I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 231 

To prevent the enrichment of certain Government officers and employees 

or their families through Federal funds or contracting, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 6, 2021 

Mr. RUIZ introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Oversight and Reform 

A BILL 

To prevent the enrichment of certain Government officers 

and employees or their families through Federal funds 

or contracting, 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; FINDINGS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Public Service Spending Integrity Act’’. 

6 (b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

7 (1) Americans’ trust in government is essential 

8 to our democracy. 


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1 (2) Allowing public service by an elected official 

2 to seemingly converge with their own personal gain 

3 is corrosive to Americans’ faith in government. 

4 (3) Members of Congress and the executive 

5 branch have substantial power and discretion over 

6 the disbursement of public funds, and with that 

7 comes the obligation to create a barrier between 

8 public service and personal gain. 

9 SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON USE OF FEDERAL FUNDS AND CON10 TRACTING AT BUSINESSES OWNED BY CER11 TAIN GOVERNMENT OFFICERS AND EMPLOY12 EES. 

13 (a) LIMITATION ON FEDERAL FUNDS.—Beginning in 

14 fiscal year 2021 and in each fiscal year thereafter, no Fed15 eral funds may be obligated or expended for purposes of 

16 procuring goods or services at any business owned or con17 trolled by a covered individual or any family member of 

18 such an individual, unless such obligation or expenditure 

19 of funds is authorized under the Presidential Protection 

20 Assistance Act of 1976 (Public Law 94–524). 

21 (b) PROHIBITION ON CONTRACTS.—No Executive 

22 agency may enter into or hold a contract with a business 

23 owned or controlled by a covered individual or any family 

24 member of such an individual. 


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1 (c) DETERMINATION OF OWNERSHIP.—For purposes 

2 of this section, a business shall be deemed to be owned 

3 or controlled by a covered individual or any family member 

4 of such an individual if the covered individual or member 

5 of family (as the case may be)— 

6 (1) is a member of the board of directors or 

7 similar governing body of the business; 

8 (2) directly or indirectly owns or controls more 

9 than 50 percent of the voting shares of the business; 

10 or 

11 (3) is the beneficiary of a trust which owns or 

12 controls more than 50 percent of the business and 

13 can direct distributions under the terms of the trust. 

14 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

15 (1) COVERED INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘‘covered 

16 individual’’ means— 

17 (A) the President; 

18 (B) the Vice President; 

19 (C) the head of any Executive department 

20 (as that term is defined in section 101 of title 

21 5, United States Code); and 

22 (D) any individual occupying a position 

23 designated by the President as a Cabinet-level 

24 position. 


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1 (2) FAMILY MEMBER.—The term ‘‘family mem2 ber’’ means an individual with any of the following 

3 relationships to a covered individual: 

4 (A) Spouse, and parents thereof. 

5 (B) Sons and daughters, and spouses 

6 thereof. 

7 (C) Parents, and spouses thereof. 

8 (D) Brothers and sisters, and spouses 

9 thereof. 

10 (E) Grandparents and grandchildren, and 

11 spouses thereof. 

12 (F) Domestic partner and parents thereof, 

13 including domestic partners of any individual in 

14 paragraphs (2) through (5). 

15 (3) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Executive 

16 agency’’ has the meaning given that term in section 

17 105 of title 5, United States Code. 

Æ 


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