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<dc:title>99 HR 1863 IH: Royalty Transparency Act</dc:title>
<dc:publisher>U.S. House of Representatives</dc:publisher>
<dc:date>2025-03-05</dc:date>
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<dc:language>EN</dc:language>
<dc:rights>Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.</dc:rights>
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<distribution-code display="yes">I</distribution-code><congress display="yes">119th CONGRESS</congress><session display="yes">1st Session</session><legis-num display="yes">H. R. 1863</legis-num><current-chamber>IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES</current-chamber><action display="yes"><action-date date="20250305">March 5, 2025</action-date><action-desc><sponsor name-id="G000568">Mr. Griffith</sponsor> introduced the following bill; which was referred to the <committee-name committee-id="HGO00">Committee on Oversight and Government Reform</committee-name>, and in addition to the Committee on <committee-name committee-id="HJU00">the Judiciary</committee-name>, 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</action-desc></action><legis-type>A BILL</legis-type><official-title display="yes">To require executive branch employees to report certain royalties, and for other purposes.</official-title></form><legis-body id="H5FA052B71413421387442E70069EA9D9" style="OLC"><section id="H200AC5DE0A4F40E2B0828892120B4B35" section-type="section-one"><enum>1.</enum><header>Short title</header><text display-inline="no-display-inline">This Act may be cited as the <quote><short-title>Royalty Transparency Act</short-title></quote>.</text></section><section id="HF657C4EF5CB949F19D9542980767AE5B"><enum>2.</enum><header>Financial disclosure reports of executive branch employees</header><subsection id="H578382F387F24E5CAD602BFB02890468"><enum>(a)</enum><header>Individuals required To file</header><paragraph id="H65AAAF499929453FADA942079A9D0122"><enum>(1)</enum><header>In general</header><text>Section 13103 of title 5, United States Code, is amended—</text><subparagraph id="H8AB76A2E78FA4299AC5145A7E43F3AA8"><enum>(A)</enum><text>in subsection (f)—</text><clause id="H43E975376016400B92C3BF958DF49DF4"><enum>(i)</enum><text>in paragraph (11), by striking <quote>; and</quote> and inserting a semicolon;</text></clause><clause id="H6C80DE1A34754238A91EDEFB59FE6E28"><enum>(ii)</enum><text>in paragraph (12), by striking the period and inserting <quote>; and</quote>; and</text></clause><clause id="HA40480689321446BBAC32DECBE072D31"><enum>(iii)</enum><text>by adding at the end the following:</text><quoted-block id="HFC84C598A093404FAD90B436007AED30" style="OLC"><paragraph id="HD24A383B09EC4E48815EF93495884278"><enum>(13)</enum><text>any member of—</text><subparagraph id="H7991FD8675B44CFA9489669D9B4180E5"><enum>(A)</enum><text>the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity;</text></subparagraph><subparagraph id="HF1AA4430231C4AFFA72C50F8FC578D3C"><enum>(B)</enum><text>the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices;</text></subparagraph><subparagraph id="H3D3D37F9B09544A3986B754883C2BEA2"><enum>(C)</enum><text>the Advisory Commission on Childhood Vaccines;</text></subparagraph><subparagraph id="H057972BFA8A649C39DFFC3989F5044A2"><enum>(D)</enum><text>the National Vaccine Advisory Committee;</text></subparagraph><subparagraph id="HBC384608DEED43F583DB6C4629C4CA47"><enum>(E)</enum><text>the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee;</text></subparagraph><subparagraph id="H74D14F9CD0904BEBB8E3F9F26E2BA583"><enum>(F)</enum><text>the Defense Science Board;</text></subparagraph><subparagraph id="H1F6263EC77844596B4C664E13435E7D2"><enum>(G)</enum><text>the Board of Scientific Advisors of the National Cancer Institute;</text></subparagraph><subparagraph id="H64F9B86EF31B447D90201BE34F6FCA11"><enum>(H)</enum><text>the Homeland Security Science and Technology Advisory Committee;</text></subparagraph><subparagraph id="H8281206816774E4CBCBAB10CB2C72E9B"><enum>(I)</enum><text>the Medical Review Board Advisory Committee;</text></subparagraph><subparagraph id="HDED880EE96084CAFA021363281C8BC21"><enum>(J)</enum><text>the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology; or</text></subparagraph><subparagraph id="H5087500B2D0B49C8A4E0ABAE219FE9FE"><enum>(K)</enum><text>any other advisory committee, as defined in section 1001, including a successor to a committee described in this paragraph, that the Government Accountability Office determines, in accordance with subsection (j)—</text><clause id="H07DE0FE5CF2F47DF9C2A22B34F82BD3C"><enum>(i)</enum><text>makes recommendations relating to public health to an agency or the President; and</text></clause><clause id="H01BC6FBD021745D49851457DF7E34B29"><enum>(ii)</enum><text>has had any recommendation fully or partially implemented during the 10 years preceding the determination.</text></clause></subparagraph></paragraph><after-quoted-block>; and</after-quoted-block></quoted-block></clause></subparagraph><subparagraph id="HAC5BEEB45FAB472C936DFEB8EB96B0FD"><enum>(B)</enum><text>by adding at the end the following:</text><quoted-block id="HA69FDD79497740E58A19D952C5EBC8F7" style="OLC"><subsection id="H9F03DD086A6448708EC33D4967386CA2"><enum>(j)</enum><header>Determination regarding advisory committees</header><text>Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of the Royalty Transparency Act, and annually thereafter, the Government Accountability Office shall publish a list of each advisory committee that the Government Accountability Office determines—</text><paragraph id="H4AE42151609C45E485425AA2412B243E"><enum>(1)</enum><text>makes recommendations relating to public health to an agency or the President; and</text></paragraph><paragraph id="HCC91163EE2054D6DA24AB6E7E90BB729"><enum>(2)</enum><text>has had any recommendation fully or partially implemented during the 10 years preceding the determination.</text></paragraph></subsection><after-quoted-block>.</after-quoted-block></quoted-block></subparagraph></paragraph><paragraph id="H4725D08C9EAB4F70BB8032EACF56B55E"><enum>(2)</enum><header>Sunset</header><text>Effective on the date that is 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act, section 13103 of title 5, United States Code, as amended by this Act, is amended—</text><subparagraph id="HE539D17972C44D71AA5A003DF77FD94E"><enum>(A)</enum><text>in subsection (f)(13), by striking subparagraph (K) and inserting the following:</text><quoted-block id="HF7E929BE165B4B969F65D129A52557F5" style="OLC"><subparagraph id="HCC215CFB2E314F64B2FE613E7DE95B90"><enum>(K)</enum><text>a successor to a committee described in subparagraphs (A) through (J) of this paragraph.</text></subparagraph><after-quoted-block>; and</after-quoted-block></quoted-block></subparagraph><subparagraph id="H2718A5AA7D684087B2790B5778A51B18"><enum>(B)</enum><text>by striking subsection (j).</text></subparagraph></paragraph></subsection><subsection id="H8D5D3C7DEDE740DD8A11690BCB522530"><enum>(b)</enum><header>Notification of waiver</header><paragraph id="H3AE489BC1CF84BBBB6A656BDB0F715C4"><enum>(1)</enum><header>Title 5</header><text>Section 13103(i) of title 5, United States Code, is amended—</text><subparagraph id="H4AA11098011E4A1EAF8643AD5963EBE0"><enum>(A)</enum><text>by moving the matter preceding paragraph (1) two ems to the left;</text></subparagraph><subparagraph id="H5DC63E76263042D48CCB37C4F8DD87CE"><enum>(B)</enum><text>by redesignating paragraphs (1) through (4) as subparagraphs (A) through (D), respectively;</text></subparagraph><subparagraph id="H8EA5E48D085B4287A01C0545CF021AA9"><enum>(C)</enum><text>in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), as so redesignated, by striking <quote>the supervising ethics office determines</quote> and inserting </text><quoted-block id="HE3975315E143407084CBC7F901B74FA7" style="OLC" display-inline="yes-display-inline"><text>the supervising ethics office—</text><paragraph id="H35D5DCB48C2A4D1A99A9550AC46C04C0"><enum>(1)</enum><text>determines</text></paragraph><after-quoted-block>;</after-quoted-block></quoted-block></subparagraph><subparagraph id="HBBE2F6A80FD048B7BE09DF29B1141616"><enum>(D)</enum><text>in subparagraph (D), as so redesignated, by striking the period at the end and inserting <quote>; and</quote>; and</text></subparagraph><subparagraph id="H0A260F4B3D5A472BA6AF603BDE917C53"><enum>(E)</enum><text>by adding at the end the following:</text><quoted-block id="H4D882DABF1B54ABA89C9B2AA941DFC80" style="OLC"><paragraph id="H0709C07AFBB44714AA7B930843FE82C4"><enum>(2)</enum><text>provides notification of such waiver to the Committees on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committees on Oversight and Government Reform and Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives.</text></paragraph><after-quoted-block>.</after-quoted-block></quoted-block></subparagraph></paragraph><paragraph id="H365CD4ACF69A482EB071FF7ED452A4C7"><enum>(2)</enum><header>Title 18</header><text>Section 208 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:</text><quoted-block id="H59DA5D8D5A1E44478F19F8A731814DFD" style="OLC"><subsection id="HBAB0EC791DB1437F897A9E49FAC16C43"><enum>(e)</enum><text>Any exemption—</text><paragraph id="HEA99B0D3385144789465866E9DA97CF0"><enum>(1)</enum><text>granted under paragraph (1) or (3) of subsection (b) shall be immediately reported to the Committees on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committees on Oversight and Government Reform and Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives, including a detailed justification for granting the waiver; or</text></paragraph><paragraph id="H867E9992C2AE4F06AC288F3299FF1B58"><enum>(2)</enum><text>granted under subpart (C) of part 2640 of title 5 of the Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulation, shall be immediately reported to the Committees on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committees on Oversight and Government Reform and Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives, including a detailed justification for granting the waiver.</text></paragraph></subsection><after-quoted-block>.</after-quoted-block></quoted-block></paragraph></subsection><subsection id="H0469CA1F95764877B287B2CA628771A6"><enum>(c)</enum><header>Contents of reports</header><text>Section 13104(a)(1) of title 5, United States Code, is amended—</text><paragraph id="H684FDD1F862B4D9491116FC3AEB72F73"><enum>(1)</enum><text>in subparagraph (A), by inserting <quote>, subject to subparagraph (C)</quote> after <quote>employment by the United States Government</quote>; and</text></paragraph><paragraph id="H09E31D69E8A34AA6AD9E72C5A459B063"><enum>(2)</enum><text>by inserting after subparagraph (B) the following:</text><quoted-block id="HAAB0657DAC154CC0A844C32F59AD7AEB" style="OLC"><subparagraph id="HEE471A129BB84DADBC9E5A6F477083C5"><enum>(C)</enum><header>Royalties received by government employees and committee filers</header><text>Notwithstanding section 12(c) of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (<external-xref legal-doc="usc" parsable-cite="usc/15/3710a">15 U.S.C. 3710a(c)</external-xref>) and section 209 of title 35, if the reporting individual is an officer or employee in the executive branch (including a special Government employee, as defined in section 202 of title 18), or an individual described in section 13103(f)(13), the original source and amount or value of any royalties received by the reporting individual, the spouse of the reporting individual, or a dependent child of the reporting individual during the reporting period described in subsection (d) or (e) of section 13103, as applicable, that were received as a result of an invention developed by the reporting individual in the course of employment of the reporting individual with the United States Government, including any royalty interest payment made under the Federal Technology Transfer Act of 1986 (<external-xref legal-doc="public-law" parsable-cite="pl/99/502">Public Law 99–502</external-xref>; 100 Stat. 1785), an amendment made by such Act, or any other applicable authority.</text></subparagraph><after-quoted-block>.</after-quoted-block></quoted-block></paragraph></subsection><subsection id="H6F7BC67F1E3743B3AFC71968A9E98E8A"><enum>(d)</enum><header>Review of reports</header><text>Section 13107(b) of title 5, United States Code, is amended—</text><paragraph id="HBFDD2EDA8A924B748C306E5E56B3E743"><enum>(1)</enum><text>in paragraph (1)—</text><subparagraph id="H1E645CF8ADD145F483482CE855F85743"><enum>(A)</enum><text>in the first sentence, by inserting <quote>and shall, in the case of an agency or office and notwithstanding section 12 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Act of 1980 (<external-xref legal-doc="usc" parsable-cite="usc/15/3710a">15 U.S.C. 3710a</external-xref>) and section 209 of title 35, publish such report on the internet website of the agency or office, as the case may be</quote> after <quote>to any person requesting such inspection or copy</quote>; and</text></subparagraph><subparagraph id="HECF0E63CC28846B589110AC6BEB86D84"><enum>(B)</enum><text>in the second sentence—</text><clause id="H21D02594E07147B0B2116BCD2FEA97C7"><enum>(i)</enum><text>by inserting <quote>, notwithstanding section 12 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Act of 1980 (<external-xref legal-doc="usc" parsable-cite="usc/15/3710a">15 U.S.C. 3710a</external-xref>) and section 209 of title 35,</quote> after <quote>such report shall</quote>; and</text></clause><clause id="HBFCB45C3A63D49659BA83C2C206478CE"><enum>(ii)</enum><text>by inserting <quote>and, in the case of an agency or office, published on the internet website of the agency or office, as the case may be,</quote> after <quote>made available for public inspection</quote>;</text></clause></subparagraph></paragraph><paragraph id="HBC5D37D3A2734D5989E9EE16A7C0E1C6"><enum>(2)</enum><text>by striking paragraph (2) and the matter following paragraph (2);</text></paragraph><paragraph id="H7920C3E3B77A4A989D66DBEC80C664E5"><enum>(3)</enum><text>by redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (2); and</text></paragraph><paragraph id="HF02CD39F966E49EBA33A897C422AD27E"><enum>(4)</enum><text>by adding at the end the following:</text><quoted-block id="H95E4A48E1E37432FAE160BB41375A1F2" style="OLC"><paragraph id="HAA409C60841A443FB25865E5815BD10C"><enum>(3)</enum><header>Procedure for releasing reports to members of congress</header><text>Notwithstanding any other provision of law, not later than 30 days after receiving a request from a Member of Congress, any agency or supervising ethics office in the executive branch shall furnish to the Member of Congress a copy of any report submitted under subsection (b), which shall be unredacted, except with respect to social security numbers, dates of birth, home addresses, rental property addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, financial account numbers, signatures, and the personally identifiable information of dependent children.</text></paragraph><after-quoted-block>.</after-quoted-block></quoted-block></paragraph></subsection><subsection id="H971493A0ADAC46DE8A3FB634F7FCFD56"><enum>(e)</enum><header>Confidential reports and other additional requirements</header><text>Section 13109 of title 5, United States Code, is amended—</text><paragraph id="H35D3F6A0D20047DDA760862F584E901B"><enum>(1)</enum><text>by redesignating subsections (b) and (c) as subsections (f) and (g), respectively; and</text></paragraph><paragraph id="HC138136406C44EF9B6CBDA3CBCEC77FF"><enum>(2)</enum><text>by inserting after subsection (a) the following:</text><quoted-block id="HBBE7E1711C2F43C9840999E0E33DE445" style="OLC"><subsection id="HCF1BB47634CF47989DE839B5FCA3F7A9"><enum>(b)</enum><header>Royalties received by confidential filers</header><text>Notwithstanding section 12(c) of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (<external-xref legal-doc="usc" parsable-cite="usc/15/3710a">15 U.S.C. 3710a(c)</external-xref>) and section 209 of title 35, the information required to be reported under this section shall include the original source and amount or value of any royalties received by the reporting individual, or the spouse or any dependent child of the reporting individual, that were received as a result of an invention, including any royalty interest payment made under the Federal Technology Transfer Act of 1986 (<external-xref legal-doc="public-law" parsable-cite="pl/99/502">Public Law 99–502</external-xref>; 100 Stat. 1785), an amendment made by such Act, or any other applicable authority.</text></subsection><subsection id="H4C51E9F54C8F4D36BA2D213118B62209"><enum>(c)</enum><header>Procedure for releasing reports to members of congress</header><text>Notwithstanding any other provision of law, not later than 30 days after receiving a request from a Member of Congress, any agency or supervising ethics office in the executive branch shall furnish to the Member of Congress a copy of any report submitted under subsection (a), which shall be unredacted, except with respect to social security numbers, dates of birth, home addresses, rental property addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, financial account numbers, signatures, and the personally identifiable information of dependent children.</text></subsection><subsection id="H1694469314EE4EC393568D77C10475F8"><enum>(d)</enum><header>Reports</header><text>Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of the Royalty Transparency Act, and each year thereafter, the head of each agency shall submit to the Committees on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committees on Oversight and Government Reform and Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives, and as to each agency within the intelligence community (as that term is defined in section 3 of the National Security Act of 1947 (<external-xref legal-doc="usc" parsable-cite="usc/50/3003">50 U.S.C. 3003</external-xref>)), the head of each such agency shall also submit to the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives, a report relating to confidential financial disclosures of officers and employees under the jurisdiction of such agency for the preceding fiscal year, which shall include—</text><paragraph id="HC7C9B6FC8A254C76A8B0A21F31E1E8D5"><enum>(1)</enum><text>the number of individuals who filed such disclosures with the agency under this section, including, if applicable, the subcomponent of the agency that has jurisdiction over the individual and the reason for filing confidentially;</text></paragraph><paragraph id="H71452A009A79445793806250DAE2F6D7"><enum>(2)</enum><text>the number of special Government employees, as defined in section 202 of title 18, that are required to file confidential financial disclosure reports with the agency under this section; and</text></paragraph><paragraph id="H2D4913E8575142B78CAD0FBC3C232D07"><enum>(3)</enum><text>any additional information determined to be relevant by the Director of the Office of Government Ethics after consultation with the Committees on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committees on Oversight and Government Reform and Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives.</text></paragraph></subsection><subsection id="HC0032380F3164E6AB68B9A3D1622E644"><enum>(e)</enum><header>Public disclosure of royalties received by certain federal employees</header><paragraph id="H7D44EF2E861C46C5ABA7F8631DE081FC"><enum>(1)</enum><header>Definition</header><text>For the purposes of this subsection, the term <term>covered individual</term> means an individual who—</text><subparagraph id="H1F69C5382E9F471AB679B82EA633EEED"><enum>(A)</enum><text>is required to file a confidential financial disclosure report under this section; and</text></subparagraph><subparagraph id="HA26BA880F7EE490D94CB3AFD65A07EB1"><enum>(B)</enum><text>reports receiving a royalty interest under subsection (b).</text></subparagraph></paragraph><paragraph id="HF0A8D237D2934905BA63C7672083E330"><enum>(2)</enum><header>Requirement</header><text>Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of the Royalty Transparency Act, and annually thereafter, each agency shall publish a report on the internet website of the agency, listing—</text><subparagraph id="H4822453FA43240C68A16245107AFC748"><enum>(A)</enum><text>the names of all covered individuals; and</text></subparagraph><subparagraph id="H13219DFAE66C47219E1DAE7E95FCECA2"><enum>(B)</enum><text>the original source and amount or value of any royalties reported under this section by each covered individual.</text></subparagraph></paragraph></subsection><after-quoted-block>.</after-quoted-block></quoted-block></paragraph></subsection><subsection id="HF6E5C3B3A77048D3B9B4A715E8F2066E"><enum>(f)</enum><header>Rule of construction</header><text>Nothing in this section, or any amendment made by this section, shall be construed to limit the ability of an advisory committee, as defined in section 1001 of title 5, United States Code, to conduct work related to the function of the advisory committee.</text></subsection></section><section id="H186949A55E634B6287427C7F2958DF57"><enum>3.</enum><header>Preventing organizational conflicts of interest in Federal acquisition</header><subsection id="H5783D73B6AC549398E2E81A5CEA84A49"><enum>(a)</enum><header>In general</header><text>The Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council and the Office of Management and Budget shall, as appropriate, enact or update any regulation necessary to ensure that conflict of interest reviews for prospective contractors or grantees include reviews of royalties paid to prospective contractors or grantees in the preceding calendar year.</text></subsection><subsection id="H8F976864174145FC8A863D25E676E57A"><enum>(b)</enum><header>Ongoing reviews</header><text>Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and each year thereafter, each agency conducting any conflict of interest review described in subsection (a) shall report to the Committees on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committees on Oversight and Government Reform and Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives, and as to each agency within the intelligence community (as that term is defined in section 3 of the National Security Act of 1947 (<external-xref legal-doc="usc" parsable-cite="usc/50/3003">50 U.S.C. 3003</external-xref>)), the head of each such agency shall also report to the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives, on the number of identified cases of potential conflict of interest related to royalty payments and the steps taken to mitigate those cases.</text></subsection></section><section id="H5F09239B931E4F3181043D63F8DF1FC1"><enum>4.</enum><header>Severability</header><text display-inline="no-display-inline">If any provision of this Act, an amendment made by this Act, or the application of such provision or amendment to any person or circumstance is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act and the amendments made by this Act, and the application of the provision or the amendment to any other person or circumstance, shall not be affected.</text></section></legis-body></bill> 

