Stop Foreign Payoffs Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7526 To amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to require senior Govern- ment officials and their family members to divest foreign financial inter- ests, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 9, 2020 Mr. GOLDEN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Oversight and Reform, and in addition to the Committee on House Administration, 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 amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to require senior Government officials and their family members to divest foreign financial interests, 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 ‘‘Stop Foreign Payoffs 4 Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:02 Jul 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7526.IH H7526 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7526 IH SEC. 2. DIVESTITURE OF FOREIGN FINANCIAL INTERESTS. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Ethics in Government Act of 2 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by adding after title 3 V the following: 4 ‘‘TITLE VI—LIMITATION ON 5 FOREIGN FINANCIAL INTERESTS 6 ‘‘§ 601. Limitation on foreign financial interests 7 ‘‘(a) DIVESTITURE.— 8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A covered individual may 9 not hold any foreign financial interest, and shall di- 10 vest of any such interest by— 11 ‘‘(A) converting each such interest to cash 12 or other investment; or 13 ‘‘(B) placing each such interest in a quali- 14 fied blind trust as defined in section 102(f)(3) 15 or a diversified trust under section 16 102(f)(4)(B). 17 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION.— 18 ‘‘(A) Not later than 30 days after the date 19 regulations are promulgated to carry out this 20 section, a covered individual holding any foreign 21 financial interest on such date shall divest of 22 such interest pursuant to paragraph (1). 23 ‘‘(B) Within 30 days that an individual as- 24 sumes an office described under subparagraph 25 (A), (B), or (C) of subsection (d)(1), such indi- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:02 Jul 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7526.IH H7526 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7526 IH vidual, and any applicable individual described 1 under subparagraph (D) of such subsection, 2 shall divest of such interest pursuant to para- 3 graph (1). 4 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION ON RECEIVING FOREIGN PAY- 5 MENTS.—A covered individual may not receive any wage, 6 salary, dividend, or any other payment from any foreign 7 business. 8 ‘‘(c) ENFORCEMENT.— 9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General may 10 bring a civil action in any appropriate United States 11 district court against any individual who knowingly 12 and willfully violates the provisions of this section. 13 The court in which such action is brought may as- 14 sess against such individual a civil penalty in any 15 amount not to exceed twice the value of any foreign 16 financial interest held, or any unlawfully foreign 17 payment received, in violation of this section. 18 ‘‘(2) NEGLIGENT VIOLATIONS.—The Attorney 19 General may bring a civil action in any appropriate 20 United States district court against any individual 21 who negligently violates the provisions of this sec- 22 tion. The court in which such action is brought may 23 assess against such individual a civil penalty in any 24 amount not to exceed the value of any foreign finan- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:02 Jul 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7526.IH H7526 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7526 IH cial interest held, or any unlawfully foreign payment 1 received, in violation of this section. 2 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 3 ‘‘(1) the term ‘covered individual’ means— 4 ‘‘(A) the President; 5 ‘‘(B) a Member of Congress (as that term 6 is defined in section 2106 of title 5, United 7 States Code); 8 ‘‘(C) any cabinet-level position within the 9 executive branch of Government, including the 10 head of any executive department (as that term 11 is defined in section 101 of title 5, United 12 States Code); and 13 ‘‘(D) the spouse, son, daughter, son-in-law, 14 or daughter-in-law of any individual described 15 in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C); 16 ‘‘(2) the term ‘foreign business’ means a part- 17 nership, association, corporation, organization, or 18 other combination of persons organized under the 19 laws of or having its principal place of business in 20 a foreign country; and 21 ‘‘(3) the term ‘foreign financial interest’ means 22 any financial interest in a foreign business, including 23 a stock, ownership interest, bond, or debt.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:39 Jul 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7526.IH H7526 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7526 IH (b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 120 days after 1 the date of enactment of this Act— 2 (1) with respect to covered individuals (as that 3 term is described in subsection (d)(1) of section 601 4 of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, as added 5 in subsection (a)) in the executive branch (including 6 the Vice President), the Director of the Office of 7 Government Ethics shall promulgate regulations to 8 carry out such section 601; and 9 (2) with respect to covered individuals in the 10 legislative branch, the Committee on Ethics of the 11 House of Representatives and the Select Committee 12 on Ethics of the Senate shall promulgate regulations 13 to carry out such section 601. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:02 Jul 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7526.IH H7526 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS