I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1078 

To provide that a former Member of Congress receiving compensation as 

a lobbyist shall be ineligible to receive certain Federal retirement benefits 

or to use certain congressional benefits and services, to require each 

Member of Congress to post on the Member’s official public website 

a hyperlink to the most recent annual financial disclosure report filed 

by the Member under the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, to prohibit 

the use of appropriated funds to pay for the costs of travel by the 

spouse of a Member of Congress who accompanies the Member on official 

travel, to restrict the use of travel promotional awards by Members 

of Congress who receive such awards in connection with official air 

travel, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 15, 2021 

Mr. SCHNEIDER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committees on 

Oversight and Reform, Rules, and Transportation and Infrastructure, 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 provide that a former Member of Congress receiving 

compensation as a lobbyist shall be ineligible to receive 

certain Federal retirement benefits or to use certain congressional benefits and services, to require each Member 

of Congress to post on the Member’s official public 

website a hyperlink to the most recent annual financial 

disclosure report filed by the Member under the Ethics 


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in Government Act of 1978, to prohibit the use of appropriated funds to pay for the costs of travel by the spouse 

of a Member of Congress who accompanies the Member 

on official travel, to restrict the use of travel promotional 

awards by Members of Congress who receive such awards 

in connection with official air travel, 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 ‘‘Prohibiting Perks and 

5 Privileges Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. INELIGIBILITY OF FORMER MEMBERS RECEIVING 

7 COMPENSATION AS LOBBYISTS FOR CERTAIN 

8 BENEFITS AND SERVICES. 

9 (a) FORFEITURE OF BENEFITS.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

11 provision of law, a former Member of Congress may 

12 not be paid any covered benefit if such former Mem13 ber is— 

14 (A) a registered lobbyist; or 

15 (B) receives compensation as a direct re16 sult of lobbying activities. 

17 (2) COVERED BENEFITS.—For purposes of this 

18 subsection, the term ‘‘covered benefits’’, as used 

19 with respect to a former Member of Congress, means 

20 any payment or other benefit which is payable, by 


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1 virtue of service performed by such former Member, 

2 under any of the following: 

3 (A) The Civil Service Retirement System, 

4 including the Thrift Savings Plan. 

5 (B) The Federal Employees Retirement 

6 System, including the Thrift Savings Plan. 

7 (C) The Federal Employees Health Bene8 fits Program, including enhanced dental bene9 fits and enhanced vision benefits under chapters 

10 89A and 89B, respectively, of title 5, United 

11 States Code. 

12 (3) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

13 this subsection shall be considered to prevent the 

14 payment of— 

15 (A) any lump-sum credit, as defined by 

16 section 8331(8) or 8401(19) of title 5, United 

17 States Code, to which a former Member of Con18 gress subject to paragraph (1) is entitled; 

19 (B) any contributions in the account of a 

20 former Member of Congress subject to para21 graph (1) in the Thrift Savings Fund which, as 

22 of the date on which paragraph (1) applies to 

23 a former Member, are nonforfeitable; or 

24 (C) any annuity payments with respect to 

25 an annuity of a former Member of Congress 


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1 subject to paragraph (1) to a former spouse or 

2 survivor who is entitled to such payments. 

3 (4) REGULATIONS.—Any regulations necessary 

4 to carry out this subsection may be prescribed by— 

5 (A) except as provided in subparagraph 

6 (B), the Director of the Office of Personnel 

7 Management; and 

8 (B) to the extent that this subsection re9 lates to the Thrift Savings Plan, by the Execu10 tive Director (as defined by section 8401(13) of 

11 title 5, United States Code). 

12 (b) PROHIBITION ON ACCESS TO CERTAIN CONGRES13 SIONAL BENEFITS AND SERVICES.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

15 provision of law, a former Member of Congress may 

16 not use any of the congressional benefits and serv17 ices described in paragraph (2) (except to the extent 

18 such benefits and services are made available to 

19 members of the public) at any time during which 

20 such former Member is— 

21 (A) a registered lobbyist; or 

22 (B) receives compensation as a direct re23 sult of lobbying activities. 


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1 (2) BENEFITS AND SERVICES DESCRIBED.— 

2 The congressional benefits and services described in 

3 this paragraph are as follows: 

4 (A) Access to the Hall of the House or the 

5 Hall of the Senate. 

6 (B) Access to athletic facilities and other 

7 facilities available for the use of Members of 

8 Congress. 

9 (C) Access to the Members’ Dining Room 

10 located in the House of Representatives wing of 

11 the United States Capitol or the Senators’ Din12 ing Room located in the Senate wing of the 

13 United States Capitol. 

14 (D) Access to material from the House 

15 document room or the Senate document room. 

16 (E) Use of the collections in the House 

17 Legislative Resource Center or the Senate Li18 brary without borrowing privileges. 

19 (c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this subsection— 

20 (1) the terms ‘‘agency’’, ‘‘client’’, ‘‘covered exec21 utive branch official’’, ‘‘covered legislative branch of22 ficial’’, ‘‘lobbyist’’, ‘‘lobbying activities’’, and ‘‘lob23 bying contact’’, have the meaning given such terms 

24 in section 3 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 

25 (2 U.S.C. 1602); 


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1 (2) the term ‘‘former Member of Congress’’ 

2 means any Member of Congress who becomes a 

3 former Member of Congress after the date of enact4 ment of this Act; 

5 (3) the term ‘‘Member of Congress’’ has the 

6 meaning given such term in section 2106 of title 5, 

7 United States Code; and 

8 (4) the term ‘‘registered lobbyist’’ means a lob9 byist registered or required to register, or on whose 

10 behalf a registration is filed or required to be filed, 

11 under section 4 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 

12 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1603). 

13 SEC. 3. POSTING LINKS TO FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE RE14 PORTS OF MEMBERS OF CONGRESS ON MEM15 BER WEBSITES. 

16 (a) REQUIREMENT TO POST LINKS TO REPORTS.— 

17 Upon filing the report required under section 101(d) of 

18 the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App. 

19 101(d)), each Member of Congress shall, in consultation 

20 with the Clerk of the House of Representatives (in the 

21 case of a Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Com22 missioner to, the Congress) or the Secretary of the Senate 

23 (in the case of a Senator), post a hyperlink to the report 

24 on the official public website of the office of the Member. 


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1 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply with 

2 respect to reports filed on or after the expiration of the 

3 60-day period which begins on or after the date of the 

4 enactment of this Act. 

5 SEC. 4. PROHIBITING USE OF APPROPRIATED FUNDS FOR 

6 TRAVEL OF SPOUSES ACCOMPANYING MEM7 BERS OF CONGRESS ON OFFICIAL TRAVEL. 

8 (a) PROHIBITION.—No appropriated funds, including 

9 official funds of the House of Representatives, official 

10 funds of the Senate, or funds available under any Federal 

11 law, rule, or regulation, may be used to pay for the costs 

12 of travel by the spouse of a Member of Congress in accom13 panying the Member on official travel. 

14 (b) CERTIFICATION.—If the spouse of a Member of 

15 Congress accompanies the Member on official travel, the 

16 head of the office whose funds are to be used to pay for 

17 the costs of such travel shall certify prior to the travel 

18 that no additional costs will be incurred by the Govern19 ment as the result of the spouse accompanying the Mem20 ber on such travel. 

21 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec22 tion may be construed to prohibit the spouse of a Member 

23 of Congress who accompanies the Member on official trav24 el from paying for the costs of the spouse’s travel. 


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1 (d) OFFICIAL TRAVEL DEFINED.—In this section, 

2 the term ‘‘official travel’’ means any travel for which the 

3 costs (including the costs of transportation, lodging, 

4 meals, and related expenses) may be covered by appro5 priated funds, including official funds of the House of 

6 Representatives, official funds of the Senate, or funds 

7 available under any Federal law, rule, or regulation. 

8 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply with 

9 respect to travel undertaken on or after the date of the 

10 enactment of this Act. 

11 SEC. 5. RESTRICTING USE BY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS OF 

12 TRAVEL PROMOTIONAL AWARDS RECEIVED 

13 IN CONNECTION WITH OFFICIAL AIR TRAVEL. 

14 (a) RESTRICTIONS ON USE BY MEMBERS OF THE

15 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.—Clause 5 of rule XXV of 

16 the Rules of the House of Representatives is amended by 

17 adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

18 ‘‘(j)(1) Except as provided in subparagraph (2), if a 

19 Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner receives a 

20 travel promotional award in connection with any official 

21 air travel undertaken by the Member, Delegate, or Resi22 dent Commissioner, the Member, Delegate, or Resident 

23 Commissioner may use the award only in connection with 

24 other official air travel undertaken by such Member, Dele25 gate, or Resident Commissioner. 


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1 ‘‘(2) Notwithstanding subparagraph (1), a Member, 

2 Delegate, or Resident Commissioner may donate a travel 

3 promotional award described in such subparagraph to an 

4 organization described in section 501(c) of the Internal 

5 Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from taxation under 

6 section 501(a) of such Code. 

7 ‘‘(3) In this paragraph— 

8 ‘‘(A) the term ‘official air travel’ means travel 

9 by commercial aircraft for which the costs are paid 

10 with Federal funds, including the Members’ Rep11 resentational Allowance; and 

12 ‘‘(B) the term ‘travel promotional award’ in13 cludes free travel, travel discounts, upgrade certifi14 cates, coupons, frequent flyer miles, access to carrier 

15 club facilities, and other similar travel promotional 

16 items, as determined in accordance with regulations 

17 of the Committee on House Administration.’’. 

18 (b) RESTRICTIONS ON USE BY SENATORS.—Rule 

19 XXXV of the Standing Rules of the Senate is amended— 

20 (1) by redesignating paragraphs 5 and 6 as 

21 paragraphs 6 and 7; and 

22 (2) by inserting after paragraph 4 the following 

23 new paragraph: 

24 ‘‘5. (a) Except as provided in subparagraph (b), if 

25 a Member receives a travel promotional award in connecVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Mar 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1078.IH H1078

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1 tion with any official air travel undertaken by the Member, 

2 the Member may use the award only in connection with 

3 other official air travel undertaken by such Member. 

4 ‘‘(b) Notwithstanding subparagraph (a), a Member 

5 may donate a travel promotional award described in such 

6 subparagraph to an organization described in section 

7 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and ex8 empt from taxation under section 501(a) of such Code. 

9 ‘‘(c) In this subparagraph— 

10 ‘‘(A) the term ‘official air travel’ means travel 

11 by commercial aircraft for which the costs are paid 

12 with Federal funds, including the Senators’ Official 

13 Personnel and Office Expense Account; and 

14 ‘‘(B) the term ‘travel promotional award’ in15 cludes free travel, travel discounts, upgrade certifi16 cates, coupons, frequent flyer miles, access to carrier 

17 club facilities, and other similar travel promotional 

18 items, as determined in accordance with regulations 

19 of the Committee on Rules and Administration.’’. 

20 (c) SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING TRANSFER21 ABILITY OF TRAVEL PROMOTIONAL AWARDS.—It is the 

22 sense of Congress that commercial airlines should permit 

23 individuals who receive travel promotional awards, includ24 ing frequent flyer miles, in connection with travel on the 

25 airlines to transfer such awards to nonprofit organizations 


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1 under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

2 1986. 

3 (d) EXERCISE OF RULEMAKING AUTHORITY.—This 

4 section is enacted by Congress— 

5 (1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of 

6 the Senate and House of Representatives, respec7 tively, and as such it is deemed a part of the rules 

8 of each House, respectively, and it supersedes other 

9 rules only to the extent that it is inconsistent with 

10 such rules; and 

11 (2) with full recognition of the constitutional 

12 right of either House to change the rules (so far as 

13 relating to that House) at any time, in the same 

14 manner, and to the same extent as in the case of 

15 any other rule of that House. 

16 SEC. 6. MEMBER OF CONGRESS DEFINED. 

17 Except as otherwise provided, in this Act the term 

18 ‘‘Member of Congress’’ means a Senator or Representative 

19 in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Con20 gress. 

Æ 


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