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