I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2735

To limit the acceptance of gifts, meals, and travel by Members of Congress

and congressional staff, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 26, 1993

Ms. LONG introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to the Committees on House Administration, the Judiciary, and Standards of Official Conduct

A BILL

To limit the acceptance of gifts, meals, and travel by Members of Congress and congressional staff, 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 ‘‘Congressional Ethics

5 Reform Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. GENERAL STANDARDS.

7 (a) GENERAL PROHIBITIONS.—A Member or em8 ployee shall not, directly or indirectly, solicit or accept a

9 gift from any source except as provided in this Act.
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1 (b) RELATIONSHIP TO ILLEGAL GRATUITIES STAT2 UTE.—Unless accepted in violation of subsection (c)(1),

3 a gift accepted under the standards set forth in this Act

4 shall not constitute an illegal gratuity otherwise prohibited

5 by section 201(c)(1)(B) of title 18, United States Code.

6 (c) LIMITATIONS ON USE OF EXCEPTIONS.—A Mem7 ber or employee shall not—

8 (1) accept a gift in return for being influenced

9 in the performance of an official act;

10 (2) solicit or coerce the offering of a gift;

11 (3) accept gifts from the same or different

12 sources on a basis so frequent that a reasonable per13 son would be led to believe the Member or employee

14 is using his public office for private gain;

15 (4) accept a gift in violation of any statute; or

16 (5) accept vendor promotional training contrary

17 to any applicable regulations, policies, or guidance

18 relating to the procurement of supplies and services

19 for the Congress.

20 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

21 For purposes of this Act—

22 (1) EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘employee’’ means

23 an employee of the legislative branch.

24 (2) GIFT.—The term ‘‘gift’’ includes any gratu25 ity, favor, discount, entertainment, hospitality, loan,
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1 forbearance, or other item having monetary value. It

2 includes services as well as gifts of training, trans3 portation, local travel, lodgings and meals, whether

4 provided in-kind, by purchase of a ticket, payment in

5 advance, or reimbursement after the expense has

6 been incurred. It does not include—

7 (A) modest items of food and refresh8 ments, such as soft drinks, coffee, and donuts,

9 offered other than as part of a meal;

10 (B) greeting cards and items with little in11 trinsic value, such as plaques, certificates and

12 trophies, which are intended solely for presen13 tation;

14 (C) loans from banks and other financial

15 institutions on terms generally available to the

16 public;

17 (D) opportunities and benefits, including

18 favorable rates and commercial discounts, avail19 able to the public or to a class consisting of all

20 Government employees, whether or not re21 stricted on the basis of geographic consider22 ations;

23 (E) rewards and prizes given to competi24 tors in contests or events, including random

25 drawings, open to the public unless the Mem-
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1 ber’s or employee’s entry into the contest or

2 event is required as part of his official duties;

3 (F) pension and other benefits resulting

4 from continued participation in a Member or

5 employee welfare and benefits plan maintained

6 by a former employer;

7 (G) anything which is paid for by the Gov8 ernment or secured by the Government under

9 Government contract;

10 (H) any gift accepted by the Congress

11 under specific statutory authority;

12 (I) anything for which the market value is

13 paid by the Member or employee; and

14 (J) any books, written materials, audio

15 tapes, videotapes, or other informational mate16 rials.

17 (3) MARKET VALUE.—The term ‘‘market

18 value’’ means the retail cost the Member or em19 ployee would incur to purchase the gift. A Member

20 or employee who cannot ascertain the market value

21 of a gift may estimate the market value by reference

22 to the retail cost of similar items of like quality. The

23 market value of a gift of a ticket entitling the holder

24 to food, refreshments, entertainment, or any other

25 benefit shall be the face value of the ticket.
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1 (4) MEMBER.—The term ‘‘Member’’ has the

2 meaning given such term in section 109(12) of the

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

4 6 sec. 109).

5 (5) SOLICITATION OR ACCEPTANCE.—(A) A gift

6 is solicited or accepted because of the Member’s or

7 employee’s official position if it is from a person

8 other than a Member or employee and if a reason9 able person with knowledge of all relevant facts

10 would conclude that it would not have been solicited,

11 offered, or given had the Member or employee not

12 held his position as a Member or employee.

13 (B) A gift which is solicited or accepted indi14 rectly includes a gift—

15 (i) given with the Member’s or employee’s

16 knowledge and acquiescence to his or her par17 ent, sibling, spouse, child, or dependent relative

18 if a reasonable person with knowledge of all rel19 evant facts would conclude that the gift was

20 given because of that person’s relationship to

21 the Member or employee; or

22 (ii) given to any other person, including

23 any charitable organization, on the basis of des24 ignation, recommendation, or other specification

25 by the Member or employee, except as per-
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1 mitted for the disposition of perishable items by

2 section 5(a)(2).

3 (6) ETHICS COMMITTEE.—The term Ethics

4 Committee with respect to the House means the

5 Committee on Standards of Official Conduct and

6 with respect to the Senate means the Select Com7 mittee on Ethics.

8 (7) VENDOR PROMOTIONAL TRAINING.—The

9 term ‘‘vendor promotional training’’ means training

10 provided by any person for the purpose of promoting

11 its products or services. It does not include training

12 provided under a congressional contract or by a con13 tractor to facilitate use of products or services it fur14 nishes under a congressional contract.

15 SEC. 4. EXCEPTIONS.

16 The prohibitions set forth in section 2 do not apply

17 to a gift accepted under the circumstances described in

18 paragraphs (1) through (9) of this section and a gift ac19 cepted in accordance with one of those paragraphs will not

20 be deemed to violate section 2 of this Act.

21 (1) GIFTS BASED ON A PERSONAL RELATION22 SHIP.—A Member or employee may accept a gift

23 given under circumstances which make it clear that

24 the gift is motivated by a family relationship or per25 sonal friendship rather than the position of the
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1 Member or employee. Relevant factors in making

2 such a determination include the history of the rela3 tionship and whether the family member or friend

4 personally pays for the gift.

5 (2) DISCOUNTS AND SIMILAR BENEFITS.—In

6 addition to those opportunities and benefits excluded

7 from the definition of a gift by section 3(2)(D), a

8 Member or employee may accept—

9 (A) reduced membership or other fees for

10 participation in organization activities offered

11 to all Government employees by professional or12 ganizations if the only restrictions on member13 ship relate to professional qualifications; and

14 (B) opportunities and benefits—

15 (i) offered to members of a group or

16 class in which membership is unrelated to

17 congressional employment; or

18 (ii) offered to members of an organi19 zation, such as an employees’ association

20 or congressional credit union, in which

21 membership is related to congressional em22 ployment if the same offer is broadly avail23 able to large segments of the public

24 through organizations of similar size.
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1 A Member or employee may not accept for personal

2 use any benefit to which the Government is entitled

3 as a result of an expenditure of Government funds.

4 (3) HONORARY DEGREES.—(A) A Member or

5 employee may accept an honorary degree from an in6 stitution of higher education (as defined in section

7 1141(a) of title 20, United States Code) based on a

8 written determination by the Ethics Committee that

9 the timing of the award of the degree would not

10 cause a reasonable person to question the Member’s

11 or employee’s impartiality in a matter affecting the

12 institution.

13 (B) A Member or employee who may accept an

14 honorary degree pursuant to subparagraph (A) may

15 also accept meals and entertainment given to him

16 and to members of his family at the event at which

17 the presentation takes place.

18 (4) GIFTS BASED ON OUTSIDE BUSINESS OR

19 EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIPS.—A Member or em20 ployee may accept meals, lodgings, transportation

21 and other benefits—

22 (A) resulting from the business or employ23 ment activities of a Member’s or employee’s

24 spouse when it is clear that such benefits have
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1 not been offered or enhanced because of the

2 Member’s or employee’s official position; or

3 (B) resulting from his or her outside busi4 ness or employment activities when it is clear

5 that such benefits have not been offered or en6 hanced because of his or her official status.

7 (5) POLITICAL EVENTS.—A Member or em8 ployee may accept meals, lodgings, transportation

9 and other benefits, including free attendance at

10 events, when provided in connection with active par11 ticipation in political management or political cam12 paigns by a political organization described in sec13 tion 527(e) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

14 (6) WIDELY ATTENDED GATHERINGS AND

15 OTHER EVENTS.—

16 (A) SPEAKING AND SIMILAR ENGAGE17 MENTS.—When a Member or employee partici18 pates as a speaker or panel participant or oth19 erwise presents information related directly or

20 indirectly to the Congress or matters before the

21 Congress at a conference or other event, his or

22 her acceptance of an offer of free attendance at

23 the event on the day of the presentation is per24 missible when provided by the sponsor of the

25 event. The Member’s or employee’s participa-
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1 tion in the event on that day represents a cus2 tomary and necessary part of the performance

3 of his or her responsibilities and does not in4 volve a gift to him or to the Congress.

5 (B) WIDELY ATTENDED GATHERINGS.—(i)

6 A Member or employee may accept a sponsor’s

7 unsolicited gift of free attendance at all or ap8 propriate parts of a widely attended gathering

9 of mutual interest to a number of parties. A

10 gathering is widely attended if, for example, it

11 is open to members from throughout a given in12 dustry or profession or if those in attendance

13 represent a range of persons interested in a

14 given matter.

15 (ii) A gathering is not widely attended if it

16 is a congressional retreat to which a majority of

17 Members of either House of Congress or the

18 majority of the Members of a political party in

19 one or both Houses are invited and which is

20 held outside the United States Capitol grounds.

21 (C) FREE ATTENDANCE.—For purposes of

22 subparagraphs (A) and (B), free attendance

23 may include waiver of all or part of a con24 ference or other fee or the provision of food, re25 freshments, entertainment, instruction and ma-
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1 terials furnished to all attendees as an integral

2 part of the event. It does not include travel ex3 penses, lodgings, entertainment collateral to the

4 event, or meals taken other than in a group set5 ting with all other attendees.

6 (D) COST PROVIDED BY SPONSOR OF

7 EVENT.—The cost of the Member’s or employ8 ee’s attendance will not be considered to be pro9 vided by the sponsor where a person other than

10 the sponsor designates the Member or employee

11 to be invited and bears the cost of the Mem12 ber’s or employee’s attendance through a con13 tribution or other payment intended to facilitate

14 that Member’s or employee’s attendance. Pay15 ment of dues or a similar assessment to a spon16 soring organization does not constitute a pay17 ment intended to facilitate a particular Mem18 ber’s or employee’s attendance.

19 (E) ACCOMPANYING SPOUSE.—When oth20 ers in attendance will generally be accompanied

21 by spouses, a Member or employee may accept

22 a sponsor’s invitation to an accompanying

23 spouse to participate in all or a portion of the

24 event at which the Member’s or employee’s free
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1 attendance is permitted under subparagraph

2 (A) or (B).

3 (7) PROTOCOL EXCEPTION.—A Member or em4 ployee who is on official travel to a foreign area or

5 who is attending an event sponsored by a foreign

6 government may accept food, refreshments, or enter7 tainment in the course of such travel or event pro8 vided that such acceptance is in accordance with any

9 rules that the Ethics Committee may establish.

10 (8) GIFTS ACCEPTED UNDER SPECIFIC STATU11 TORY AUTHORITY.—The prohibitions on acceptance

12 of gifts contained in this Act do not apply to any

13 item, receipt of which is specifically authorized by

14 statute.

15 (9) ITEMS PRIMARILY FOR FREE DISTRIBUTION

16 TO CONSTITUENTS.—A Member or employee may

17 accept food or other items of minimal value intended

18 primarily for free distribution to visiting constitu19 ents.

20 SEC. 5. PROPER DISPOSITION OF PROHIBITED GIFTS.

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—A Member or employee who has

22 received a gift that cannot be accepted under this Act

23 shall—

24 (1) return any tangible item to the donor or

25 pay the donor its market value (a Member or em-
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1 ployee who cannot ascertain the actual market value

2 of an item may estimate its market value by ref3 erence to the retail cost of similar items of like

4 quality);

5 (2) when it is not practical to return a tangible

6 item because it is perishable, the item may be given

7 to an appropriate charity or destroyed;

8 (3) for any entertainment, favor, service, bene9 fit or other intangible, reimburse the donor the mar10 ket value (subsequent reciprocation by the employee

11 does not constitute reimbursement); and

12 (4) dispose of gifts from foreign governments or

13 international organizations in accordance with rules

14 established by the Ethics Committee.

15 (b) USE OF APPROPRIATED FUNDS TO RETURN

16 GIFTS.—A Member or employee may use appropriated

17 funds and franked mail to return gifts.

18 (c) PROMPT COMPLIANCE.—A Member or employee

19 who, on his own initiative, promptly complies with the re20 quirements of this section will not be deemed to have im21 properly accepted an unsolicited gift. A Member or em22 ployee who promptly consults his Ethics Committee to de23 termine whether acceptance of an unsolicited gift is proper

24 and who, upon the advice of the Ethics Committee, re25 turns the gift or otherwise disposes of the gift in accord-
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1 ance with this section, will be considered to have complied

2 with the requirements of this section on his own initiative.

3 SEC. 6. CHARITABLE DESIGNATION OF OUTSIDE EARNED

4 INCOME.

5 Subsection (c) of section 501 of the Ethics in Govern6 ment Act of 1978 is repealed.

7 SEC. 7. REPEAL OF OLD RULE.

8 Section 901 of the Ethics Reform Act of 1989 (2

9 U.S.C. 31–2) is repealed.

10 SEC. 8. ACCEPTANCE OF TRAVEL AND RELATED EXPENSES

11 FROM NON-FEDERAL SOURCES.

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Ethics Committees shall pre13 scribe rules establishing the conditions under which their

14 respective Houses may accept payment, or authorize a

15 Member or employee to accept payment on the House’s

16 behalf, from non-Federal sources for travel, subsistence,

17 and related expenses with respect to attendance of the

18 Member or employee (or the spouse of such Member or

19 employee) at any meeting or similar function relating to

20 the official duties of the Member or employee. Any cash

21 payment so accepted shall be credited to the appropriation

22 applicable to such expenses. In the case of a payment in

23 kind so accepted, a pro rata reduction shall be made in

24 any entitlement of the Member or employee to payment

25 from the Government for such expenses.
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1 (b) RULES.—The rules prescribed pursuant to sub2 section (a) shall—

3 (1) require that the Ethics Committee approve

4 in advance all travel for which related expenses are

5 to be reimbursed;

6 (2) condition such approval on a determination

7 by the Ethics Committee that acceptance of reim8 bursement would not cause a reasonable person with

9 knowledge of all the facts relevant to a particular

10 case to question the integrity of the Member, the

11 Congress or congressional operations; and

12 (3) prohibit reimbursement for items beyond

13 those reasonably necessary for the Member or em14 ployee to participate in the event.

15 (c) GENERAL PROHIBITION.—Except as provided in

16 this section or any other statute, no Member, employee,

17 or House of Congress may accept payment in cash or in

18 kind for expenses referred to in subsection (a). A Mem19 ber or employee who accepts any such payment in violation

20 of the preceding sentence—

21 (1) may be required, in addition to any penalty

22 provided by law, to repay, for deposit in the general

23 fund of the Treasury, an amount equal to the

24 amount of the payment so accepted; and
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1 (2) in the case of a repayment under paragraph

2 (1), shall not be entitled to any payment from the

3 Government for such expenses.

4 (d) REPORTS.—

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Ethics Committees

6 shall, in the manner provided in paragraph (2), pub7 lish in the Congressional Record reports of payments

8 of more than $250 accepted under this section.

9 (2) CONTENTS.—The reports required by para10 graph (1) shall, with respect to each payment—

11 (A) specify the amount and method of pay12 ment, the name of the person making the pay13 ment, the name of the Member or employee, the

14 nature of the meeting or similar function, the

15 time and place of travel, the nature of the ex16 penses, and such other information as the Eth17 ics Committee may prescribe;

18 (B) be submitted not later than May 31 of

19 each year with respect to payments in the pre20 ceding period beginning on October 1 and end21 ing on March 31; and

22 (C) be submitted not later than November

23 30 of each year with respect to payments in the

24 preceding period beginning on April 1 and end25 ing on September 30.
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