A bill to prohibit the involvement of immediate family members of senior United States Government officials with Ukrainian entities.

Bill: 116-s-2781
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Kennedy, John [R-LA]
Introduced: 2019-11-05
Policy area: International Affairs
Subjects: Civil actions and liability

Corporate finance and management

Europe

Family relationships

Federal officials

Foreign and international corporations

Fraud offenses and financial crimes

Government ethics and transparency, public corruption

Presidents and presidential powers, Vice Presidents

U.S. and foreign investments

Ukraine
Latest action: action_date: 2019-11-05
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

Summaries:
action_date: 2019-11-05
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p>This bill prohibits an immediate relative of certain senior U.S. government officials from having an ownership interest of 5% or more in a Ukrainian entity. It also prohibits such a relative from being a board member, consultant, employee, or independent contractor of a Ukrainian entity.</p> <p>Specifically, this prohibition shall apply to the immediate relatives of (1) the President, (2) the Vice President, (3) the head of any executive department, (4) an individual in a cabinet-level position, or (5) a Member of Congress.</p> <p>The bill provides for civil penalties and imprisonment for a violation and authorizes the Department of Justice to seek an injunction to stop the prohibited conduct.</p>

tv_txt: II 116th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 2781 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES November 5, 2019 Mr. Kennedy introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations A BILL To prohibit the involvement of immediate family members of senior United States Government officials with Ukrainian entities.

1. Definitions In this Act: (1) Covered individual The term covered individual means— (A) the President; (B) the Vice President; (C) the head of any Executive department (as that term is defined in section 101 of title 5, United States Code); (D) any individual occupying a position designated by the President as a Cabinet-level position; and (E) a Member of Congress. (2) Immediate family member The term immediate family member , with respect to a covered individual, means— (A) a spouse, parent, child, or sibling of the covered individual; and (B) a parent, child, or sibling of the spouse of the covered individual. (3) Ukrainian entity The term Ukrainian entity means an entity organized under the laws of Ukraine or otherwise subject to the jurisdiction of the government of Ukraine. 2. Prohibition on involvement of immediate family members of senior United States Government officials with Ukrainian entities (a) Offense It shall be unlawful for an immediate family member of a covered individual to— (1) serve as a consultant to, employee of, independent contractor of, or member of a board of directors or similar governing body of a Ukrainian entity; or (2) possess an ownership interest of 5 percent or more in a Ukrainian entity. (b) Penalties and injunctions (1) Criminal penalties (A) In general Any individual who violates subsection (a) shall be imprisoned for not more than 1 year, fined under title 18, United States Code, or both. (B) Willful violations Any individual who willfully violates subsection (a) shall be imprisoned for not more than 5 years, fined under title 18, United States Code, or both. (2) Civil penalties (A) Civil action The Attorney General may bring a civil action in an appropriate district court of the United States against any individual who violates subsection (a). (B) Penalty In an action against an individual under subparagraph (A), upon proof of a violation of subsection (a) by a preponderance of the evidence, the individual shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than the greater of— (i) $50,000 for each violation; or (ii) the amount of compensation, including any amounts generated from an ownership interest, that the individual received for the prohibited conduct. (C) Relation to other laws The imposition of a civil penalty under this paragraph shall not preclude any other criminal or civil statutory, common law, or administrative remedy that is available by law to the United States or any other person. (3) Injunctions (A) Petition If the Attorney General has reason to believe that an individual is engaging in conduct constituting an offense under subsection (a), the Attorney General may petition an appropriate district court of the United States for an order prohibiting that individual from engaging in that conduct. (B) Issuance The court may issue an order prohibiting an individual from engaging in conduct described in subparagraph (A) if the court finds that the conduct constitutes an offense under subsection (a). (C) Relation to other laws The filing of a petition under this paragraph shall not preclude any other remedy that is available by law to the United States or any other person.