I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2101 To provide for restrictions on recently appointed Federal employees and recently separated Federal employees with respect to lobbying activities, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 4, 2019 Mr. HUFFMAN (for himself and Ms. NORTON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To provide for restrictions on recently appointed Federal employees and recently separated Federal employees with respect to lobbying activities, 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 SECTION 1. EXTENSION OF POST-EMPLOYMENT BAN ON 3 LOBBYING FOR CERTAIN FORMER GOVERN- 4 MENT EMPLOYEES. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 207 of title 18, United 6 States Code, is amended in subsection (c)— 7 (1) in the subsection heading, by striking 8 ‘‘ONE-YEAR’’ and inserting ‘‘TWO-YEAR’’; 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2101.IH H2101 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2101 IH (2) in paragraph (1)— 1 (A) by striking ‘‘within 1 year after’’ and 2 inserting ‘‘within 2 years after’’; and 3 (B) by striking ‘‘within 1 year before such 4 termination’’; and 5 (3) in paragraph (2), by adding at the end the 6 following: 7 ‘‘(D) Not later than 30 days after a waiver is 8 granted under subparagraph (C), the waiver shall be 9 published in the Federal Register and accompanied 10 by a signed statement by the Director of the Office 11 of Government Ethics describing in detail the rea- 12 sons for providing such waiver unless such a descrip- 13 tion would compromise national security.’’. 14 (b) APPLICATION.—The amendment made by sub- 15 section (a) shall apply to any individual appointed to a 16 position described in paragraph (2) of subsection (c) of 17 section 207 of title 18, United States Code, (as amended 18 by such subsection) after the date of the enactment of this 19 Act. 20 SEC. 2. FIVE-YEAR LOBBYING BAN FOR CERTAIN POLIT- 21 ICAL APPOINTEES. 22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 207 of title 18, United 23 States Code, as amended by section 1, is further amended 24 in subsection (d)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2101.IH H2101 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2101 IH (1) in paragraph (1), in the matter following 1 subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘within 2 years’’ and 2 inserting ‘‘within 5 years’’; and 3 (2) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ‘‘in such 4 position’’ and all that follows through ‘‘terminated’’. 5 (b) APPLICATION.—The amendment made by sub- 6 section (a) shall apply to any individual appointed to a 7 position described in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of sub- 8 section (d)(1) of section 207 of title 18, United States 9 Code, (as amended by such subsection) after the date of 10 the enactment of this Act. 11 SEC. 3. LIFETIME BAN ON REPRESENTATION OF FOREIGN 12 ENTITIES FOR CERTAIN HIGH-LEVEL 13 FORMER EMPLOYEES. 14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 207 of title 18, United 15 States Code, as amended by sections 1 and 2, is further 16 amended in subsection (f)— 17 (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘(or, in the 18 case of an individual described in paragraph (2), at 19 any time)’’ after ‘‘within 1 year’’; 20 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘paragraph 21 (1)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraphs (1) and (2)’’; 22 (3) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) as 23 paragraphs (3) and (4); and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2101.IH H2101 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2101 IH (4) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol- 1 lowing new paragraph: 2 ‘‘(2) DESCRIPTION OF INDIVIDUALS SUBJECT 3 TO LIFETIME BAN.—An individual described in this 4 paragraph is any individual who was— 5 ‘‘(A) employed in a position described 6 under sections 5312 through 5316 of title 5, 7 United States Code (relating to the Executive 8 Schedule); 9 ‘‘(B) a limited term appointee, limited 10 emergency appointee, or noncareer appointee in 11 the Senior Executive Service, as defined under 12 paragraphs (5), (6), and (7), respectively, of 13 section 3132(a) of title 5, United States Code; 14 or 15 ‘‘(C) employed in a position of a confiden- 16 tial or policy-determining character under 17 schedule C of subpart C of part 213 of title 5 18 of the Code of Federal Regulations.’’. 19 (b) APPLICATION.—The amendment made by sub- 20 section (a) shall apply to any individual appointed to a 21 position described in paragraph (2) of section 207 of title 22 18, United States Code, (as added by such subsection) 23 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2101.IH H2101 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2101 IH SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON PARTICIPATION IN MATTER RE- 1 LATING TO PREVIOUS EMPLOYMENT. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 11 of title 18, United 3 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 219 the 4 following: 5 ‘‘§ 220. Prohibition on participation in matter relat- 6 ing to previous employment 7 ‘‘(a) During the 2-year period beginning on the date 8 an individual is appointed to a covered position at an agen- 9 cy, any such individual who has not received a waiver 10 under subsection (b)— 11 ‘‘(1) who participates in any particular matter 12 involving specific parties that is directly and sub- 13 stantially related to the individual’s former employer 14 or former clients, or 15 ‘‘(2) with respect to any such individual who 16 was a registered lobbyist under the Lobbying Disclo- 17 sure Act of 1995, or who was not a registered lob- 18 byist under such Act but who engaged in lobbying 19 activity as defined in subsection (c), during the 2- 20 year period preceding the date of such appointment, 21 who— 22 ‘‘(A) participates in any particular matter 23 on which the individual made a lobbying contact 24 (in the case of a registered lobbyist under such 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2101.IH H2101 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2101 IH Act), or engaged in such activity, during such 1 2-year period, 2 ‘‘(B) participates in the specific issue area 3 in which such particular matter falls, or 4 ‘‘(C) seeks or accepts employment with any 5 agency with respect to which the individual 6 made a lobbying contact (in the case of a reg- 7 istered lobbyist under such Act), or engaged in 8 such activity, during such 2-year period, 9 shall be punished as provided in section 216 of this 10 title. 11 ‘‘(b)(1) The Director of the Office of Management 12 and Budget, in consultation with the Counsel to the Presi- 13 dent, may waive the requirements of subsection (a) with 14 respect to any individual covered by such subsection if the 15 Director certifies, in writing, to the Committee on Over- 16 sight and Reform of the House of Representatives, the 17 Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Af- 18 fairs of the Senate, and the appropriate congressional 19 committees of jurisdiction, that it is in the public interest 20 to grant the waiver. 21 ‘‘(2) For purposes of carrying out paragraph (1)— 22 ‘‘(A) the public interest includes exigent cir- 23 cumstances relating to public health, public safety, 24 or national security; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2101.IH H2101 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2101 IH ‘‘(B) de minimis contact with an agency shall 1 be cause for a waiver of subsection (a)(2); and 2 ‘‘(C) any waiver shall take effect when the cer- 3 tification is published in the Federal Register, ac- 4 companied by a signed statement by the Director de- 5 scribing in detail the reasons for providing the waiv- 6 er unless such a description would compromise na- 7 tional security. 8 ‘‘(c)(1) In this section, the term ‘lobbying activity’ 9 means, with respect to an individual, knowingly making, 10 with the intent to influence, any communication to or ap- 11 pearance before any officer or employee of the Federal 12 Government on behalf of another person as an employee 13 of a lobbying firm or lobbying organization, in connection 14 with any matter on which such person seeks official action 15 by such officer or employee of the Federal Government. 16 The previous sentence applies only with respect to an indi- 17 vidual who spends greater than 20 percent of the individ- 18 ual’s time as an employee of a lobbying firm or lobbying 19 organization engaged in such lobbying activity. 20 ‘‘(2) In paragraph (1), the term ‘lobbying firm’ 21 means any firm, corporation, or limited liability company 22 in which— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2101.IH H2101 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2101 IH ‘‘(A) employees of the firm in the aggregate 1 make 2 or more lobbying contacts at any time on be- 2 half of a particular client; and 3 ‘‘(B) the firm receives or expects to receive 4 from a particular client for matters related to lob- 5 bying activities at least the amount specified in sec- 6 tion 4(a)(3)(A) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 7 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1603(a)(3)(A)) in the quarterly pe- 8 riod during which registration would be made under 9 such Act. 10 ‘‘(3) In paragraph (1), the term ‘lobbying organiza- 11 tion’ includes any organization in which— 12 ‘‘(A) employees of the firm in the aggregate 13 make 2 or more lobbying contacts at any time on its 14 behalf; and 15 ‘‘(B) the organization expends in connection 16 with lobbying activities at least the amount specified 17 in section 4(a)(3)(B) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act 18 of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1603(a)(3)(A)) in the quarterly 19 period during which registration would be made 20 under such Act. 21 ‘‘(4) In this subsection, the term ‘employee’ has the 22 meaning given such term in section 3(5) of the Lobbying 23 Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1602(5)). 24 ‘‘(d) In this section, the following definitions apply: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2101.IH H2101 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 2101 IH ‘‘(1) The term ‘agency’ means an ‘Executive 1 agency’ (as that term is defined in section 105 of 2 title 5), the Executive Office of the President, the 3 United States Postal Service, and the Postal Regu- 4 latory Commission, but does not include the Govern- 5 ment Accountability Office. 6 ‘‘(2) The term ‘covered position’— 7 ‘‘(A) means any— 8 ‘‘(i) full-time, non-career position 9 which requires appointment by the Presi- 10 dent or Vice President; 11 ‘‘(ii) non-career position within the 12 Senior Executive Service or other SES- 13 type system; or 14 ‘‘(iii) position that has been excepted 15 from the competitive service by reason of 16 being of a confidential or policymaking 17 character, including positions under sched- 18 ule C of subpart C of part 213 of title 5 19 of the Code of Federal Regulations; and 20 ‘‘(B) does not include any individual ap- 21 pointed as a member of the Senior Foreign 22 Service or solely as a uniformed service commis- 23 sioned officer. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2101.IH H2101 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 2101 IH ‘‘(3) The term ‘directly and substantially re- 1 lated to former employer or former clients’ means 2 matters in which the individual’s former employer or 3 a former client is a party or represents a party. 4 ‘‘(4) The term ‘former client’ means any person 5 for whom the individual served personally as agent, 6 attorney, or consultant, but does include instances 7 where the service provided was limited to a speech 8 or similar appearance or clients of the individual’s 9 former employer to whom the individual did not per- 10 sonally provide services. 11 ‘‘(5) The term ‘former employer’ means any 12 person for whom the individual has within the 2 13 years prior to the date of appointment served as an 14 employee, officer, director, trustee, or general part- 15 ner, but does not include any agency or other entity 16 of the Federal Government, Native American tribe, 17 or any United States territory or possession. 18 ‘‘(6) The term ‘lobbying contact’ has the mean- 19 ing given such term in section 3(8) of the Lobbying 20 Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1602(8)). 21 ‘‘(7) The term ‘particular matter’ has the 22 meaning given that term in section 207 and section 23 2635.402(b)(3) of title 5, Code of Federal Regula- 24 tions, or any successor regulation. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2101.IH H2101 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 2101 IH ‘‘(8) The term ‘participate’ means to participate 1 personally and substantially. 2 ‘‘(9) The term ‘particular matter involving spe- 3 cific parties’ has the meaning as set forth in section 4 2641.201(h) of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, 5 or any successor regulation, except that it shall also 6 include any meeting or other communication relating 7 to the performance of an individual’s official duties 8 with a former employer or former client, unless the 9 communication applies to a particular matter of gen- 10 eral applicability and participation in the meeting or 11 other event is open to all interested parties.’’. 12 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 13 of chapter 11 of title 18, United States Code, is amended 14 by inserting after the item relating to section 219 the fol- 15 lowing new item: 16 ‘‘220. Prohibition on participation in matter relating to previous employment.’’. (c) APPLICATION.—The amendments made by sub- 17 section (a) shall apply to any individual appointed to a 18 covered position (as that term is defined in section 19 220(d)(2) of title 18, United States Code, as added by 20 such subsection) after the date of the enactment of this 21 Act. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2101.IH H2101 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 2101 IH SEC. 5. REQUIRING LOBBYING DISCLOSURE REPORTS TO 1 INCLUDE NAMES OF OFFICIALS CONTACTED. 2 (a) REQUIREMENT.—Section 5(b)(2) of the Lobbying 3 Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1604(b)(2)) is amend- 4 ed— 5 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara- 6 graph (C); 7 (2) by adding ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara- 8 graph (D); and 9 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub- 10 paragraph: 11 ‘‘(E) a list of each covered e [Text truncated for display. 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