FAITH in Congress Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8305 To provide that Members of Congress shall not be paid if Congress has not approved a concurrent resolution on the budget and passed the regular appropriations bills on a timely basis, to eliminate automatic pay adjustments for Members of Congress, to prohibit the use of funds provided for the official travel expenses of Members of Congress and other officers and employees of the legislative branch for first-class airline accommodations, to establish a lifetime ban on lobbying by former Mem- bers of Congress, to prohibit the consideration in the House of Represent- atives of measures lacking demonstrable bipartisan support, to prohibit the consideration in the House of Representatives of any legislation containing an earmark, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 Mrs. MURPHY of Florida (for herself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Ms. TORRES SMALL of New Mexico, Mr. MCADAMS, Mr. O’HALLERAN, Mr. CUNNINGHAM, Mr. ROSE of New York, and Mr. BRINDISI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committees on Oversight and Reform, the Judiciary, and Rules, 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 provide that Members of Congress shall not be paid if Congress has not approved a concurrent resolution on the budget and passed the regular appropriations bills on a timely basis, to eliminate automatic pay adjust- ments for Members of Congress, to prohibit the use of funds provided for the official travel expenses of Mem- VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H8305.IH H8305 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8305 IH bers of Congress and other officers and employees of the legislative branch for first-class airline accommoda- tions, to establish a lifetime ban on lobbying by former Members of Congress, to prohibit the consideration in the House of Representatives of measures lacking demon- strable bipartisan support, to prohibit the consideration in the House of Representatives of any legislation con- taining an earmark, 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 ‘‘Foster Accountability, 4 Integrity, Trust, and Honor in Congress Act’’ or the 5 ‘‘FAITH in Congress Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. PROHIBITING COMPENSATION OF MEMBERS OF 7 CONGRESS FOR FAILURE TO AGREE TO 8 BUDGET RESOLUTION OR PASS REGULAR AP- 9 PROPRIATIONS BILLS ON TIMELY BASIS. 10 (a) FAILURE TO AGREE TO BUDGET RESOLUTION.— 11 (1) PROHIBITING COMPENSATION.—If by April 12 15 of any calendar year occurring during a Congress 13 (beginning with the One Hundred Seventeenth Con- 14 gress), both Houses of Congress have not agreed to 15 a concurrent resolution on the budget pursuant to 16 section 301 of the Congressional Budget Act of 17 1974 for the fiscal year which begins on October 1 18 of that year, no Member of Congress may receive 19 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8305.IH H8305 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8305 IH compensation with respect to the period described in 1 paragraph (2). 2 (2) PERIOD DESCRIBED.—The period described 3 in this paragraph is the period which begins on April 4 16 of the calendar year and ends on the day on 5 which both Houses of Congress agree to a concur- 6 rent resolution on the budget for the fiscal year 7 which begins on October 1 of that year. 8 (b) FAILURE TO PASS REGULAR APPROPRIATION 9 BILLS.— 10 (1) PROHIBITING COMPENSATION.—If by Sep- 11 tember 30 of any calendar year occurring during a 12 Congress (beginning with the One Hundred Seven- 13 teenth Congress), both Houses of Congress have not 14 passed each of the regular appropriation bills for the 15 fiscal year which begins on October 1 of that year, 16 no Member of Congress may receive compensation 17 with respect to the period described in paragraph 18 (2). 19 (2) PERIOD DESCRIBED.—The period described 20 in this paragraph is the period which begins on Oc- 21 tober 1 of the calendar year and ends on the first 22 day by which both Houses of Congress have passed 23 each of the regular appropriation bills for the fiscal 24 year which begins on October 1 of that year. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8305.IH H8305 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8305 IH (3) REGULAR APPROPRIATION BILL DE- 1 FINED.—The term ‘‘regular appropriation bill’’ 2 means any annual appropriation bill which, with re- 3 spect to the Congress involved, is under the jurisdic- 4 tion of a single subcommittee of the Committee on 5 Appropriations of the House of Representatives 6 (pursuant to the Rules of the House of Representa- 7 tives for that Congress) and a single subcommittee 8 of the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate 9 (pursuant to the Standing Rules of the Senate). 10 (c) TREATMENT OF DELEGATES AS MEMBERS; EX- 11 CLUSION OF VICE PRESIDENT.—In this section, the term 12 ‘‘Member of Congress’’ includes a Delegate or Resident 13 Commissioner to the Congress but does not include the 14 Vice President. 15 SEC. 3. ELIMINATION OF AUTOMATIC PAY ADJUSTMENTS 16 FOR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS. 17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (2) of section 601(a) 18 of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (2 U.S.C. 19 4501(2)) is repealed. 20 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 601(a)(1) 21 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 4501) is amended— 22 (1) by striking ‘‘(a)(1)’’ and inserting ‘‘(a)’’; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8305.IH H8305 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8305 IH (2) by redesignating subparagraphs (A), (B), 1 and (C) as paragraphs (1), (2), and (3), respectively; 2 and 3 (3) by striking ‘‘, as adjusted by paragraph (2) 4 of this subsection’’. 5 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section and the amend- 6 ments made by this section shall take effect December 31, 7 2020. 8 SEC. 4. PROHIBITING USE OF FUNDS FOR OFFICIAL TRAV- 9 EL EXPENSES OF MEMBERS OF CONGRESS 10 AND LEGISLATIVE BRANCH EMPLOYEES FOR 11 AIRLINE ACCOMMODATIONS OTHER THAN 12 COACH-CLASS. 13 (a) PROHIBITION.—Except as provided in subsection 14 (b), no funds appropriated or otherwise made available for 15 the official travel expenses of a Member of Congress or 16 other officer or employee of any office in the legislative 17 branch may be used for airline accommodations which are 18 not coach-class accommodations. 19 (b) EXCEPTIONS.—Funds described in subsection (a) 20 may be used for airline accommodations which are not 21 coach-class accommodations for an individual described in 22 subsection (a) if the use of the funds for such accommoda- 23 tions would be permitted under sections 301–10.121 24 through 301–10.125 of title 41 of the Code of Federal 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8305.IH H8305 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8305 IH Regulations if the individual were an employee of an agen- 1 cy which is subject to chapter 301 of such title. 2 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec- 3 tion may be construed to affect any officer or employee 4 of an office of the legislative branch which, as of the date 5 of the enactment of this Act, is subject to chapter 301 6 of title 41 of the Code of Federal Regulations. 7 (d) DEFINITIONS.— 8 (1) COACH-CLASS ACCOMMODATIONS.—In this 9 section, the term ‘‘coach-class accommodations’’ 10 means the basic class of accommodation by airlines 11 that is normally the lowest fare offered regardless of 12 airline terminology used, and (as referred to by air- 13 lines) may include tourist class or economy class, as 14 well as single class when the airline offers only one 15 class of accommodations to all travelers. 16 (2) MEMBER OF CONGRESS.—In this section, 17 the term ‘‘Member of Congress’’ means a Senator or 18 a Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Com- 19 missioner to, the Congress. 20 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply with 21 respect to fiscal year 2021 and each succeeding fiscal year. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8305.IH H8305 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8305 IH SEC. 5. PROHIBITING FORMER MEMBERS AND OFFICERS 1 OF CONGRESS FROM LOBBYING CONGRESS. 2 (a) PROHIBITION.—Section 207(e)(1) of title 18, 3 United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 4 ‘‘(1) MEMBERS AND ELECTED OFFICERS OF 5 CONGRESS.—Any person who is a Senator, a Mem- 6 ber of the House of Representatives, or an elected 7 officer of the Senate or the House of Representa- 8 tives and who, after that person leaves office, know- 9 ingly makes, with the intent to influence, any com- 10 munication to or appearance before any Member, of- 11 ficer, or employee of either House of Congress or 12 any employee of any other legislative office of the 13 Congress, on behalf of any other person (except the 14 United States) in connection with any matter on 15 which such former Senator, Member, or elected offi- 16 cial seeks action by a Member, officer, or employee 17 of either House of Congress, in his or her official ca- 18 pacity, shall be punished as provided in section 216 19 of this title.’’. 20 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 207(e)(2) 21 of such title is amended— 22 (1) in the heading, by striking ‘‘OFFICERS AND 23 STAFF’’ and inserting ‘‘STAFF’’; 24 (2) by striking ‘‘an elected officer of the Senate, 25 or’’; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8305.IH H8305 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 8305 IH (3) by striking ‘‘leaves office or employment’’ 1 and inserting ‘‘leaves employment’’; and 2 (4) by striking ‘‘former elected officer or’’. 3 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 4 this section shall apply with respect to an individual who 5 leaves office on or after the date of the enactment of this 6 Act. 7 SEC. 6. PROHIBITING CONSIDERATION IN HOUSE OF REP- 8 RESENTATIVES OF MEASURES LACKING DE- 9 MONSTRABLE BIPARTISAN SUPPORT. 10 (a) AMENDMENT TO RULES OF HOUSE OF REP- 11 RESENTATIVES.—Rule XIV of the Rules of the House of 12 Representatives is amended by adding at the end the fol- 13 lowing new clause: 14 ‘‘(7) It shall not be in order in the House of 15 Representatives or in the Committee on the Whole 16 House on the State of the Union to consider a bill, 17 joint resolution, resolution, or conference report un- 18 less the measure involved has demonstrable bipar- 19 tisan support in the form in which it is to be consid- 20 ered.’’. 21 (b) SENSE OF THE HOUSE REGARDING MAJORITY 22 PARTY PROTOCOLS AND PROCEDURES.—It is the sense 23 of the House of Representatives that the majority party 24 of the House should ensure that its protocols and proce- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8305.IH H8305 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 8305 IH dures applicable to the consideration of measures by the 1 House are consistent with the requirements of clause 7 2 of rule XIV of the Rules of the House of Representatives 3 (as added by subsection (a)). 4 (c) EXERCISE OF RULEMAKING POWERS.—The pro- 5 visions of this section are enacted— 6 (1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of 7 the House of Representatives, and as such they shall 8 be considered as part of the rules of the House, and 9 such rules shall supersede other rules only to the ex- 10 tent that they are inconsistent therewith; and 11 (2) with full recognition of the constitutional 12 right of the House of Representatives to change 13 such rules (so far as relating to the House) at any 14 time, in the same manner, and to the same extent 15 as in the case of any other rule of the House. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8305.IH H8305 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS