[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1081 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1081

 To amend title 44, United States Code, to direct the Archivist of the 
   United States to maintain an inventory of all gifts received from 
  domestic sources for the President, the Executive Residence at the 
          White House, or a Presidential archival depository.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 15, 2001

   Mr. Ose introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Government Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title 44, United States Code, to direct the Archivist of the 
   United States to maintain an inventory of all gifts received from 
  domestic sources for the President, the Executive Residence at the 
          White House, or a Presidential archival depository.

    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 ``Accountability for Presidential 
Gifts Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) There is no clear accountability for Presidential 
        gifts, since multiple lists of such gifts are separately 
        maintained by different Federal agencies, including by the 
        White House Gifts Unit, the National Park Service, and the 
        National Archives and Records Administration.
            (2) The lack of a consolidated record of the receipt, 
        administration, and disposition of Presidential gifts creates 
        confusion about the status of some of those gifts.
            (3) Requiring the National Archives and Records 
        Administration to maintain an inventory of Presidential gifts 
        would eliminate such confusion and ensure accountability.

SEC. 3. INVENTORY OF PRESIDENTIAL GIFTS.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 22 of title 44, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 2208. Inventory of Presidential gifts
    ``(a) The Archivist shall maintain a current inventory of all 
Presidential gifts.
    ``(b) The inventory shall include, with respect to each 
Presidential gift, the following information:
            ``(1) The date of receipt by the Federal Government.
            ``(2) A description.
            ``(3) The estimated cost or appraised value.
            ``(4) The donor.
            ``(5) Any indication of whether the intent of the donor was 
        to make the gift to the United States or to the President 
        personally.
            ``(6) The current location and status of the gift, 
        including identification of the Federal agency or other person 
        having control of the gift.
    ``(c) The head of a Federal office or agency, including any unit in 
the Executive Office of the President, having possession of any record 
containing information regarding the receipt, location, control, or 
disposition of a Presidential gift shall, upon receipt of such 
information, report such information to the Archivist in accordance 
with regulations issued by the Archivist under this section.
    ``(d) The Archivist shall make available to the public, upon 
request, any information in the inventory maintained under this 
section.
    ``(e) The Archivist shall report to the Committee on Governmental 
Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Government Reform of the 
House of Representatives each proposed disposition of a Presidential 
gift other than--
            ``(1) a gift from a relative of the President; and
            ``(2) a gift having a value of less than $250.
    ``(f)(1) The Archivist shall issue regulations implementing this 
section.
    ``(2) The Archivist may not issue any nonbinding guidance for 
purposes of this section.
    ``(g) In this section:
            ``(1) The term `gift' has the meaning that term has under 
        section 109 of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. 
        App.).
            ``(2) The term `Presidential gift' means any gift to or for 
        the benefit of the President personally, the President in his 
        or her official capacity, the Executive Residence at the White 
        House, or a Presidential archival depository, other than a gift 
        from a foreign government (as that term is defined in section 
        7342(a) of title 5, United States Code).''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 22 of 
title 44, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
following:

``2208. Inventory of Presidential gifts.''.
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