Debt Disclosure for Officials in Government Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 5042 To amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to require high-ranking officers to provide adequate disclosure of debts. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES DECEMBER 17, 2020 Mr. WYDEN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs A BILL To amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to require high-ranking officers to provide adequate disclosure of debts. 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 ‘‘Debt Disclosure for 4 Officials in Government Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE OF DEBTS OF HIGH-RANKING OFFI- 6 CERS. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 102(a)(4) of the Ethics 8 in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended 9 to read as follows: 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5042.IS S5042 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 5042 IS ‘‘(4)(A) Except as provided in subparagraphs 1 (B) and (C)— 2 ‘‘(i) for all individuals required to file a re- 3 port pursuant to subsection (d) or (e) of section 4 101, the identity and category of value of the 5 total liabilities owed to any creditor other than 6 a spouse, or a parent, brother, sister, or child 7 of the reporting individual or of the reporting 8 individual’s spouse which exceed $50,000 at any 9 time during the preceding calendar year; and 10 ‘‘(ii) for an individual described in sub- 11 clause (I), (II), or (III) of subparagraph (B)(i), 12 other than a Member of Congress— 13 ‘‘(I) the identity and category of value 14 of any payment made during the preceding 15 calendar year of not less than $50,000 on 16 a liability owed to any creditor other than 17 a spouse, or a parent, brother, sister, or 18 child of the reporting individual or of the 19 reporting individual’s spouse, except a pay- 20 ment on a mortgage secured by real prop- 21 erty which is a personal residence of the 22 reporting individual or the reporting indi- 23 vidual’s spouse; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5042.IS S5042 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 5042 IS ‘‘(II) the identity of the creditor, 1 origination date, term, and rate of interest 2 for a liability of not less than $50,000 3 owed to any creditor other than a spouse, 4 or a parent, brother, sister, or child of the 5 reporting individual or of the reporting in- 6 dividual’s spouse and whether the liability 7 superseded a preexisting liability; and 8 ‘‘(III) for any entity whose stock is 9 not publicly traded in which the individual 10 or a spouse or child of the individual is a 11 beneficial owner— 12 ‘‘(aa)(AA) the identity and cat- 13 egory of value of any liability of the 14 entity owed to any creditor other than 15 a spouse, or a parent, brother, sister, 16 or child of the reporting individual or 17 of the reporting individual’s spouse 18 which exceed $50,000 at any time 19 during the preceding calendar year; 20 ‘‘(BB) any payment made during 21 the preceding calendar year of not less 22 than $50,000 on a liability described 23 in subitem (AA); and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5042.IS S5042 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 5042 IS ‘‘(CC) the identity of the cred- 1 itor, origination date, term, and rate 2 of interest any liability described in 3 item (AA); or 4 ‘‘(bb) a certification that the in- 5 dividual does not have access to the 6 information necessary to provide the 7 information described in item (aa). 8 ‘‘(B)(i) The liabilities reported under clause (i) 9 of subparagraph (A) shall exclude any mortgage se- 10 cured by real property which is a personal residence 11 of the reporting individual or his spouse, except that 12 this exception shall not apply to a reporting indi- 13 vidual— 14 ‘‘(I) described in paragraph (1), (2), or (9) 15 of section 101(f); 16 ‘‘(II) described in section 101(b) who has 17 been nominated for appointment as an officer 18 or employee in the executive branch described 19 in subsection (f) of such section, other than— 20 ‘‘(aa) an individual appointed to a po- 21 sition— 22 ‘‘(AA) as a Foreign Service Offi- 23 cer below the rank of ambassador; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5042.IS S5042 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 5042 IS ‘‘(BB) in the uniformed services 1 for which the pay grade prescribed by 2 section 201 of title 37, United States 3 Code is O–6 or below; or 4 ‘‘(bb) a special government employee, 5 as defined under section 202 of title 18, 6 United States Code; or 7 ‘‘(III) described in section 101(f) who is in 8 a position in the executive branch the appoint- 9 ment to which is made by the President and re- 10 quires advice and consent of the Senate, other 11 than— 12 ‘‘(aa) an individual appointed to a po- 13 sition— 14 ‘‘(AA) as a Foreign Service Offi- 15 cer below the rank of ambassador; or 16 ‘‘(BB) in the uniformed services 17 for which the pay grade prescribed by 18 section 201 of title 37, United States 19 Code is O–6 or below; or 20 ‘‘(bb) a special government employee, 21 as defined under section 202 of title 18, 22 United States Code. 23 ‘‘(ii) The liabilities reported under sub- 24 paragraph (A) shall exclude any loan secured by 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5042.IS S5042 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 5042 IS a personal motor vehicle, household furniture, 1 or appliances, which loan does not exceed the 2 purchase price of the item which secures it. 3 ‘‘(C) With respect to revolving charge ac- 4 counts— 5 ‘‘(i) for purposes of clause (i) of subpara- 6 graph (A), only those with an outstanding li- 7 ability which exceeds $10,000 as of the close of 8 the preceding calendar year need be reported; 9 and 10 ‘‘(ii) for purposes of clause (ii) of subpara- 11 graph (A), only those with an outstanding li- 12 ability which exceeds $50,000 as of the close of 13 the preceding calendar year need be reported.’’. 14 (b) LIMITS ON PUBLIC DISCLOSURE.—Section 15 103(d) of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. 16 App.) is amended— 17 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘Reports’’; and 18 (2) by adding at the end the following: 19 ‘‘(2) Upon request by a reporting individual required 20 to provide information relating to liabilities under clause 21 (ii) of section 102(a)(4)(A) other than the President, the 22 Director of the Office of Government Ethics may exempt 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5042.IS S5042 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 5042 IS liabilities reported under such clause from public disclo- 1 sure under paragraph (1) of this subsection.’’. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S5042.IS S5042 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS