White House is Not a Political Prop Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8655 To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit any individual from holding certain political campaign or fundraising events on Federal prop- erty, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 23, 2020 Mr. CICILLINE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit any individual from holding certain political campaign or fundraising events on Federal property, 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 ‘‘White House is Not 4 a Political Prop Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:40 Nov 06, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8655.IH H8655 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8655 IH SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON POLITICAL CAMPAIGN OR FUND- 1 RAISING EVENTS ON FEDERAL PROPERTY. 2 Section 607 of title 18, United States Code, is 3 amended— 4 (1) by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘(c) PROHIBITION.— 6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for any 7 officer or employee of the Federal Government, in- 8 cluding the President, Vice President, and any Mem- 9 ber of Congress— 10 ‘‘(A) to hold any political campaign event, 11 or otherwise solicit or accept any contribution 12 as defined in section 301 of the Federal Elec- 13 tion Campaign Act of 1971, on or in any Fed- 14 eral property; or 15 ‘‘(B) to use any Federal property at such 16 an event or for the purposes of soliciting or ac- 17 cepting any such contribution. 18 ‘‘(2) PENALTY.—A person who violates this 19 subsection shall be fined up to $50,000, imprisoned 20 not more than 5 years, or both. 21 ‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 22 ‘‘(A) the term ‘Federal property’ means 23 any building, land, vehicle (including aircraft), 24 or other real property owned, leased, or occu- 25 pied by any department, agency, or instrumen- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:40 Nov 06, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8655.IH H8655 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8655 IH tality of the United States (including the White 1 House (except for the Executive Residence), the 2 Department of Defense, the United States 3 Postal Service, or the National Park Service), 4 or any other instrumentality wholly owned by 5 the United States; and 6 ‘‘(B) the term ‘political campaign event’ 7 means an occasion or gathering of individuals, 8 in person or virtually, the purpose of which, in 9 any material part, is to promote, or solicit or 10 accept funds or contributions for the campaign 11 of, a candidate for election for the office of 12 President, Vice President, or any other Federal 13 office (as such terms are defined in section 301 14 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971). 15 ‘‘(4) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The prohibi- 16 tion in paragraph (1) shall not apply to the use of 17 any vehicle owned or leased by the Federal Govern- 18 ment for travel to any event so long as such use is 19 not treated as an in-kind contribution under the 20 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971.’’; and 21 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘The prohibi- 22 tion in subsection (a)’’ and inserting ‘‘EXCEP- 23 TION.—The prohibitions in subsections (a) and (c)’’. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:40 Nov 06, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8655.IH H8655 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS