I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3419 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit former Members and 

elected officers of Congress from lobbying Congress at any time after 

leaving office, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 21, 2019 

Ms. CRAIG introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on House Administration, and in addition to the Committees on Rules, 

Ethics, and the Judiciary, 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 amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit former 

Members and elected officers of Congress from lobbying 

Congress at any time after leaving office, 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 ‘‘Halt Unchecked Mem5 ber Benefits with Lobbying Elimination Act’’ or the 

6 ‘‘HUMBLE Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PROHIBITING FORMER MEMBERS AND OFFICERS 

2 OF CONGRESS FROM LOBBYING CONGRESS. 

3 (a) PROHIBITION.—Section 207(e)(1) of title 18, 

4 United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘(1) MEMBERS AND ELECTED OFFICERS OF

6 CONGRESS.—Any person who is a Senator, a Mem7 ber of the House of Representatives, or an elected 

8 officer of the Senate or the House of Representa9 tives and who, after that person leaves office, know10 ingly makes, with the intent to influence, any com11 munication to or appearance before any Member, of12 ficer, or employee of either House of Congress or 

13 any employee of any other legislative office of the 

14 Congress, on behalf of any other person (except the 

15 United States) in connection with any matter on 

16 which such former Senator, Member, or elected offi17 cial seeks action by a Member, officer, or employee 

18 of either House of Congress, in his or her official ca19 pacity, shall be punished as provided in section 216 

20 of this title.’’. 

21 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 207(e)(2) 

22 of such title is amended— 

23 (1) in the heading, by striking ‘‘OFFICERS AND

24 STAFF’’ and inserting ‘‘STAFF’’; 

25 (2) by striking ‘‘an elected officer of the Senate, 

26 or’’; 


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1 (3) by striking ‘‘leaves office or employment’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘leaves employment’’; and 

3 (4) by striking ‘‘former elected officer or’’. 

4 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

5 this section shall apply with respect to an individual who 

6 leaves office on or after the date of the enactment of this 

7 Act. 

8 SEC. 3. PROHIBITING USE OF FUNDS FOR OFFICIAL TRAV9 EL EXPENSES OF MEMBERS OF CONGRESS 

10 AND LEGISLATIVE BRANCH EMPLOYEES FOR 

11 AIRLINE ACCOMMODATIONS OTHER THAN 

12 COACH-CLASS. 

13 (a) PROHIBITION.—Except as provided in subsection 

14 (b), no funds appropriated or otherwise made available for 

15 the official travel expenses of a Member of Congress or 

16 other officer or employee of any office in the legislative 

17 branch may be used for airline accommodations which are 

18 not coach-class accommodations. 

19 (b) EXCEPTIONS.—Funds described in subsection (a) 

20 may be used for airline accommodations which are not 

21 coach-class accommodations for an individual described in 

22 subsection (a) if the use of the funds for such accommoda23 tions would be permitted under sections 301–10.121 

24 through 301–10.125 of title 41 of the Code of Federal 


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1 Regulations if the individual were an employee of an agen2 cy which is subject to chapter 301 of such title. 

3 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 

4 may be construed to affect any officer or employee of an 

5 office of the legislative branch which, as of the date of 

6 the enactment of this Act, is subject to chapter 301 of 

7 title 41 of the Code of Federal Regulations. 

8 (d) DEFINITIONS.— 

9 (1) COACH-CLASS ACCOMMODATIONS.—In this 

10 Act, the term ‘‘coach-class accommodations’’ means 

11 the basic class of accommodation by airlines that is 

12 normally the lowest fare offered regardless of airline 

13 terminology used, and (as referred to by airlines) 

14 may include tourist class or economy class, as well 

15 as single class when the airline offers only one class 

16 of accommodations to all travelers. 

17 (2) MEMBER OF CONGRESS.—In this Act, the 

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

19 Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Commis20 sioner to, the Congress. 

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

22 respect to fiscal year 2020 and each succeeding fiscal year. 


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1 SEC. 4. BENEFITS AND SERVICES PROVIDED TO FORMER 

2 MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTA3 TIVES. 

4 (a) BENEFITS AND SERVICES DESCRIBED.—The 

5 House of Representatives may not make any of the fol6 lowing benefits and services available to an individual who 

7 becomes a former Member of the House (except to the 

8 extent such benefits and services are made available to 

9 members of the public): 

10 (1) Access to the Hall of the House. 

11 (2) Access to athletic facilities and other facili12 ties available for the use of Members of the House. 

13 (3) Access to the Members’ Dining Room lo14 cated in the House of Representatives wing of the 

15 United States Capitol. 

16 (4) Access to parking spaces. 

17 (5) Access to material from the House docu18 ment room. 

19 (6) Use of the collections in the House Legisla20 tive Resource Center without borrowing privileges. 

21 (b) WAIVER AUTHORITY.— 

22 (1) AUTHORITY TO WAIVE ELIMINATION OF

23 BENEFIT OR SERVICE.—The Speaker and the Minor24 ity Leader of the House of Representatives may 

25 jointly, on a case-by-case basis, grant a waiver of 

26 subsection (a) with respect to a former Member of 


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1 the House and a benefit or service described in such 

2 subsection. 

3 (2) PUBLICATION IN CONGRESSIONAL

4 RECORD.—If the Speaker and the Minority Leader 

5 jointly grant a waiver under paragraph (1) to make 

6 a benefit or service available to a former Member, 

7 the Speaker and Minority Leader shall, not later 

8 than 24 hours after the waiver is granted, cause to 

9 have published in the Congressional Record a state10 ment identifying the former Member and the benefit 

11 or service involved. 

12 SEC. 5. PROHIBITING MEMBERS OF HOUSE OF REPRESENT13 ATIVES FROM OWNING INDIVIDUAL STOCKS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Rule XXIII of the Rules of the 

15 House of Representatives (known as the ‘‘Code of Official 

16 Conduct’’) is amended by designating clause 19 as clause 

17 20 and inserting after clause 18 the following: 

18 ‘‘19. A Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner 

19 may not own the common stock of any individual corpora20 tion.’’. 

21 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

22 subsection (a) shall take effect immediately before noon 

23 on January 3, 2021. 

Æ 


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