S.Amdt. 3404

SA 3404. Mr. CORNYN (for himself, Mr. Welch, Mr. Risch, and Mr.
Whitehouse) submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to
the bill S. 2296, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2026 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 title X, add the following:

Subtitle A--CLEAR Path Act

SEC. 1091. SHORT TITLE.

This subtitle may be cited as the ``Conflict-free Leaving
Employment and Activity Restrictions Path Act'' or the
``CLEAR Path Act''.

SEC. 1092. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) Congress and the executive branch have recognized the
importance of preventing and mitigating the potential for
conflicts of interest following government service, including
with respect to senior United States officials working on
behalf of foreign governments; and
(2) Congress and the executive branch should jointly
evaluate the status and scope of post-employment
restrictions.

SEC. 1093. POST-EMPLOYMENT RESTRICTIONS ON OFFICIALS IN
POSITIONS SUBJECT TO SENATE CONFIRMATION.

(a) In General.--Section 207 of title 18, United States
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(m) Extended Post-employment Restrictions for Officials
in Positions Subject to Senate Confirmation.--
``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
``(A) Country of concern.--The term `country of concern'
has the meaning given the term in section 1(m) of the State
Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C.
2651a(m)).
``(B) Foreign governmental entity.--The term `foreign
governmental entity' has the meaning given the term in
section 1(m) of the State Department Basic Authorities Act of
1956 (22 U.S.C. 2651a(m)).
``(C) Represent.--The term `represent' does not include
representation by an attorney, who is duly licensed and
authorized to provide legal advice in a United States
jurisdiction, of a person or entity in a legal capacity or
for the purposes of rendering legal advice.
``(D) Senate-confirmed position.--The term `Senate-
confirmed position' means a position in a department or
agency of the executive branch of the United States for which
appointment is required to be made by the President, by and
with the advice and consent of the Senate.
``(2) Agency heads, deputy heads, and other positions
subject to senate confirmation.--Any person who serves in the
position of head or deputy head of, or serves in any Senate-
confirmed position in, a department or agency of the
executive branch of the United States, and who, at any time
after the termination of the person's service in that
position, knowingly represents, aids, or advises a foreign
governmental entity of a country of concern before an officer
or employee of the executive or legislative branch of the
United States with the intent to influence a decision of the
officer or employee in carrying out his or her official
duties shall be punished as provided in section 216.
``(3) Notice of restrictions.--Any person subject to the
restrictions under this subsection shall be provided notice
of these restrictions by the relevant department or agency--
``(A) upon appointment by the President; and
``(B) upon termination of service with the relevant
department or agency.
``(4) Effective date.--The restrictions under this
subsection shall apply only to persons who are appointed by
the President to the positions referenced in this section on
or after the date of enactment of the Conflict-free Leaving
Employment and Activity Restrictions Path Act.
``(5) Sunset.--The restrictions under this subsection shall
expire on the date that is 5 years after the date of
enactment of the Conflict-free Leaving Employment and
Activity Restrictions Path Act.''.
(b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 1(m) of the State
Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 2651a(m))
is amended--
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (6) and (7) as paragraphs
(8) and (9), respectively; and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (5) the following:
``(6) Relation to government-wide restrictions.--This
subsection shall not apply to a person by reason of the
person's service in a position referenced in this subsection
if the person is subject to the restrictions under section
207(m) of title 18, United States Code, by reason of the same
service.''.

SEC. 1094. MECHANISM TO AMEND DEFINITION OF ``COUNTRY OF
CONCERN''.

Section 1(m) of the State Department Basic Authorities Act
of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 2651a(m)) is amended by inserting after
paragraph (6), as added by section 1093(b), the end the
following:
``(7) Modification to definition of `country of concern'.--
``(A) In general.--The Secretary of State may, in
consultation with the Attorney General, propose the addition
or deletion of countries described in paragraph (1)(A).
``(B) Submission.--Any proposal described in subparagraph
(A) shall--
``(i) be submitted to the Chairman and Ranking Member of
the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the
Chairman and Ranking Member of the Committee on the Judiciary
of the House of Representatives; and
``(ii) become effective upon enactment of a joint
resolution of approval as described in subparagraph (C).
``(C) Joint resolution of approval.--
``(i) In general.--For purposes of subparagraph (B)(ii),
the term `joint resolution of approval' means only a joint
resolution--

``(I) that does not have a preamble;
``(II) that includes in the matter after the resolving
clause the following: `That Congress approves the
modification of the definition of ``country of concern''
under section 1(m) of the State Department Basic Authorities
Act of 1956, as submitted by the Secretary of State on ____;
and section 1(m)(1)(A) of the State Department Basic
Authorities Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 2651a(m)(1)(A)) is amended
by ______