[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3664 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3664

To require executive branch employees to report certain royalties, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 25, 2024

   Mr. Paul introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require executive branch employees to report certain royalties, 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 ``Royalty Transparency Act''.

SEC. 2. FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE REPORTS OF EXECUTIVE BRANCH EMPLOYEES.

    (a) Contents of Reports.--Section 13104(a)(1) of title 5, United 
States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ``, subject to 
        subparagraph (C)'' after ``employment by the United States 
        Government''; and
            (2) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the following:
                    ``(C) Royalties received by government employees.--
                Notwithstanding section 12(c) of the Stevenson-Wydler 
                Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3710a (c)) 
                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), the 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 (Public Law 99-502; 100 Stat. 1785), an 
                amendment made by such Act, or any other applicable 
                authority.''.
    (b) Review of Reports.--Section 13107(b) of title 5, United States 
Code, is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1)--
                    (A) in the first sentence, by inserting ``and 
                shall, notwithstanding section 12 of the Stevenson-
                Wydler Technology Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3710a) and 
                section 209 of title 35, publish such report on the 
                internet website of the agency, office, Clerk, or 
                Secretary of the Senate, as the case may be'' after 
                ``to any person requesting such inspection or copy''; 
                and
                    (B) in the second sentence--
                            (i) by inserting ``, notwithstanding 
                        section 12 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology 
                        Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3710a) and section 209 
                        of title 35,'' after ``such report shall''; and
                            (ii) by inserting ``and published on the 
                        internet website of the agency, office, Clerk, 
                        or Secretary of the Senate, as the case may 
                        be,'' after ``made available for public 
                        inspection'';
            (2) by striking paragraph (2) and the matter following 
        paragraph (2);
            (3) by redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (2); and
            (4) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) Procedure for releasing reports to members of 
        congress.--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 an 
        unredacted copy of any report received under this 
        subchapter.''.
    (c) Confidential Reports and Other Additional Requirements.--
Section 13109(a)(2) of title 5, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by striking ``Any information'' and inserting the 
        following:
                    ``(A) In general.--Any information''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(B) Special government employees.--
                            ``(i) Definition.--For the purposes of this 
                        subparagraph, the term `sensitive personal 
                        information' does not include the source or 
                        amount or value of any royalties received by a 
                        reporting individual.
                            ``(ii) Redaction and publication.--Upon 
                        receipt of a confidential financial disclosure 
                        report under this section of submitted by a 
                        special Government employee, as defined in 
                        section 202 of title 18, the recipient 
                        supervising ethics office shall--
                                    ``(I) redact any sensitive personal 
                                information from the confidential 
                                financial disclosure report; and
                                    ``(II) notwithstanding section 12 
                                of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Act 
                                of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3710a(c)) and 
                                section 209 of title 35, publish the 
                                redacted confidential financial 
                                disclosure report on the internet 
                                website of the agency by which the 
                                special Government employee is employed 
                                not later than 120 days after the date 
                                on which the recipient supervising 
                                ethics office receives the confidential 
                                financial disclosure report.''.

SEC. 3. GENERAL DISCLOSURE OF ROYALTIES.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Agency.--The term ``agency'' means an agency within the 
        executive branch, as defined in section 13101 of title 5, 
        United States Code.
            (2) Applicable person.--The term ``applicable person'' 
        means any individual or entity that applies to--
                    (A) receive a grant from the Federal Government; or
                    (B) serve as a contractor.
            (3) Contractor.--The term ``contractor'' has the meaning 
        given the term in section 7101 of title 41, United States Code.
            (4) Covered royalty.--The term ``covered royalty'' means 
        any royalty received by an applicable person from any party 
        other than the Federal Government.
    (b) Agency Requirement.--Before receiving any Federal grant or 
contract, each applicable person shall submit to the agency from which 
the applicable person seeks the grant or for which the applicable 
person seeks to serve as a contractor, as applicable, a report 
disclosing the source and amount or value of all covered royalties 
received by the applicable person during the 10-year period preceding 
the date on which the applicable person receives such Federal grant or 
contract.
    (c) Procedure for Releasing Reports to Members of Congress.--
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, not later than 30 days 
after receiving a request from a Member of Congress, an agency shall 
furnish to the Member of Congress an unredacted copy of any report 
submitted under subsection (b).

SEC. 4. SEVERABILITY.

    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.
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