[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1420 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1420

To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide for the establishment 
   of a precious metals investment option in the Thrift Savings Fund.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 10, 2009

   Mr. Paul (for himself, Mr. Burton of Indiana, Mr. Jones, and Mr. 
  Bartlett) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
              Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide for the establishment 
   of a precious metals investment option in the Thrift Savings Fund.

    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 ``Thrift Savings Fund Improvement 
Act''.

SEC. 2. PRECIOUS METALS INVESTMENT FUND.

    (a) Fund Defined.--Section 8438(a) of title 5, United States Code, 
is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (9), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in paragraph (10), by striking the period and inserting 
        ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(11) the term `Precious Metals Investment Fund' means the 
        Precious Metals Investment Fund established under subsection 
        (b)(1)(F).''.
    (b) Establishment.--
            (1) In general.--Section 8438(b)(1) of title 5, United 
        States Code, is amended--
                    (A) in subparagraph (D), by striking ``and'' at the 
                end;
                    (B) in subparagraph (E), by striking the period and 
                inserting ``; and''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(F) a Precious Metals Investment Fund as provided 
                in paragraph (5).''.
            (2) Fund requirements.--Section 8438(b) of title 5, United 
        States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(5)(A) The Board shall establish a Precious Metals Investment 
Fund.
    ``(B) Contributions to the Precious Metals Investment Fund shall be 
invested in physical gold, silver, or platinum bullion (rather than any 
mining company shares, certificates, derivatives, or futures options), 
and any bullion so acquired shall constitute the assets of the Precious 
Metals Investment Fund and shall be stored in a vault in a federally 
chartered or State chartered bank. Each share in the Precious Metals 
Investment Fund shall represent a direct investment in the precious 
metal itself.''.
    (c) Acknowledgment of Risk.--Section 8439(d) of title 5, United 
States Code, is amended--
            (1) by striking ``or the Small Capitalization Stock Index 
        Investment Fund,'' and inserting ``the Small Capitalization 
        Stock Index Investment Fund, or the Precious Metals Investment 
        Fund,''; and
            (2) by striking ``and (10),'' and inserting ``(10), and 
        (11),''.

SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE; DEFINITIONS.

    (a) Effective Date.--The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment 
Board--
            (1) shall study the operation of existing precious metals 
        funds to determine the best practices of those funds; and
            (2) not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 
        of this Act--
                    (A) shall establish the Precious Metals Investment 
                Fund, incorporating the best practices referred to in 
                paragraph (1) to such extent and in such manner as the 
                Board shall determine; and
                    (B) shall make the Precious Metals Investment Fund 
                available to individuals participating in the Thrift 
                Savings Plan.
    (b) Definitions.--For purposes of this section--
            (1) the term ``Precious Metals Investment Fund'' has the 
        meaning given such term by section 8438(a)(11) of title 5, 
        United States Code (as amended by section 2(a)); and
            (2) the term ``Thrift Savings Plan'' refers to the plan 
        described in subchapter III of chapter 84 of such title 5.
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