I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 145 

To terminate pensions for Members of Congress, to prohibit a single bill 

or joint resolution presented by Congress to the President from containing multiple subjects, to require the equal application of laws to 

Members of Congress, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 3, 2017 

Mr. FITZPATRICK introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committees 

on the Judiciary, and Oversight and Government Reform, 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 terminate pensions for Members of Congress, to prohibit 

a single bill or joint resolution presented by Congress 

to the President from containing multiple subjects, to 

require the equal application of laws to Members of 

Congress, 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 ‘‘Citizen Legislature 

5 Anti-Corruption Reform Act’’ or the ‘‘CLEAN Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TERMINATION OF FURTHER RETIREMENT BENE2 FITS FOR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS. 

3 (a) AMENDMENTS RELATING TO THE CIVIL SERVICE

4 RETIREMENT SYSTEM.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter III of chapter 

6 83 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by in7 serting after section 8335 the following: 

8 ‘‘§ 8335a. Termination of further retirement coverage 

9 of Members of Congress 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro11 vision of this subchapter and subject to subsection (f), ef12 fective on the date that is 90 days after the date of enact13 ment of this section— 

14 ‘‘(1) a Member shall not be subject to this sub15 chapter for any further period of time; and 

16 ‘‘(2) no further Government contributions or 

17 deductions from basic pay may be made with respect 

18 to such Member for deposit in the Treasury of the 

19 United States to the credit of the Fund. 

20 ‘‘(b) PRIOR RIGHTS NOT AFFECTED.—Nothing in 

21 subsection (a) shall be considered to nullify, modify, or 

22 otherwise affect any right, entitlement, or benefit under 

23 this subchapter with respect to any Member covering any 

24 period prior to the date of enactment of this section. 

25 ‘‘(c) RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN THRIFT SAVINGS

26 PLAN NOT AFFECTED.—Nothing in subsection (a) shall 


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1 affect the eligibility of a Member to participate in the 

2 Thrift Savings Plan in accordance with otherwise applica3 ble provisions of law. 

4 ‘‘(d) REGULATIONS.—Any regulations necessary to 

5 carry out this section may— 

6 ‘‘(1) except with respect to matters relating to 

7 the Thrift Savings Plan, be prescribed by the Direc8 tor of the Office of Personnel Management; and 

9 ‘‘(2) with respect to matters relating to the 

10 Thrift Savings Plan, be prescribed by the Executive 

11 Director (as defined by section 8401(13)). 

12 ‘‘(e) EXCLUSION.—For purposes of this section, the 

13 term ‘Member’ does not include the Vice President.’’. 

14 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec15 tions at the beginning of chapter 83 of title 5, 

16 United States Code, is amended by inserting after 

17 the item relating to section 8335 the following: 

‘‘8335a. Termination of further retirement coverage of Members of Congress.’’. 

18 (b) AMENDMENTS RELATING TO THE FEDERAL EM19 PLOYEES RETIREMENT SYSTEM.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 84 

21 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by insert22 ing after section 8425 the following: 


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1 ‘‘§ 8425a. Termination of further retirement coverage 

2 of Members of Congress 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro4 vision of this chapter, effective on the date that is 90 days 

5 after the date of enactment of this section— 

6 ‘‘(1) subject to subsection (f), in the case of an 

7 individual who first becomes a Member before such 

8 date of enactment— 

9 ‘‘(A) such Member shall not be subject to 

10 this chapter for any further period of time after 

11 such date of enactment; and 

12 ‘‘(B) no further Government contributions 

13 or deductions from basic pay may be made with 

14 respect to such Member for deposit in the 

15 Treasury of the United States to the credit of 

16 the Fund; and 

17 ‘‘(2) in the case of an individual who first be18 comes a Member on or after such date of enact19 ment— 

20 ‘‘(A) such Member shall not be subject to 

21 this chapter; and 

22 ‘‘(B) no Government contributions or de23 ductions from basic pay may be made with re24 spect to such Member for deposit in the Treas25 ury of the United States to the credit of the 

26 Fund. 


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1 ‘‘(b) PRIOR RIGHTS NOT AFFECTED.—Nothing in 

2 subsection (a) shall be considered to nullify, modify, or 

3 otherwise affect any right, entitlement, or benefit under 

4 this chapter with respect to any Member covering any pe5 riod prior to the date of enactment of this section. 

6 ‘‘(c) RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN THRIFT SAVINGS

7 PLAN NOT AFFECTED.—Nothing in subsection (a) shall 

8 affect the eligibility of a Member to participate in the 

9 Thrift Savings Plan in accordance with otherwise applica10 ble provisions of law. 

11 ‘‘(d) REGULATIONS.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any regulations necessary 

13 to carry out this section may— 

14 ‘‘(A) except with respect to matters relat15 ing to the Thrift Savings Plan, be prescribed by 

16 the Director of the Office of Personnel Manage17 ment; and 

18 ‘‘(B) with respect to matters relating to 

19 the Thrift Savings Plan, be prescribed by the 

20 Executive Director (as defined by section 

21 8401(13)). 

22 ‘‘(2) REFUNDS.—Notwithstanding subsection 

23 (b), the regulations under paragraph (1)(A) shall, in 

24 the case of a Member who has not completed at 

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1 actment of this section, provide that the lump-sum 

2 credit shall be payable to such Member to the same 

3 extent and in the same manner as if such Member 

4 satisfied paragraphs (1) through (4) of section 

5 8424(a) as of such date of enactment. 

6 ‘‘(e) EXCLUSIONS.—For purposes of this section, the 

7 term ‘Member’ does not include the Vice President.’’. 

8 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec9 tions at the beginning of chapter 84 of title 5, 

10 United States Code, is amended by inserting after 

11 the item relating to section 8425 the following: 

‘‘8425a. Termination of further retirement coverage of Members of Congress.’’. 

12 SEC. 3. PROHIBITING MULTIPLE SUBJECTS IN SINGLE 

13 BILL. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Each bill, order, resolution, or 

15 vote submitted by Congress to the President under section 

16 7 of article I of the Constitution of the United States shall 

17 embrace no more than one subject, and that subject shall 

18 be clearly and descriptively expressed in the title of the 

19 bill, order, resolution or vote. 

20 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Subsection (a) shall apply 

21 with respect to the One Hundred Fifteenth Congress and 

22 each succeeding Congress. 


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1 SEC. 4. REQUIRING EQUAL APPLICATION OF LAWS TO MEM2 BERS OF CONGRESS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi4 sion of law, any provision of law that provides an exception 

5 in its application to a Member of Congress or an employee 

6 of the office of a Member of Congress shall have no effect. 

7 (b) CLARIFICATION RELATING TO EXERCISE OF OF8 FICIAL OR REPRESENTATIONAL DUTIES.—Subsection (a) 

9 shall not be construed to apply to provisions of law or rules 

10 which permit Members of Congress or employees of offices 

11 of Members of Congress to carry out official duties that 

12 are tied directly to lawmaking, including provisions or 

13 rules permitting Members and employees to enter and use 

14 the United States Capitol, the United States Capitol 

15 grounds, and other buildings and facilities. 

16 (c) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘Member 

17 of Congress’’ means a Senator or a Representative in, or 

18 Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress. 

19 SEC. 5. REQUIRING USE OF INDEPENDENT NONPARTISAN 

20 COMMISSIONS TO CARRY OUT REDIS21 TRICTING. 

22 (a) REQUIREMENT.— 

23 (1) CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTING.—Each 

24 State shall conduct Congressional redistricting (be25 ginning with the redistricting carried out pursuant 

26 to the decennial census conducted during 2020) in 


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1 accordance with a redistricting plan developed by a 

2 nonpartisan independent redistricting commission. 

3 (2) REDISTRICTING FOR STATE LEGISLATIVE

4 DISTRICTS.—Notwithstanding any other provision of 

5 law, a State may not use any funds provided by the 

6 Federal Government directly for election administra7 tion purposes unless the State certifies to the Elec8 tion Assistance Commission that the State conducts 

9 redistricting for State legislative districts in the 

10 State (beginning with the first such redistricting 

11 carried out after the date of the enactment of this 

12 Act) in accordance with a redistricting plan devel13 oped by a nonpartisan independent redistricting 

14 commission. 

15 (b) NONPARTISAN INDEPENDENT STATUS.—For 

16 purposes of this section, a commission shall be considered 

17 to be a nonpartisan independent commission if— 

18 (1) the number of its members who are affili19 ated with the political party with the largest percent20 age of the registered voters in the State who are af21 filiated with a political party (as determined with re22 spect to the most recent Statewide election for Fed23 eral office held in the State for which such informa24 tion is available) is equal to the number of its mem25 bers who are affiliated with the political party with 


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1 the second largest percentage of the registered vot2 ers in the State who are affiliated with a political 

3 party (as so determined); and 

4 (2) none of its members is an elected public of5 ficial. 

6 (c) STATE DEFINED.—In this section, the term 

7 ‘‘State’’ means each of the several States. 

8 SEC. 6. REQUIRING OPEN PRIMARIES. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

10 (1) ELECTIONS FOR FEDERAL OFFICE.—Each 

11 State shall hold open primaries for elections for Fed12 eral office held in the State. 

13 (2) ELECTIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL OF14 FICE.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 

15 a State may not use any funds provided by the Fed16 eral Government directly for election administration 

17 purposes unless the State certifies to the Election 

18 Assistance Commission that the State holds open 

19 primaries for elections for State and local office. 

20 (b) OPEN PRIMARIES DESCRIBED.—For purposes of 

21 this section, a State holds open primaries for an election 

22 for an office if any individual who is registered to vote 

23 in a general election for such office in the State may cast 

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1 nating convention of a political party and a primary elec2 tion held for the expression of a preference for the nomina3 tion of individuals for election to the office of President) 

4 held by any political party to nominate candidates for elec5 tion for that office, including a convention or caucus of 

6 a political party which has authority to nominate a can7 didate. 

8 (c) STATE DEFINED.—In this section, the term 

9 ‘‘State’’ has the meaning given such term in section 901 

10 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21141). 

11 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Subsection (a) shall apply 

12 with respect to elections held after the date of the enact13 ment of this Act. 

Æ 


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