[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 459 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 459
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, and for other purposes.
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IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 25, 2021
Ms. Craig introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committees on
Rules, Ethics, and the Judiciary, 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
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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, 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 2022 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, caused 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 (known as the ``Code of Official Conduct'') is amended
by redesignating clause 22 as clause 23 and 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, 2023.
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