II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4665 

To require senior officials to report payments received from the Federal 

Government and to improve the filing and disclosure of financial disclosures by Members of Congress, congressional staff, and very senior 

employees. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 23, 2020 

Mrs. GILLIBRAND introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To require senior officials to report payments received from 

the Federal Government and to improve the filing and 

disclosure of financial disclosures by Members of Congress, congressional staff, and very senior employees. 

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

3 SECTION 1. IMPROVED REPORTING OF PAYMENTS AND FI4 NANCIAL DISCLOSURES. 

5 (a) REPORTING OF APPLICATIONS FOR AND PAY6 MENTS RECEIVED FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 101 of the Ethics in 

2 Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amend3 ed by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(j)(1) In this subsection— 

5 ‘‘(A) the term ‘covered payment’— 

6 ‘‘(i) means a payment of money or any7 thing else of value made or promised to be by 

8 the Federal Government, including a loan 

9 agreement, contract, or grant (including relat10 ing to agricultural activity); 

11 ‘‘(ii) includes any other type of payment of 

12 money or anything else of value as the Sec13 retary of the Treasury, in consultation with the 

14 Director of the Office of Government Ethics, 

15 may by regulation establish; and 

16 ‘‘(iii) does not include— 

17 ‘‘(I) any salary or compensation for 

18 service performed as, or reimbursement of 

19 personal outlay by, an officer or employee 

20 of the Federal Government; or 

21 ‘‘(II) any tax refund (including a re22 fundable tax credit); and 

23 ‘‘(B) the term ‘covered person’ means a person 

24 described in paragraphs (1) through (10) of section 

25 103(l). 


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1 ‘‘(2) Not later than 30 days after receiving notifica2 tion of any application for or receipt of a covered payment 

3 by a covered person, the spouse of the covered person, or 

4 a dependent child of the covered person (including any 

5 business owned and controlled by the covered person, the 

6 spouse of the covered person, or a dependent child of the 

7 covered person), but in no case later than 45 days after 

8 the covered payment is made or promised to be made, the 

9 covered person shall file a report of the covered payment.’’. 

10 (2) CONTENTS.—Section 102 of the Ethics in 

11 Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amend12 ed by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(j) A report filed pursuant to section 101(j) shall— 

14 ‘‘(1) identify the type of payment or thing of 

15 value applied for or received; 

16 ‘‘(2) include the name of the recipient and the 

17 relation to the person required to file the report; 

18 ‘‘(3) provide the date of the application for and 

19 the date of receipt of the payment or thing of value; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(4) indicate the amount of the payment or 

22 thing of value.’’. 

23 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

24 by paragraphs (1) and (2) shall apply to payments 

25 made or promised to be made on or after the date 


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1 that is 90 days after the date of enactment of this 

2 Act. 

3 (b) UPDATING THE PUBLIC FILING AND DISCLO4 SURE OF FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE FORMS.— 

5 (1) MEMBERS OF CONGRESS AND CONGRES6 SIONAL STAFF.—Section 8(b)(1)(B) of the STOCK 

7 Act (5 U.S.C. App. 105 note) is amended to read as 

8 follows: 

9 ‘‘(B) public access— 

10 ‘‘(i) through databases that are main11 tained on the official websites of the House 

12 of Representatives and the Senate; 

13 ‘‘(ii) to— 

14 ‘‘(I) each financial disclosure re15 port filed by a Member of Congress or 

16 a candidate for Congress; 

17 ‘‘(II) each report filed by a Mem18 bers of Congress or a candidate for 

19 Congress of a transaction disclosure 

20 required by section 103(l) of the Eth21 ics in Government Act of 1978 (5 

22 U.S.C. App); and 

23 ‘‘(III) notice of any extension, 

24 amendment, or blind trust, with re25 spect to a report described in subVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:14 Oct 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4665.IS S4665

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1 clause (I) or (II), pursuant to title I 

2 of the Ethics in Government Act of 

3 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.); and 

4 ‘‘(iii) in a manner that— 

5 ‘‘(I) allows the public to search, 

6 sort, and download data contained in 

7 the reports described in subclause (I) 

8 or (II) of clause (ii) by criteria re9 quired to be reported, including by 

10 filer name, asset, transaction type, 

11 ticker symbol, notification date, 

12 amount of transaction, and date of 

13 transaction; 

14 ‘‘(II) allows access through an 

15 application programming interface; 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(III) is fully compliant with sec18 tion 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 

19 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794d) and the most 

20 recent Web Content Accessibility 

21 Guidelines, or successor guidelines.’’. 

22 (2) VERY SENIOR EXECUTIVE BRANCH EMPLOY23 EES.—Section 11(b)(1)(B) of the STOCK Act (5 

24 U.S.C. App. 105 note) is amended to read as fol25 lows: 


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1 ‘‘(B) public access— 

2 ‘‘(i) through a database that is main3 tained on the official website of the Office 

4 of Government Ethics; 

5 ‘‘(ii) to— 

6 ‘‘(I) each financial disclosure re7 port filed by the President, the Vice 

8 President, or any officer occupying a 

9 position listed in section 5312 or sec10 tion 5313 of title 5, United States 

11 Code, having been nominated by the 

12 President and confirmed by the Sen13 ate to that position; 

14 ‘‘(II) each report filed by an indi15 vidual described in subclause (I) of a 

16 transaction disclosure required by sec17 tion 103(l) of the Ethics in Govern18 ment Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App); 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(III) notice of any extension, 

21 amendment, or blind trust, with re22 spect to a report described in sub23 clause (I) or (II), pursuant to title I 

24 of the Ethics in Government Act of 

25 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.); and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) in a manner that— 

2 ‘‘(I) allows the public to search, 

3 sort, and download data contained in 

4 the reports described in subclause (I) 

5 or (II) of clause (ii) by criteria re6 quired to be reported, including by 

7 filer name, asset, transaction type, 

8 ticker symbol, notification date, 

9 amount of transaction, and date of 

10 transaction; 

11 ‘‘(II) allows access through an 

12 application programming interface; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(III) is fully compliant with sec15 tion 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 

16 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794d) and the most 

17 recent Web Content Accessibility 

18 Guidelines, or successor guidelines.’’. 

19 (3) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made 

20 by this subsection shall— 

21 (A) take effect on the date of enactment of 

22 this Act; and 

23 (B) apply on and after the date that is 18 

24 months after the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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