I
104TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1356
To amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to strengthen financial
disclosure requirements, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 29, 1995
Mr. SANDERS (for himself, Mr. HINCHEY, Ms. MCKINNEY, Mr. DEFAZIO, and
Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Rules, and in addition to the Committee on House Over-
sight, 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 strength-
en financial disclosure requirements, and for other pur-
poses.
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 ‘‘Public Interest Legis-
lature Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE; REQUIREMENT FOR MEM-
BERS TO DIVEST OR PLACE IN BLIND TRUST.
(a) Title I of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978
is amended—
(1) in section 109(13)—
(A) in clause (i) by striking ‘‘120 percent
of’’; and
(B) by amending clause (ii) to read as fol-
lows:
‘‘(ii) the principal assistants in Washing-
ton, D.C., and in the district office designated
for purposes of this paragraph by each Member
and each professional staff employee of that
Member who represents or advises that Member
on legislation as a part of that employee’s job
responsibilities;’’;
(2)(A) in section 102(a)(1)(A) by inserting
‘‘(including a detailed description)’’ after ‘‘source’’
the first place it appears; and
(B) in section 102(e)(1) by amending subpara-
graph (A) to read as follows:
‘‘(A) The source, type, and amount or value of
income of a spouse shall be contained in each such
report in the same manner and to the same extent
as required to be reported under subsection (a) by
a reporting individual.’’;
(3)(A) in section 102(a)(1)(B) by striking ‘‘and
type’’ and inserting ‘‘, type, and amount’’ and by
striking ‘‘, and value’’ and all that follows and in-
serting a period;
(B) in the first sentence of section 102(a)(3) by
striking ‘‘and category of value’’ and inserting
‘‘amount’’;
(C) in the first sentence of section 102(a)(4) by
striking ‘‘and category of value’’ and inserting
‘‘amount’’;
(D) in the first sentence of section 102(a)(5) by
striking ‘‘and category of value’’ and inserting
‘‘amount’’;
(E) in subsection (d) by striking paragraph (1)
and by striking ‘‘(2)’’;
(4)(A) in the first sentence of section 102(a)(3)
by inserting ‘‘(including a substantial description)’’
after ‘‘identity’’;
(B) in the first sentence of section 102(a)(4) by
inserting ‘‘(including a substantial description)’’
after ‘‘identity’’;
(C) in section 102(a)(4) by striking ‘‘$10,000’’
each place it appears and inserting ‘‘$2,500’’ and by
striking the dash after ‘‘excluding’’, by striking sub-
paragraph (A), and by striking ‘‘(B)’’ and moving
that matter 2-ems to the left; and
(5) by adding at the end the following new sec-
tion:
‘‘SPECIAL PROVISION FOR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS
‘‘SEC. 112. (a) Within 30 days of becoming a Member
of Congress, that Member shall—
‘‘(1) divest himself or herself of any asset or in-
terest which exceeds $1,000 in real property (other
than property used solely as the personal residence
of that Member or that Member’s spouse) or in
stocks, bonds, commodity futures, or other forms of
securities; or
‘‘(2) place all assets and interests described in
paragraph (1) in a qualified blind trust.
‘‘(b) In the case of any individual who is a Member
of Congress on the effective date of this section, that
Member shall, within 30 days after that effective date,
comply with subsection (a).’’.
SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON USE OF HOUSE OF REPRESENTA-
TIVES ALLOWANCES FOR FINANCIAL DISCLO-
SURE STATEMENT PREPARATION.
(a) IN GENERAL.—No amount from any official al-
lowance of a Member of the House of Representatives may
be used for reimbursement of any cost of preparation of
a financial disclosure statement or other report required
by title I of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978.
(b) DEFINITION.—As used in subsection (a), the
term ‘‘Member of the House of Representatives’’ means
a Representative in, or a Delegate or Resident Commis-
sioner to, the Congress.
SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.
The amendments made by this Act shall apply to re-
ports required to be filed under title I of the Ethics in
Government Act of 1978 for calendar year 1995 and sub-
sequent calendar years and in the case of the amendment
made by this Act to section 112 of that title, that amend-
ment shall take effect on the sixtieth day beginning after
the date of enactment of this Act.
Æ