119-hr2624

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2624 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 2624

 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, to prohibit the use of funds for official travel 
 expenses of Members of Congress and legislative branch employees for 
 airline accommodations other than coach class, to eliminate automatic 
 pay adjustments for Members of Congress, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 April 3, 2025

Ms. Craig (for herself and Ms. McCollum) introduced the following bill; 
 which was referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in 
 addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, Ethics, Rules, and 
 Oversight and Government Reform, 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

_______________________________________________________________________

 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, to prohibit the use of funds for official travel 
 expenses of Members of Congress and legislative branch employees for 
 airline accommodations other than coach class, to eliminate automatic 
 pay adjustments for Members of Congress, 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 2026 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, cause 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 is amended--

    (1) by redesignating clause 22 as clause 23; and

    (2) by 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, 2027.

SEC. 6. ELIMINATION OF AUTOMATIC PAY ADJUSTMENTS FOR MEMBERS OF 
 CONGRESS.

    (a) In General.--Paragraph

    (2) of 

section 601

    (a) of the Legislative 
Reorganization Act of 1946 (2 U.S.C. 4501

    (2) ) is repealed.

    (b) Conforming Amendments.--

Section 601

    (a)

    (1) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 
4501) is amended--

    (1) by striking ``

    (a)

    (1) '' and inserting ``

    (a) '';

    (2) by redesignating subparagraphs
        (A) ,
        (B) , and
            (C) as 
 paragraphs

    (1) ,

    (2) , and

    (3) , respectively; and

    (3) by striking ``, as adjusted by paragraph

    (2) of this 
 subsection''.
            (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply with respect to pay periods beginning after the first general 
election for Federal office occurring after the date of the enactment 
of this Act.

SEC. 7. PROHIBITING MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FROM 
 SERVING ON BOARDS OF FOR-PROFIT ENTITIES.

 Rule XXIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, as amended 
by 

section 5

    (a) , is amended--

    (1) by redesignating clauses 19 through 23 as clauses 20 
 through 24, respectively; and

    (2) by inserting after clause 18 the following new clause:
 ``19. A Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner may not serve on 
the board of directors of any for-profit entity.''.
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