I 
109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4967 
To amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 and the Rules of the 
House of Representatives to strengthen financial disclosures and to re-
quire precertification of privately-funded travel, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 15, 2006 
Mr. KING of Iowa introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee 
on Rules, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
tion of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 and the 
Rules of the House of Representatives to strengthen 
financial disclosures and to require precertification of 
privately-funded travel, 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 ‘‘Sunlight Act of 2006’’. 
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SEC. 2. PRECERTIFICATION OF TRAVEL BY COMMITTEE ON 
STANDARDS OF OFFICIAL CONDUCT. 
Clause 5 of rule XXV of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives is amended by inserting after paragraph 
(d) the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(d)(1) Before a Member, Delegate, Resident Com-
missioner, officer, or employee of the House may take a 
privately-funded trip, that individual shall— 
‘‘(A) provide the estimated cost of the trip, the 
entity paying for the trip, the purpose of the trip, 
the modes of transportation, accommodations, num-
ber of meals on the trip, and the proposed itinerary 
to the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct; 
and 
‘‘(B) agree to provide to the Committee on 
Standards of Official Conduct within 5 calendar 
days after the trip is completed the expenses reim-
bursed or to be reimbursed and any changes from 
the information provided under subdivision (A). 
The information shall be made available on the public 
website of the committee in a searchable and sortable 
manner. 
‘‘(2) A Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, 
officer, or employee of the House may not take a privately- 
funded trip unless the Committee makes a determination 
that the proposed trip (including the itinerary and esti-
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mated expenses) complies with all applicable rules of the 
House, based on the information submitted under sub-
paragraph (1).’’. 
SEC. 3. DOLLAR AMOUNTS REQUIRED FOR ANNUAL FINAN-
CIAL DISCLOSURE STATEMENTS. 
(a) FINANCIAL DISCLOSURES.—Section 102(d) of the 
Ethics in Government Act of 1978 is amended by adding 
at the end the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, 
in the case of reports of Members of Congress and officers 
and employees of Congress filed pursuant to sections 
101(d) and (e), references to the categories for reporting 
the amount or value of the items covered in paragraphs 
(3), (4), (5), and (8) of subsection (a) shall be deemed 
to be exact dollar amounts.’’. 
(b) AVAILABILITY
OF REPORTS
ON
THE INTER-
NET.—Section 103 of the Ethics in Government Act of 
1978 is amended by adding at the end the following new 
subsection: 
‘‘(l) A copy of each report filed under this title with 
the Clerk of the House of Representatives or the Secretary 
of the Senate shall be made available as soon as prac-
ticable to the general public on the Internet in a format 
that is searchable and sortable.’’. 
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(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
subsection (a) shall apply to reports filed for calendar 
years beginning after the date of enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 4. PUBLIC DISPLAY OF THE SUBJECT MATTER OF DE-
BATES. 
Clause 2 of rule II of the Rules of the House of Rep-
resentatives is amended by adding at the end the following 
new paragraph: 
‘‘(l) During general debate on any measure, the Clerk 
shall project on a wall of the Hall of the House the subject 
matter of that debate so that it is visible to Members and 
to visitors in the gallery.’’. 
SEC. 5. AVAILABILITY OF BILLS, CONFERENCE REPORTS, 
AND AMENDMENTS ON THE INTERNET BE-
FORE VOTING. 
Rule XXI of the Rules of the House of Representa-
tives is amended by adding at the end the following new 
clause: 
‘‘7. It shall not be in order to consider any bill or 
joint resolution, or conference report thereon, or amend-
ment thereto, unless— 
‘‘(1) in the case of a bill, joint resolution, or 
conference report, such measure is made available to 
Members and the general public on the Internet for 
at least 48 hours before its consideration; or 
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‘‘(2)(A) in the case of an amendment made in 
order by a rule, it is made available to Members and 
the general public on the Internet within one hour 
after the rule is filed; or 
‘‘(B) in the case of an amendment under an 
open rule, it is made available to Members and the 
general public on the Internet immediately after 
being offered; 
in a format that is searchable and sortable.’’. 
SEC. 6. PROMOTING EXPEDITED AVAILABILITY OF FEC RE-
PORTS. 
(a) MANDATORY ELECTRONIC FILING FOR ALL RE-
PORTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 304(a)(11) of the 
Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 
434(a)(11)) is amended— 
(A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘a 
person required to file—’’ and all that follows 
and inserting the following: ‘‘each person re-
quired to file a report under this Act shall be 
required to maintain and file such report in 
electronic form accessible by computers.’’; 
(B) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘des-
ignations, statements, and reports’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘documents’’; and 
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