I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1420 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide for the establishment 

of a precious metals investment option in the Thrift Savings Fund. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 10, 2009 

Mr. PAUL (for himself, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. JONES, and Mr. BARTLETT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Oversight and Government Reform 

A BILL 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide for the 

establishment of a precious metals investment option in 

the Thrift Savings Fund. 

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 ‘‘Thrift Savings Fund 

5 Improvement Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PRECIOUS METALS INVESTMENT FUND. 

7 (a) FUND DEFINED.—Section 8438(a) of title 5, 

8 United States Code, is amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (9), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

2 end; 

3 (2) in paragraph (10), by striking the period 

4 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

5 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(11) the term ‘Precious Metals Investment 

7 Fund’ means the Precious Metals Investment Fund 

8 established under subsection (b)(1)(F).’’. 

9 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 8438(b)(1) of title 

11 5, United States Code, is amended— 

12 (A) in subparagraph (D), by striking 

13 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

14 (B) in subparagraph (E), by striking the 

15 period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

16 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(F) a Precious Metals Investment Fund 

18 as provided in paragraph (5).’’. 

19 (2) FUND REQUIREMENTS.—Section 8438(b) of 

20 title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding 

21 at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(5)(A) The Board shall establish a Precious Metals 

23 Investment Fund. 

24 ‘‘(B) Contributions to the Precious Metals Invest25 ment Fund shall be invested in physical gold, silver, or 


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1 platinum bullion (rather than any mining company shares, 

2 certificates, derivatives, or futures options), and any bul3 lion so acquired shall constitute the assets of the Precious 

4 Metals Investment Fund and shall be stored in a vault 

5 in a federally chartered or State chartered bank. Each 

6 share in the Precious Metals Investment Fund shall rep7 resent a direct investment in the precious metal itself.’’. 

8 (c) ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF RISK.—Section 8439(d) 

9 of title 5, United States Code, is amended— 

10 (1) by striking ‘‘or the Small Capitalization 

11 Stock Index Investment Fund,’’ and inserting ‘‘the 

12 Small Capitalization Stock Index Investment Fund, 

13 or the Precious Metals Investment Fund,’’; and 

14 (2) by striking ‘‘and (10),’’ and inserting ‘‘(10), 

15 and (11),’’. 

16 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE; DEFINITIONS. 

17 (a) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The Federal Retirement 

18 Thrift Investment Board— 

19 (1) shall study the operation of existing pre20 cious metals funds to determine the best practices of 

21 those funds; and 

22 (2) not later than 1 year after the date of the 

23 enactment of this Act— 

24 (A) shall establish the Precious Metals In25 vestment Fund, incorporating the best practices 


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1 referred to in paragraph (1) to such extent and 

2 in such manner as the Board shall determine; 

3 and 

4 (B) shall make the Precious Metals Invest5 ment Fund available to individuals participating 

6 in the Thrift Savings Plan. 

7 (b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 

8 (1) the term ‘‘Precious Metals Investment 

9 Fund’’ has the meaning given such term by section 

10 8438(a)(11) of title 5, United States Code (as 

11 amended by section 2(a)); and 

12 (2) the term ‘‘Thrift Savings Plan’’ refers to 

13 the plan described in subchapter III of chapter 84 

14 of such title 5. 

Æ 


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