116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5277 
AN ACT 
To amend section 442 of title 18, United States Code, to 
exempt certain interests in mutual funds, unit investment 
trusts, employee benefit plans, and retirement plans from 
conflict of interest limitations for the Government Pub-
lishing Office. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 442 of title 18, United 
States Code, is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘§ 442. Government Publishing Office 
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 
‘‘(1) the terms ‘diversified’, ‘employee benefit 
plan’, ‘holdings’, ‘mutual fund’, and ‘unit investment 
trust’ have the meanings given those terms under 
section 2640.102 of title 5, Code of Federal Regula-
tions, or any successor thereto; and 
‘‘(2) the term ‘printing-related interest’ means 
an interest, direct or indirect, in— 
‘‘(A) the publication of any newspaper or 
periodical; 
‘‘(B) any printing, binding, engraving, or 
lithographing of any kind; or 
‘‘(C) any contract for furnishing paper or 
other material connected with the public print-
ing, binding, lithographing, or engraving. 
‘‘(b) OFFENSE.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), the Director of the Government Pub-
lishing Office, Deputy Director of the Government 
Publishing Office, nor any of their assistants as de-
termined by the Director of the Government Pub-
lishing Office shall not, during his or her continu-
ance in office, have any printing-related interest. 
‘‘(2) EXCEPTION FOR MUTUAL FUNDS, UNIT IN-
VESTMENT
TRUSTS, EMPLOYEE
BENEFIT
PLANS, 
AND RETIREMENT PLANS.—It shall not be a viola-
tion of paragraph (1) for an individual who is de-
scribed in such paragraph to have an interest in a 
diversified mutual fund, diversified unit investment 
trust, employee benefit plan, investment fund under 
the Thrift Savings Plan under subchapter III of 
chapter 84 of title 5, or pension plan established or 
maintained by a State government or any political 
subdivision of a State government for its employees 
that has 1 or more holdings that are printing-related 
interests if the fund, trust, or plan does not exhibit 
a practice of concentrating in printing-related inter-
ests. 
‘‘(3) AUTHORITY OF SUPERVISING ETHICS OF-
FICE.—The supervising ethics office for the Govern-
ment Publishing Office under the Ethics in Govern-
ment Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) shall have the au-
thority to issue rules and promulgate regulations 
governing the implementation of this subsection.
‘‘(c) PENALTY.—Whoever violates subsection (b)(1) 
shall be fined under this title, imprisoned for not more 
than 1 year, or both.’’. 
(b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 
The table of sections for chapter 23 of title 18, United 
States Code, is amended by striking the item relating to 
section 442 and inserting the following: 
‘‘442. Government Publishing Office.’’. 
Passed the House of Representatives December 3, 
2019. 
Attest: 
Clerk.
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 5277 
AN ACT 
To amend section 442 of title 18, United States 
Code, to exempt certain interests in mutual 
funds, unit investment trusts, employee benefit 
plans, and retirement plans from conflict of in-
terest limitations for the Government Publishing 
Office.