I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1356

To amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to strengthen financial

disclosure requirements, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 29, 1995

Mr. SANDERS (for himself, Mr. HINCHEY, Ms. MCKINNEY, Mr. DEFAZIO, and

Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Rules, and in addition to the Committee on House Oversight, 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 the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to strengthen financial disclosure requirements, 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 ‘‘Public Interest Legis5 lature Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE; REQUIREMENT FOR MEM2 BERS TO DIVEST OR PLACE IN BLIND TRUST.

3 (a) Title I of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978

4 is amended—

5 (1) in section 109(13)—

6 (A) in clause (i) by striking ‘‘120 percent

7 of’’; and

8 (B) by amending clause (ii) to read as fol9 lows:

10 ‘‘(ii) the principal assistants in Washing11 ton, D.C., and in the district office designated

12 for purposes of this paragraph by each Member

13 and each professional staff employee of that

14 Member who represents or advises that Member

15 on legislation as a part of that employee’s job

16 responsibilities;’’;

17 (2)(A) in section 102(a)(1)(A) by inserting

18 ‘‘(including a detailed description)’’ after ‘‘source’’

19 the first place it appears; and

20 (B) in section 102(e)(1) by amending subpara21 graph (A) to read as follows:

22 ‘‘(A) The source, type, and amount or value of

23 income of a spouse shall be contained in each such

24 report in the same manner and to the same extent

25 as required to be reported under subsection (a) by

26 a reporting individual.’’;
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1 (3)(A) in section 102(a)(1)(B) by striking ‘‘and

2 type’’ and inserting ‘‘, type, and amount’’ and by

3 striking ‘‘, and value’’ and all that follows and in4 serting a period;

5 (B) in the first sentence of section 102(a)(3) by

6 striking ‘‘and category of value’’ and inserting

7 ‘‘amount’’;

8 (C) in the first sentence of section 102(a)(4) by

9 striking ‘‘and category of value’’ and inserting

10 ‘‘amount’’;

11 (D) in the first sentence of section 102(a)(5) by

12 striking ‘‘and category of value’’ and inserting

13 ‘‘amount’’;

14 (E) in subsection (d) by striking paragraph (1)

15 and by striking ‘‘(2)’’;

16 (4)(A) in the first sentence of section 102(a)(3)

17 by inserting ‘‘(including a substantial description)’’

18 after ‘‘identity’’;

19 (B) in the first sentence of section 102(a)(4) by

20 inserting ‘‘(including a substantial description)’’

21 after ‘‘identity’’;

22 (C) in section 102(a)(4) by striking ‘‘$10,000’’

23 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘$2,500’’ and by

24 striking the dash after ‘‘excluding’’, by striking sub-
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1 paragraph (A), and by striking ‘‘(B)’’ and moving

2 that matter 2-ems to the left; and

3 (5) by adding at the end the following new sec4 tion:

5 ‘‘SPECIAL PROVISION FOR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS

6 ‘‘SEC. 112. (a) Within 30 days of becoming a Member

7 of Congress, that Member shall—

8 ‘‘(1) divest himself or herself of any asset or in9 terest which exceeds $1,000 in real property (other

10 than property used solely as the personal residence

11 of that Member or that Member’s spouse) or in

12 stocks, bonds, commodity futures, or other forms of

13 securities; or

14 ‘‘(2) place all assets and interests described in

15 paragraph (1) in a qualified blind trust.

16 ‘‘(b) In the case of any individual who is a Member

17 of Congress on the effective date of this section, that

18 Member shall, within 30 days after that effective date,

19 comply with subsection (a).’’.

20 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON USE OF HOUSE OF REPRESENTA21 TIVES ALLOWANCES FOR FINANCIAL DISCLO22 SURE STATEMENT PREPARATION.

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—No amount from any official al24 lowance of a Member of the House of Representatives may

25 be used for reimbursement of any cost of preparation of
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1 a financial disclosure statement or other report required

2 by title I of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978.

3 (b) DEFINITION.—As used in subsection (a), the

4 term ‘‘Member of the House of Representatives’’ means

5 a Representative in, or a Delegate or Resident Commis6 sioner to, the Congress.

7 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

8 The amendments made by this Act shall apply to re9 ports required to be filed under title I of the Ethics in

10 Government Act of 1978 for calendar year 1995 and sub11 sequent calendar years and in the case of the amendment

12 made by this Act to section 112 of that title, that amend13 ment shall take effect on the sixtieth day beginning after

14 the date of enactment of this Act.

Æ