent taxable years and every 16 year the individual was in Federal 17 elected office for which a return has 18 been filed as of the date of the nomi- 19 nation.’’. 20 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 21 6103(p)(4) of such Code, in the matter preceding 22 subparagraph (A) and in subparagraph (F)(ii), is 23 amended by striking ‘‘or (22)’’ and inserting ‘‘(22), 24 or (23)’’ each place it appears. O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 242 1 SEC. 603. TRANSPARENCY RELATING TO CANDIDATES FOR 2 FEDERAL OFFICE AND MEMBERS OF CON- 3 GRESS. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title I of the Ethics in Govern- 5 ment Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by inserting 6 after section 102A, as added by section 602 of this Act, 7 the following: 8 ‘‘SEC. 102B. DISCLOSURE RELATING TO COVERED ENTITIES 9 ASSOCIATED WITH MEMBERS OF CONGRESS 10 11 12 13 AND COVERED CANDIDATES. ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— ‘‘(1) the term ‘close family member’, with respect to a reporting individual, includes— 14 ‘‘(A) a parent of the reporting individual; 15 ‘‘(B) a spouse of the reporting individual; 16 17 and ‘‘(C) an adult child of the reporting indi- 18 vidual; 19 ‘‘(2) the term ‘covered candidate’ has the mean- 20 ing given the term in section 102A(a); 21 ‘‘(3) the term ‘covered entity’ means a corpora- 22 tion, company, firm, partnership, or other business 23 enterprise; 24 ‘‘(4) the term ‘gross receipts’ has the meaning 25 given the term in section 993(f) of the Internal Rev- 26 enue Code of 1986; O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 243 1 2 3 ‘‘(5) the term ‘income tax return’ has the meaning given the term in section 102A(a); ‘‘(6) the term ‘Member of Congress’ means— 4 ‘‘(A) a Member of Congress required to file 5 a report under subsection (a) or (d) of section 6 101; and 7 ‘‘(B) an individual who occupies the office 8 of Member of Congress and is required to file 9 a report under section 101(e); and 10 ‘‘(7) the term ‘reporting individual’ means— 11 ‘‘(A) a covered candidate; or 12 ‘‘(B) a Member of Congress. 13 ‘‘(b) DISCLOSURE.— 14 ‘‘(1) MEMBERS 15 ‘‘(A) IN OF CONGRESS.— GENERAL.—On and after the date 16 that is 180 days after the date on which the Di- 17 rector of the Office of Public Integrity, in con- 18 sultation with the Federal Election Commission, 19 promulgates regulations under paragraph (3), 20 in addition to the information described in sub- 21 sections (a) and (b) of section 102, a Member 22 of Congress shall include in each report re- 23 quired to be filed under this title, with respect 24 to the 2 most recent taxable years and every 25 year the Member of Congress was in Federal O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 244 1 elected office for which an income tax return 2 has been filed with the Internal Revenue Serv- 3 ice as of the date on which the report is filed— 4 ‘‘(i) a statement of the name of any 5 covered entity— 6 ‘‘(I) in which the Member of 7 Congress has a significant direct or 8 indirect ownership interest; and 9 ‘‘(II) that has gross receipts that 10 meet or exceed the threshold value es- 11 tablished by regulations promulgated 12 pursuant to paragraph (3); 13 ‘‘(ii) a copy of any income tax return 14 filed by a covered entity described in clause 15 (i) for any taxable year ending with or 16 within such years; and 17 ‘‘(iii) in the case of a covered entity 18 described in clause (i) that is a privately 19 owned or closely held covered entity, a 20 statement of— 21 22 23 24 25 ‘‘(I) each— ‘‘(aa) asset of the covered entity; and ‘‘(bb) liability of the covered entity; O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 245 1 ‘‘(II) all— 2 ‘‘(aa) income from sources 3 within the United States, as de- 4 scribed in section 861 of the In- 5 ternal Revenue Code of 1986; 6 and 7 ‘‘(bb) income from sources 8 without the United States, as de- 9 scribed in section 862 of the In- 10 ternal Revenue Code of 1986; 11 ‘‘(III) the name of each co-owner 12 or co-member of the covered entity; 13 and 14 ‘‘(IV) for any co-owner or co- 15 member described in subclause (III) 16 that is not a natural person, the name 17 of each natural person that controls, 18 directly or indirectly, the co-owner or 19 co-member. 20 ‘‘(B) CLOSE FAMILY MEMBERS.—In addi- 21 tion to the information described in subpara- 22 graph (A), the Director of the Office of Public 23 Integrity may, on a case-by-case basis and in 24 accordance with the regulations promulgated 25 under paragraph (3), require that a Member of O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 246 1 Congress include in each report required to be 2 filed under this title by the Member of Congress 3 the information described in subparagraph (A) 4 with respect to any covered entity— 5 ‘‘(i) in which a close family member of 6 the Member of Congress has a significant 7 direct or indirect ownership interest; and 8 ‘‘(ii) that has gross receipts that meet 9 or exceed the threshold value established 10 by regulations promulgated pursuant to 11 paragraph (3). 12 ‘‘(C) FAILURE TO DISCLOSE.—If an in- 13 come tax return is not disclosed under subpara- 14 graph (A)(ii), the Director of the Office of Pub- 15 lic Integrity shall submit to the Secretary of the 16 Treasury a request that the Secretary of the 17 Treasury provide the Director of the Office of 18 Public Integrity with a copy of the income tax 19 return. 20 ‘‘(D) PUBLICLY AVAILABLE.—All informa- 21 tion, including any income tax return, described 22 in this subsection required to be included in a 23 report under this title shall be filed with the Di- 24 rector of the Office of Public Integrity and 25 made publicly available in the same manner as O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 247 1 the information described in subsections (a) and 2 (b) of section 102. 3 4 5 ‘‘(E) REDACTION OF CERTAIN INFORMA- TION.— ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Before making 6 any information, including any income tax 7 return, described in this paragraph re- 8 quired to be included in a report under 9 this title available to the public, the Direc- 10 tor of the Office of Public Integrity shall 11 redact— 12 ‘‘(I) if the information contained 13 in the report contains a trade secret 14 the disclosure of which is likely to 15 cause substantial harm to the com- 16 petitive position of the covered entity 17 to which the information contained in 18 the report pertains, the information 19 relating to the trade secret; and 20 ‘‘(II) such information as the Di- 21 rector of the Office of Public Integ- 22 rity, in consultation with the Sec- 23 retary of the Treasury, determines ap- 24 propriate. O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 248 1 ‘‘(ii) REQUEST FOR REDACTION.—A 2 Member of Congress submitting a report 3 under this title that contains information, 4 including any income tax return, described 5 in this paragraph that contains a trade se- 6 cret described in clause (i)(I) may request 7 that the Director of the Office of Public 8 Integrity redact the information relating to 9 the trade secret. 10 ‘‘(2) CANDIDATES.— 11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—On and after the date 12 that is 180 days after the date on which the Di- 13 rector of the Office of Public Integrity, in con- 14 sultation with the Federal Election Commission, 15 promulgates regulations under paragraph (3), 16 not later than 15 days after the date on which 17 a covered candidate is nominated, the covered 18 candidate shall amend the report filed by the 19 covered candidate under section 101(c) with the 20 Federal Election Commission to include, with 21 respect to the years described in subparagraph 22 (B)— 23 24 ‘‘(i) a statement of the name of any covered entity— O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 249 1 ‘‘(I) in which the covered can- 2 didate has a significant direct or indi- 3 rect ownership interest; and 4 ‘‘(II) that has gross receipts that 5 meet or exceed the threshold value es- 6 tablished by regulations promulgated 7 pursuant to paragraph (3); 8 ‘‘(ii) a copy of any income tax return 9 filed by a covered entity described in clause 10 (i) for any taxable year ending with or 11 within such years; and 12 ‘‘(iii) in the case of a covered entity 13 described in clause (i) that is a privately 14 owned or closely held covered entity, a 15 statement of— 16 17 18 19 ‘‘(I) each— ‘‘(aa) asset of the covered entity; and ‘‘(bb) liability of the covered 20 entity; 21 ‘‘(II) all— 22 ‘‘(aa) income from sources 23 within the United States, as de- 24 scribed in section 861 of the In- O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 250 1 ternal Revenue Code of 1986; 2 and 3 ‘‘(bb) income from sources 4 without the United States, as de- 5 scribed in section 862 of the In- 6 ternal Revenue Code of 1986; 7 ‘‘(III) the name of each co-owner 8 or co-member of the covered entity; 9 and 10 ‘‘(IV) for any co-owner or co- 11 member described in subclause (III) 12 that is not a natural person, the name 13 of each natural person that controls, 14 directly or indirectly, the co-owner or 15 co-member. 16 17 ‘‘(B) APPLICABLE YEARS.—The years de- scribed in this subparagraph are as follows: 18 ‘‘(i) In the case of a report filed under 19 section 101(c) by a covered candidate for 20 the office of President or Vice President, 21 the 8 years preceding the date on which 22 the report is filed. 23 ‘‘(ii) In the case of a report filed 24 under section 101(c) by a covered can- 25 didate for the office of Member of Con- O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 251 1 gress, the 2 years preceding the date on 2 which the report is filed. 3 ‘‘(C) CLOSE FAMILY MEMBERS.—In addi- 4 tion to the information described in subpara- 5 graph (A), the Federal Election Commission 6 may, on a case-by-case basis and in accordance 7 with the regulations promulgated under para- 8 graph (3), require that a covered candidate in- 9 clude in each report required to be filed under 10 section 101(c) by the covered candidate the in- 11 formation described in subparagraph (A) with 12 respect to any covered entity— 13 ‘‘(i) in which a close family member of 14 the covered candidate has a significant di- 15 rect or indirect ownership interest; and 16 ‘‘(ii) that has gross receipts that meet 17 or exceed the threshold value established 18 by regulations promulgated pursuant to 19 paragraph (3). 20 ‘‘(D) FAILURE TO DISCLOSE.—If an in- 21 come tax return is not disclosed under subpara- 22 graph (A)(ii), the Chairman of the Federal 23 Election Commission shall submit to the Sec- 24 retary of the Treasury a request that the Sec- 25 retary of the Treasury provide the Federal O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 252 1 Election Commission with a copy of the income 2 tax return. 3 ‘‘(E) PUBLICLY AVAILABLE.—All informa- 4 tion, including any income tax return, described 5 in this subsection required to be included in a 6 report under section 101(c) shall be filed with 7 the Federal Election Commission and made 8 publicly available in the same manner as the in- 9 formation described in subsections (a) and (b) 10 11 12 13 of section 102. ‘‘(F) REDACTION OF CERTAIN INFORMA- TION.— ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Before making 14 any information, including any income tax 15 return, described in this paragraph re- 16 quired to be included in a report under 17 section 101(c) available to the public, the 18 Federal Election Commission shall re- 19 dact— 20 ‘‘(I) if the information contained 21 in the report contains a trade secret 22 the disclosure of which is likely to 23 cause substantial harm to the com- 24 petitive position of the covered entity 25 to which the information contained in O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 253 1 the report pertains, the information 2 relating to the trade secret; and 3 ‘‘(II) such information as the 4 Federal Election Commission, in con- 5 sultation with the Secretary of the 6 Treasury, determines appropriate. 7 ‘‘(ii) REQUEST FOR REDACTION.—A 8 covered candidate submitting a report 9 under section 101(c) that contains infor- 10 mation, including any income tax return, 11 described in this paragraph that contains a 12 trade secret described in clause (i)(I) may 13 request that the Federal Election Commis- 14 sion redact the information relating to the 15 trade secret. 16 ‘‘(3) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 120 days 17 after the date of enactment of this section, the Di- 18 rector of the Office of Public Integrity shall, in con- 19 sultation with the Federal Elections Commission, 20 promulgate regulations to— 21 ‘‘(A) establish each threshold value for 22 purposes of— 23 ‘‘(i) 24 subparagraphs (A)(i)(II) (B)(ii) of paragraph (1); and and O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 254 1 ‘‘(ii) subparagraphs (A)(i)(II) and 2 (C)(ii) of paragraph (2); 3 ‘‘(B) define the term ‘significant direct or 4 indirect interest’; 5 ‘‘(C) ensure that information described in 6 this subsection that is required to be contained 7 in a report filed under this title does not— 8 ‘‘(i) disclose any trade secret that is 9 likely to cause substantial harm to the 10 competitive position of the covered entity 11 to which it pertains; or 12 ‘‘(ii) violate the privacy of any indi- 13 vidual who is not the reporting individual 14 who files the report; and 15 ‘‘(D) prescribe appropriate circumstances 16 in which to require a Member of Congress or 17 covered candidate to provide information under 18 paragraph (1)(B) or (2)(C). 19 ‘‘SEC. 102C. DISCLOSURE RELATING TO COVERED ORGANI- 20 ZATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH COVERED CAN- 21 DIDATES. 22 23 24 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— ‘‘(1) the term ‘covered candidate’ has the meaning given the term in section 102A(a); O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 255 1 2 ‘‘(2) the term ‘covered organization’ means an organization required to— 3 ‘‘(A) file an income tax return under sec- 4 tion 6033 of the Internal Revenue Code of 5 1986; and 6 ‘‘(B) include information under subsection 7 (e) thereof; 8 ‘‘(3) the term ‘income tax return’ has the 9 meaning given the term in section 102A(a); and 10 ‘‘(4) the term ‘key employee’ means— 11 ‘‘(A) an individual who is 1 of the 5 indi- 12 viduals receiving the highest amount of com- 13 pensation paid by a covered organization; or 14 ‘‘(B) an individual receiving compensation 15 paid by a covered organization in an amount 16 that exceeds $100,000. 17 18 ‘‘(b) DISCLOSURE.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 15 days 19 after the date on which a covered candidate is nomi- 20 nated, the covered candidate shall amend the report 21 filed by the covered candidate under section 101(c) 22 with the Federal Election Commission to include— 23 ‘‘(A) a statement identifying each covered 24 organization of which the covered candidate has 25 been an officer, director, trustee, board mem- O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 256 1 ber, or key employee during the 2 years pre- 2 ceding the date on which the report is filed; and 3 ‘‘(B) for each covered organization identi- 4 fied under subparagraph (A), a copy of each in- 5 come tax return required to be filed by the cov- 6 ered organization under section 6033 of the In- 7 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 for each taxable 8 year ending with or within any taxable years 9 described in subparagraph (A) in which the cov- 10 ered candidate was an officer, director, trustee, 11 board member, or key employee of the covered 12 organization. 13 ‘‘(2) FAILURE TO DISCLOSE.—If an income tax 14 return is not disclosed under paragraph (1)(B), the 15 Federal Election Commission shall submit to the 16 Secretary of the Treasury a request that the Sec- 17 retary of the Treasury provide the Federal Election 18 Commission with the income tax return. 19 20 ‘‘(3) PUBLICLY ‘‘(A) IN AVAILABLE.— GENERAL.—All information, in- 21 cluding any income tax return, described in this 22 subsection required to be included in a report 23 under section 101(c) shall be filed with the 24 Federal Election Commission and made publicly O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 257 1 available in the same manner as the informa- 2 tion described in section 102(b). 3 ‘‘(B) INCOME TAX RETURNS.—The Direc- 4 tor of the Office of Public Integrity shall make 5 a copy of each income tax return described in 6 paragraph (1)(B) included in a report filed 7 under section 101(c) publicly available on the 8 website described in section 402(b)(19) until— 9 ‘‘(i) the date on which the reporting 10 individual ceases to be a covered candidate; 11 or 12 ‘‘(ii) if the reporting individual is 13 elected to the office for which the reporting 14 individual was a covered candidate, the 15 date on which the reporting individual 16 ceases to serve in the office for which the 17 reporting individual was a covered can- 18 didate. 19 ‘‘(4) REDACTION.—Before making any informa- 20 tion, including any income tax return, described in 21 this subsection required to be included in a report 22 under section 101(c) available to the public, the 23 Federal Election Commission shall redact such infor- 24 mation as the Federal Election Commission, in con- 25 sultation with the Secretary of the Treasury and the O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 258 1 Director of the Office of Public Integrity, determines 2 appropriate.’’. 3 (b) AUTHORITY TO DISCLOSE INFORMATION.—Para- 4 graph (23) of section 6103(l) of the Internal Revenue 5 Code of 1986, as added by section 602, is amended by 6 adding at the end the following new subparagraphs: 7 ‘‘(C) DISCLOSURE OF RETURNS OF COV- 8 ERED ENTITIES ASSOCIATED WITH MEMBERS 9 OF CONGRESS AND COVERED CANDIDATES.— 10 11 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.— ‘‘(I) COVERED ENTITIES ASSOCI- 12 ATED 13 GRESS.—The 14 written request from the Director of 15 the Office of Public Integrity pursu- 16 ant to section 102B(b)(1)(C) of the 17 Ethics in Government Act of 1978 18 provide to officers and employees of 19 the Office of Public Integrity a copy 20 of any income tax return of a covered 21 entity (as defined in section 102B(a) 22 of such Act) that relates to a year de- 23 scribed in section 102B(b)(1)(A) of 24 such Act and is required to be filed 25 under section 102B(b) of such Act. WITH MEMBERS OF CON- Secretary shall, upon O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 259 1 ‘‘(II) COVERED ENTITIES ASSOCI- 2 ATED WITH COVERED CANDIDATES.— 3 The Secretary shall, upon written re- 4 quest from the Chairman of the Fed- 5 eral Election Commission pursuant to 6 section 102B(b)(2)(D) of the Ethics 7 in Government Act of 1978 provide to 8 officers and employees of the Federal 9 Election Commission a copy of any in- 10 come tax return of a covered entity 11 (as defined in section 102B(a) of such 12 Act) that relates to a year described 13 in section 102B(b)(2)(B) of such Act 14 and is required to be filed under sec- 15 tion 102B(b) of such Act. 16 ‘‘(ii) DISCLOSURE TO PUBLIC.—The 17 Director of the Office of Public Integrity 18 and the Chairman of the Federal Election 19 Commission may disclose to the public the 20 income tax return of any covered entity (as 21 so defined) that is required to be filed pur- 22 suant to section 102B(b) of the Ethics in 23 Government Act of 1978. O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 260 1 ‘‘(D) DISCLOSURE OF RETURNS OF COV- 2 ERED ORGANIZATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH COV- 3 ERED CANDIDATES.— 4 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 5 shall, upon written request from the Chair- 6 man of the Federal Election Commission 7 pursuant to section 102C(b)(2) of the Eth- 8 ics in Government Act of 1978, provide to 9 officers and employees of the Federal Elec- 10 tion Commission copies of any income tax 11 return required to be filed under section 12 6033 by an organization described in 13 clause (iii) for any year taxable year end- 14 ing with or within the period described in 15 section 102C(b)(1)(B) of such Act. 16 ‘‘(ii) DISCLOSURE TO PUBLIC.—The 17 Federal Election Commission may disclose 18 to the public income tax returns of any or- 19 ganization described in clause (iii) that is 20 required to be filed with the Commission 21 pursuant to section 102C(b) of the Ethics 22 in Government Act of 1978. 23 ‘‘(iii) ORGANIZATION DESCRIBED.— 24 An organization is described in this clause 25 if such organization is a covered organiza- O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 261 1 tion (as defined in section 102C(a) of the 2 Ethics in Government Act of 1978) of 3 which a person who has been nominated as 4 a covered candidate (as defined in section 5 102A(a) of such Act) has been an officer, 6 director, trustee, board member, or key 7 employee (as defined in section 102C(a) of 8 such Act) during the period described in 9 section 102C(b)(1)(A) of such Act.’’. 10 (c) PROVISION OF FINANCIAL DISCLOSURES TO THE 11 FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION.—Section 103(j) of the 12 Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is 13 amended— 14 (1) in paragraph (1), by adding at the end the 15 following: ‘‘In the case of a report filed under this 16 title with the Clerk of the House of Representatives 17 by a covered candidate, as defined in section 18 102A(a), a copy of the report shall also be sent by 19 the Clerk to the Federal Election Commission within 20 the 7-day period beginning on the day the report is 21 filed.’’; and 22 (2) in paragraph (2), by adding at the end the 23 following: ‘‘In the case of a report filed under this 24 title with the Secretary of the Senate by a covered 25 candidate, as defined in section 102A(a), a copy of O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 262 1 the report shall also be sent by the Secretary to the 2 Federal Election Commission within the 7-day pe- 3 riod beginning on the day the report is filed.’’. 5 Subtitle B—Think Tank, Nonprofit, and Advocate Transparency 6 SEC. 611. AMENDMENTS TO THE LOBBYING DISCLOSURE 4 7 8 ACT OF 1995. (a) ENFORCEMENT REPORT.—Section 6(b) of the 9 Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1605(b)) is 10 amended— 11 12 (1) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the following: 13 ‘‘(1) REPORTS.— 14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara- 15 graph (B), after the end of each semiannual pe- 16 riod beginning on January 1 and July 1, the 17 Attorney General, in consultation with the Di- 18 rector of the Office of Public Integrity, shall 19 submit to each congressional committee referred 20 to in paragraph (2) a report that includes, for 21 that semiannual period a statement of— 22 ‘‘(i) the aggregate number of enforce- 23 ment actions taken by the Department of 24 Justice under this Act; and O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 263 1 ‘‘(ii) by case, any sentence or fine im- 2 posed in each such enforcement action. 3 ‘‘(B) INFORMATION 4 TER OF PUBLIC RECORD.—A 5 under subparagraph (A) may not include the 6 name of any individual, or any personally iden- 7 tifiable information, that is not already a mat- 8 ter of public record, as of the date on which the 9 report is submitted.’’; and 10 NOT ALREADY A MAT- (2) in paragraph (2)— 11 (A) by striking ‘‘paragraph (1)’’ and in- 12 serting ‘‘paragraph (1)(A)’’; and 13 (B) by inserting ‘‘and the Committee on 14 Oversight 15 ‘‘Committee on the Judiciary’’. 16 17 report submitted and Government Reform’’ after (b) REPORTS BY THINK TANK, NONPROFIT, AND ADVOCACY GROUPS.—The Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 18 (2 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) is amended— 19 (1) by redesignating sections 6 through 28 (2 20 U.S.C. 1605 et seq.), as amended by title II of this 21 Act, as sections 7 through 29, respectively; and 22 23 (2) by inserting after section 5 (2 U.S.C. 1604) the following: O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 264 1 2 3 4 5 ‘‘SEC. 6. REPORTS BY THINK TANK, NONPROFIT, AND ADVOCACY GROUPS. ‘‘(a) DEFINITION.—In this section— ‘‘(1) the term ‘covered organization’ means any organization— 6 ‘‘(A) that is described in paragraph (3), 7 (4), or (6) of section 501(c) of the Internal 8 Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from tax 9 under section 501(a) of such Code; and 10 ‘‘(B) that— 11 ‘‘(i) engages in lobbying activities; or 12 ‘‘(ii) is a client; and 13 14 ‘‘(2) the term ‘covered product’ means any communication that is— 15 ‘‘(A) made to a covered legislative branch 16 official or covered executive branch official in 17 the course of any lobbying contact by, or on be- 18 half of, a covered organization; 19 ‘‘(B) testimony— 20 ‘‘(i) given by, or on behalf of, a cov- 21 ered organization before a committee, sub- 22 committee, or task force of Congress; or 23 ‘‘(ii) submitted by, or on behalf of, a 24 covered organization for inclusion in the 25 public record of a hearing conducted by O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 265 1 such committee, subcommittee, or task 2 force; or 3 ‘‘(C) made by, or on behalf of, a covered 4 organization in response to a notice in the Fed- 5 eral Register, Commerce Business Daily, or 6 other similar publication soliciting communica- 7 tions from the public and directed to the agency 8 official specifically designated in the notice to 9 receive such communications. 10 ‘‘(b) REPORTS.—Not later than 1 year after the date 11 of enactment of this section, and not later than January 12 30th of each year thereafter, or on the first business day 13 after January 30th if January 30th is not a business day, 14 each covered organization shall submit to the Director of 15 the Office of Public Integrity a report for the preceding 16 calendar year that includes, with respect to each covered 17 product made or given by, or on behalf of, the covered 18 organization during that year— 19 20 21 22 ‘‘(1) the name of each donor who donated any amount that was— ‘‘(A) used to pay the cost of making or giving the covered product; and 23 ‘‘(B) donated with the intention of sup- 24 porting any lobbying activity by the covered or- 25 ganization; and O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 266 1 ‘‘(2) a statement of whether, before the date on 2 which the covered product was made or given, any 3 existing or potential donor to the covered organiza- 4 tion previewed, commented on, reviewed, or edited 5 the covered product. 6 ‘‘(c) DISCLOSURE.—The information required to be 7 submitted with respect to a covered product under sub8 section (b)(2) shall be included on or with that covered 9 product.’’. 10 (c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 11 Section 25(b) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, as 12 so redesignated, is amended, in the matter preceding para13 graph (1), by striking ‘‘9, 10, 11, and 12’’ and inserting 14 ‘‘10, 11, 12, and 13’’. 15 SEC. 612. AMENDMENTS TO THE INTERNAL REVENUE CODE 16 17 18 OF 1986. (a) INCLUSION NUAL RETURNS OF OF LOBBYING INFORMATION ON AN - CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS.—Sec- 19 tion 6033(b)(5) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 20 amended— 21 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ before ‘‘the names’’; and 22 (2) by inserting ‘‘and, if it engages in lobbying 23 activities (as defined in section 3 of the Lobbying 24 Disclosure Act of 1995) or is a client (as defined in 25 such section), a statement of whether any such con- O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 267 1 tribution was intended to support any lobbying activ- 2 ity (as so defined) or lobbying contact (as defined in 3 such section) by or on behalf of it, and, if so, a de- 4 scription of such lobbying activity or lobbying con- 5 tact’’ after ‘‘substantial contributors,’’. 6 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 7 this section shall apply to returns required to be filed for 8 taxable years ending on or after the date that is 1 year 9 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 10 11 12 13 Subtitle C—Strengthening FOIA Enforcement SEC. 621. STRENGTHENING FOIA ENFORCEMENT. (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 552 of title 5, United 14 States Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Freedom of Infor15 mation Act’’) is amended— 16 17 18 19 20 21 (1) in subsection (a)— (A) in paragraph (4)— (i) in subparagraph (B), in the first sentence— (I) by striking ‘‘and to order’’ and inserting ‘‘, to order’’; and 22 (II) by inserting before the pe- 23 riod at the end the following: ‘‘, to 24 order an agency to make available for 25 public inspection, including by posting O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 268 1 electronically, the records described in 2 paragraph (2), to make available to 3 the public on the website of the agen- 4 cy the records described in subsection 5 (p), and to award other appropriate 6 equitable relief’’; and 7 (ii) in subparagraph (F)(i), in the 8 first sentence— 9 (I) by inserting ‘‘, orders an 10 agency to make available for public in- 11 spection, including by posting elec- 12 tronically, the records described in 13 paragraph (2), or orders an agency to 14 make available to the public on the 15 website of the agency the records de- 16 scribed in subsection (p),’’ after ‘‘im- 17 properly withheld from the complain- 18 ant’’; and 19 (II) by inserting ‘‘or unavail- 20 ability of records’’ after ‘‘the with- 21 holding’’ each place that term ap- 22 pears; and 23 24 (B) in paragraph (6), by adding at the end the following: O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 269 1 ‘‘(G)(i) Notwithstanding any determination 2 made under subparagraph (A)(i), or any appeal to 3 such a determination under subparagraph (A)(ii), 4 the Office of Government Information Services es- 5 tablished under subsection (h) shall require an agen- 6 cy to comply with a request for records made under 7 paragraph (1), (2), or (3), or any other requirement 8 of this subsection, if the Office determines that the 9 agency has not reasonably and impartially complied 10 with the requirements of this subsection. 11 ‘‘(ii) If the Office makes a determination under 12 clause (i) that an agency has not reasonably or im- 13 partially complied with a request for records made 14 under paragraph (1), (2), or (3), or any other re- 15 quirement of this subsection, and requires the agen- 16 cy to comply with that request or requirement, the 17 Office shall make available to the public on the 18 website of the Office that determination and any re- 19 sponse and regular update by the agency of compli- 20 ance by the agency. 21 ‘‘(iii) Nothing in clause (i) or (ii) shall be con- 22 strued to prevent or restrict the ability of an indi- 23 vidual to bring a suit to compel the disclosure of 24 records under this section.’’; O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 270 1 2 (2) in subsection (d), by inserting ‘‘any Member of’’ before ‘‘Congress’’; 3 (3) in subsection (h)(3)— 4 (A) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ before ‘‘The Of- 5 fice’’; and 6 (B) by adding at the end the following: 7 ‘‘(B) The Director of the Office of Public Integ- 8 rity, or a designee of the Director, may submit a 9 non-binding recommendation to the Office of Gov- 10 ernment Information Services regarding the disclo- 11 sure of information under this section during a me- 12 diation service provided under subparagraph (A).’’; 13 and 14 15 (4) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘(n) Each agency shall maintain and make available 16 through a single website, which may be the website de17 scribed in subsection (m) and shall be managed by the 18 Office of Public Integrity, an agency record database 19 that— 20 ‘‘(1) contains a log of the status of each open 21 request for records from the agency under this sec- 22 tion; and 23 ‘‘(2) makes each request for records under this 24 section with which the agency complies available in 25 a format that is searchable, sortable, machine read- O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 271 1 able, and downloadable not later than 60 days after 2 the date on which the request is first received by the 3 agency.’’. 4 5 SEC. 622. EXEMPTIONS FROM DISCLOSURE. (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 552(b) of title 5, United 6 States Code, is amended— 7 (1) in paragraph (3)(B), by inserting ‘‘with an 8 explanation for the exemption’’ after ‘‘specifically 9 cites to this paragraph’’; 10 (2) in paragraph (4), by inserting before the 11 semicolon at the end the following: ‘‘, only if disclo- 12 sure of the commercial or financial information is 13 likely to cause substantial harm to the competitive 14 position of the person from whom the information 15 was obtained’’; 16 (3) in paragraph (5)— 17 (A) by striking ‘‘provided that the delibera- 18 tive process privilege shall not apply to records 19 created 25 years or more before the date on 20 which the records were requested’’ and insert- 21 ing ‘‘and excluding— 22 ‘‘(A) any opinion that is a controlling interpre- 23 tation of law; 24 ‘‘(B) any final report or memorandum created 25 by an entity other than the agency, including other O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 272 1 Governmental entities, at the request of the agency 2 and used to make a final policy decision; 3 4 ‘‘(C) any guidance document used by the agency to respond to the public; and 5 ‘‘(D) any record created not less than 25 years 6 before the date on which the records were re- 7 quested’’; 8 (4) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘similar files’’ 9 and inserting ‘‘personal information, such as per- 10 sonal contact information or personal financial infor- 11 mation,’’; 12 13 14 15 (5) in paragraph (7)— (A) in subparagraph (E)— (i) by inserting a comma before ‘‘if such’’; and 16 (ii) by inserting ‘‘and the record or in- 17 formation was created less than 25 years 18 before the date on which the records were 19 requested’’ after ‘‘circumvention of the 20 law’’; and 21 (B) by adding ‘‘or’’ at the end; 22 (6) by striking paragraph (8); 23 (7) by redesignating paragraph (9) as para- 24 graph (8); and O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 273 1 2 (8) in the flush text following paragraph (8), as so redesignated— 3 (A) by inserting before ‘‘Any reasonably 4 segregable portion’’ the following: ‘‘An agency 5 may not withhold information under this sub- 6 section unless the agency reasonably foresees 7 that disclosure would cause specific identifiable 8 harm to an interest protected by an exemption, 9 or if disclosure is prohibited by law.’’; and 10 (B) by inserting before ‘‘If technically fea- 11 sible,’’ the following: ‘‘For each record withheld 12 in whole or in part under paragraph (3), the 13 agency shall identify the statute that exempts 14 the record from disclosure.’’. 15 16 (b) TECHNICAL (1) AND ENERGY CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— POLICY AND CONSERVATION 17 ACT.—Section 18 and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6274(a)(2)(A)) is 19 amended 20 ‘‘(b)(8)’’. 21 by 254(a)(2)(A) of the Energy Policy striking (2) FEDERAL ‘‘(b)(9)’’ CREDIT UNION and inserting ACT.—Section 22 216(j)(3)(A) of the Federal Credit Union Act (12 23 U.S.C. 1790d(j)(3)(A)) is amended— 24 25 (A) by striking ‘‘; or’’ and all that follows and inserting a period; and O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 274 1 (B) by striking ‘‘excising’’ and all that fol- 2 lows through ‘‘any portion’’ and inserting ‘‘ex- 3 cising any portion’’. 4 (3) SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934.—Sec- 5 tion 24 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 6 U.S.C. 78x) is amended— 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 (A) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘(g)’’ and inserting ‘‘(f)’’; (B) by striking subsection (e); and (C) by redesignating subsections (f) and (g) as subsections (e) and (f), respectively. SEC. 623. PUBLIC INTEREST BALANCING TEST. Section 552 of title 5, United States Code (commonly 14 known as the ‘‘Freedom of Information Act’’), as amended 15 by this subtitle, is amended— 16 (1) in subsection (b), in the matter preceding 17 paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘This section’’ and in- 18 serting ‘‘Subject to subsection (o), this section’’; and 19 20 (2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘(o)(1) Notwithstanding the applicability of an ex- 21 emption from disclosure under subsection (b), an agency 22 shall make available a record or any segregable portion 23 of a record if the public interest in disclosure clearly out24 weighs the interest protected by the exemption. O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 275 1 ‘‘(2) In evaluating the public interest in disclosing a 2 record or a portion of a record under paragraph (1), an 3 agency and courts shall consider — 4 ‘‘(A) the extent to which access to the record 5 will further public understanding of the operations 6 or decision making of an agency or Government offi- 7 cial; 8 ‘‘(B) the extent to which the age of the record 9 diminishes the rationale for withholding the record; 10 ‘‘(C) any reasonable suspicion of governmental 11 wrongdoing; 12 ‘‘(D) the importance of the record to the public 13 in order for the public to make informed decisions 14 with respect to the electoral and democratic process; 15 and 16 17 18 ‘‘(E) any other factors that the agency or court determines necessary.’’. SEC. 624. AFFIRMATIVE DISCLOSURE OF AGENCY RECORDS 19 20 ON WEBSITE. Section 552 of title 5, United States Code (commonly 21 known as the ‘‘Freedom of Information Act’’), as amended 22 by this subtitle, is amended by adding at the end the fol23 lowing: 24 ‘‘(p)(1) Each agency shall make available to the pub- 25 lic on the website of the agency— O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 276 1 ‘‘(A) information relating to each advisory com- 2 mittee (as defined in section 3 of the Federal Advi- 3 sory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.)) of the agency, 4 including— 5 ‘‘(i) the charter of the advisory committee 6 and a description of the activities of the advi- 7 sory committee; 8 ‘‘(ii) the name and basic biography of each 9 member of the advisory committee, and any 10 conflict of interest, ethics waiver, or recusal in- 11 formation relating to each member; 12 ‘‘(iii) the meeting agendas, minutes, tran- 13 scripts, and any recordings of the advisory com- 14 mittee; 15 16 17 18 ‘‘(iv) any upcoming events of the advisory committee; ‘‘(v) timelines of any ongoing advisory committee work; and 19 ‘‘(vi) a full list of nominated members of 20 the advisory committee and the final selected 21 membership of the advisory committee; 22 ‘‘(B) information relating to Federal contracts 23 24 25 of the agency, including— ‘‘(i) a copy of each contract, task, and delivery order; O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 277 1 2 ‘‘(ii) information on past performance of contractors, if available; and 3 ‘‘(iii) except for information that is exempt 4 from disclosure under subsection (b)(4), all cor- 5 respondence and documents related to the pro- 6 vision of services to the Federal Government by 7 contractors earning— 8 ‘‘(I) $10,000,000 during a 1-year pe- 9 riod under a Federal contract or license; or 10 ‘‘(II) more than 20 percent of total 11 revenue of the contractor from Federal 12 sources; 13 14 ‘‘(C) ethics documents maintained by the Office of Public Integrity, including— 15 ‘‘(i) final submissions of ethics paperwork 16 for an individual in a position on any level of 17 the Executive Schedule under subchapter II of 18 chapter 53 of this title; 19 ‘‘(ii) waivers; and 20 ‘‘(iii) any document granting a recusal on 21 a specific issue for an individual in a position 22 on any level of the Executive Schedule under 23 subchapter II of chapter 53 of this title; 24 ‘‘(D) basic employee organizational charts and 25 office contact information, including— O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 278 1 ‘‘(i) charts that minimally include the 2 names, job titles, and salaries of all noncareer 3 appointees and career appointees, as defined in 4 section 3132 of this title; and 5 ‘‘(ii) front office contact information for 6 every office within the agency; 7 ‘‘(E) each communication sent to Congress or 8 9 10 11 to a committee of Congress, including— ‘‘(i) congressional testimony; ‘‘(ii) each unclassified report submitted to Congress, as required by statute; and 12 ‘‘(iii) each response to questions for con- 13 gressional hearing records, provided that the re- 14 sponse does not include individual casework or 15 constituent information; and 16 ‘‘(F) human resources data of the agency, in 17 the aggregate, including— 18 ‘‘(i) the number of involuntary transfers, 19 hires, and voluntary and involuntary departures 20 each quarter; and 21 ‘‘(ii) information on the racial, ethnic, and 22 gender diversity with respect to hires, depar- 23 tures, and involuntary transfers. 24 ‘‘(2) If an agency is unable to maintain a website de- 25 scribed in paragraph (1) due to resource constraints, the O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 279 1 agency shall submit the information required to be made 2 available under paragraph (1) to the Director of the Office 3 of Public Integrity, who shall make the information avail4 able on a website managed by the Office of Public Integ5 rity, such as the website described in subsection (m).’’. 6 SEC. 625. APPLICABILITY. 7 This subtitle and the amendments made by this sub- 8 title shall apply on and after the date of enactment of this 9 Act. 11 Subtitle D—Federal Contractor Transparency 12 SEC. 631. EXPANDING APPLICABILITY OF THE FREEDOM OF 13 INFORMATION ACT TO FEDERAL CONTRAC- 14 TORS. 10 15 (a) DEFINITION OF AGENCY.—In this section, the 16 term ‘‘agency’’ has the meaning given the term in section 17 552(f) of title 5, United States Code. 18 (b) APPLICABILITY OF FOIA.—A record relating to 19 a Federal contractor, including a record relating to a non20 Federal prison, correctional, or detention facility, pro21 duced during fulfillment of the Federal contract with an 22 agency with funds provided under the contract shall be— 23 (1) considered a record for purposes of section 24 552(f)(2) of title 5, United States Code, whether in O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 280 1 the possession of the Federal contractor or an agen- 2 cy; and 3 (2) subject to section 552 of title 5, United 4 States Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Freedom of 5 Information Act’’), to the same extent as if the 6 record was maintained by an agency. 7 (c) WITHHOLDING OF INFORMATION.—An agency 8 may not withhold information that would otherwise be re9 quired to be disclosed under subsection (b) unless— 10 (1) the agency, based on the independent as- 11 sessment of the agency, reasonably foresees that dis- 12 closure of the information would cause specific iden- 13 tifiable harm to an interest protected by an exemp- 14 tion from disclosure under section 552(b) of title 5, 15 United States Code; or 16 (2) disclosure of the information is prohibited 17 by law. 18 (d) REGULATIONS.— 19 (1) IN GENERAL.—An agency may promulgate 20 regulations or guidance to ensure compliance with 21 this section by the agency and Federal contractors. 22 (2) 23 TORS.— 24 25 COMPLIANCE (A) IN BY FEDERAL GENERAL.—Compliance CONTRAC- with this section by an applicable entity shall be included O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 281 1 as a material term in any contract, agreement, 2 or renewal of a contract or agreement between 3 the agency and the Federal contractor. 4 (B) MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT OR 5 AGREEMENT.—Not 6 date of enactment of this Act, an agency shall 7 secure a modification to include compliance 8 with this section by a Federal contractor as a 9 material term in any contract or agreement de- 10 scribed under subparagraph (A) that will not 11 otherwise be renegotiated, renewed, or modified 12 before the date that is 1 year after the date of 13 enactment of this Act. 14 (e) RULE OF later than 1 year after the CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec- 15 tion shall be construed to limit or reduce the scope of 16 State or local open records laws. 17 18 SEC. 632. PUBLIC DISCLOSURE BY LARGE CONTRACTORS. (a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘covered 19 contractor’’ means an entity that earns more than— 20 21 22 (1) $10,000,000 during a 1-year period under a Federal contract or license; or (2) 20 percent of the total revenue of the entity 23 from Federal sources. 24 (b) REQUIREMENT.—Each covered contractor shall, 25 on an annual basis, submit to the Director of the Office O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 282 1 of Public Integrity and the Administrator of the Office 2 of Federal Procurement Policy— 3 4 (1) any audited financial statements of the covered contractor; 5 (2) a listing of the salaries of employees of the 6 covered contractor providing services on Federal 7 contracts that are compensated over $100,000 per 8 year; 9 10 11 12 (3) a detailed list of all Federal political spending by the covered contractor; and (4) the identity of each beneficial owner of the covered contractor, including— 13 (A) name; 14 (B) current residential or business street 15 16 17 18 address; and (C) whether the beneficial owner is a foreign person. (c) PENALTY.—The Director of the Office of Man- 19 agement and Budget may— 20 (1) in consultation with the Administrator of 21 the Office of Federal Procurement Policy and the 22 Director of the Office of Public Integrity, tempo- 23 rarily or indefinitely disqualify a covered contractor 24 from receiving a Federal contract if the Director of 25 the Office of Management and Budget determines O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 283 1 that the covered contractor failed to comply with the 2 requirement under subsection (b); and 3 (2) reinstate the ability of a covered contractor 4 described in paragraph (1) to receive a Federal con- 5 tract. 7 Subtitle E—Congressional Transparency 8 SEC. 641. INCREASED TRANSPARENCY OF COMMITTEE 6 9 10 11 12 13 WORK. (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— (1) the term ‘‘Committee’’ means— (A) a committee of the House of Representatives; 14 (B) a committee of the Senate; and 15 (C) a subcommittee of a committee de- 16 scribed in paragraph (1) or (2); 17 (2) the term ‘‘covered hearing’’ means a public 18 19 hearing held by a Committee; and (3) the term ‘‘covered markup’’ means a public 20 markup held by a Committee. 21 (b) SCHEDULE.—At the same time as the schedule 22 is made available to members of a Committee, but not 23 later than 7 days before the date of a covered hearing or 24 covered markup (unless the Chairman and Ranking Mi25 nority Member of the Committee agree to waive the 7- O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 284 1 day requirement), each Committee shall make available on 2 the website of the Committee the schedule of covered hear3 ings and covered markups of the Committee. 4 (c) INFORMATION REQUIRED FOR MARKUPS.—At the 5 same time as the materials are made available to members 6 of a Committee, but not later than 24 hours before the 7 time of a covered markup (unless the Chairman and Rank8 ing Minority Member of the Committee agree to waive the 9 24-hour requirement), the Committee shall make available 10 on the website of the Committee any bill or resolution to 11 be considered at the covered markup and any amendments 12 to such a bill or resolution filed with the Committee. 13 (d) ADDITIONAL REQUIRED INFORMATION.—Not 14 later than 24 hours after holding a covered hearing or a 15 covered markup, a Committee shall make available on the 16 website of the Committee— 17 18 19 20 (1) a description of the topic of the covered hearing or covered markup; (2) any legislation related to the covered hearing or covered markup; 21 (3) the written testimony of any witness; 22 (4) any documents or materials entered into the 23 record; O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 285 1 (5) any written opening statements of the 2 Chairman or Ranking Minority Member of the Com- 3 mittee; and 4 (6) audio and video recordings of the covered 5 hearing or covered markup. 6 (e) TRANSCRIPTS.—Not later than 45 days after 7 holding a covered hearing or covered markup, a Com8 mittee shall make available on the website of the Com9 mittee transcripts of the covered hearing or covered mark10 up. 11 (f) REPORTED MEASURES.—Not later than 24 hours 12 after a covered markup during which a Committee orders 13 a bill or resolution to be reported, the Committee shall 14 post on the website of the Committee— 15 (1) each amendment to the bill or resolution 16 that was agreed to, except for technical and con- 17 forming changes authorized by the Committee; and 18 (2) a record of each vote taken on the bill or 19 resolution or an amendment thereto. 20 (g) COMPARATIVE PRINT.— 21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 45 days after 22 a Committee reports a bill or joint resolution pro- 23 posing to repeal or amend a statute or part thereof, 24 the Committee shall include in its report or in an ac- O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 286 1 companying document and make available on the 2 website of the Committee— 3 (A) the entire text of each section of a 4 statute that is proposed to be repealed or 5 amended; and 6 (B) a comparative print of each amend- 7 ment to a section of a statute that the bill or 8 joint resolution proposes to make, showing by 9 appropriate typographical devices the omissions 10 and insertions proposed. 11 (2) COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS.—If a Com- 12 mittee reports a bill or joint resolution proposing to 13 repeal or amend a statute or part thereof with a rec- 14 ommendation that the bill or joint resolution be 15 amended, the comparative print required by para- 16 graph (1) shall reflect the changes in existing law 17 proposed to be made by the bill or joint resolution 18 as proposed to be amended. 19 (3) AVAILABILITY.—Each Committee shall 20 make reasonable efforts to make a comparative print 21 required by paragraph (1) available to the members 22 of the Committee and to the public as early as prac- 23 ticable, and before a covered markup, if practical. 24 (h) QUESTIONS FOR THE RECORD.— O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 287 1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 2 graph (2), for each covered hearing or covered mark- 3 up, a Committee shall make available on the website 4 of the Committee any response to questions for the 5 record of the covered hearing or covered markup 6 that the Committee receives from a testifying wit- 7 ness. 8 (2) PROTECTION OF CERTAIN INFORMATION.— 9 Upon agreement by the Chairman and Ranking Mi- 10 nority Member of a Committee, a response described 11 in paragraph (1) may be withheld from the website 12 of the Committee if it includes individual casework 13 or constituent information or information that the 14 Chairman and Ranking Minority Member determine 15 is confidential information. 16 SEC. 642. 17 INCREASED TRANSPARENCY OF RECORDED VOTES. 18 (a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘Member 19 of Congress’’ means a member of the House of Represent20 atives and a member of the Senate. 21 (b) ADDITIONAL DUTIES 22 HOUSE 23 THE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE AND THE CLERK OF THE SECRETARY OF SENATE.—The Clerk of the House of Representatives 24 and the Secretary of the Senate shall make available on 25 the website of the Office of the Clerk or of the Secretary, O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 288 1 respectively, a record of the recorded votes of each Mem2 ber of Congress who is a member of their House of Con3 gress, organized by the name of the Member of Congress, 4 in a structured data format, which shall include the roll, 5 date, issue, question, result, and title or description of the 6 vote. 7 (c) WEB LINK.—Each Member of Congress shall pro- 8 vide a link on the website of the Member of Congress to 9 the record of recorded votes of the Member of Congress 10 made available by the Clerk of the House of Representa11 tives or the Secretary of the Senate, as applicable. 12 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply to 13 recorded votes by Members of Congress occurring after 14 the date of enactment of this Act. 15 16 17 SEC. 643. INCREASED TRANSPARENCY OF APPROPRIATIONS BILLS. (a) INCLUSION.—The Clerk of the House of Rep- 18 resentatives and the Secretary of the Senate shall ensure 19 that each report accompanying any appropriations bill re20 ported by the Committees on Appropriations of the House 21 of Representatives or the Committee on Appropriations of 22 the Senate, respectively, includes a formatted spreadsheet 23 showing the amounts made available by the bill, in a tab24 ular, digital format that shows separate entries for each 25 fiscal year covered by the bill. O:\HEN\HEN18868.xml [file 7 of 7] S.L.C. 289 1 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Subsection (a) shall apply 2 with respect to any appropriations bill making funds avail3 able for fiscal year 2019 or any fiscal year thereafter.