[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 507 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 507
To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit former Members and
elected officers of Congress from lobbying Congress at any time after
leaving office, to prohibit the use of funds for official travel
expenses of Members of Congress and legislative branch employees for
airline accommodations other than coach class, to reduce the pay of
Members of the House of Representatives if a Speaker is not elected on
the first day of a Congress, and for other purposes.
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IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 25, 2023
Ms. Craig introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committees on
the Judiciary, Ethics, Rules, and Oversight and Accountability, 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 title 18, United States Code, to prohibit former Members and
elected officers of Congress from lobbying Congress at any time after
leaving office, to prohibit the use of funds for official travel
expenses of Members of Congress and legislative branch employees for
airline accommodations other than coach class, to reduce the pay of
Members of the House of Representatives if a Speaker is not elected on
the first day of a Congress, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Halt Unchecked Member Benefits with
Lobbying Elimination Act'' or the ``HUMBLE Act''.
SEC. 2. PROHIBITING FORMER MEMBERS AND OFFICERS OF CONGRESS FROM
LOBBYING CONGRESS.
(a) Prohibition.--Section 207(e)(1) of title 18, United States
Code, is amended to read as follows:
``(1) Members and elected officers of congress.--Any person
who is a Senator, a Member of the House of Representatives, or
an elected officer of the Senate or the House of
Representatives and who, after that person leaves office,
knowingly makes, with the intent to influence, any
communication to or appearance before any Member, officer, or
employee of either House of Congress or any employee of any
other legislative office of the Congress, on behalf of any
other person (except the United States) in connection with any
matter on which such former Senator, Member, or elected
official seeks action by a Member, officer, or employee of
either House of Congress, in his or her official capacity,
shall be punished as provided in section 216 of this title.''.
(b) Conforming Amendments.--Section 207(e)(2) of such title is
amended--
(1) in the heading, by striking ``Officers and staff'' and
inserting ``Staff'';
(2) by striking ``an elected officer of the Senate, or'';
(3) by striking ``leaves office or employment'' and
inserting ``leaves employment''; and
(4) by striking ``former elected officer or''.
(c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall
apply with respect to an individual who leaves office on or after the
date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 3. PROHIBITING USE OF FUNDS FOR OFFICIAL TRAVEL EXPENSES OF
MEMBERS OF CONGRESS AND LEGISLATIVE BRANCH EMPLOYEES FOR
AIRLINE ACCOMMODATIONS OTHER THAN COACH CLASS.
(a) Prohibition.--Except as provided in subsection (b), no funds
appropriated or otherwise made available for the official travel
expenses of a Member of Congress or other officer or employee of any
office in the legislative branch may be used for airline accommodations
which are not coach-class accommodations.
(b) Exceptions.--Funds described in subsection (a) may be used for
airline accommodations which are not coach-class accommodations for an
individual described in subsection (a) if the use of the funds for such
accommodations would be permitted under sections 301-10.121 through
301-10.125 of title 41 of the Code of Federal Regulations if the
individual were an employee of an agency which is subject to chapter
301 of such title.
(c) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this Act may be construed to
affect any officer or employee of an office of the legislative branch
which, as of the date of the enactment of this Act, is subject to
chapter 301 of title 41 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
(d) Definitions.--
(1) Coach-class accommodations.--In this Act, the term
``coach-class accommodations'' means the basic class of
accommodation by airlines that is normally the lowest fare
offered regardless of airline terminology used, and (as
referred to by airlines) may include tourist class or economy
class, as well as single class when the airline offers only one
class of accommodations to all travelers.
(2) Member of congress.--In this Act, the term ``Member of
Congress'' means a Senator or a Representative in, or Delegate
or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress.
(e) Effective Date.--This section shall apply with respect to
fiscal year 2024 and each succeeding fiscal year.
SEC. 4. BENEFITS AND SERVICES PROVIDED TO FORMER MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE
OF REPRESENTATIVES.
(a) Benefits and Services Described.--The House of Representatives
may not make any of the following benefits and services available to an
individual who becomes a former Member of the House (except to the
extent such benefits and services are made available to members of the
public):
(1) Access to the Hall of the House.
(2) Access to athletic facilities and other facilities
available for the use of Members of the House.
(3) Access to the Members' Dining Room located in the House
of Representatives wing of the United States Capitol.
(4) Access to parking spaces.
(5) Access to material from the House document room.
(6) Use of the collections in the House Legislative
Resource Center without borrowing privileges.
(b) Waiver Authority.--
(1) Authority to waive elimination of benefit or service.--
The Speaker and the minority leader of the House of
Representatives may jointly, on a case-by-case basis, grant a
waiver of subsection (a) with respect to a former Member of the
House and a benefit or service described in such subsection.
(2) Publication in congressional record.--If the Speaker
and the minority leader jointly grant a waiver under paragraph
(1) to make a benefit or service available to a former Member,
the Speaker and minority leader shall, not later than 24 hours
after the waiver is granted, cause to have published in the
Congressional Record a statement identifying the former Member
and the benefit or service involved.
SEC. 5. PROHIBITING MEMBERS OF HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FROM OWNING
INDIVIDUAL STOCKS.
(a) In General.--Rule XXIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives is amended--
(1) by redesignating clause 22 as clause 23; and
(2) by inserting after clause 21 the following:
``22. A Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner may not own the
common stock of any individual corporation.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall
take effect immediately before noon on January 3, 2025.
SEC. 6. REDUCTION OF PAY OF MEMBERS OF HOUSE IF SPEAKER IS NOT ELECTED.
(a) Reduction of Pay.--
(1) Reduction.--If, by the end of the first day of a
Congress, the House of Representatives has not elected a
Speaker, the annual rate of pay applicable under section 601(a)
of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (2 U.S.C. 4501)
with respect to each Member of the House of Representatives for
the year shall be reduced by an amount equal to the product
of--
(A) an amount equal to one day's worth of pay under
such annual rate; and
(B) the number of 24-hour periods occurring during
the Congress during which no Speaker has been elected
for the Congress.
(2) Effective date.--This subsection shall apply with
respect to the One Hundred Nineteenth Congress and each
succeeding Congress.
(b) Rule for One Hundred Eighteenth Congress.--
(1) Holding salaries in escrow.--If, by the end of the
first day of the One Hundred Eighteenth Congress, the House of
Representatives has not elected a Speaker, the Chief
Administrative Officer of the House of Representatives, or an
employee of the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer who
is designated by the Chief Administrative Officer to carry out
this Act, shall--
(A) deposit in an escrow account and exclude from
the payments otherwise required to be made for the
compensation of each Member of the House of
Representatives with respect to a pay period during
which the House has not elected a Speaker an amount
equal to the product of--
(i) the daily rate of pay of the Member
under section 601(a) of the Legislative
Reorganization Act of 1946 (2 U.S.C. 4501); and
(ii) the number of 24-hour periods during
which no Speaker has been elected for the One
Hundred Eighteenth Congress; and
(B) release amounts deposited in an escrow account
under subparagraph (A) to such Member of the House of
Representatives only upon the expiration of the period
described in paragraph (2).
(2) Period described.--The period described in this
paragraph is the period that--
(A) begins on the first day of the One Hundred
Eighteenth Congress; and
(B) ends on the earlier of--
(i) the date on which the House elects a
Speaker for the One Hundred Eighteenth
Congress; or
(ii) the last day of the One Hundred
Eighteenth Congress.
(3) Withholding and remittance of amounts from payments
held in escrow.--The Chief Administrative Officer of the House
of Representatives, or an employee of the Office of the Chief
Administrative Officer who is designated by the Chief
Administrative Officer to carry out this Act, shall provide for
the same withholding and remittance with respect to a payment
deposited in an escrow account under paragraph (1) that would
apply to the payment if the payment were not subject to
paragraph (1).
(4) Release of amounts at end of the congress.--In order to
ensure that this subsection is carried out in a manner that
shall not vary the compensation of Representatives in violation
of the Twenty-seventh Amendment to the Constitution of the
United States, the Chief Administrative Officer of the House of
Representatives, or an employee of the Office of the Chief
Administrative Officer who is designated by the Chief
Administrative Officer to carry out this Act, shall release for
payment to Members of the House of Representatives any amounts
remaining in any escrow account under this section on the last
day of the One Hundred Eighteenth Congress.
(c) Member Defined.--In this section, the term ``Member of the
House of Representatives'' means an individual serving in a position in
the House of Representatives which is covered under subparagraph (A),
(B), or (C) of section 601(a)(1) of the Legislative Reorganization Act
of 1946 (2 U.S.C. 4501(1)).
SEC. 7. PROHIBITING MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FROM
SERVING ON BOARDS OF FOR-PROFIT ENTITIES.
Rule XXIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, as amended
by section 5(a), is amended--
(1) by redesignating clauses 19 through 23 as clauses 20
through 24, respectively; and
(2) by inserting after clause 18 the following new clause:
``19. A Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner may not serve on
the board of directors of any for-profit entity.''.
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