Title: 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 Publishing Office.
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement

Summary:
This bill revises conflict-of-interest limitations for personnel at the Government Publishing Office (GPO).
Current law prohibits GPO personnel from having any printing-related interest.
This bill creates an exemption for certain interests—interests in diversified mutual funds, diversified unit investment trusts, employee benefit plans, and retirement plans—that have underlying holdings in printing-related interests.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5277 Engrossed in House (EH)]

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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 Publishing Office.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 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:
``Sec. 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 Regulations, 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 printing, binding, 
                lithographing, or engraving.
    ``(b) Offense.--
            ``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), the 
        Director of the Government Publishing Office, Deputy Director 
        of the Government Publishing Office, nor any of their 
        assistants as determined by the Director of the Government 
        Publishing Office shall not, during his or her continuance in 
        office, have any printing-related interest.
            ``(2) Exception for mutual funds, unit investment trusts, 
        employee benefit plans, and retirement plans.--It shall not be 
        a violation of paragraph (1) for an individual who is described 
        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 interests.
            ``(3) Authority of supervising ethics office.--The 
        supervising ethics office for the Government Publishing Office 
        under the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) 
        shall have the authority 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 interest limitations for 
                   the Government Publishing Office.