SWAMP Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2653 To prohibit funding for heads of state meetings and multilateral summits at any Trump Organization-owned property. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES OCTOBER 21, 2019 Mr. MERKLEY (for himself, Mr. MARKEY, and Ms. HIRONO) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations A BILL To prohibit funding for heads of state meetings and multilat- eral summits at any Trump Organization-owned prop- erty. 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. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Scrutinizing White 4 House Activities that Make Profits Act of 2019’’ or the 5 ‘‘SWAMP Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 7 Congress makes the following findings: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Oct 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2653.IS S2653 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2653 IS (1) The United States Government directing 1 business to a property owned by the President of the 2 United States constitutes a profound financial con- 3 flict of interest. 4 (2) The delegates to the Constitutional Conven- 5 tion included the emoluments clause to the United 6 States Constitution (Article I, Section 9, Clause 8) 7 to guard against the corrupting influence of United 8 States officeholders profiting from gifts from foreign 9 governments. 10 (3) Many experts agree that a plain reading of 11 the emoluments clause prohibits the President from 12 directing business from a foreign state to a property 13 owned by him. 14 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON FUNDING FOR HEADS OF STATE 15 MEETINGS AND MULTILATERAL SUMMITS. 16 (a) IN GENERAL.—No funds appropriated or other- 17 wise made available for fiscal year 2020 or any other fiscal 18 year may be obligated or expended to host any head of 19 state meeting or multilateral summit at a covered prop- 20 erty. 21 (b) COVERED PROPERTY DEFINED.—For the pur- 22 poses of the prohibition in subsection (a), the term ‘‘cov- 23 ered property’’ means— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Oct 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2653.IS S2653 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2653 IS (1) Trump International Hotel, Washington 1 DC; 2 (2) Trump Tower, New York; 3 (3) Trump National Doral Golf Resort; 4 (4) Mar-a-Lago Club; and 5 (5) any other property in which the President 6 or his immediate family holds a majority ownership. 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Oct 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2653.IS S2653 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS