I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2678 
To amend chapter 131 of title 5, United States Code, to prevent Members 
of Congress and their spouses and dependent children from trading 
stocks and owning stocks, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 18, 2023 
Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI (for himself, Mr. CLOUD, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, and 
Mr. NEGUSE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committees 
on Oversight and Accountability, and the Judiciary, 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 con-
cerned 
A BILL 
To amend chapter 131 of title 5, United States Code, to 
prevent Members of Congress and their spouses and 
dependent children from trading stocks and owning 
stocks, and for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Ending Trading and 
Holdings in Congressional Stocks (ETHICS) Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. PLACEMENT OF CERTAIN ASSETS OF MEMBERS OF 
CONGRESS AND THEIR SPOUSES AND DE-
PENDENT CHILDREN IN QUALIFIED BLIND 
TRUSTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 131 of title 5, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘Subchapter IV—Certain Assets of Members 
of Congress and Their Spouses and De-
pendent Children 
‘‘§ 13161. Definitions 
‘‘In this title: 
‘‘(1) COMMODITY.—The term ‘commodity’ has 
the meaning given the term in section 1a of the 
Commodity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 1a). 
‘‘(2) COVERED INVESTMENT.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘covered in-
vestment’ means— 
‘‘(i) an investment in— 
‘‘(I) a security; 
‘‘(II) a commodity; or 
‘‘(III) a future; 
‘‘(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-
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cluding an option, warrant, or other, simi-
lar means; or 
‘‘(iii) any interest described in clause 
(i) or (ii) that is held directly, or in which 
an individual has an indirect, beneficial, or 
economic interest, through— 
‘‘(I) an investment fund or hold-
ing company; 
‘‘(II) a trust (other than a quali-
fied blind trust); 
‘‘(III) an employee benefit plan; 
or 
‘‘(IV) a deferred compensation 
plan, including a carried interest or 
other agreement tied to the perform-
ance of an investment, other than a 
fixed cash payment. 
‘‘(B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘covered in-
vestment’ does not include— 
‘‘(i) a diversified mutual fund (includ-
ing any holdings of such a fund); 
‘‘(ii) a diversified exchange-traded 
fund (including any holdings of such a 
fund); 
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‘‘(iii) a United States Treasury bill, 
note, or bond; 
‘‘(iv) compensation from the primary 
occupation of the spouse of a Member of 
Congress, or any security that is issued or 
paid by an operating business that is the 
primary employer of such a spouse that is 
issued or paid to such a spouse; 
‘‘(v) holding and acquiring any secu-
rity that is issued or paid as compensation 
from corporate board service by the spouse 
of a Member of Congress, including the 
dividend reinvestment in the same security 
received from the corporate board service 
by the spouse of a Member of Congress; 
‘‘(vi) any covered investment that is 
traded by the spouse of a Member of Con-
gress in the course of performing the pri-
mary occupation of such a spouse, pro-
vided the investment is not owned by a 
covered person; 
‘‘(vii) any investment fund held in a 
Federal, State, or local government em-
ployee retirement plan; 
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‘‘(viii) a tax-free State or municipal 
bond; 
‘‘(ix) an interest in a small business 
concern, if the supervising ethics office de-
termines that the small business concern 
does not present a conflict of interest, and, 
in the case of an investment in a family 
farm or ranch that qualifies as an interest 
in a small business concern, a future or 
commodity directly related to the farming 
activities and products of the farm or 
ranch; 
‘‘(x) holding investment-grade cor-
porate bonds, provided that the corporate 
bonds are held by an individual who is a 
covered person on the date of enactment of 
the Ending Trading and Holdings in Con-
gressional Stocks (ETHICS) Act; 
‘‘(xi) any share of Settlement Com-
mon Stock issued under section 7(g)(1)(A) 
of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement 
Act (43 U.S.C. 1606(g)(1)(A)); or 
‘‘(xii) any share of Settlement Com-
mon Stock, as defined in section 3 of the 
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Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 
U.S.C. 1602). 
‘‘(3) COVERED
PERSON.—The term ‘covered 
person’ means— 
‘‘(A) a Member of Congress; and 
‘‘(B) a spouse or dependent child of a 
Member of Congress. 
‘‘(4) CUSTODY.—The term ‘custody’ has the 
meaning given the term in section 275.206(4)–2(d) 
of title 17, Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect 
on the date of enactment of the Ending Trading and 
Holdings in Congressional Stocks (ETHICS) Act or 
a successor regulation). 
‘‘(5) DEPENDENT CHILD.—The term ‘depend-
ent child’ means, with respect to any Member of 
Congress any individual who is— 
‘‘(A) under the age of 19; and 
‘‘(B) a dependent of the Member of Con-
gress within the meaning of section 152 of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 
‘‘(6) DIVERSIFIED.—The term ‘diversified’, 
with respect to a fund, trust, or plan, means that 
the fund, trust, or plan does not have a stated policy 
of concentrating its investments in any industry, 
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business, or single country other than the United 
States. 
‘‘(7) FUTURE.—The term ‘future’ means— 
‘‘(A) a security future (as defined in sec-
tion 3(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 
1934 (15 U.S.C. 78c(a))); and 
‘‘(B) any other contract for the sale of a 
commodity for future delivery. 
‘‘(8) ILLIQUID
INVESTMENT.—The term ‘il-
liquid investment’ means an interest in a private 
fund, as defined in section 202(a)(29) of the Invest-
ment Advisers Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80b–2). 
‘‘(9) INITIAL
PROPERTY.—The term ‘initial 
property’ means an asset or financial interest trans-
ferred to a qualified blind trust by, or on behalf of, 
an interested party or a relative of an interested 
party, regardless of whether the asset or financial 
interest is transferred to the qualified blind trust on 
or after the date of establishment of the qualified 
blind trust. 
‘‘(10) INTERESTED PARTY.—The term ‘inter-
ested party’ has the meaning given the term in sec-
tion 102(f)(3)(E). 
‘‘(11) MEMBER
OF
CONGRESS; SUPERVISING 
ETHICS OFFICE.—The terms ‘Member of Congress’ 
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and ‘supervising ethics office’ have the meaning 
given those terms in section 13101. 
‘‘(12) QUALIFIED
BLIND
TRUST.—The term 
‘qualified blind trust’ means a qualified blind trust 
(as defined in section 13104(f)(3)) that has been ap-
proved in writing by the applicable supervising ethics 
office under section 13104(f)(3)(D). 
‘‘(13) SECURITY.—The term ‘security’ has the 
meaning given the term in section 3(a) of the Secu-
rities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78c(a)). 
‘‘(14) SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN.—The term 
‘small business concern’ has the meaning given the 
term under section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 
U.S.C. 632). 
‘‘§ 13162. Trading covered investments 
‘‘(a) BAN ON TRADING.—Except as provided in sub-
sections (b) and (c)— 
‘‘(1) effective on the date of enactment of the 
Ending Trading and Holdings in Congressional 
Stocks (ETHICS) Act, a Member of Congress shall 
not purchase any covered investment; 
‘‘(2) effective on the date that is 90 days after 
the date of enactment of the Ending Trading and 
Holdings in Congressional Stocks (ETHICS) Act, a 
Member shall of Congress not sell any covered in-
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