Us Congress 2023-2024 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB310 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	I
2	2	118THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. R. 310
5	5	To amend title 5, United States Code, to prohibit transactions involving
6	6	certain financial instruments by senior Federal employees, their spouses,
7	7	or dependent children, and for other purposes.
8	8	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
9	9	JANUARY12, 2023
10	10	Mr. C
11	11	LOUD(for himself and Mr. GOLDENof Maine) introduced the following
12	12	bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Account-
13	13	ability, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a pe-
14	14	riod to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for con-
15	15	sideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com-
16	16	mittee concerned
17	17	A BILL
18	18	To amend title 5, United States Code, to prohibit trans-
19	19	actions involving certain financial instruments by senior
20	20	Federal employees, their spouses, or dependent children,
21	21	and for other purposes.
22	22	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
23	23	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
24	24	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
25	25	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Dismantling Invest-4
26	26	ments in Violation of Ethical Standards through Trusts 5
27	27	Act’’. 6
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30	30	•HR 310 IH
31	31	SEC. 2. PROHIBITING TRANSACTIONS AND OWNERSHIP OF 1
32	32	CERTAIN FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS BY SEN-2
33	33	IOR FEDERAL EMPLOYEES, THEIR SPOUSES, 3
34	34	OR DEPENDENT CHILDREN. 4
35	35	(a) I
36	36	NGENERAL.—Chapter 13 of title 5, United 5
37	37	States Code, is amended by adding after subchapter III 6
38	38	the following: 7
39	39	‘‘SUBCHAPTER IV—RESTRICTIONS REGARDING 8
40	40	FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS 9
41	41	‘‘§ 13151. Definitions 10
42	42	‘‘In this subchapter: 11
43	43	‘‘(1) C
44	44	OVERED FINANCIAL INSTRUMENT .— 12
45	45	‘‘(A) I
46	46	N GENERAL.—The term ‘covered fi-13
47	47	nancial instrument’ means— 14
48	48	‘‘(i) any investment in— 15
49	49	‘‘(I) a security (as defined in sec-16
50	50	tion 3(a) of Securities Exchange Act 17
51	51	of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78c(a))); 18
52	52	‘‘(II) a security future (as de-19
53	53	fined in that section); or 20
54	54	‘‘(III) a commodity (as defined in 21
55	55	section 1a of the Commodity Ex-22
56	56	change Act (7 U.S.C. 1a)); and 23
57	57	‘‘(ii) any economic interest com-24
58	58	parable to an interest described in clause 25
59	59	(i) that is acquired through synthetic 26
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62	62	•HR 310 IH
63	63	means, such as the use of a derivative, in-1
64	64	cluding an option, warrant, or other simi-2
65	65	lar means. 3
66	66	‘‘(B) E
67	67	XCLUSIONS.—The term ‘covered fi-4
68	68	nancial instrument’ does not include— 5
69	69	‘‘(i) a diversified mutual fund; 6
70	70	‘‘(ii) a diversified exchange-traded 7
71	71	fund; 8
72	72	‘‘(iii) a United States Treasury bill, 9
73	73	note, or bond; or 10
74	74	‘‘(iv) compensation from the primary 11
75	75	occupation of a spouse or dependent child 12
76	76	of a senior Federal employee. 13
77	77	‘‘(2) Q
78	78	UALIFIED BLIND TRUST .—The term 14
79	79	‘qualified blind trust’ has the meaning given the 15
80	80	term in section 13104. 16
81	81	‘‘(3) S
82	82	ENIOR FEDERAL EMPLOYEE .—The term 17
83	83	‘senior Federal employee’ means any individual occu-18
84	84	pying a Senior Executive Service position (as that 19
85	85	term is defined in section 3132). 20
86	86	‘‘(4) S
87	87	UPERVISING ETHICS OFFICE .—The term 21
88	88	‘supervising ethics office’ has the meaning given the 22
89	89	term in section 13101. 23
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92	92	•HR 310 IH
93	93	‘‘§ 13152. Prohibition on certain transactions and 1
94	94	holdings involving covered financial in-2
95	95	struments 3
96	96	‘‘(a) P
97	97	ROHIBITION.—Except as provided in sub-4
98	98	section (b), a senior Federal employee, their spouse, or 5
99	99	their dependent children may not, during the term of serv-6
100	100	ice of the employee, hold, purchase, or sell any covered 7
101	101	financial instrument. 8
102	102	‘‘(b) E
103	103	XCEPTIONS.—The prohibition under sub-9
104	104	section (a) does not apply to— 10
105	105	‘‘(1) a sale by a senior Federal employee, their 11
106	106	spouse, or their dependent child that is completed by 12
107	107	the date that is— 13
108	108	‘‘(A) for an employee serving on the date 14
109	109	of enactment of this title, 180 days after that 15
110	110	date of enactment; and 16
111	111	‘‘(B) for any employee who commences 17
112	112	service as an employee after the date of enact-18
113	113	ment of this title, 180 days after the first date 19
114	114	of the initial term of service; 20
115	115	‘‘(2) a covered financial instrument held in a 21
116	116	qualified blind trust operated on behalf of, or for the 22
117	117	benefit of, a senior Federal employee, their spouse, 23
118	118	or their dependent child; or 24
119	119	‘‘(3) a covered financial instrument exempted 25
120	120	from coverage under section 208 of title 18 pursuant 26
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123	123	•HR 310 IH
124	124	to section 2640.202 of title 5, Code of Federal Reg-1
125	125	ulations (or any successor regulation). 2
126	126	‘‘(c) A
127	127	PPLICATION OFCERTIFICATE OFDIVESTITURE 3
128	128	P
129	129	ROGRAM.—For purposes of section 1043 of the Internal 4
130	130	Revenue Code of 1986— 5
131	131	‘‘(1) this section shall be treated as a Federal 6
132	132	conflict of interest statute; and 7
133	133	‘‘(2) any person required to dispose of any 8
134	134	property by reason of this section shall be treated as 9
135	135	an eligible person. 10
136	136	‘‘(d) P
137	137	ENALTIES.— 11
138	138	‘‘(1) D
139	139	ISGORGEMENT.—A senior Federal em-12
140	140	ployee, their spouse, or their dependent child shall 13
141	141	disgorge to the general fund of the Treasury any 14
142	142	profit from a transaction or holding involving a cov-15
143	143	ered financial instrument that is conducted in viola-16
144	144	tion of this section. 17
145	145	‘‘(2) I
146	146	NCOME TAX.—A loss from a transaction 18
147	147	or holding involving a covered financial instrument 19
148	148	that is conducted in violation of this section may not 20
149	149	be deducted from the amount of income tax owed by 21
150	150	the applicable senior Federal employee, their spouse, 22
151	151	or their dependent child. 23
152	152	‘‘(3) F
153	153	INES.—A senior Federal employee who 24
154	154	holds or conducts a transaction involving a covered 25
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157	157	•HR 310 IH
158	158	financial instrument in violation of this section may 1
159	159	be subject to a civil fine assessed by the supervising 2
160	160	ethics office under section 13153. 3
161	161	‘‘§ 13153. Certification of compliance 4
162	162	‘‘(a) I
163	163	NGENERAL.—Not less frequently than annu-5
164	164	ally, each senior Federal employee shall submit to the su-6
165	165	pervising ethics office a written certification that the em-7
166	166	ployee, their spouse, or their dependent child has achieved 8
167	167	compliance with the requirements of this title. 9
168	168	‘‘(b) P
169	169	UBLICATION.—The supervising ethics office 10
170	170	shall publish each certification submitted under subsection 11
171	171	(a) on a publicly available website. 12
172	172	‘‘§ 13154. Authority of supervising ethics office 13
173	173	‘‘(a) I
174	174	NGENERAL.—The supervising ethics office 14
175	175	may implement and enforce the requirements of this sub-15
176	176	chapter, including by— 16
177	177	‘‘(1) issuing— 17
178	178	‘‘(A) for applicable senior Federal employ-18
179	179	ees— 19
180	180	‘‘(i) rules governing that implementa-20
181	181	tion; and 21
182	182	‘‘(ii) 1 or more reasonable extensions 22
183	183	to achieve compliance with this subchapter, 23
184	184	if the supervising ethics office determines 24
185	185	that an employee is making a good faith 25
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188	188	•HR 310 IH
189	189	effort to divest any covered financial in-1
190	190	struments; and 2
191	191	‘‘(B) guidance relating to covered financial 3
192	192	instruments; 4
193	193	‘‘(2) publishing on the internet certifications 5
194	194	submitted by senior Federal employees under section 6
195	195	13153(a); and 7
196	196	‘‘(3) assessing civil fines against any senior 8
197	197	Federal employee who is in violation of this sub-9
198	198	chapter, subject to subsection (b). 10
199	199	‘‘(b) R
200	200	EQUIREMENTS FOR CIVILFINES.— 11
201	201	‘‘(1) A
202	202	MOUNT.—A fine imposed under this sec-12
203	203	tion against a senior Federal employee shall be equal 13
204	204	to the greater of— 14
205	205	‘‘(A) $1,000, or 15
206	206	‘‘(B) an amount equal to 10 percent of the 16
207	207	greatest dollar value of the applicable covered 17
208	208	financial instrument during any period that 18
209	209	such instrument was held by the applicable sen-19
210	210	ior Federal employee or their spouse or depend-20
211	211	ent child (as the case may be). 21
212	212	‘‘(2) I
213	213	N GENERAL.—Before imposing a fine pur-22
214	214	suant to this section, the supervising ethics office 23
215	215	shall provide to the applicable senior Federal em-24
216	216	ployee— 25
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219	219	•HR 310 IH
220	220	‘‘(A) a written notice describing each cov-1
221	221	ered financial instrument transaction for which 2
222	222	a fine will be assessed; and 3
223	223	‘‘(B) an opportunity, with respect to each 4
224	224	such covered financial instrument transaction— 5
225	225	‘‘(i) for a hearing; and 6
226	226	‘‘(ii) to achieve compliance with the 7
227	227	requirements of this subchapter. 8
228	228	‘‘(3) P
229	229	UBLICATION.—The supervising ethics of-9
230	230	fice shall publish on a publicly available website a 10
231	231	description of— 11
232	232	‘‘(A) each fine assessed pursuant to this 12
233	233	section; 13
234	234	‘‘(B) the reasons why each such fine was 14
235	235	assessed; and 15
236	236	‘‘(C) the result of each assessment, includ-16
237	237	ing any hearing under paragraph (2)(B)(i) re-17
238	238	lating to the assessment. 18
239	239	‘‘(4) A
240	240	PPEAL.—A senior Federal employee may 19
241	241	appeal to the supervising ethics office a fine assessed 20
242	242	under this section during the 30-day period begin-21
243	243	ning on the date the fine is so assessed. 22
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246	246	•HR 310 IH
247	247	‘‘§ 13155. Audit by Government Accountability Office 1
248	248	‘‘Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 2
249	249	of this subchapter, the Comptroller General of the United 3
250	250	States shall— 4
251	251	‘‘(1) conduct an audit of the compliance by sen-5
252	252	ior Federal employees with the requirements of this 6
253	253	subchapter; and 7
254	254	‘‘(2) submit to each supervising ethics office a 8
255	255	report describing the results of the audit conducted 9
256	256	under paragraph (1).’’. 10
257	257	(b) A
258	258	PPLICATION.—The amendments made by sub-11
259	259	section (a) shall apply to individuals described in section 12
260	260	13152(a) of title 5, United States Code, (as added by sub-13
261	261	section (a)) beginning on the date that is 12 months fol-14
262	262	lowing the date of enactment of this Act. 15
263	263	(c) A
264	264	DDITIONALEMPLOYEES.—Section 13121(c)(1) 16
265	265	of title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting 17
266	266	‘‘up to 100’’ after ‘‘appoint’’. 18
267	267	(d) F
268	268	UNDING.—The Director of the Office of Man-19
269	269	agement and Budget may transfer such funds as the Di-20
270	270	rector considers appropriate, to be derived from unobli-21
271	271	gated amounts available for executive branch programs 22
272	272	identified by the Director to be duplicative, to the Office 23
273	273	of Government Ethics for the purpose of carrying out this 24
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276	276	•HR 310 IH
277	277	Act, to remain available until the date that is 5 years fol-1
278	278	lowing the date of the enactment of this Act. 2
279	279	Æ
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