CORE Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3855 To ensure ethical and accountable use of COVID–19 relief funds, to prevent corruption and bias in the disbursement and supervision of those funds, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 1, 2020 Ms. WARREN (for herself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. COONS, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. MARKEY, Ms. HARRIS, Mr. UDALL, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. DURBIN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Ms. HIRONO, and Mr. HEIN- RICH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs A BILL To ensure ethical and accountable use of COVID–19 relief funds, to prevent corruption and bias in the disburse- ment and supervision of those funds, and for other pur- poses. 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 ‘‘Coronavirus Oversight 4 and Recovery Ethics Act of 2020’’ or the ‘‘CORE Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act— 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:38 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3855.IS S3855 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3855 IS (1) the term ‘‘abuse of authority’’ means an ar- 1 bitrary and capricious exercise of authority by a con- 2 tracting officer or employee that adversely affects 3 the rights of any individual, or that results in per- 4 sonal gain or advantage to the officer or employee 5 or to preferred other individuals; 6 (2) the term ‘‘CARES Act’’ means the CARES 7 Act (Public Law 116–136); 8 (3) the term ‘‘Coronavirus pandemic-related 9 program, project, or activity’’— 10 (A) means a program, project, or activity 11 of the executive branch of the Federal Govern- 12 ment authorized under or carried out using 13 amounts made available under an Act to re- 14 spond to or to provide aid or assistance to ad- 15 dress, relief from, or funding to address the 16 outbreak of COVID–19 that is enacted before, 17 on, or after the date of enactment of this Act; 18 and 19 (B) includes any program, project, or ac- 20 tivity of the executive branch of the Federal 21 Government authorized under or carried out 22 using amounts made available under— 23 (i) the Paycheck Protection Program 24 and Health Care Enhancement Act (Public 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:38 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3855.IS S3855 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3855 IS Law 116–139), or an amendment made by 1 that Act; 2 (ii) the CARES Act, or an amend- 3 ment made by that Act; 4 (iii) the Families First Coronavirus 5 Response Act (Public Law 116–127), or an 6 amendment made by that Act; or 7 (iv) the Coronavirus Preparedness and 8 Response Supplemental Appropriations 9 Act, 2020 (Public Law 116–123), or an 10 amendment made by that Act; 11 (4) the term ‘‘covered contract’’ means a con- 12 tract that— 13 (A) has a value of more than $150,000; 14 and 15 (B) relates to the administration or execu- 16 tion of authorities under a Coronavirus pan- 17 demic-related program, project, or activity; 18 (5) the term ‘‘covered contractor’’ means a pri- 19 vate sector contractor (at any tier) or advisor pro- 20 viding goods, property, or services under a covered 21 contract; 22 (6) the term ‘‘covered funds’’ means any con- 23 tract, subcontract, grant, subgrant, loan, loan guar- 24 antee, or other payment for which— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:38 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3855.IS S3855 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3855 IS (A) the Federal Government provides any 1 portion of the funds or property that is pro- 2 vided, requested, or demanded; and 3 (B) any portion of the funds are appro- 4 priated or otherwise made available under or to 5 carry out a Coronavirus pandemic-related pro- 6 gram, project, or activity; 7 (7) the term ‘‘designated agency ethics official’’ 8 has the meaning given that term under section 109 9 of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. 10 App.); 11 (8) the term ‘‘Director’’ means the Director of 12 the Office of Government Ethics; 13 (9) the term ‘‘employee’’— 14 (A) except as provided under subparagraph 15 (B), means an individual performing services on 16 behalf of an employer, including any individual 17 working for an employer under a contract with 18 such employer (including a contractor, subcon- 19 tractor, or agent of an employer); and 20 (B) does not include any Federal employee 21 or member of the uniformed services (as that 22 term is defined in section 101(a)(5) of title 10, 23 United States Code); 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:38 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3855.IS S3855 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3855 IS (10) the term ‘‘ethics and conflicts of interest 1 regulations’’ means the regulations issued by the Di- 2 rector under subsection (b) of section 3, in accord- 3 ance with the requirements under section 3; 4 (11) the term ‘‘non-Federal employer’’— 5 (A) means any employer— 6 (i) with respect to covered funds— 7 (I) the contractor, subcontractor, 8 grantee, subgrantee, or recipient, as 9 the case may be, if the contractor, 10 subcontractor, grantee, subgrantee, or 11 recipient is an employer; and 12 (II) any professional membership 13 organization, certification or other 14 professional body, any agent or li- 15 censee of the Federal Government, or 16 any person acting directly or indi- 17 rectly in the interest of an employer 18 receiving covered funds; or 19 (ii) with respect to covered funds re- 20 ceived by a State or local government, the 21 State or local government receiving the 22 funds and any contractor or subcontractor 23 of the State or local government; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:38 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3855.IS S3855 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3855 IS (B) does not mean any department, agen- 1 cy, or other entity of the Federal Government; 2 (12) the term ‘‘reprisal’’, for purposes of sec- 3 tion 11, means an action (or, as applicable, inaction) 4 that is discharging, demoting, blacklisting, or acting 5 or failing to take an action in a manner prejudicial 6 against, or otherwise discriminating against in any 7 way (including in the hiring process and including 8 by the threat of any such action or inaction) an em- 9 ployee, former employee, or individual seeking em- 10 ployment as described in section 11(a)(1) for engag- 11 ing in, being perceived as engaging in, or preparing 12 to engage in the disclosure of information as de- 13 scribed in such section; 14 (13) the term ‘‘senior executive’’ means an indi- 15 vidual— 16 (A) employed by a private employer; and 17 (B) who— 18 (i) receives annual compensation from 19 the private employer in an amount that is 20 more that $1,000,000; 21 (ii) has direct authority over more 22 than 1 percent of the funds provided under 23 a Coronavirus pandemic-related program, 24 project, or activity; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:38 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3855.IS S3855 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 3855 IS (iii) for an employee of a private em- 1 ployer for which the annual average rev- 2 enue for the period of 2017, 2018, and 3 2019 is not less than $1,000,000,000, is 1 4 of the 100 most highly compensated execu- 5 tives of the private employer; and 6 (14) the term ‘‘State or local government’’ 7 means— 8 (A) the government of each of the several 9 States, the District of Columbia, the Common- 10 wealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, 11 the Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the 12 Northern Mariana Islands, or any other terri- 13 tory or possession of the United States; or 14 (B) the government of any political sub- 15 division of a government listed in subparagraph 16 (A). 17 SEC. 3. ETHICS AND CONFLICTS OF INTEREST. 18 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to set 19 forth standards to address and prevent conflicts of interest 20 or abuses of authority that may arise in connection with 21 the administration and execution of the authorities under 22 a Coronavirus pandemic-related program, project, or activ- 23 ity, including under the CARES Act. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:38 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3855.IS S3855 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 3855 IS (b) STANDARDS REQUIRED.—The Director shall 1 issue regulations necessary to address and prevent con- 2 flicts of interest or abuses of authority that may arise in 3 connection with the administration or execution of the au- 4 thorities under a Coronavirus pandemic-related program, 5 project, or activity, including— 6 (1) conflicts arising in the selection or hiring of 7 covered contractors or advisors, including contrac- 8 tors, banks, and other private sector entities involved 9 in the administration of programs or services au- 10 thorized under paragraph (36) of section 7(a) of the 11 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)) or under 12 section 4003 of the CARES Act; 13 (2) the management, administration, or dis- 14 tribution of funds, grants, loans, loan guarantees, or 15 other investments under a Coronavirus pandemic-re- 16 lated program, project, or activity; 17 (3) post-employment restrictions on Federal of- 18 ficers and employees; 19 (4) any exercise of authority by Federal officers 20 and employees that adversely affects the rights of 21 any person, or that results in personal gain or ad- 22 vantage to the officer or employee; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:38 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3855.IS S3855 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 3855 IS (5) any other potential conflict of interest or 1 abuse of authority, as the Director determines nec- 2 essary or appropriate in the public interest. 3 (c) TIMING.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after 5 the date of enactment of this Act, but in any event 6 not later than 60 days after such date of enactment, 7 the Director shall issue the ethics and conflicts of in- 8 terest regulations. 9 (2) WAIVER TO ENSURE COMPLIANCE WITH 10 TIMING.—To the extent compliance with the require- 11 ments under subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 5, 12 United States Code, would prevent the Director 13 from complying with the timeframe specified under 14 paragraph (1) for issuance of the ethics and con- 15 flicts of interest regulations, such subchapter shall 16 not apply to the issuance of the ethics and conflicts 17 of interest regulations. 18 (d) SCOPE.—The ethics and conflicts of interest regu- 19 lations shall address actual and potential conflicts of inter- 20 est, or circumstances that give rise to the appearance of 21 a conflict of interest to a reasonable person, including— 22 (1) any actual or potential personal conflict of 23 interest, including any personal, business, or finan- 24 cial interest of any individual involved in the admin- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:38 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3855.IS S3855 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 3855 IS istration or execution of the authorities under a 1 Coronavirus pandemic-related program, project, or 2 activity or such an interest of a spouse, child, par- 3 ent, sibling, son-in-law, or daughter-in-law of such 4 an individual; and 5 (2) any actual or potential conflict of interest of 6 a covered contractor, including any political activity 7 that creates the appearance of a conflict of interest 8 to a reasonable person, or any situation in which a 9 covered contractor has an interest or relationship 10 that could cause a reasonable person with knowledge 11 of the relevant facts to question the objectivity, im- 12 partiality, or judgment of the covered contractor to 13 perform under a covered contract or to represent the 14 Federal Government. 15 (e) CONTRACTORS AND ADVISORS.— 16 (1) COMPLIANCE PROGRAM.—The ethics and 17 conflicts of interest regulations shall require— 18 (A) a covered contractor to maintain a 19 compliance program reasonably designed to de- 20 tect and prevent violations of Federal law, in- 21 cluding Federal securities laws, and conflicts of 22 interest; and 23 (B) that such a compliance program— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:38 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3855.IS S3855 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 3855 IS (i) include plans to mitigate any con- 1 flict of interest, including any personal 2 conflict of interest of any individual per- 3 forming duties under a covered contract; 4 (ii) allow for the Director or the des- 5 ignated agency ethics official for the appli- 6 cable Federal agency to disapprove any 7 plan described in clause (i) that is insuffi- 8 cient; 9 (iii) be posted by the covered con- 10 tractor on the public website of the covered 11 contractor; and 12 (iv) be provided to the Director or to 13 the designated agency ethics official for the 14 applicable Federal agency. 15 (2) INFORMATION REQUIRED.—The ethics and 16 conflicts of interest regulations shall require a cov- 17 ered contractor to provide to the Director or the des- 18 ignated agency ethics official for the applicable Fed- 19 eral agency, upon request or through a process spec- 20 ified in the ethics and conflicts of interest regula- 21 tions, sufficient information to evaluate any conflict 22 of interest, which may include— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:38 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3855.IS S3855 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 3855 IS (A) the relationship of the covered con- 1 tractor to any other involved contractors or ad- 2 visors; 3 (B) information concerning all other busi- 4 ness or financial interests of the covered con- 5 tractor, the proposed subcontractors of the cov- 6 ered contractor, or entities related to the cov- 7 ered contractor (including any parent company 8 or subsidiary of a covered contractor, any entity 9 holding more than a 5 percent equity interest in 10 the covered contractor, and any entity in which 11 the covered contractor holds more than a 5 per- 12 cent equity interest); 13 (C) a description of all of the conflicts of 14 interest and potential conflicts of interest of the 15 covered contractor; 16 (D) a detailed written plan to mitigate all 17 of the conflicts of interest and potential con- 18 flicts of interest of the covered contractor, along 19 with supporting documents; and 20 (E) any other information or documenta- 21 tion about the covered contractor, the proposed 22 subcontractors of the covered contractor, or en- 23 tities related to the c [Text truncated for display. 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