II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2485 

To prohibit Federal agencies from using Government funds to pay for expenses at lodging establishments that are owned by or employ certain 

public officials or their relatives. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 17, 2019 

Mr. PETERS (for himself, Ms. WARREN, Mr. UDALL, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BENNET, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BROWN, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. CARPER, Mr. 

CASEY, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. DURBIN, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. HARRIS, Ms. HASSAN, Mr. HEINRICH, Ms. 

HIRONO, Mr. KAINE, Mr. KING, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. MERKLEY, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. SCHATZ, Mr. 

SCHUMER, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Ms. SINEMA, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. TESTER, 

Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To prohibit Federal agencies from using Government funds 

to pay for expenses at lodging establishments that are 

owned by or employ certain public officials or their relatives. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Heightened Oversight 

3 of Travel, Eating, and Lodging Act of 2019’’ or the 

4 ‘‘HOTEL Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON GOVERNMENT SPENDING. 

6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

7 (1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ means— 

8 (A) an Executive agency (as defined in sec9 tion 105 of title 5, United States Code), a mili10 tary department (as defined in section 102 of 

11 title 5, United States Code), or any other estab12 lishment in the executive branch (including the 

13 Executive Office of the President, the United 

14 States Postal Service, and the Postal Regu15 latory Commission); 

16 (B) an office, agency, or other establish17 ment in the legislative branch; and 

18 (C) an office, agency, or other establish19 ment in the judicial branch. 

20 (2) BENEFICIAL OWNER.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

22 subparagraph (B), the term ‘‘beneficial owner’’, 

23 with respect to a lodging establishment, means 

24 an individual who, directly or indirectly, 

25 through any contract, arrangement, under26 standing, relationship, or otherwise— 


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1 (i) exercises control over the establish2 ment; or 

3 (ii) has a substantial interest in or re4 ceives substantial economic benefits from 

5 the assets of the establishment. 

6 (B) EXCEPTIONS.—The term ‘‘beneficial 

7 owner’’ does not include, with respect to a lodg8 ing establishment— 

9 (i) a person acting as a nominee, 

10 intermediary, custodian, or agent on behalf 

11 of another person; or 

12 (ii) a creditor of the establishment, 

13 unless the creditor also meets the require14 ments of subparagraph (A). 

15 (C) ANTI-ABUSE RULE.—The exceptions 

16 under subparagraph (B) shall not apply if used 

17 for the purpose of evading, circumventing, or 

18 abusing the requirements of this Act. 

19 (3) CONTROL.—The term ‘‘control’’, with re20 spect to a lodging establishment, means— 

21 (A) having the authority or ability to de22 termine how the establishment is utilized; or 

23 (B) having decision-making power for the 

24 use of the establishment. 


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1 (4) COVERED ESTABLISHMENT.—The term 

2 ‘‘covered establishment’’ means a lodging establish3 ment that meets one or more of the following cri4 teria: 

5 (A) A covered individual is the highest6 level owner, an immediate owner, or a beneficial 

7 owner of the establishment. 

8 (B) The establishment employs a covered 

9 individual described in subparagraph (A), (B), 

10 or (D) of paragraph (5). 

11 (5) COVERED INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘‘covered 

12 individual’’ means— 

13 (A) the President; 

14 (B) the Vice President; 

15 (C) a relative of the President or Vice 

16 President; and 

17 (D) with respect to an agency that is an 

18 Executive department, the head of the Execu19 tive department. 

20 (6) EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Ex21 ecutive department’’ has the meaning given the term 

22 in section 101 of title 5, United States Code. 

23 (7) FEDERAL EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘Federal 

24 employee’’— 


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1 (A) means an individual employed in or 

2 under an agency, including— 

3 (i) an individual employed intermit4 tently in the Government service as an ex5 pert or consultant and paid on a daily 

6 when-actually-employed basis; and 

7 (ii) an individual serving without pay 

8 or at $1 a year; and 

9 (B) includes— 

10 (i) the President; 

11 (ii) the Vice President; 

12 (iii) a Member of Congress; and 

13 (iv) any judge or justice who is enti14 tled to hold office during good behavior. 

15 (8) HIGHEST-LEVEL OWNER.—The term ‘‘high16 est-level owner’’, with respect to a lodging establish17 ment, means the person that owns or controls one 

18 or more of the following: 

19 (A) An immediate owner of the establish20 ment. 

21 (B) A person that owns or controls an im22 mediate owner of the establishment. 

23 (9) IMMEDIATE OWNER.—The term ‘‘immediate 

24 owner’’, with respect to a lodging establishment, 

25 means a person that has direct control of the estabVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:21 Sep 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2485.IS S2485

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1 lishment, including ownership or interlocking man2 agement, identity of interests among family mem3 bers, shared facilities and equipment, and the com4 mon use of employees. 

5 (10) LODGING ESTABLISHMENT.—The term 

6 ‘‘lodging establishment’’ means a hotel, motel, or 

7 other entity that provides lodging in exchange for a 

8 fee. 

9 (11) PER DIEM ALLOWANCE.—The term ‘‘per 

10 diem allowance’’ means a per diem allowance, as de11 fined in section 5701 of title 5, United States Code, 

12 or any similar allowance to which a Federal em13 ployee is entitled, including any amounts made avail14 able to the head or other senior officer of an agency 

15 to pay for subsistence or other expenses related to 

16 travel. 

17 (12) RELATIVE.—The term ‘‘relative’’ has the 

18 meaning given the term in section 3110(a) of title 

19 5, United States Code. 

20 (13) SUBSTANTIAL ECONOMIC BENEFITS.—The 

21 term ‘‘substantial economic benefits’’, with respect 

22 to a lodging establishment, means having an entitle23 ment to the funds or assets of the establishment 

24 that, as a practical matter, enables a person, directly 


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1 or indirectly, to control, manage, or direct the estab2 lishment. 

3 (14) TRAVEL REIMBURSEMENT.—The term 

4 ‘‘travel reimbursement’’ means reimbursement for 

5 actual and necessary expenses of official travel under 

6 section 5702 of title 5, United States Code, or any 

7 similar reimbursement to which a Federal employee 

8 is entitled. 

9 (b) PROHIBITION.—The Federal Government may 

10 not authorize, pay for, reimburse, contract for, or procure 

11 any good or service at or from a covered establishment, 

12 including by providing travel reimbursement or a per diem 

13 allowance for the cost of lodging or any other expense at 

14 a covered establishment. 

15 (c) EXCEPTIONS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (b) shall not 

17 apply to— 

18 (A) an expenditure by the United States 

19 Secret Service or any other agency for protec20 tive services relating to the protection of indi21 viduals; 

22 (B) an expenditure that, in the case of a 

23 lodging establishment located in the United 

24 States, the Secretary of Homeland Security, or, 

25 in the case of an establishment located outside 


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1 of the United States, the Secretary of State, de2 termines is necessary for purposes of pro3 viding— 

4 (i) humanitarian assistance; or 

5 (ii) disaster relief or other urgent life6 saving measures; or 

7 (C) an expenditure by an agency at a cov8 ered establishment that is the only lodging es9 tablishment that would meet statutory or regu10 latory requirements for lodging or other ex11 penses during official travel, if, with respect to 

12 an expenditure by— 

13 (i) an agency described in subsection 

14 (a)(1)(A), a written waiver is issued by the 

15 designated agency ethics official (as de16 fined in section 109 of the Ethics in Gov17 ernment Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.)) of 

18 the agency; 

19 (ii) an office, agency, or other estab20 lishment in the Senate, a written waiver is 

21 issued by an official designated by the Se22 lect Committee on Ethics of the Senate; 

23 (iii) an office, agency, or other estab24 lishment in the House of Representatives, 

25 a written waiver is issued by an official 


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1 designated by the Committee on Ethics of 

2 the House of Representatives; 

3 (iv) an agency described in subsection 

4 (a)(1)(B) that is not in the Senate or the 

5 House of Representatives, a written waiver 

6 is issued by an official designated by the 

7 head of the agency; and 

8 (v) an agency described in subsection 

9 (a)(1)(C), a written waiver is issued by an 

10 official designated by the Judicial Con11 ference of the United States. 

12 (2) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.— 

13 (A) IMMEDIATE REPORT.— 

14 (i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 

15 days after the date on which an agency 

16 makes an expenditure that would be pro17 hibited under subsection (b) but for the ex18 ception under paragraph (1) of this sub19 section, the agency shall submit a report 

20 describing the expenditure to the appro21 priate agency or official, including a copy 

22 of each waiver issued under paragraph 

23 (1)(C), if any. 

24 (ii) APPROPRIATE AGENCY OR OFFI25 CIAL.—For purposes of clause (i), the term 


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1 ‘‘appropriate agency or official’’, in the 

2 case of an expenditure by— 

3 (I) an agency described in sub4 section (a)(1)(A), or an agency de5 scribed in subsection (a)(1)(B) that is 

6 not in the Senate or the House of 

7 Representatives, means the Office of 

8 Government Ethics; 

9 (II) an office, agency, or other 

10 establishment in the Senate, means 

11 the Secretary of the Senate; 

12 (III) an office, agency, or other 

13 establishment in the House of Rep14 resentatives, means the Clerk of the 

15 House of Representatives; and 

16 (IV) an agency described in sub17 section (a)(1)(C), means the Judicial 

18 Conference of the United States. 

19 (B) ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not 

20 later than 60 days after the end of each fiscal 

21 year, an agency shall submit to the Committee 

22 on Homeland Security and Governmental Af23 fairs of the Senate and the Committee on Over24 sight and Reform of the House of Representa25 tives a report that— 


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1 (i) states whether the agency made an 

2 expenditure described in subparagraph 

3 (A)(i) during the fiscal year; and 

4 (ii) if the agency made an expenditure 

5 described in subparagraph (A)(i) during 

6 the fiscal year, describes each expenditure 

7 made, and each waiver issued, during the 

8 fiscal year. 

9 (d) REGULATIONS AND PROCEDURES.— 

10 (1) EXECUTIVE BRANCH.—The Director of the 

11 Office of Government Ethics shall issue any regula12 tions or procedures necessary to carry out this sec13 tion with respect to expenditures by an agency de14 scribed in subsection (a)(1)(A). 

15 (2) LEGISLATIVE BRANCH.— 

16 (A) SENATE.—The Select Committee on 

17 Ethics of the Senate shall issue any regulations 

18 or procedures necessary to carry out this sec19 tion with respect to expenditures by an office, 

20 agency, or other establishment in the Senate. 

21 (B) HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.—The 

22 Committee on Ethics of the House of Rep23 resentatives shall issue any regulations or pro24 cedures necessary to carry out this section with 

25 respect to expenditures by an office, agency, or 


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1 other establishment in the House of Represent2 atives. 

3 (C) OTHER LEGISLATIVE BRANCH AGEN4 CIES.—The head of each agency described in 

5 subsection (a)(1)(B) that is not in the Senate 

6 or the House of Representatives shall issue any 

7 regulations or procedures necessary to carry out 

8 this section with respect to expenditures by that 

9 agency. 

10 (3) JUDICIAL BRANCH.—The Judicial Con11 ference of the United States (or such other agency 

12 as it may designate) shall issue any regulations or 

13 procedures necessary to carry out this section with 

14 respect to expenditures by an agency described in 

15 subsection (a)(1)(C). 

16 (4) PARALLEL REGULATIONS AND PROCE17 DURES.—The regulations or procedures issued under 

18 paragraphs (2) and (3) shall be the same as sub19 stantive regulations or procedures issued by the Di20 rector of the Office of Government Ethics under 

21 paragraph (1) except to the extent that an agency 

22 issuing regulations or procedures under paragraph 

23 (2) or (3) may determine, for good cause shown and 

24 stated together with the regulations or procedures, 

25 that a modification of the regulations or procedures 


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1 issued under paragraph (1) would be more effective 

2 for the implementation of this section with respect 

3 to the agency or agencies to which the regulations 

4 or procedures issued under paragraph (2) or (3) will 

5 apply. 

Æ 


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