I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1679 

To prohibit stock trading and ownership by Members of Congress and spouses 

of Members of Congress, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 21, 2023 

Ms. JAYAPAL (for herself, Mr. AUCHINCLOSS, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. GARCI ́A of 

Illinois, Mr. KIM of New Jersey, Mr. NADLER, Ms. NORTON, Ms. PORTER, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. TONKO, Mr. ROSENDALE, and Mr. BUCK) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committees on Agriculture, House 

Administration, and Ways and Means, 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 prohibit stock trading and ownership by Members of 

Congress and spouses of 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 ‘‘Bipartisan Ban on 

5 Congressional Stock Ownership Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. BAR ON STOCK TRADING AND OWNERSHIP BY MEM2 BERS OF CONGRESS AND SPOUSES. 

3 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 (1) COMMODITY.—The term ‘‘commodity’’ has 

5 the meaning given that term in section 1a of the 

6 Commodity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 1a). 

7 (2) CONGRESSIONAL ETHICS COMMITTEE.—The 

8 term ‘‘congressional ethics committee’’ has the 

9 meaning given that term in section 13101 of title 5, 

10 United States Code. 

11 (3) DIVERSIFIED.—The term ‘‘diversified’’, 

12 with respect to an investment fund, means that the 

13 investment fund does not have a stated policy of 

14 overly concentrating its investments. 

15 (4) MEMBER OF CONGRESS.—The term ‘‘Mem16 ber of Congress’’ has the meaning given that term 

17 in section 13101 of title 5, United States Code. 

18 (5) SECURITY.—The term ‘‘security’’ has the 

19 meaning given that term in section 3(a) of Securities 

20 Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78c(a)). 

21 (6) SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN.—The term 

22 ‘‘small business concern’’ has the meaning given 

23 that term under section 3 of the Small Business Act 

24 (15 U.S.C. 632). 

25 (7) WIDELY HELD INVESTMENT FUND.—The 

26 term ‘‘widely held investment fund’’ means a widely 


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1 held investment fund described in 13104(f)(8) of 

2 title 5, United States Code. 

3 (b) DIVESTMENT.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in sub5 section (c), no Member of Congress or spouse of a 

6 Member of Congress may own an interest in or trade 

7 (except as a divestment) any stock, bond, com8 modity, future, or other form of security, including 

9 an interest in a hedge fund, a derivative, option, or 

10 other complex investment vehicle. 

11 (2) IMPLEMENTATION.— 

12 (A) CURRENT MEMBERS.— 

13 (i) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided 

14 in clause (ii), an individual who is a Mem15 ber of Congress on the date of enactment 

16 of this Act, or the spouse of such an indi17 vidual, shall complete the divestment of 

18 any asset described in paragraph (1) by 

19 not later than 180 days after the date of 

20 enactment of this Act. 

21 (ii) CERTAIN ASSETS.—For an asset 

22 described in paragraph (1) that is an inter23 est in a hedge fund, venture capital fund, 

24 or other privately held complex investment 

25 vehicle, an individual who is a Member of 


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1 Congress on the date of enactment of this 

2 Act, or the spouse of such an individual, 

3 shall complete the divestment of the asset 

4 by not later than 5 years after the date of 

5 enactment of this Act. 

6 (B) NEW MEMBERS.— 

7 (i) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided 

8 in clause (ii), an individual who becomes a 

9 Member of Congress after the date of en10 actment of this Act, or who is the spouse 

11 of such an individual, shall complete the 

12 divestment of any asset described in para13 graph (1) by not later than 180 days after 

14 the date on which the individual becomes a 

15 Member of Congress. 

16 (ii) CERTAIN ASSETS.—For an asset 

17 described in paragraph (1) that is an inter18 est in a hedge fund, venture capital fund, 

19 or other privately held complex investment 

20 vehicle, an individual who becomes a Mem21 ber of Congress after the date of enact22 ment of this Act, or who is the spouse of 

23 such an individual, shall complete the di24 vestment of the asset by not later than 5 


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1 years after the date on which the indi2 vidual becomes a Member of Congress. 

3 (C) DIVESTMENT OF ASSETS RECEIVED

4 WHILE A MEMBER.—An individual serving as a 

5 Member of Congress, or the spouse of such an 

6 individual, who receives any asset described in 

7 paragraph (1) during the period of such service, 

8 such as from an inheritance, shall complete the 

9 divestment of the asset by not later than 180 

10 days after the date on which the individual or 

11 spouse receives the asset. 

12 (c) EXCEPTIONS.—Nothing in this section shall be 

13 construed to prevent— 

14 (1) a Member of Congress or spouse of a Mem15 ber of Congress from owning or trading— 

16 (A) a widely held investment fund, if the 

17 widely held investment fund— 

18 (i) does not present a conflict of inter19 est; and 

20 (ii) is diversified; 

21 (B) shares of Settlement Common Stock 

22 issued under section 7(g)(1)(A) of the Alaska 

23 Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 

24 1606(g)(1)(A)); 


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1 (C) shares of Settlement Common Stock, 

2 as defined in section 3 of the Alaska Native 

3 Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1602); 

4 (D) a United States Treasury bill, note, or 

5 bond; 

6 (E) an investment fund held in a Federal, 

7 State, or local government employee retirement 

8 plan; 

9 (F) an interest in a small business con10 cern, if the small business concern does not 

11 present a conflict of interest; or 

12 (G) any asset described in subsection 

13 (b)(1) received as compensation from the pri14 mary occupation of the spouse; or 

15 (2) a spouse of a Member of Congress from 

16 trading any asset described in subsection (b)(1) that 

17 is not owned by the spouse or Member of Congress 

18 in the course of performing the primary occupation 

19 of the spouse. 

20 (d) CIVIL FINES.—The Attorney General or the Spe21 cial Counsel may bring a civil action in the appropriate 

22 United States district court against any Member of Con23 gress or spouse of a Member of Congress who engages 

24 in conduct constituting a violation of this section and, 

25 upon proof of such conduct by a preponderance of the eviVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:34 Apr 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1679.IH H1679

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1 dence, such Member of Congress or spouse shall be subject 

2 to a civil penalty of not more than $50,000 for each viola3 tion. The imposition of a civil penalty under this sub4 section does not preclude any other criminal or civil statu5 tory, common law, or administrative remedy, which is 

6 available by law to the United States or any other person. 

7 (e) NONRECOGNITION OF GAIN.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) of section 

9 1043(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

10 amended— 

11 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub12 paragraph (A); 

13 (B) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as 

14 subparagraph (C); 

15 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (A) 

16 the following new subparagraph: 

17 ‘‘(B) any Member of Congress or Member 

18 of Congress-elect, but only with respect to a di19 vestment of property required by the Bipartisan 

20 Ban on Congressional Stock Ownership Act of 

21 2023, and’’; and 

22 (D) by striking ‘‘subparagraph (A)’’ in 

23 subparagraph (C), as so redesignated, and in24 serting ‘‘subparagraph (A) or (B), whichever is 

25 applicable’’. 


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1 (2) CERTIFICATE OF DIVESTITURE.—Subpara2 graph (B) of section 1043(b)(2) of such Code is 

3 amended— 

4 (A) by striking ‘‘or by’’ and inserting 

5 ‘‘by’’; and 

6 (B) by inserting ‘‘, or by the applicable 

7 congressional ethics committee, in the case of 

8 Members of Congress, Members of Congress9 elect, and spouses of Members of Congress and 

10 Members of Congress-elect’’ after ‘‘judicial offi11 cers’’. 

12 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

13 by this subsection shall apply to sales of property 

14 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

15 (f) INTERPRETIVE GUIDANCE.—The Select Com16 mittee on Ethics of the Senate and the Committee on Eth17 ics of the House of Representatives shall issue interpretive 

18 guidance regarding relevant terms not defined in this Act 

19 or elsewhere in statute. 

Æ 


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