I 119THCONGRESS 1 STSESSION H. R. 396 To require Members of Congress and their spouses and dependent children to place certain assets into blind trusts, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY14, 2025 Mr. M AGAZINER(for himself, Mr. ROY, Ms. ADAMS, Mr. BEYER, Mr. CASAR, Mr. C ISCOMANI, Mr. CLEAVER, Ms. CRAIG, Mr. CRANE, Mr. CROW, Ms. D AVIDSof Kansas, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. DELUZIO, Mr. GARCIAof Cali- fornia, Mr. G OLDENof Maine, Mr. GOTTHEIMER, Ms. HOULAHAN, Mr. H UFFMAN, Mr. JOHNSONof South Dakota, Mr. KEATING, Mrs. KIM, Mr. L ANDSMAN, Mr. LAWLER, Ms. LEGERFERNANDEZ, Mr. LEVIN, Ms. M ACE, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. MRVAN, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. NADLER, Mr. N EGUSE, Ms. NORTON, Ms. PEREZ, Mr. PERRY, Ms. PETTERSEN, Mr. P OCAN, Ms. SALINAS, Ms. SHERRILL, Mr. SORENSEN, Mr. STANTON, Ms. S TEVENS, Ms. TITUS, Mr. TONKO, Mr. VASQUEZ, Ms. WILLIAMSof Geor- gia, Mr. M ACKENZIE, and Mr. PAPPAS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration A BILL To require Members of Congress and their spouses and de- pendent children to place certain assets into blind trusts, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:09 Feb 06, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H396.IH H396 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 396 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Transparent Represen-2 tation Upholding Service and Trust in Congress Act’’ or 3 the ‘‘TRUST in Congress Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. PLACEMENT OF CERTAIN ASSETS OF MEMBERS OF 5 CONGRESS AND THEIR SPOUSES AND DE-6 PENDENT CHILDREN IN BLIND TRUST. 7 (a) I NGENERAL.— 8 (1) M EMBERS OCCUPYING OFFICE ON DATE OF 9 ENACTMENT.—Not later than 180 days after the 10 date of enactment of this Act, a Member of Con-11 gress and any spouse or dependent child of such 12 Member shall place any covered investment owned 13 by such Member, spouse, or dependent child into a 14 qualified blind trust. 15 (2) M EMBERS ASSUMING OFFICE AFTER DATE 16 OF ENACTMENT.—Not later than 90 days after the 17 date an individual becomes a Member of Congress 18 after the date of enactment of this Act, such indi-19 vidual and any spouse or dependent child of such in-20 dividual shall place any covered investment owned by 21 such individual, spouse, or dependent child into a 22 qualified blind trust. 23 (3) M INGLING OF ASSETS.—A spouse or de-24 pendent child of a Member of Congress may place 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:09 Feb 06, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H396.IH H396 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 396 IH a covered investment in a qualified blind trust estab-1 lished by such Member under paragraph (1) or (2). 2 (4) A SSETS UPON SEPARATION .—A Member of 3 Congress and any spouse or dependent child of such 4 Member may not dissolve any qualified blind trust in 5 which a covered investment has been placed pursu-6 ant to paragraph (1) or (2), or otherwise control 7 such an investment, until the date that is 180 days 8 after the date such Member ceases to be a Member 9 of Congress. 10 (b) A CCOUNTABILITY.— 11 (1) M EMBERS OF THE HOUSE .—A Member of 12 Congress who is a Member of the House of Rep-13 resentatives shall— 14 (A) not later than 15 days after the date 15 a qualified blind trust is established under sub-16 section (a), certify to the Clerk of the House of 17 Representatives that such trust has been estab-18 lished and that any covered investment owned 19 by such Member or a spouse or dependent child 20 of such Member has been placed in such trust; 21 or 22 (B) certify to the Clerk that such Member 23 or a spouse or dependent child of such Member 24 does not own any covered investment. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:09 Feb 06, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H396.IH H396 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 396 IH (2) MEMBERS OF THE SENATE .—A Member of 1 Congress who is a Senator shall— 2 (A) not later than 15 days after the date 3 a qualified blind trust is established under sub-4 section (a), certify to the Secretary of the Sen-5 ate that such trust has been established and 6 that any covered investment owned by such 7 Member or a spouse or dependent child of such 8 Member has been placed in such trust; or 9 (B) certify to the Secretary that such 10 Member or a spouse or dependent child of such 11 Member does not own any covered investment. 12 (3) R EPORT.—The Clerk of the House of Rep-13 resentatives and the Secretary of the Senate shall 14 make available on the public website of the Clerk 15 and the Secretary, respectively, any certification 16 made under paragraph (1) or (2). 17 (c) E XCEPTION.—A spouse or dependent child who 18 receives compensation from their primary occupation 19 through any covered investment shall not be required to 20 place such covered investment in a qualified blind trust 21 under this Act. 22 (d) D EFINITIONS.—In this Act: 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:09 Feb 06, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H396.IH H396 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 396 IH (1) COMMODITY.—The term ‘‘commodity’’ has 1 the meaning given the term in section 1a of the 2 Commodity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 1a). 3 (2) C OVERED INVESTMENT .—The term ‘‘cov-4 ered investment’’— 5 (A) means investment in a security, a com-6 modity, or a future, or any comparable eco-7 nomic interest acquired through synthetic 8 means such as the use of a derivative; and 9 (B) does not include— 10 (i) a widely held investment fund de-11 scribed in section 13104(f)(8) of title 5, 12 United States Code; or 13 (ii) a United States Treasury bill, 14 note, or bond. 15 (3) D EPENDENT CHILD.—The term ‘‘dependent 16 child’’ has the meaning given that term in section 17 13101 of title 5, United States Code. 18 (4) M EMBER OF CONGRESS .—The term ‘‘Mem-19 ber of Congress’’ has the meaning given that term 20 in such section 13101. 21 (5) Q UALIFIED BLIND TRUST .—The term 22 ‘‘qualified blind trust’’ has the meaning given that 23 term in section 13104(f)(3) of such title. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:09 Feb 06, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H396.IH H396 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS