Bipartisan Restoring Faith in Government Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3003 To amend title 5, United States Code, to restrict trading and ownership of certain financial instruments by Members of Congress and their spouses and dependents, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 28, 2023 Mr. FITZPATRICK (for himself, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mr. GAETZ, and Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Com- mittee on Ways and Means, 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 title 5, United States Code, to restrict trading and ownership of certain financial instruments by Mem- bers of Congress and their spouses and dependents, 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 ‘‘Bipartisan Restoring 4 Faith in Government Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:44 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3003.IH H3003 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 3003 IH SEC. 2. PROHIBITION OF CONGRESSIONAL OWNERSHIP OF 1 FINANCIAL INVESTMENTS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 131 of title 5, United 3 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 4 lowing: 5 ‘‘SUBCHAPTER IV—PROHIBITION ON CONGRES- 6 SIONAL OWNERSHIP OF FINANCIAL IN- 7 VESTMENTS 8 ‘‘§ 13151. Definitions 9 ‘‘In this subchapter: 10 ‘‘(1) COVERED FINANCIAL INSTRUMENT.—The 11 term ‘covered financial instrument’ means— 12 ‘‘(A) any investment in— 13 ‘‘(i) a security (as defined in section 14 3(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 15 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78c(a))); 16 ‘‘(ii) a security future (as defined in 17 section 3(a) of the Securities Exchange Act 18 of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78c(a))); or 19 ‘‘(iii) a commodity (as defined in sec- 20 tion 1a of the Commodity Exchange Act (7 21 U.S.C. 1a)); and 22 ‘‘(B) any economic interest comparable to 23 an interest described in subclause (I) that is ac- 24 quired through synthetic means, such as the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:24 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3003.IH H3003 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 3003 IH use of a derivative, including an option, war- 1 rant, or other similar means. 2 ‘‘(2) COVERED INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘cov- 3 ered individual’ means any of the following: 4 ‘‘(A) A Member of Congress. 5 ‘‘(B) The spouse of a Member of Congress. 6 ‘‘(C) The dependent of a Member of Con- 7 gress. 8 ‘‘(3) DEPENDENT.—The term ‘dependent’ has 9 the meaning given that term in section 13101. 10 ‘‘(4) MEMBER OF CONGRESS.—The term ‘Mem- 11 ber of Congress’ has the meaning given that term in 12 section 13101. 13 ‘‘(5) QUALIFIED BLIND TRUST.—The term 14 ‘qualified blind trust’ has the meaning given that 15 term in section 13104(f)(3). 16 ‘‘(6) SUPERVISING ETHICS OFFICE.—The term 17 ‘supervising ethics office’ has the meaning given that 18 term in section 13101. 19 ‘‘§ 13152. Limitation on owning or trading certain as- 20 sets 21 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT.— 22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in this 23 section, no covered individual may own or trade a 24 covered financial instrument. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:44 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3003.IH H3003 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 3003 IH ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—Nothing in this subchapter 1 shall be construed to prevent a covered individual 2 from owning or trading— 3 ‘‘(A) a widely held investment fund (as 4 that term is described in section 13104(f)(8)) 5 that is registered as a management company 6 under the Investment Company Act, as amend- 7 ed (15 U.S.C. 80a–1 et seq.); 8 ‘‘(B) a United States Treasury bill, note, 9 or bond; 10 ‘‘(C) any bond issued by a State or local 11 government; or 12 ‘‘(D) any investment under the Thrift Sav- 13 ings Plan. 14 ‘‘(b) COMPLIANCE.— 15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To comply with the re- 16 quirement under subsection (a), a covered individual 17 shall divest of a covered financial instrument 18 through sale or placement in a qualified blind trust 19 in accordance with subsection (c). 20 ‘‘(2) ASSETS ACQUIRED THROUGH SPECIAL CIR- 21 CUMSTANCES.—In the event that a covered indi- 22 vidual acquires a covered financial instrument after 23 the date of enactment of the Bipartisan Restoring 24 Faith in Government Act other than by purchase, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:44 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3003.IH H3003 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 3003 IH the covered individual shall have 90 days from the 1 date on which such individual received such instru- 2 ment to divest of such instrument through any 3 means provided under paragraph (1). 4 ‘‘(c) TIME PERIOD FOR COMPLIANCE.— 5 ‘‘(1) COVERED INDIVIDUALS AS OF DATE OF 6 ENACTMENT.— 7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An individual who is a 8 covered individual as of the date of enactment 9 of Bipartisan Restoring Faith in Government 10 Act shall have 90 days following the date of en- 11 actment of such Act to divest of such instru- 12 ment through any means provided under sub- 13 section (b)(1). 14 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE FOR SPOUSES.—A 15 covered individual who is a spouse of a Member 16 of Congress and who receives any financial in- 17 strument as compensation for their primary em- 18 ployment shall divest of such financial instru- 19 ment not later than 90 days after the date that 20 the spouse is contractually permitted to sell the 21 covered investment. 22 ‘‘(2) COVERED INDIVIDUALS AFTER DATE OF 23 ENACTMENT.—An individual who becomes a covered 24 individual after the date of enactment of the Bipar- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:44 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3003.IH H3003 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 3003 IH tisan Restoring Faith in Government Act shall have 1 90 days from the date on which such individual be- 2 comes a covered individual to divest of such instru- 3 ment through any means provided under subsection 4 (b)(1). 5 ‘‘(3) QUALIFIED BLIND TRUST REQUIRE- 6 MENTS.—Notwithstanding paragraphs (1) and (2), a 7 qualified blind trust may not be established for pur- 8 poses of complying with this subchapter without the 9 prior approval of the supervising ethics office. With 10 respect to any such trust so approved, the applicable 11 trustee— 12 ‘‘(A) shall divest of any such instrument 13 placed in the trust not later than 6 months 14 after the trust is established; 15 ‘‘(B) shall certify to the applicable super- 16 vising ethics office on an annual basis that the 17 trustee has not provided any information on the 18 trust’s assets or transactions to the applicable 19 covered individual; and 20 ‘‘(C) may not have a close personal or 21 business relationship with the applicable cov- 22 ered individual. 23 ‘‘(d) INCOME TAX.—A loss from a transaction or 24 holding involving a covered financial instrument that is 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:44 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3003.IH H3003 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 3003 IH conducted in violation of this section may not be deducted 1 from the amount of income tax owed by the covered indi- 2 vidual. 3 ‘‘(e) ASSETS UPON SEPARATION.—In the case of a 4 spouse or dependent who ceases to be a covered individual, 5 such spouse or dependent may regain control over any cov- 6 ered financial instrument that was placed into a qualified 7 blind trust pursuant to subsection (a). 8 ‘‘(f) PROOF OF COMPLIANCE.— 9 ‘‘(1) SUBMISSION.—A Member of Congress 10 shall submit to the supervising ethics office a pledge 11 of compliance with the requirements of this sub- 12 chapter, and shall produce, upon request of the su- 13 pervising ethics office, material or information deter- 14 mined by the supervising ethics committee to be nec- 15 essary to indicate compliance with the provisions of 16 this subchapter. 17 ‘‘(2) CERTIFICATE.—The supervising ethics of- 18 fice shall provide each Member of Congress in com- 19 pliance with the provisions of this Act with a certifi- 20 cate of compliance. 21 ‘‘(3) PUBLICATION.—The supervising ethics of- 22 fice shall make available, on a publicly accessible 23 website, all certificates issued under this subsection. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:44 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3003.IH H3003 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 3003 IH ‘‘§ 13153. Enforcement 1 ‘‘(a) REFERRAL.—The supervising ethics office shall 2 refer to the Attorney General the name of any covered 3 individual who such office has reasonable cause to believe 4 has willfully failed to comply with the requirements of sec- 5 tion 13152. 6 ‘‘(b) PENALTY.— 7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General may 8 bring a civil action in any appropriate United States 9 district court against any covered individual who 10 knowingly and willfully fails to comply with section 11 13152. The court in which such action is brought 12 may assess against such individual a civil penalty in 13 any amount, not to exceed $50,000. 14 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—A covered individual may 15 not pay any penalty resulting from a civil action 16 under paragraph (1) using— 17 ‘‘(A) funds from a Members’ Representa- 18 tional Allowance or Senators’ Official Personnel 19 and Office Expense Account (as the case may 20 be); or 21 ‘‘(B) funds of any political committee 22 under the Federal Election Campaign Act of 23 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101 et seq.).’’. 24 (b) APPLICATION OF TAX RULES FOR SALES OF 25 PROPERTY TO COMPLY WITH CONFLICT-OF-INTEREST 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:44 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3003.IH H3003 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 3003 IH REQUIREMENTS.—Section 1043 of the Internal Revenue 1 Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the fol- 2 lowing new subsection: 3 ‘‘(d) APPLICATION TO PROHIBITION ON CONGRES- 4 SIONAL OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN ASSETS.— 5 ‘‘(1) TREATMENT AS CONFLICT OF INTEREST 6 STATUTE.—For purposes of subsection (b)(2)(A), 7 subchapter IV of chapter 131 of title 5, United 8 States Code, shall be treated as a Federal conflict 9 of interest statute. 10 ‘‘(2) COVERED INDIVIDUALS TREATED AS ELI- 11 GIBLE PERSONS.—For purposes of this section— 12 ‘‘(A) the term ‘eligible person’ shall include 13 covered individuals (as defined in section 13151 14 of title 5, United States Code), and 15 ‘‘(B) such covered individuals shall be 16 treated as referred to in subsection (b)(1)(A) 17 for purposes of applying subsection (b)(5)(A). 18 ‘‘(3) CERTIFICATES OF DIVESTITURE ISSUED 19 BY ETHICS COMMITTEE.—In the case of any covered 20 individual referred to in paragraph (2)(A), a certifi- 21 cate of divestiture meets the requirement of sub- 22 section (b)(2)(B) if such certificate is issued by the 23 applicable Congressional ethics committee.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:44 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3003.IH H3003 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •HR 3003 IH (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 1 for such chapter is amended by inserting after the item 2 relating to section 13146 the following: 3 ‘‘SUBCHAPTER IV—PROHIBITION ON CONGRESSIONAL OWNERSHIP OF FINANCIAL INVESTMENTS ‘‘13151. Definitions. ‘‘13152. Limitation on owning or trading certain assets. ‘‘13153. Enforcement.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:44 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3003.IH H3003 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB