II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 761 

To amend title 31, United States Code, to allow the heads of certain Executive 

departments to accept conditional gifts on behalf of Executive departments, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 12, 2019 

Mr. ENZI (for himself and Mr. CARPER) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 31, United States Code, to allow the heads 

of certain Executive departments to accept conditional 

gifts on behalf of Executive departments, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Donations for Our Na5 tion’s Advancement, Transformation, and Enhancement 

6 Act’’ or the ‘‘DONATE Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ACCEPTANCE OF CONDITIONAL GIFTS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter III of chapter 13 of 

3 title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

4 end the following: 

5 ‘‘§ 1356. Acceptance of conditional gifts 

6 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION.—In this section— 

7 ‘‘(1) the term ‘covered conditional gift’ means a 

8 conditional gift accepted under subsection (b); and 

9 ‘‘(2) the term ‘Executive department’ means— 

10 ‘‘(A) the Department of Agriculture; 

11 ‘‘(B) the Department of Commerce; 

12 ‘‘(C) the Department of Education; 

13 ‘‘(D) the Department of Energy; 

14 ‘‘(E) the Department of Homeland Secu15 rity; 

16 ‘‘(F) the Department of Housing and 

17 Urban Development; 

18 ‘‘(G) the Department of the Interior; 

19 ‘‘(H) the Department of Justice; 

20 ‘‘(I) the Department of Labor; 

21 ‘‘(J) the Department of the Treasury; or 

22 ‘‘(K) the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

23 ‘‘(b) ACCEPTANCE.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

25 provision of law, and subject to paragraph (2), the 

26 head of each Executive department may, at the disVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S761.IS S761

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1 cretion of the head of the Executive department, ac2 cept a conditional gift on behalf of the Executive de3 partment if the conditional gift is made— 

4 ‘‘(A) in cash; and 

5 ‘‘(B) by an individual who is a citizen of 

6 the United States. 

7 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON ACCEPTANCE.—A condi8 tional gift may not be accepted under paragraph (1) 

9 if the conditional gift is conditioned upon carrying 

10 out any act or purpose that will require an expendi11 ture of funds in an amount that exceeds the amount 

12 of the conditional gift, unless the expenditure has 

13 been approved by an Act of Congress. 

14 ‘‘(c) LIMITATION ON USE.—The principal of and in15 come from any covered conditional gift shall be held, in16 vested, reinvested, and used in accordance with the condi17 tions of the conditional gift, except that the principal of 

18 and income from a conditional gift may not be invested 

19 or reinvested in a manner in which the principal of or in20 come from the conditional gift will accrue interest. 

21 ‘‘(d) BUDGET JUSTIFICATIONS.—In the annual 

22 budget justification submitted by each Executive depart23 ment, the head of the Executive department shall include, 

24 with respect to the year preceding the date on which the 

25 budget justification is submitted, a statement of— 


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1 ‘‘(1) each covered conditional gift accepted on 

2 behalf of the Executive department during the year 

3 preceding the date on which the annual budget jus4 tification is submitted; 

5 ‘‘(2) how each covered conditional gift described 

6 in paragraph (1) was used by the Executive depart7 ment; and 

8 ‘‘(3) as applicable, the account or fund in which 

9 the funds from each covered gift described in para10 graph (1) are deposited. 

11 ‘‘(e) DEFICIT REDUCTION.—If funds from a covered 

12 conditional gift remain unexpended after carrying out the 

13 conditional act or purpose of the covered conditional gift 

14 and are not required to carry out any other conditional 

15 act or purpose of the covered conditional gift— 

16 ‘‘(1) the head of the Executive department to 

17 which the covered conditional gift was made may, at 

18 the discretion of the head of the Executive depart19 ment, transfer the remaining funds to the Secretary 

20 of the Treasury; and 

21 ‘‘(2) the Secretary of the Treasury shall— 

22 ‘‘(A) deposit any remaining funds trans23 ferred under paragraph (1) in the general fund 

24 of the Treasury; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) dedicate any remaining funds trans2 ferred under paragraph (1) for the sole purpose 

3 of deficit reduction. 

4 ‘‘(f) CERTAIN INSUFFICIENT CONDITIONAL GIFTS.— 

5 If a head of an Executive department accepts a covered 

6 conditional gift that is made in an amount that is insuffi7 cient to meet the cost of carrying out any conditional act 

8 or purpose of the conditional gift, the acceptance shall not 

9 obligate the Executive department to expend any funds to 

10 carry out the conditional act or purpose.’’. 

11 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

12 The table of sections for subchapter III of chapter 13 of 

13 title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

14 end the following: 

‘‘1356. Acceptance of conditional gifts.’’. 

15 SEC. 3. GAO REPORT RELATING TO GIFTS ACCEPTED ON 

16 BEHALF OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS. 

17 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

18 (1) the term ‘‘Executive department’’ has the 

19 meaning given the term in section 101 of title 5, 

20 United States Code; and 

21 (2) the term ‘‘gift’’ means any conditional or 

22 unconditional gift made to an Executive department. 

23 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

24 of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the 

25 United States shall submit to the Committee on Homeland 


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1 Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the 

2 Committee on Oversight and Reform of the House of Rep3 resentatives a report that shall include— 

4 (1) with respect to the year preceding the date 

5 on which the report is submitted, a statement of— 

6 (A) the source of each gift made to the Ex7 ecutive department during that period; 

8 (B) how each gift described in subpara9 graph (A) was, is being, or will be used; and 

10 (C) the account or fund in which the funds 

11 from each gift described in subparagraph (A) 

12 are deposited; 

13 (2) a description of the process that each Exec14 utive department uses to— 

15 (A) manage any gifts made to the Execu16 tive department; and 

17 (B) ensure that all gifts made to the Exec18 utive department are efficiently used; and 

19 (3) recommendations for Executive departments 

20 relating to enhancing the management and use of 

21 any gifts made to Executive departments. 

Æ 


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