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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4390 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>

118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4390

 To amend title 5, United States Code, to prohibit the President, Vice 
   President, Members of Congress, and other senior Executive branch 
    personnel from accepting any foreign emoluments, and for other 
                               purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 22, 2024

Mr. Blumenthal introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
 To amend title 5, United States Code, to prohibit the President, Vice 
   President, Members of Congress, and other senior Executive branch 
    personnel from accepting any foreign emoluments, and for other 
                               purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``No Foreign Emoluments Without 
Congressional Consent Act''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITING SENIOR FEDERAL OFFICIALS FROM ACCEPTING FOREIGN 
              PAYMENTS.

    (a) In General.--Subchapter IV of chapter 73 of title 5, United 
States Code, is amended by adding after section 7342 the following:
``Sec. 7343. Prohibiting senior Federal officials from accepting 
              foreign payments
    ``(a) Prohibition.--
            ``(1) In general.--It shall be unlawful for any senior 
        Federal official to receive, accept, or retain a foreign 
        payment, including through a business entity controlled by a 
        senior Federal official, without first obtaining the consent of 
        Congress pursuant to this section and section 7344.
            ``(2) Two-year post employment.--During the 2-year period 
        beginning on the date that an individual leaves the position of 
        a senior Federal official, it shall be unlawful for such 
        individual to receive, accept, or retain a foreign payment, 
        including through a business entity controlled by a senior 
        Federal official, without first obtaining the consent of 
        Congress pursuant to this section and section 7344. Such 
        individual shall make the requisite disclosures required under 
        subsection (b) of this section.
            ``(3) Candidate reports.--An individual other than an 
        incumbent President or Vice President who becomes a candidate 
        (as defined in section 301 of the Federal Election Campaign Act 
        of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101)) for the office of President or Vice 
        President shall submit a report to Congress at the end of each 
        30-day period such individual is such a candidate listing any 
        foreign payments such individual received during such period.
    ``(b) Disclosure.--
            ``(1) Notice.--Any senior Federal official that wishes to 
        receive, accept, or retain a foreign payment shall submit (in 
        writing) notice to the Director prior to receiving, accepting, 
        or retaining any foreign payment. Such request shall include, 
        at a minimum--
                    ``(A) the name of, and position occupied by, the 
                senior Federal official;
                    ``(B) details regarding the foreign payment the 
                senior Federal official wishes to receive, accept, and 
                retain, including the foreign government that would 
                provide the foreign payment, the type of payment and 
                the financial instrument to be used to provide the 
                payment, the value of the foreign payment, and whether 
                the foreign payment would be provided through a 
                business entity, and, if so, the business entity and 
                the specific transaction through which it would be 
                provided; and
                    ``(C) a statement confirming that the senior 
                Federal official has not requested or otherwise 
                encouraged the tender of the foreign payment.
            ``(2) Notification to congress.--Not later than 10 days 
        after receiving notice under paragraph (1), the Director shall 
        submit such notice to Congress.
            ``(3) Members of congress.--For purposes of carrying out 
        this subsection with respect to Members of Congress--
                    ``(A) with respect to any such Member who is a 
                Senator, the term `the Select Committee on Ethics of 
                the Senate' shall be substituted for `Director'; and
                    ``(B) with respect to any such Member who is a 
                Member of the House of Representatives, the term 
                `Committee on Ethics of the House of Representatives' 
                shall be substituted for `Director'.
    ``(c) Definitions.--For purposes of this section and sections 7344 
and 7345--
            ``(1) the term `business entity'--
                    ``(A) means a for-profit corporation, association, 
                partnership, limited liability company, limited 
                liability partnership, other legal entity, or sole 
                proprietorship in which a senior Federal official has 
                an ownership stake; and
                    ``(B) does not include an entity in which more than 
                100 people have an ownership stake and the senior 
                Federal official holds no more than 5 percent in a 
                beneficial ownership stake and that--
                            ``(i) issues securities registered with the 
                        Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to 
                        section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 
                        1934 (15 U.S.C. 78l);
                            ``(ii) is an investment company registered 
                        pursuant to section 8 of the Investment Company 
                        Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a-8) that does not 
                        have a stated policy of concentrating the 
                        investments of the investment company in any 
                        industry, business, single country other than 
                        the United States, or bonds of a single State 
                        within the United States; or
                            ``(iii) is a unit investment trust, as 
                        defined in section 4 of the Investment Company 
                        Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a-4) that--
                                    ``(I) is a regulated investment 
                                company, as defined in section 851 of 
                                the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; and
                                    ``(II) does not have a stated 
                                policy of concentrating the investments 
                                of the investment company in any 
                                industry, business, single country 
                                other than the United States, or bonds 
                                of a single State within the United 
                                States;
            ``(2) the term `Director' means the Director of the Office 
        of Government Ethics;
            ``(3) the term `foreign payment'--
                    ``(A) means any direct or indirect payment in any 
                form, including any tangible item, arising from 
                commercial transactions of any kind, including any 
                payment involving a business entity, whether or not at 
                fair market value from--
                            ``(i) any foreign government (as that term 
                        is defined in section 7342(a));
                            ``(ii) any corporate enterprise engaged in 
                        commercial endeavors owned 50 percent or more 
                        or controlled by a foreign government; or
                            ``(iii) any member of the family of a 
                        sovereign in a monarchical government;
                    ``(B) does not include any gift or decoration 
                covered under section 7342; and
            ``(4) the term `senior Federal official' means--
                    ``(A) the President and the Vice President;
                    ``(B) a Member of Congress (as that term is defined 
                in section 2106);
                    ``(C) the head of any Executive department;
                    ``(D) any individual employed on the staff of the 
                President in a position with the title of Assistant to 
                the President, Deputy Assistant to the President, 
                Special Assistant to the President, Advisor to the 
                President, or Counselor to the President; and
                    ``(E) any other senior United States Government 
                employee designated by the Director.
``Sec. 7344. Congressional review of request to receive, accept, and 
              retain foreign payment
    ``(a) In General.--A senior Federal official may not receive, 
accept, or retain a foreign payment unless Congress has, prior to such 
receipt, acceptance, or retention, consented through enactment of a 
concurrent resolution of approval as provided under this section.
    ``(b) Review.--
            ``(1) In general.--In this section, the term `concurrent 
        resolution' means only a concurrent resolution--
                    ``(A) introduced during the period beginning on the 
                date Congress receives notice from the Director under 
                section 7343(b)(2) and ending on the date that is 90 
                days thereafter; and
                    ``(B) consisting only of the following text in the 
                matter following the resolving clause: `That Congress 
                hereby consents to the acceptance by ______ of the 
                foreign payment described as follows: _____.', with the 
                first blank space filled in with the name of the senior 
                Federal official and the second blank space filled in 
                with a detailed description of the foreign payment.
            ``(2) Committee consideration.--A concurrent resolution 
        under this section shall be referred to the appropriate 
        committee of the House of Representatives and the Senate. One 
        such concurrent resolution shall be reported out by such 
        committee together with its recommendations within fifteen 
        legislative days after the day on which such resolution is 
        referred to such committee, unless such House shall otherwise 
        determine by the yeas and nays.
            ``(3) Consideration.--Any concurrent resolution so reported 
        shall become the pending business of the House in question (in 
        the case of the Senate the time for debate shall be equally 
        divided between the proponents and the opponents) and shall be 
        voted on within three legislative days after the day on which 
        such resolution is reported, unless such House shall otherwise 
        determine by yeas and nays.
            ``(4) Coordination.--Such a concurrent resolution passed by 
        one House shall be referred to the appropriate committee of the 
        other House and shall be reported out by such committee 
        together with its recommendations within fifteen legislative 
        days after the day on which such resolution is referred to such 
        committee and shall thereupon become the pending business of 
        such House and shall be voted upon within three legislative 
        days after the day on which such resolution is reported, unless 
        such House shall otherwise determine by yeas and nays.
            ``(5) Conference.--In the case of any disagreement between 
        the two Houses of Congress with respect to a joint resolution 
        passed by both Houses, conferees shall be promptly appointed 
        and the committee of conference shall make and file a report 
        with respect to such joint resolution within six legislative 
        days after the day on which managers on the part of the Senate 
        and the House have been appointed. Notwithstanding any rule in 
        either House concerning the printing of conference reports or 
        concerning any delay in the consideration of such reports, such 
        report shall be acted on by both Houses not later than six 
        legislative days after the conference report is filed in the 
        House in which such report is filed first. In the event the 
        conferees are unable to agree within forty-eight hours, they 
        shall report back to their respective Houses in disagreement.
    ``(c) Exercise of Rulemaking Powers.--This section is enacted by 
the Congress--
            ``(1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of the House 
        of Representatives and the Senate, respectively, and as such 
        they shall be considered as part of the rules of each House, 
        respectively, or of that House to which they specifically 
        apply, and such rules shall supersede other rules only to the 
        extent that they are inconsistent therewith; and
            ``(2) with full recognition of the constitutional right of 
        either House to change such rules (so far as relating to such 
        House) at any time, in the same manner, and to the same extent 
        as in the case of any other rule of such House.
``Sec. 7345. Penalties
    ``(a) Civil Action by the Attorney General.--The Attorney General 
may bring a civil action against a senior Federal official in an 
appropriate United States district court for a violation of section 
7343 or 7344 for--
            ``(1) a civil monetary penalty in an amount not to exceed 
        $5,000 more than the retail value of the foreign payment; and
            ``(2) such injunctive relief as may be appropriate.
    ``(b) Criminal Penalty.--Whoever, being a senior Federal official, 
knowingly violates section 7343 or 7344 shall be imprisoned for not 
more than one year, fined in the amount of $50,000 or the total value 
of the foreign payments accepted, whichever is greater, or both.
    ``(c) Forfeiture.--Any payment received, accepted, or retained in 
violation of section 7343 or 7344 shall be seized and forfeited to the 
United States in accordance with chapter 46 of title 18.
    ``(d) Actions by Private Persons.--A person may bring a civil 
action for a violation of section 7343 or 7344 for the person and for 
the United States Government in the same manner as an action under 
section 3730(b) of title 31, except that--
            ``(1) any extension of time under section 3730(b)(3) of 
        title 31 shall not exceed 120 days;
            ``(2) section 3730(e)(2) of title 31 shall not apply; and
            ``(3) section 3730(e)(4) of title 31 shall not apply with 
        regard to a civil action brought against the President, the 
        Vice President, or the Attorney General.
    ``(e) Safe Harbor.--The penalties under this section shall not 
apply with respect to a foreign payment made to a senior Federal 
official if the official--
            ``(1) did not solicit the payment; and
            ``(2) not later than 72 hours after becoming aware of the 
        receipt of such a payment, and in no case later than 90 days 
        after its receipt--
                    ``(A) notifies the Director (or, in the case of a 
                Member of Congress, the Select Committee on Ethics of 
                the Senate or the Committee on Ethics of the House of 
                Representatives, as the case may be) of the payment; 
                and
                    ``(B) returns the payment in full to the entity 
                that made the payment or remits such payment to the 
                Treasury.''.
    (b) Designation by OGE.--Not later than 90 days after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office of Government 
Ethics shall publish, on the Office's public website, an initial list 
of any individual designated by the Director under section 
7343(c)(4)(E) of title 5, United States Code (as added by subsection 
(a) of this Act). The Director shall update such list as appropriate.
    (c) Clerical.--The table of sections for subchapter IV of chapter 
73 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding after the item 
relating to section 7342 the following:

``7343. Prohibiting senior Federal officials from accepting foreign 
                            payments.
``7344. Congressional review of foreign payments.
``7345. Penalties.''.

SEC. 3. ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY FOR OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT ETHICS AND 
              FINANCIAL DISCLOSURES.

    (a) Enforcement.--
            (1) In general.--Section 13122(a) of title 5, United States 
        Code, is amended--
                    (A) by striking ``The Director'' and inserting 
                ``(1) In general.--The Director''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) Foreign payments.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Director shall provide 
                overall direction of executive branch policies related 
                to compliance with sections 7343 through 7345, and 
                shall have authority to--
                            ``(i) order individuals to take corrective 
                        action; and
                            ``(ii) pursuant to section 7345, require 
                        disgorgement and divestiture of any foreign 
                        payment received, accepted, or retained by a 
                        senior Federal official without the consent of 
                        Congress to ensure compliance by a senior 
                        Federal official with the No Foreign Emoluments 
                        Without Congressional Consent Act.
                    ``(B) Definitions.--In this paragraph and for 
                purposes of subsection (b)(16), the terms `foreign 
                payment' and `senior Federal official' have the meaning 
                given those terms in section 7343(c).''.
            (2) Specific authority.--Section 13122(b) of title 5, 
        United States Code, is amended--
                    (A) in paragraph (14), by striking ``and'' at the 
                end;
                    (B) in paragraph (15), by striking the period at 
                the end and inserting ``; and''; and
                    (C) by adding after paragraph (15) the following:
            ``(16) developing and promulgating rules and regulations to 
        ensure compliance with the requirements of sections 7343 
        through 7345, including establishing--
                    ``(A) a process for making required reports and 
                notifications to Congress;
                    ``(B) a process for ensuring the surrender or 
                requiring the disgorgement and divestiture of a foreign 
                payment when Congress does not consent to retention of 
                the foreign payment;
                    ``(C) a process for notifying Congress of non-
                compliance with the requirements of section 7343 and 
                7344 or with any disapproval of retention of any 
                foreign payment by a senior Federal official; and
                    ``(D) such other matters as are necessary to ensure 
                compliance with the requirements of section 7343 and 
                7344.''.
    (b) Disclosures.--Section 13104(a) of title 5, United States Code, 
is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(9) Foreign payments.--Any foreign payment received by a 
        senior Federal official on or before the date of filing during 
        the preceding calendar year, including the source, date, type, 
        amount or value, date of surrender, or the date of adoption by 
        Congress of a concurrent resolution approving the retention of 
        the foreign payment under section 7344. In this paragraph, the 
        terms `foreign payment' and `senior Federal official' have the 
        meaning given those terms in section 7343(c).
            ``(10) Payments to business interest.--Each business 
        interest of a senior Federal official that is reasonably 
        expected to result in the receipt of any foreign payment during 
        the current calendar year. In this paragraph, the terms 
        `foreign payment' and `senior Federal official' have the 
        meaning given those terms in section 7343(c).''.

SEC. 4. SEVERABILITY.

    If any provision of this Act or amendment made by this Act, or the 
application of a provision or amendment to any person or circumstance, 
is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act and 
amendments made by this Act, and the application of the provisions and 
amendment to any person or circumstance, shall not be affected by the 
holding.
                                 <all>
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