Our Lawn Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8228 To amend title 5, United States Code, to prohibit the use of Federal property for political conventions or fundraising, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 11, 2020 Mr. PHILLIPS (for himself, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. LEVIN of California, Mr. PA- NETTA, Mr. MALINOWSKI, Ms. ESCOBAR, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. COOPER, Mr. NEGUSE, and Mr. SWALWELL of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform A BILL To amend title 5, United States Code, to prohibit the use of Federal property for political conventions or fund- raising, 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. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Our Lawn Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON USE OF FEDERAL PROPERTY FOR 5 POLITICAL CONVENTIONS OR FUNDRAISING. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter III of chapter 73 of 7 title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting after 8 section 7325 the following: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:27 Sep 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8228.IH H8228 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8228 IH ‘‘§ 7325a. Prohibition on use of Federal property for 1 certain political activities 2 ‘‘(a) A convention of a national political party held 3 to nominate a candidate for the office of President or Vice 4 President, or any event at which a contribution is solicited 5 or accepted for the campaign for election of any candidate 6 for Federal office (as such terms are defined in section 7 301 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971), may 8 not be held on or in any Federal property. 9 ‘‘(b) Any candidate or the authorized committee of 10 the candidate under the Federal Election Campaign Act 11 of 1971 which was responsible for a convention or event 12 in violation of subsection (a) shall be subject to an assess- 13 ment of a civil penalty equal to the fair market value of 14 the cost of the convention or event (as the case may be) 15 or $50,000, whichever is greater, or imprisoned not more 16 than five years, or both. 17 ‘‘(c) In this section, the term ‘Federal property’ 18 means any building, land, or other real property owned, 19 leased, or occupied by any department, agency, or instru- 20 mentality of the United States, including the White House 21 grounds and the White House (including the Old Execu- 22 tive Office Building, the West Wing, the East Wing, the 23 Rose Garden, and the Executive Residence, but not includ- 24 ing the second floor of the Executive Residence).’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:27 Sep 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8228.IH H8228 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8228 IH (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 1 for such subchapter is amended by inserting after the item 2 relating to section 7325 the following: 3 ‘‘7325a. Prohibition on use of Federal property for certain political activities.’’. (c) APPLICATION.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—This Act and the amend- 5 ments made by this Act shall apply to any conven- 6 tion or event described in section 7325a(a) of title 7 5, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), 8 occurring on or after the date of enactment of this 9 Act. 10 (2) TRAVEL.—Nothing in this Act or the 11 amendments made by this Act shall be construed to 12 limit or otherwise prevent the President or Vice 13 President from using vehicles (including aircraft) 14 owned or leased by the Government for travel to or 15 from any such convention or event. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:27 Sep 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8228.IH H8228 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS