5 USC App 105: Financial Disclosure Information

            
 
          Sec. 105. Custody of and public access to reports

    (a) Each agency, each supervising ethics office in the executive or 
judicial branch, the Clerk of

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the House of Representatives, and the Secretary of the Senate shall make 
available to the public, in accordance with subsection (b), each report 
filed under this title with such agency or office or with the Clerk or 
the Secretary of the Senate, except that--
        (1) this section does not require public availability of a 
    report filed by any individual in the Office of the Director of 
    National Intelligence, the Central Intelligence Agency, the Defense 
    Intelligence Agency, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, or 
    the National Security Agency, or any individual engaged in 
    intelligence activities in any agency of the United States, if the 
    President finds or has found that, due to the nature of the office 
    or position occupied by such individual, public disclosure of such 
    report would, be \1\ revealing the identity of the individual or 
    other sensitive information, compromise the national interest of the 
    United States; and such individuals may be authorized, 
    notwithstanding section 104(a), to file such additional reports as 
    are necessary to protect their identity from public disclosure if 
    the President first finds or has found that such filing is necessary 
    in the national interest; and
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    \1\ So in original. Probably should be ``by''.
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        (2) any report filed by an independent counsel whose identity 
    has not been disclosed by the division of the court under chapter 40 
    of title 28, United States Code, and any report filed by any person 
    appointed by that independent counsel under such chapter, shall not 
    be made available to the public under this title.

    (b)(1) Except as provided in the second sentence of this subsection, 
each agency, each supervising ethics office in the executive or judicial 
branch, the Clerk of the House of Representatives, and the Secretary of 
the Senate shall, within thirty days after any report is received under 
this title by such agency or office or by the Clerk or the Secretary of 
the Senate, as the case may be,,\2\ permit inspection of such report by 
or furnish a copy of such report to any person requesting such 
inspection or copy. With respect to any report required to be filed by 
May 15 of any year, such report shall be made available for public 
inspection within 30 calendar days after May 15 of such year or within 
30 days of the date of filing of such a report for which an extension is 
granted pursuant to section 101(g). The agency, office, Clerk, or 
Secretary of the Senate, as the case may be \3\ may require a reasonable 
fee to be paid in any amount which is found necessary to recover the 
cost of reproduction or mailing of such report excluding any salary of 
any employee involved in such reproduction or mailing. A copy of such 
report may be furnished without charge or at a reduced charge if it is 
determined that waiver or reduction of the fee is in the public 
interest.
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    \2\ So in original.
    \3\ So in original. Probably should be followed by a comma.
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    (2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a report may not be made 
available under this section to any person nor may any copy thereof be 
provided under this section to any person except upon a written 
application by such person stating--
        (A) that person's name, occupation and address;
        (B) the name and address of any other person or organization on 
    whose behalf the inspection or copy is requested; and
        (C) that such person is aware of the prohibitions on the 
    obtaining or use of the report.

Any such application shall be made available to the public throughout 
the period during which the report is made available to the public.
    (3)(A) This section does not require the immediate and unconditional 
availability of reports filed by an individual described in section 
109(8) or 109(10) of this Act if a finding is made by the Judicial 
Conference, in consultation with United States Marshall \4\ Service, 
that revealing personal and sensitive information could endanger that 
individual or a family member of that individual.
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    \4\ So in original. Probably should be ``Marshal''.
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    (B) A report may be redacted pursuant to this paragraph only--
        (i) to the extent necessary to protect the individual who filed 
    the report or a family member of that individual; and
        (ii) for as long as the danger to such individual exists.

    (C) The Administrative Office of the United States Courts shall 
submit to the Committees on the Judiciary of the House of 
Representatives and of the Senate an annual report with respect to the 
operation of this paragraph including--
        (i) the total number of reports redacted pursuant to this 
    paragraph;
        (ii) the total number of individuals whose reports have been 
    redacted pursuant to this paragraph;
        (iii) the types of threats against individuals whose reports are 
    redacted, if appropriate;
        (iv) the nature or type of information redacted;
        (v) what steps or procedures are in place to ensure that 
    sufficient information is available to litigants to determine if 
    there is a conflict of interest;
        (vi) principles used to guide implementation of redaction 
    authority; and
        (vii) any public complaints received relating to redaction.

    (D) The Judicial Conference, in consultation with the Department of 
Justice, shall issue regulations setting forth the circumstances under 
which redaction is appropriate under this paragraph and the procedures 
for redaction.
    (E) This paragraph shall expire on December 31, 2011, and apply to 
filings through calendar year 2011.
    (c)(1) It shall be unlawful for any person to obtain or use a 
report--
        (A) for any unlawful purpose;
        (B) for any commercial purpose, other than by news and 
    communications media for dissemination to the general public;
        (C) for determining or establishing the credit rating of any 
    individual; or
        (D) for use, directly or indirectly, in the solicitation of 
    money for any political, charitable, or other purpose.

    (2) The Attorney General may bring a civil action against any person 
who obtains or uses a

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report for any purpose prohibited in paragraph (1) of this subsection. 
The court in which such action is brought may assess against such person 
a penalty in any amount not to exceed $10,000. Such remedy shall be in 
addition to any other remedy available under statutory or common law.
    (d) Any report filed with or transmitted to an agency or supervising 
ethics office or to the Clerk of the House of Representatives or the 
Secretary of the Senate pursuant to this title shall be retained by such 
agency or office or by the Clerk or the Secretary of the Senate, as the 
case may be. Such report shall be made available to the public for a 
period of six years after receipt of the report. After such six-year 
period the report shall be destroyed unless needed in an ongoing 
investigation, except that in the case of an individual who filed the 
report pursuant to section 101(b) and was not subsequently confirmed by 
the Senate, or who filed the report pursuant to section 101(c) and was 
not subsequently elected, such reports shall be destroyed one year after 
the individual either is no longer under consideration by the Senate or 
is no longer a candidate for nomination or election to the Office of 
President, Vice President, or as a Member of Congress, unless needed in 
an ongoing investigation.

(Pub. L. 95-521, title I, Sec. 105, Oct. 26, 1978, 92 Stat. 1833; Pub. 
L. 101-194, title II, Sec. 202, Nov. 30, 1989, 103 Stat. 1737; Pub. L. 
101-280, Sec. 3(6), May 4, 1990, 104 Stat. 154; Pub. L. 102-90, title 
III, Sec. 313(2), Aug. 14, 1991, 105 Stat. 469; Pub. L. 103-359, title 
V, Sec. 501(m), Oct. 14, 1994, 108 Stat. 3430; Pub. L. 104-201, div. A, 
title XI, Sec. 1122(b)(2), Sept. 23, 1996, 110 Stat. 2687; Pub. L. 105-
318, Sec. 7, Oct. 30, 1998, 112 Stat. 3011; Pub. L. 107-126, Jan. 16, 
2002, 115 Stat. 2404; Pub. L. 108-136, div. A, title IX, Sec. 921(g), 
Nov. 24, 2003, 117 Stat. 1570; Pub. L. 108-458, title I, Sec. 1079(c), 
Dec. 17, 2004, 118 Stat. 3696; Pub. L. 110-24, Secs. 2, 3, May 3, 
2007, 121 Stat. 100; Pub. L. 110-177, title I, Sec. 104, Jan. 7, 2008, 
121 Stat. 2535.)

                          Codification

    Section was formerly classified to section 705 of Title 2, The 
Congress.


                               Amendments

    2008--Subsec. (b)(3)(E). Pub. L. 110-177 substituted ``2011'' for 
``2009'' in two places.
    2007--Subsec. (b)(3)(A). Pub. L. 110-24, Sec. 2(1), inserted ``or a 
family member of that individual'' before period at end.
    Subsec. (b)(3)(B)(i). Pub. L. 110-24, Sec. 2(2), inserted ``or a 
family member of that individual'' before semicolon.
    Subsec. (b)(3)(C)(iv) to (vii). Pub. L. 110-24, Sec. 3(b), added 
cls. (iv) to (vii).
    Subsec. (b)(3)(E). Pub. L. 110-24, Sec. 3(a), substituted ``2009'' 
for ``2005'' in two places.
    2004--Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 108-458 inserted ``the Office of the 
Director of National Intelligence,'' before ``the Central Intelligence 
Agency''.
    2003--Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 108-136 substituted ``National 
Geospatial-Intelligence Agency'' for ``National Imagery and Mapping 
Agency''.
    2002--Subsec. (b)(3)(E). Pub. L. 107-126 substituted ``2005'' for 
``2001'' in two places.
    1998--Subsec. (b)(3). Pub. L. 105-318 added par. (3).
    1996--Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 104-201 substituted ``National Imagery 
and Mapping Agency'' for ``Central Imagery Office''.
    1994--Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 103-359 inserted ``the Central Imagery 
Office,'' after ``Defense Intelligence Agency,''.
    1991--Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 102-90 substituted ``Except as 
provided in the second sentence of this subsection, each agency'' for 
``Each agency'' and inserted after first sentence ``With respect to any 
report required to be filed by May 15 of any year, such report shall be 
made available for public inspection within 30 calendar days after May 
15 of such year or within 30 days of the date of filing of such a report 
for which an extension is granted pursuant to section 101(g).''
    1990--Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 101-280, Sec. 3(6)(A), amended subsec. 
(a) generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (a) read as follows: ``Each 
agency and each supervisory ethics office shall make each report filed 
with it under this title available to the public in accordance with the 
provisions of subsection (b) of this section, except that this section 
does not require public availability of a report filed by--
        ``(1) any individual in the Central Intelligence Agency, the 
    Defense Intelligence Agency, or the National Security Agency, or any 
    individual engaged in intelligence activities in any agency of the 
    United States, if the President finds that, due to the nature of the 
    office or position occupied by such individual, public disclosure of 
    such report would, by revealing the identity of the individual or 
    other sensitive information, compromise the national interest of the 
    United States. In addition, such individuals may be authorized, 
    notwithstanding section 104(a), to file such additional reports as 
    are necessary to protect their identity from public disclosure if 
    the President first finds that such filing is necessary in the 
    national interest; or
        ``(2) an independent counsel or person appointed by independent 
    counsel under chapter 40 of title 28, United States Code, whose 
    identity has not otherwise been disclosed.''
    Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 101-280, Sec. 3(6)(B)(i)(I), substituted ``, 
each supervising ethics office in the executive or judicial branch, the 
Clerk of the House of Representatives, and the Secretary of the Senate'' 
for ``and each supervising ethics office''.
    Pub. L. 101-280, Sec. 3(6)(B)(i)(II), substituted ``under this title 
by such agency or office or by the Clerk or the Secretary of the Senate, 
as the case may be,'' for ``by such agency or office under this title''.
    Pub. L. 101-280, Sec. 3(6)(B)(ii), substituted ``, office, Clerk, or 
Secretary of the Senate, as the case may be'' for ``or office''.
    Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 101-280, Sec. 3(6)(C), inserted ``or to the 
Clerk of the House of Representatives or the Secretary of the Senate'' 
after ``ethics office'' and ``or by the Clerk or the Secretary of the 
Senate'' after ``or office''.
    1989--Pub. L. 101-194 amended section generally, substituting 
provisions relating to custody of and public access to reports for 
provisions relating to review and compliance procedures. See section 106 
of this Appendix.


                    Effective Date of 2004 Amendment

    For Determination by President that amendment by Pub. L. 108-458 
take effect on Apr. 21, 2005, see Memorandum of President of the United 
States, Apr. 21, 2005, 70 F.R. 23925, set out as a note under section 
401 of Title 50, War and National Defense.
    Amendment by Pub. L. 108-458 effective not later than six months 
after Dec. 17, 2004, except as otherwise expressly provided, see section 
1097(a) of Pub. L. 108-458, set out as an Effective Date of 2004 
Amendment; Transition Provisions note under section 401 of Title 50, War 
and National Defense.


                    Effective Date of 1996 Amendment

    Amendment by Pub. L. 104-201 effective Oct. 1, 1996, see section 
1124 of Pub. L. 104-201, set out as a note under section 193 of Title 
10, Armed Forces.

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                    Effective Date of 1989 Amendment

    Amendment by Pub. L. 101-194 effective Jan. 1, 1991, see section 204 
of Pub. L. 101-194, set out as a note under section 101 of this 
Appendix.

                          Transfer of Functions

    Certain functions of Clerk of House of Representatives transferred 
to Director of Non-legislative and Financial Services by section 7 of 
House Resolution No. 423, One Hundred Second Congress, Apr. 9, 1992. 
Director of Non-legislative and Financial Services replaced by Chief 
Administrative Officer of House of Representatives by House Resolution 
No. 6, One Hundred Fourth Congress, Jan. 4, 1995.


Public Availability of Reports Filed Under Pre-1991 Ethics in Government 
                             Act Provisions

    Section 9 of Pub. L. 101-280 provided that: ``Those reports filed 
under title I [formerly classified to section 701 et seq. of Title 2, 
The Congress], II [formerly set out under the heading Executive 
Personnel Financial Disclosure Requirements in this Appendix], or III 
[formerly set out under the heading Judicial Personnel Financial 
Disclosure Requirements in the Appendix to Title 28, Judiciary and 
Judicial Procedure] of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 [Pub. L. 95-
521], as in effect before January 1, 1991, shall be made available to 
the public on or after such date in accordance with section 105 of that 
Act [this section], as amended by the Ethics Reform Act of 1989 [Pub. L. 
101-194], and the provisions of such section shall apply with respect to 
those reports.''