[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 115 (Thursday, July 11, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5118-S5119]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 2887. Mr. PAUL submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by
him to the bill S. 4638, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2025 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy,
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
At the end of subtitle H of title X, add the following:
SEC. 1095. ROYALTY TRANSPARENCY ACT.
(a) Short Title.--This section may be cited as the
``Royalty Transparency Act''.
(b) Financial Disclosure Reports of Executive Branch
Employees.--
(1) Individuals required to file.--
(A) In general.--Section 13103 of title 5, United States
Code, is amended--
(i) in subsection (f)--
(I) in paragraph (11), by striking ``; and'' and inserting
a semicolon;
(II) in paragraph (12), by striking the period and
inserting ``; and''; and
(III) by adding at the end the following:
``(13) any member of--
``(A) the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity;
``(B) the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices;
``(C) the Advisory Commission on Childhood Vaccines;
``(D) the National Vaccine Advisory Committee;
``(E) the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory
Committee;
``(F) the Defense Science Board;
``(G) the Board of Scientific Advisors of the National
Cancer Institute;
``(H) the Homeland Security Science and Technology Advisory
Committee;
``(I) the Medical Review Board Advisory Committee;
``(J) the President's Council of Advisors on Science and
Technology; or
``(K) any other advisory committee, as defined in section
1001, including a successor to a committee described in this
paragraph, that the Government Accountability Office
determines, in accordance with subsection (j)--
``(i) makes recommendations relating to public health to an
agency or the President; and
``(ii) has had any recommendation fully or partially
implemented during the 10 years preceding the
determination.''; and
(ii) by adding at the end the following:
``(j) Determination Regarding Advisory Committees.--Not
later than 180 days after the date of enactment of the
Royalty Transparency Act, and annually thereafter, the
Government Accountability Office shall publish a list of each
advisory committee that the Government Accountability Office
determines--
``(1) makes recommendations relating to public health to an
agency or the President; and
``(2) has had any recommendation fully or partially
implemented during the 10 years preceding the
determination.''.
(B) Sunset.--Effective on the date that is 5 years after
the date of enactment of this section, section 13103 of title
5, United States Code, as amended by this section, is
amended--
(i) in subsection (f)(13), by striking subparagraph (K) and
inserting the following:
``(K) a successor to a committee described in subparagraphs
(A) through (J) of this paragraph.''; and
(ii) by striking subsection (j).
(2) Notification of waiver.--
(A) Title 5.--Section 13103(i) of title 5, United States
Code, is amended--
(i) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through (4) as
subparagraphs (A) through (D), respectively, and adjusting
the margins accordingly;
(ii) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), as so
redesignated, by striking ``the supervising ethics office
determines'' and inserting ``the supervising ethics office--
``(1) determines'';
(iii) in subparagraph (D), as so redesignated, by striking
the period at the end and inserting ``; and''; and
(iv) by adding at the end the following:
``(2) provides notification of such waiver to the Committee
on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate
and the Committee on Oversight and Accountability of the
House of Representatives.''.
(B) Title 18.--Section 208 of title 18, United States Code,
is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(e) Any exemption--
``(1) granted under paragraph (1) or (3) of subsection (b)
shall be immediately reported to the Committee on Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the
Committee on Oversight and Accountability of the House of
Representatives, including a detailed justification for
granting the waiver; or
``(2) granted under subpart (C) of part 2640 of title 5 of
the Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulation,
shall be immediately reported to the Committee on Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the
Committee on Oversight and Accountability of the House of
Representatives, including a detailed justification for
granting the waiver.''.
(3) Contents of reports.--Section 13104(a)(1) of title 5,
United States Code, is amended--
(A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ``, subject to
subparagraph (C)'' after ``employment by the United States
Government''; and
(B) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the following:
``(C) Royalties received by government employees and
committee filers.--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), or an individual described in
section 13103(f)(13), the original 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.''.
(4) Review of reports.--Section 13107(b) of title 5, United
States Code, is amended--
(A) in paragraph (1)--
(i) in the first sentence, by inserting ``and shall, in the
case of an agency or office and 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 or office, as the case may
be'' after ``to any person requesting such inspection or
copy''; and
(ii) 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, in the case of an agency or
office, published on the internet website of the agency or
office, as the case may be,'' after ``made available for
public inspection'';
(B) by striking paragraph (2) and the matter following
paragraph (2);
(C) by redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (2); and
(D) 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 a
copy of any report submitted under subsection (b), which
shall be unredacted, except with respect to social security
numbers.''.
(5) Confidential reports and other additional
requirements.--Section 13109 of title 5, United States Code,
is amended--
(A) by redesignating subsections (b) and (c) as subsections
(f) and (g), respectively; and
(B) by inserting after subsection (a) the following:
``(b) Royalties Received by Confidential Filers.--
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, the information required to be
reported under this section shall include the original source
and amount or value of any royalties received by the
reporting individual, or the spouse or any dependent child of
the reporting individual, that were received as a result of
an invention, 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.
[[Page S5119]]
``(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, any agency or supervising ethics office in the
executive branch shall furnish to the Member of Congress a
copy of any report submitted under subsection (a), which
shall be unredacted, except with respect to social security
numbers, home addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and
the personally identifiable information of dependents.
``(d) Reports.--Not later than 60 days after the date of
enactment of the Royalty Transparency Act, and each year
thereafter, the head of each agency shall submit to the
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of
the Senate and the Committee on Oversight and Accountability
of the House of Representatives a report relating to
confidential financial disclosures of officers and employees
under the jurisdiction of such agency for the preceding
fiscal year, which shall include--
``(1) the number of individuals who filed such disclosures
with the agency under this section, including, if applicable,
the subcomponent of the agency that has jurisdiction over the
individual and the reason for filing confidentially;
``(2) the number of special Government employees, as
defined in section 202 of title 18, that are required to file
confidential financial disclosure reports with the agency
under this section; and
``(3) any additional information determined to be relevant
by the Director of the Office of Government Ethics after
consultation with the Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on
Oversight and Accountability of the House of Representatives.
``(e) Public Disclosure of Royalties Received by Certain
Federal Employees.--
``(1) Definition.--For the purposes of this subsection, the
term `covered individual' means an individual who--
``(A) is required to file a confidential financial
disclosure report under this section; and
``(B) reports receiving a royalty interest under subsection
(b).
``(2) Requirement.--Not later than 180 days after the date
of enactment of the Royalty Transparency Act, and annually
thereafter, each agency shall publish a report on the
internet website of the agency, listing--
``(A) the names of all covered individuals; and
``(B) the original source and amount or value of any
royalties reported under this section by each covered
individual.''.
(c) Preventing Organizational Conflicts of Interest in
Federal Acquisition.--
(1) In general.--The Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council
and the Office of Management and Budget shall, as
appropriate, enact or update any regulation necessary to
ensure that conflict of interest reviews for prospective
contractors or grantees include reviews of royalties paid to
prospective contractors or grantees in the preceding calendar
year.
(2) Ongoing reviews.--Not later than 1 year after the date
of enactment of this section, and each year thereafter, each
agency conducting any conflict of interest review described
in subsection (a) shall report to the Committee on Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the
Committee on Oversight and Accountability of the House of
Representatives on the number of identified cases of
potential conflict of interest related to royalty payments
and the steps taken to mitigate those cases.
(d) Severability.--If any provision of this section, an
amendment made by this section, or the application of such
provision or amendment to any person or circumstance is held
to be unconstitutional, the remainder of this section and the
amendments made by this section, and the application of the
provision or the amendment to any other person or
circumstance, shall not be affected.
______