TABOO Act

This Act may be cited as the “Transparency in the Administration’s Business Opportunities Overseas Act” or the “TABOO Act”.

It is the sense of Congress that:

(1) Individuals serving as Special Envoys, Special Representatives, Special Coordinators, Special Negotiators, or working in similar positions, whether in the Department of State, the Executive Office of the President, or any Federal department or agency, frequently exercise significant authority and represent the United States Government to foreign governments and international organizations.

(2) Existing ethics, financial disclosure, and conflict-of-interest requirements do not uniformly apply to those individuals, particularly those working in volunteer, unpaid, or advisory capacities while performing duties that involve significant authority.

(3) The absence of uniform requirements—

(A) creates gaps in transparency, accountability, and oversight; and

(B) may allow individuals to perform sensitive diplomatic or national security functions without appropriate conflict-of-interest safeguards.

(4) Congress has a compelling interest in ensuring that all individuals performing those functions are subject to consistent ethics, financial disclosure, and conflict-of-interest requirements, regardless of title, compensation, or organizational placement.

(5) It is in the interest of the United States to—

(A) establish uniform standards for ethics compliance, financial interest reporting, and congressional notification for individuals performing those functions; and

(B) close loopholes that allow individuals to avoid those requirements by working in volunteer or advisory status.

In this Act:

(1) Appropriate congressional committees.— The term appropriate congressional committees means—

(A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate; and

(B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives.

(2) Covered function.— The term covered function includes the following:

(A) Directing or leading negotiations on behalf of the United States Government with a foreign country.

(B) Directing or leading negotiations on behalf of the United States Government with international multilateral organizations.

(C) Any activity involving the exercise of significant authority pursuant to the laws of the United States in a foreign policy or national security context.

(3) Covered position.— The term covered position—

(A) means a Special Envoy, Special Representative, Special Coordinator, Special Negotiator, Envoy, Representative, Coordinator, Special Advisor, Senior Advisor, or other position performing a covered function, regardless of title, in the Executive Office of the President or any Federal department or agency;

(B) includes a position the pay status of which is uncompensated or volunteer if the individual working in that position performs a covered function in that position; and

(C) does not include a position that—

(i) does not represent the United States Government to a foreign government or multinational organization; and

(ii) is engaged only to provide advice to the President, the Executive Office of the President, or any Federal agency or department.

(4) Financial interest.—

(A) In general.— The term financial interest, with respect to a foreign country, includes a financial interest in any entity, including—

(i) an entity that maintains a contract with the government of the country;

(ii) a state-affiliated enterprise;

(iii) an enterprise affiliated with a government official of the country; and

(iv) a financial institution affiliated with the government of the country or a government official of the country.

(B) Individual holding financial interest.— For purposes of this Act, the term “financial interest”, with respect to an individual, includes—

(i) a financial interest held by the individual;

(ii) a financial interest held by the spouse of the individual; and

(iii) a financial interest held by any member of the immediate family of the individual.

(C) Rule of construction.— The term financial interest, with respect to a foreign country—

(i) shall be construed as broadly as possible; and

(ii) shall not be limited to the examples listed in subparagraph (A).

(a) Ethics and financial disclosures.—

(1) Bribery, graft, and conflicts-of-interest.— Any individual working in a covered position shall be deemed an officer or employee for purposes of chapter 11 of title 18, regardless of employment status, compensation, or volunteer status.

(2) Financial disclosure requirements.—

(A) Persons required to file.— Section 13103(f) of title 5, United States Code, is amended—

(i) in paragraph (11), by striking “; and” and inserting a semicolon;

(ii) in paragraph (12), by striking the period at the end; and

(iii) by adding at the end the following:

“(13) an officer or employee working in a covered position, as defined in section 3 of the Transparency in the Administration’s Business Opportunities Overseas Act.”.

(B) Extension on time for filing.— Section 13103(g) of title 5, United States Code, is amended—

(i) in paragraph (1), by striking “Reasonable” and inserting “Except as provided in paragraph (3), reasonable”; and

(ii) by adding at the end the following:

“(3) Covered positions.— Extensions of time for filing any report with respect to an officer or employee working in a covered position, as defined in section 3 of the Transparency in the Administration’s Business Opportunities Overseas Act, shall not exceed 30 days.”.

(C) Technical and conforming amendment.— Section 13102(a)(1) of title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting “and paragraph (13)” after “paragraphs (1) through (8)”.

(b) Financial interests.—

(1) Written confirmation.— Not later than 30 days after the date on which any individual begins working in a covered position—

(A) the individual shall confirm in writing that the individual—

(i) has no financial interest in any foreign country with which the individual will be working;

(ii) if a pre-existing financial interest exists, will divest or place the financial interest in a qualified blind trust, as defined in section 13104(f)(3) of title 5, United States Code, within 60 days of the date of the written confirmation; and

(iii) commits to undertaking no new financial interest in any foreign country with which the individual will be working during the 1-year period beginning on the date on which the individual vacates the covered position; and

(B) the head of the relevant office, department, or agency that employs the individual shall—

(i) review and certify the written confirmation required under subparagraph (A); and

(ii) submit the written confirmation required under subparagraph (A) and certification required under clause (i) of this subparagraph to the appropriate congressional committees.

(2) Relation to other requirements.— A written confirmation required under paragraph (1)(A) shall be in addition to any other financial disclosure or ethics report otherwise required by law.

(a) In general.— Not later than 90 days after the effective date under section 8(a), and every 90 days thereafter, the head of each Federal agency and department shall submit to the President and the appropriate congressional committees a list of each individual working in a covered position at that Federal agency or department.

(b) Elements.— Each list required under subsection (a) shall include, with respect to each individual working in a covered position—

(1) the name and title of the individual; and

(2) a brief description of the duties of the individual, including the countries and organizations the individual is expected to engage with on behalf of the United States Government in the covered position.

(a) Statutory penalties.—

(1) Penalties relating to written confirmation.— An individual working in a covered position who knowingly fails to comply with the requirements under section 4(b)(1)(A) shall be fined under title 18, imprisoned for not more than 1 year, or both.

(2) Other statutory penalties.— An individual working in a covered position who knowingly fails to comply with any requirement under this Act, or any amendment made by this Act—

(A) shall lose access to United States Government funds for staff support, facilities, travel support, and consular services;

(B) shall be subject to referral to the Department of Justice; and

(C) shall be subject to suspension from performing any covered function until compliance with this Act and the amendments made by this Act is achieved.

(b) Agency enforcement.—

(1) Designation of ethics officers.— The head of each Federal agency or department employing an individual working in a covered position shall designate an ethics office responsible for compliance with this Act.

(2) Failure to submit certifications.— If the head of a Federal agency or department fails to submit any certification under section 4(b)(1)(B) or any quarterly list under section 5(a), the head of that Federal agency or department shall report the failure to each appropriate congressional committee within 15 days of the discovery of such failure.

(c) Additional consequences for noncompliance.— If an individual nominated for a covered position is found to be in violation of any provision of this Act, or an amendment made by this Act, a committee of Congress may—

(1) delay nomination hearings and confirmation processes for the individual;

(2) recommend suspension of the duties of the individual; and

(3) determine if referral to the Department of Justice is warranted.

Not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office of Personnel Management and the Director of the Office of Government Ethics shall issue joint guidance to implement this Act.

(a) Effective date.— All requirements, obligations, and prohibitions established under this Act, and the amendments made by this Act, shall take effect 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act.

(b) Current individuals working in covered positions.— Any individual working in a covered position on the effective date under subsection (a) shall comply with all the requirements of this Act, and the amendments made by this Act, not later than 60 days after that effective date.

(c) No waiver or delay.— No provision of this Act, nor any amendment made by this Act, nor any requirement imposed thereunder, may be waived, delayed, suspended, or otherwise modified by the Executive Office of the President or any Federal agency or department.

(d) Continuing applicability.— Compliance with this Act, and the amendments made by this Act, shall be a continuing condition of service in any covered position.