I 
117TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6490 
To amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to prohibit transactions 
involving certain financial instruments by Members of Congress. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 25, 2022 
Mrs. HARTZLER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on 
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 amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to prohibit 
transactions involving certain financial instruments by 
Members of Congress. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Banning Insider Trad-
ing in Congress Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. BANNING INSIDER TRADING IN CONGRESS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Ethics in Government Act of 
1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by inserting after title 
I the following: 
‘‘TITLE II—BANNING INSIDER 
TRADING IN CONGRESS 
‘‘SEC. 201. DEFINITIONS. 
‘‘In this title: 
‘‘(1) COVERED FINANCIAL INSTRUMENT.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘covered fi-
nancial instrument’ means— 
‘‘(i) any investment in— 
‘‘(I) a security (as defined in sec-
tion 3(a) of Securities Exchange Act 
of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78c(a))); 
‘‘(II) a security future (as de-
fined in that section); or 
‘‘(III) a commodity (as defined in 
section 1a of the Commodity Ex-
change Act (7 U.S.C. 1a)); and 
‘‘(ii) any economic interest com-
parable to an interest described in clause 
(i) that is acquired through synthetic 
means, such as the use of a derivative, in-
cluding an option, warrant, or other simi-
lar means. 
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‘‘(C) the result of each assessment, includ-
ing any hearing under paragraph (1)(B)(i) re-
lating to the assessment. 
‘‘(3) APPEAL.—A Member of Congress may ap-
peal the assessment of a fine under this section to 
a vote on the floor of the Senate or the House of 
Representatives, as applicable, as a privileged mo-
tion. 
‘‘SEC. 205. AUDIT BY GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OF-
FICE. 
‘‘Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 
of the Banning Insider Trading in Congress Act, the 
Comptroller General of the United States shall— 
‘‘(1) conduct an audit of the compliance by 
Members of Congress with the requirements of this 
title; and 
‘‘(2) submit to the supervising ethics commit-
tees a report describing the results of the audit con-
ducted under paragraph (1).’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) Section 109 of the Ethics in Government 
Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 
(A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 
by striking ‘‘For the purposes of this title, the 
term—’’ and inserting ‘‘In this title:’’; 
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(B) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘means’’ 
and all that follows through ‘‘Representatives;’’ 
and inserting the following: ‘‘means, as applica-
ble— 
‘‘(A) the Select Committee on Ethics of 
the Senate; and 
‘‘(B) the Committee on Ethics of the 
House of Representatives.’’; 
(C) in each of paragraphs (2) through 
(17), by striking the semicolon at the end of the 
paragraph and inserting a period; 
(D) in paragraph (18)— 
(i) in subparagraph (B), by striking 
‘‘Standards of Official Conduct’’ and in-
serting ‘‘Ethics’’; and 
(ii) in subparagraph (D), by striking 
‘‘; and’’ at the end and inserting a period; 
(E) in each of paragraphs (1) through 
(19)— 
(i) by inserting ‘‘The term’’ after the 
paragraph designation; and 
(ii) by inserting a paragraph heading, 
the text of which is comprised of the term 
defined in that paragraph; and 
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(F) by redesignating paragraphs (8) and 
(9) as paragraphs (9) and (8), respectively, and 
moving the paragraphs so as to appear in nu-
merical order. 
(2) Section 101(f) of the Ethics in Government 
Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 
(A) in paragraph (9), by striking ‘‘as de-
fined under section 109(12)’’; 
(B) in paragraph (10), by striking ‘‘as de-
fined under section 109(13)’’; 
(C) in paragraph (11), by striking ‘‘as de-
fined under section 109(10)’’; and 
(D) in paragraph (12), by striking ‘‘as de-
fined under section 109(8)’’. 
(3) Section 103 of the Ethics in Government 
Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 
(A) in subsection (j)(1), by striking 
‘‘Standards of Official Conduct’’ and inserting 
‘‘Ethics’’; and 
(B) in subsection (l)— 
(i) in paragraph (9), by striking ‘‘, as 
defined under section 109(12)’’; and 
(ii) in paragraph (10), by striking ‘‘, 
as defined under section 109(13)’’. 
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(4) Section 105(b)(3)(A) of the Ethics in Gov-
ernment Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by 
striking ‘‘described in section 109(8) or 109(10) of 
this Act’’ and inserting ‘‘who is a judicial employee 
or judicial officer’’. 
(5) Section 111(2) of the Ethics in Government 
Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by striking 
‘‘Standards of Official Conduct’’ and inserting ‘‘Eth-
ics’’. 
(6) Section 402 of the Ethics in Government 
Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 
(A) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘title II 
of’’ each place it appears; and 
(B) in subsection (f)(2)(B)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘Subject to clause (iv) 
of this subparagraph, before’’ each place it 
appears and inserting ‘‘Before’’; and 
(ii) by striking clause (iv). 
(7) Section 503(1)(A) of the Ethics in Govern-
ment Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by 
striking ‘‘Standards of Official Conduct’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘Ethics’’. 
(8) Section 3(4)(D) of the Lobbying Disclosure 
Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1602(4)(D)) is amended by 
striking ‘‘legislative branch employee serving in a po-
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sition described under section 109(13) of the Ethics 
in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.)’’ and 
inserting ‘‘officer or employee of the Congress (as 
defined in section 109 of the Ethics in Government 
Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.))’’. 
(9) Section 21A of the Securities Exchange Act 
of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78u–1) is amended— 
(A) in subsection (g)(2)(B)(ii), by striking 
‘‘section 109(11) of the Ethics in Government 
Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App. 109(11))’’ and in-
serting ‘‘section 109 of the Ethics in Govern-
ment Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.)’’; and 
(B) in subsection (h)(2)— 
(i) in subparagraph (B), by striking 
‘‘section 109(8) of the Ethics in Govern-
ment Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App. 109(8))’’ 
and inserting ‘‘section 109 of the Ethics in 
Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.)’’; 
and 
(ii) in subparagraph (C), by striking 
‘‘under section 109(10) of the Ethics in 
Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App. 
109(10))’’ and inserting ‘‘in section 109 of 
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