Department of Defense Ethics and Anti-corruption Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4277 To promote ethics and prevent corruption in Department of Defense contracting and other activities, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 10, 2019 Ms. SPEIER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, and Oversight and Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To promote ethics and prevent corruption in Department of Defense contracting and other 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. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Department of Defense Ethics and Anti-corruption Act 5 of 2019’’. 6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 7 this Act is as follows: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 Sep 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4277.IH H4277 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4277 IH Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. TITLE I—REVOLVING DOOR AND CONTRACTOR INFLUENCE Sec. 101. Heightened revolving door requirements. Sec. 102. Requirements for defense contractors relating to certain former De- partment of Defense officials and lobbying activities. Sec. 103. Comptroller General report on post-government employment of former Department of Defense officials. Sec. 104. Ban on hiring contracting officials enforceable on certain contracts. Sec. 105. Ban on hiring senior officials by giant defense contractors. Sec. 106. Modification of prohibition on lobbying activities with respect to the Department of Defense by certain officers of the Armed Forces and civilian employees of the Department of Defense following separation from military service or employment with the De- partment. Sec. 107. Enhancement of recusal for conflicts of personal interest require- ments for Department of Defense officers and employees. Sec. 108. Prohibition on ownership or trading of stocks in certain companies by Department of Defense officers and employees. TITLE II—LIMITING FOREIGN INFLUENCE Sec. 201. Annual reports on approval of employment or compensation of retired general or flag officers by foreign governments for Emoluments Clause purposes. Sec. 202. Advising foreign governments. Sec. 203. Ban on former military and civilian intelligence officers from foreign employment. TITLE III—TRANSPARENCY Sec. 301. Affirmative contractor record disclosures. Sec. 302. Extension of FOIA to private contractors. Sec. 303. Financial disclosure by large contractors. Sec. 304. Availability on the internet of certain information about officers serv- ing in general or flag officer grades. TITLE I—REVOLVING DOOR AND 1 CONTRACTOR INFLUENCE 2 SEC. 101. HEIGHTENED REVOLVING DOOR REQUIREMENTS. 3 Section 847 of the National Defense Authorization 4 Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (Public Law 110–181; 10 U.S.C. 5 1701 note) is amended— 6 (1) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ‘‘within two 7 years after leaving service’’ and inserting ‘‘within 8 four years after leaving service’’; and 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 Sep 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4277.IH H4277 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4277 IH (2) in subsection (b)— 1 (A) in paragraph (1)— 2 (i) by striking ‘‘retained by the De- 3 partment of Defense in a central database 4 or repository maintained by the General 5 Counsel of the Department for not less 6 than five years’’ and inserting ‘‘retained by 7 the Department of Defense in a central 8 database or repository maintained by the 9 Standards of Conduct Office of the De- 10 partment for not less than ten years’’; and 11 (ii) by inserting ‘‘and shall be posted 12 on a publicly available Internet website of 13 the Standards of Conduct Office’’ after 14 ‘‘opinion was provided’’; and 15 (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘not 16 less than biannually’’ after ‘‘conduct periodic 17 reviews’’. 18 SEC. 102. REQUIREMENTS FOR DEFENSE CONTRACTORS 19 RELATING TO CERTAIN FORMER DEPART- 20 MENT OF DEFENSE OFFICIALS AND LOB- 21 BYING ACTIVITIES. 22 (a) REQUIREMENTS.— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 Sep 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4277.IH H4277 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4277 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 141 of title 10, 1 United States Code, is amended by adding at the 2 end the following new section: 3 ‘‘§ 2410t. Defense contractors report: requirements 4 concerning former Department of De- 5 fense officials and lobbying activities 6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each contract for the procure- 7 ment of goods or services in excess of $10,000,000, other 8 than a contract for the procurement of commercial prod- 9 ucts or commercial services, that is entered into by the 10 Secretary of Defense shall include a provision under which 11 the contractor agrees to submit to the Secretary of De- 12 fense, not later than April 1 of each year such contract 13 is in effect, a written report setting forth the information 14 required by subsection (b). 15 ‘‘(b) REPORT CONTENTS.—Except as provided in 16 subsection (c), a report by a contractor under subsection 17 (a) shall— 18 ‘‘(1) list the name of each person who— 19 ‘‘(A) is a former officer or employee of the 20 Department of Defense or a former or retired 21 member of the armed forces who served— 22 ‘‘(i) in an Executive Schedule position 23 under subchapter II of chapter 53 of title 24 5; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 Sep 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4277.IH H4277 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 4277 IH ‘‘(ii) in a position in the Senior Exec- 1 utive Service under subchapter VIII of 2 chapter 53 of title 5; 3 ‘‘(iii) in a position compensated at a 4 rate of pay for grade O–6 or above under 5 section 201 of title 37; or 6 ‘‘(iv) as a program manager, deputy 7 program manager, procuring contracting 8 officer, administrative contracting officer, 9 source selection authority, member of the 10 source selection evaluation board, or chief 11 of a financial or technical evaluation team 12 for such a contract; and 13 ‘‘(B) during the preceding calendar year 14 was provided compensation by the contractor, if 15 such compensation was first provided by the 16 contractor not more than four years after such 17 former officer or employee of the Department of 18 Defense, or such former or retired member of 19 the armed forces, left service in the Department 20 of Defense; 21 ‘‘(2) in the case of each person listed under 22 paragraph (1)(A)— 23 ‘‘(A) identify the department or entity in 24 which such person was employed or served on 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 Sep 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4277.IH H4277 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 4277 IH active duty during the last two years of such 1 person’s service with the Department of De- 2 fense; and 3 ‘‘(B) state such person’s job title and iden- 4 tify any major defense acquisition program (as 5 defined in section 2430 of title 10, United 6 States Code) or any contract with a value 7 greater than $100,000,000 on which such per- 8 son performed any work or for which such per- 9 son provided any goods pursuant to a contract 10 with the Department of Defense during the last 11 two years of such person’s service with the De- 12 partment; and 13 ‘‘(3) if the contractor is a client, include— 14 ‘‘(A) a statement that— 15 ‘‘(i) lists each specific issue for which 16 the contractor, any employee of the con- 17 tractor, or any lobbyist paid by the con- 18 tractor engaged in lobbying activities di- 19 rected at the Department of Defense; and 20 ‘‘(ii) specifies the Federal rule or reg- 21 ulation, Executive order, or other program, 22 policy, contract, or position of the Depart- 23 ment of Defense to which the lobbying ac- 24 tivities described in clause (i) related; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 Sep 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4277.IH H4277 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 4277 IH ‘‘(iii) lists each lobbying activity di- 1 rected at the Department of Defense that 2 the contractor, any employee of the con- 3 tractor, or any lobbyist paid by the con- 4 tractor has engaged in on behalf of the 5 contractor, including— 6 ‘‘(I) each document prepared by 7 the contractor, any employee of the 8 contractor, or any lobbyist paid by the 9 contractor that was submitted to an 10 officer or employee of the Department 11 of Defense by the lobbyist; 12 ‘‘(II) each meeting that was a 13 lobbying contact with an officer or 14 employee of the Department of De- 15 fense, including the subject of the 16 meeting, the date of the meeting, and 17 the name and position of each indi- 18 vidual who attended the meeting; 19 ‘‘(III) each phone call made to an 20 officer or employee of the Department 21 of Defense that was a lobbying con- 22 tact, including the subject of the 23 phone call, the date of the phone call, 24 and the name and position of each in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 Sep 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4277.IH H4277 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 4277 IH dividual who was on the phone call; 1 and 2 ‘‘(IV) each electronic communica- 3 tion sent to an officer or employee of 4 the Department of Defense that was a 5 lobbying contact, including the subject 6 of the electronic communication, the 7 date of the electronic communication, 8 and the name and position of each in- 9 dividual who received the electronic 10 communication; 11 ‘‘(iv) lists the name of each employee 12 of the contractor who— 13 ‘‘(I) did not participate in a lob- 14 bying contact with an officer or em- 15 ployee of the Department of Defense; 16 and 17 ‘‘(II) engaged in lobbying activi- 18 ties in support of a lobbying contact 19 with an officer or employee of the De- 20 partment of Defense; and 21 ‘‘(v) describes the lobbying activities 22 referred to in clause (iv)(II); and 23 ‘‘(B) a copy of any document transmitted 24 to an officer or employee of the Department of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 Sep 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4277.IH H4277 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 4277 IH Defense in the course of the lobbying activities 1 described in subparagraph (A)(iv)(II). 2 ‘‘(c) DUPLICATE INFORMATION NOT REQUIRED.— 3 An annual report submitted by a contractor pursuant to 4 subsection (b) need not provide information with respect 5 to any former officer or employee of the Department of 6 Defense or former or retired member of the armed forces 7 if such information has already been provided in a pre- 8 vious annual report filed by such contractor under this 9 section. 10 ‘‘(d) PUBLICATION.—Secretary of Defense shall pub- 11 lish on a publicly available Internet website the report re- 12 quired under this section. 13 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In subsection (b)(3), the terms 14 ‘client’, ‘lobbying activities’, ‘lobbying contact’, and ‘lob- 15 byist’ have the meanings given the terms in section 3 of 16 the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1603).’’. 17 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec- 18 tions at the beginning of chapter 141 of such title 19 is amended by adding at the end the following new 20 item: 21 ‘‘Sec. 2410t. Defense contractors report: requirements concerning former De- partment of Defense officials and lobbying activities.’’. (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 22 subsection (a) shall take effect on the date of the enact- 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:00 Sep 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4277.IH H4277 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 4277 IH ment of this Act, and shall apply with respect to contracts 1 entered into on or after that date. 2 SEC. 103. COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORT ON POST-GOV- 3 ERNMENT EMPLOYMENT OF FORMER DE- 4 PARTMENT OF DEFENSE OFFICIALS. 5 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact- 6 ment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United 7 States shall initiate a review updating the information and 8 findings contained in the May 2008 Government Account- 9 ability Office report entitled, ‘‘Defense Contracting: Post- 10 Government Employment of Former DOD Officials Needs 11 Greater Transparency’’ (GAO–08–485). The Comptroller 12 General shall provide an interim briefing on the status of 13 the review to the congressional defense committees not 14 later than December 31, 2020, with a report to follow by 15 a date agreed upon with the committees. 16 SEC. 104. BAN ON HIRING CONTRACTING OFFICIALS EN- 17 FORCEABLE ON CERTAIN CONTRACTS. 18 (a) PROHIBITION.— 19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any contract for the pro- 20 curement of goods or services (other than a contract 21 for the procurement of commercial products or com- 22 mercial services) with a value greater than 23 $10,000,000 shall include a contract clause prohib- 24 iting the contractor from providing compensation to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 Sep 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4277.IH H4277 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •HR 4277 IH a former Department of Defense official described in 1 paragraph (2) within four years after such former 2 official leaves service in the Department of Defense. 3 (2) COVERED DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE OFFI- 4 CIAL.—An official or former official of the Depart- 5 ment of Defense is covered by the requirements of 6 this section if such official or former official is a 7 former officer or employee of the Department of De- 8 fense or a former or retired member of the Armed 9 Forces who served as a program manager, deputy 10 program manager, procuring contracting officer, ad- 11 ministrative contracting officer, source selection au- 12 thority, member of the source selection evaluation 13 board, or chief of a financial or technical evaluation 14 team for a contract with a value in excess of 15 $10,000,000, and such person— 16 (A) participated in the contract or license 17 selection; 18 (B) determined or signed off on the tech- 19 nical requirements of the contract or license; or 20 (C) granted the contract or license. 21 (b) ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS.—In the event that an 22 official or former official of the Department of Defense 23 described in subsection (a)(2), or a Department of De- 24 fense contractor, knowingly fails to comply with the re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 Sep 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4277.IH H4277 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •HR 4277 IH [Text truncated for display. 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