[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1623 Introduced in House (IH)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1623

 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

                             April 3, 2003

   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 ``Presidential Gifts Accountability 
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) House Report 107-768, ``Problems with the Presidential 
        Gifts System'', presents additional information about the 
        complexity of and problems with the current system.
            (3) 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.
            (4) 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)(1) The Archivist shall make available to the public, upon 
request, any information in the inventory maintained under this 
section.
    ``(2)(A) With respect to each Presidential gift in a year from any 
person who makes Presidential gifts in the year having a cumulative 
value of $100 or more, the Archivist shall disclose to the public by 
not later than May 15 of the succeeding year the following information:
            ``(i) The date of receipt by the Federal Government.
            ``(ii) A description.
            ``(iii) The estimated cost or appraised value.
            ``(iv) The donor and the donor's employer.
            ``(v) The circumstance under which the gift was made.
    ``(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply with respect to any gift 
from a foreign government (as that term is defined in section 7342(a) 
of title 5).
    ``(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 disposition of a Presidential gift other 
than a gift having a value of less than $100.
    ``(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.
            ``(2) The term `Presidential gift'--
                    ``(A) subject to subparagraph (B), means any gift 
                to or for the benefit of--
                            ``(i) the President personally, the spouse 
                        of the President, or any dependent child of the 
                        President;
                            ``(ii) the President in his or her official 
                        capacity;
                            ``(iii) the Executive Residence at the 
                        White House; or
                            ``(iv) a Presidential archival depository 
                        (as that term is used in chapter 21); and
                    ``(B) does not include a gift from a relative of an 
                individual to whom the gift is made.
            ``(3) The term `relative', with respect to an individual--
                    ``(A) means another individual--
                            ``(i) who is related to the individual 
                        concerned, as father, mother, son, daughter, 
                        brother, sister, uncle, aunt, great aunt, great 
                        uncle, first cousin, nephew, niece, husband, 
                        wife, grandfather, grandmother, grandson, 
                        granddaughter, father-in-law, mother-in-law, 
                        son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, 
                        sister-in-law, stepfather, stepmother, stepson, 
                        stepdaughter, stepbrother, stepsister, half 
                        brother, half sister, or
                            ``(ii) who is the grandfather or 
                        grandmother of the spouse of the individual 
                        concerned; and
                    ``(B) includes the fiance or fiancee of the 
                individual concerned.''.
    (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.''.

SEC. 4. RESTRICTIONS RELATING TO GIFTS TO THE PRESIDENT OR SPOUSE OF 
              THE PRESIDENT.

    Title I of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 App. U.S.C.) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:

  ``restrictions relating to gifts to the president or spouse of the 
                               president.

    ``Sec. 112. (a) The President, and the spouse of the President, may 
not--
            ``(1) accept any gift of stock in a corporation or any gift 
        certificate;
            ``(2) accept gifts from a single source in a year having a 
        cumulative value greater than $1,000, except a personalized, 
        honorific award;
            ``(3) accept any gift in the period beginning on the date 
        of any presidential election occurring in the President's term 
        of office and ending on the date of the beginning of the next 
        presidential term of office, unless the President is reelected 
        to serve as President for that next term;
            ``(4) solicit or coordinate the making of any gift to the 
        President or the spouse of the President; or
            ``(5) seek to have any other person solicit or coordinate 
        the making of any gift to the President or the spouse of the 
        President.
    ``(b) An individual elected as President, and the spouse of the 
individual, may not accept any gift in the period beginning on the date 
of the election of the individual as President and ending on the date 
of the beginning of the next presidential term of office.
    ``(c) Any gift that a President, individual elected as President, 
or spouse is prohibited from accepting under this section--
            ``(1) shall be returned to the person making the gift, by 
        not later than 90 days after the date the gift is made; or
            ``(2) if not returned within that period--
                    ``(A) shall be the property of the United States; 
                and
                    ``(B) shall not be deposited in a Presidential 
                archival depository, as that term is used in chapter 21 
                of title 44, United States Code.
    ``(d) This section does not apply with respect to any gift from a 
foreign government (as that term is defined in section 7342(a) of title 
5) or from a relative of an individual to whom the gift is made.''.
                                 <all>