II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3550 

To prohibit Members of Congress from buying or selling individual securities 

and lobbying for compensation after leaving Congress, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 1, 2022 

Mr. SASSE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To prohibit Members of Congress from buying or selling 

individual securities and lobbying for compensation after 

leaving 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 ‘‘Ethics Reform Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON BUYING OR SELLING INDIVIDUAL 

6 SECURITIES. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—No Member of Congress may buy 

8 or sell any individual security. 

9 (b) WIDELY HELD INVESTMENT FUNDS.—Sub10 section (a) shall not apply to the buying or selling of any 


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1 widely held investment fund described in section 102(f)(8) 

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

3 (c) PENALTY.—Whoever violates this section shall be 

4 fined not more than $1,000,000, imprisoned for not more 

5 than 5 years, or both. 

6 SEC. 3. LOBBYING FOR COMPENSATION BAN. 

7 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to pro8 hibit Members of Congress from lobbying for compensa9 tion after leaving Congress. 

10 (b) PROHIBITION.—No individual serving as a Mem11 ber of Congress on or after the date of enactment of this 

12 Act shall, upon the completion of the term of office of the 

13 Member of Congress, accept compensation for offering any 

14 advice or engaging in written or oral communication with 

15 regard to— 

16 (1) the formulation, modification, or adoption 

17 of Federal legislation (including legislative pro18 posals); 

19 (2) the formulation, modification, or adoption 

20 of a Federal rule, regulation, Executive order, or any 

21 other program, policy, or position of the United 

22 States Government; 

23 (3) the administration or execution of a Federal 

24 program or policy (including the negotiation, award, 


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1 or administration of a Federal contract, grant, loan, 

2 permit, or license); 

3 (4) the nomination or confirmation of an indi4 vidual for a position subject to confirmation by the 

5 Senate; or 

6 (5) the representation of any party in a pending 

7 matter involving the Federal Government before a 

8 Federal court or in a Federal administrative pro9 ceeding. 

10 (c) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (b) shall not apply to 

11 full-time employment by or elected service in Federal, 

12 State, or local government, unless the activities described 

13 in that subsection constitute a primary responsibility of 

14 employment. 

15 (d) PENALTY.—Whoever violates this section shall be 

16 fined the greater of not greater than $1,000,000 or the 

17 value of the compensation received by the individual, im18 prisoned for not more than 5 years, or both. 

19 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBERS OF 

20 CERTAIN COVERED OFFICIALS SOLICITING 

21 OR OTHERWISE RAISING FUNDS FROM CER22 TAIN FOREIGN ENTITIES. 

23 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

24 (1) CLOSE ASSOCIATE.—The term ‘‘close asso25 ciate’’ means, with respect to a senior foreign politVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:21 Feb 02, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3550.IS S3550

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1 ical figure, an individual who is widely and publicly 

2 known to maintain a close relationship with the sen3 ior foreign political figure, unless it is established 

4 that such individual is a citizen of and domiciled 

5 within the United States. 

6 (2) COVERED FOREIGN ENTITY.—The term 

7 ‘‘covered foreign entity’’ means— 

8 (A) a government of a foreign country; 

9 (B) a foreign political party; or 

10 (C) any entity that is owned or controlled 

11 by a government of a foreign country or a for12 eign political party. 

13 (3) COVERED OFFICIAL.—The term ‘‘covered 

14 official’’ means— 

15 (A) the President; 

16 (B) the Vice President; and 

17 (C) the head of a relevant agency or de18 partment. 

19 (4) FOREIGN POLITICAL PARTY; GOVERNMENT

20 OF A FOREIGN COUNTRY.—The terms ‘‘foreign polit21 ical party’’ and ‘‘government of a foreign country’’ 

22 have the meanings given those terms in section 1 of 

23 the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as 

24 amended (22 U.S.C. 611). 


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1 (5) IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBER OF A COV2 ERED OFFICIAL.—The term ‘‘immediate family 

3 member of a covered official’’ means, with respect to 

4 a covered official, a sibling, spouse, or child of the 

5 covered official. 

6 (6) IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBER OF A SENIOR

7 FOREIGN POLITICAL FIGURE.—The term ‘‘immediate 

8 family member of a senior foreign political figure’’ 

9 means, with respect to a senior foreign political fig10 ure, a sibling, spouse, or child of the senior foreign 

11 political figure, unless it is established that such sib12 ling, spouse, or child is a citizen of and domiciled 

13 within the United States. 

14 (7) RELEVANT AGENCY OR DEPARTMENT.—The 

15 term ‘‘relevant agency or department’’ means— 

16 (A) the Environmental Protection Agency; 

17 or 

18 (B) an ‘‘Executive department’’, as defined 

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

20 (8) SENIOR FOREIGN POLITICAL FIGURE.—The 

21 term ‘‘senior foreign political figure’’ means— 

22 (A) a senior official in any branch of the 

23 government of a foreign country; or 

24 (B) a senior official of a foreign political 

25 party. 


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1 (b) PROHIBITION.—During the period in which an in2 dividual is serving as a covered official, the covered official 

3 or the immediate family member of the covered official 

4 may not solicit or otherwise raise funds for any purpose 

5 from any— 

6 (1) covered foreign entity; 

7 (2) senior foreign political figure; 

8 (3) immediate family member of a senior for9 eign political figure; 

10 (4) close associate of a senior foreign political 

11 figure; or 

12 (5) entity that is owned or controlled by an in13 dividual described in paragraph (2), (3), or (4). 

14 (c) PENALTIES.—Whoever knowingly fails to comply 

15 with this section shall be fined not more than $1,000,000, 

16 imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both. 

17 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect 

18 on the date that is 30 days after the date of enactment 

19 of this Act. 

20 SEC. 5. DISCLOSURE OF RETURNS AND RETURN INFORMA21 TION OF CANDIDATES FOR PRESIDENT AND 

22 VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (k) of section 6103 of 

24 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding 

25 at the end the following new paragraph: 


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1 ‘‘(16) DISCLOSURE OF RETURNS AND RETURN

2 INFORMATION OF CANDIDATES FOR PRESIDENT AND

3 VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

5 disclose and make publicly available returns and 

6 return information, except as provided in sub7 paragraphs (B) and (C), of any candidate (as 

8 defined in section 9002(2)). 

9 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTIONS.—The information dis10 closed under subparagraph (A) shall not include 

11 the social security number of any individual, 

12 any financial account number, the name of any 

13 individual under age 18, or any home address 

14 of any individual (other than the city and State 

15 in which such address is located). 

16 ‘‘(C) SCOPE.—Subparagraph (A) shall 

17 apply to any return, and return information in18 cluded on any return, which is filed within the 

19 10 taxable years preceding the year in which 

20 the individual becomes a candidate (as so de21 fined).’’. 

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

23 this section shall apply to individuals becoming a can24 didate (within the meaning of section 9002(2) of the InterVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:21 Feb 02, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3550.IS S3550

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1 nal Revenue Code of 1986) after the date of enactment 

2 of this Act. 

3 SEC. 6. PROHIBITION ON CONTRIBUTIONS AND DONATIONS 

4 BY FOREIGN NATIONALS IN CONNECTION 

5 WITH BALLOT INITIATIVES AND REFERENDA. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 319(a)(1)(A) of the Fed7 eral Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 

8 30121(a)(1)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘election;’’ and 

9 inserting ‘‘election, including a State or local ballot initia10 tive or referendum;’’. 

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

12 this section shall apply with respect to elections held in 

13 2023 or any succeeding year. 

Æ 


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