Crimes and Criminal Procedure - 18 USC Section 203

01/19/04

Sec. 203. Compensation to Members of Congress, officers, and others
in matters affecting the Government

(a) Whoever, otherwise than as provided by law for the proper
discharge of official duties, directly or indirectly -

(1) demands, seeks, receives, accepts, or agrees to receive or
accept any compensation for any representational services, as
agent or attorney or otherwise, rendered or to be rendered either
personally or by another -

(A) at a time when such person is a Member of Congress,

Member of Congress Elect, Delegate, Delegate Elect, Resident

Commissioner, or Resident Commissioner Elect; or

(B) at a time when such person is an officer or employee or

Federal judge of the United States in the executive,

legislative, or judicial branch of the Government, or in any

agency of the United States,
in relation to any proceeding, application, request for a ruling
or other determination, contract, claim, controversy, charge,
accusation, arrest, or other particular matter in which the
United States is a party or has a direct and substantial
interest, before any department, agency, court, court-martial,
officer, or any civil, military, or naval commission; or

(2) knowingly gives, promises, or offers any compensation for
any such representational services rendered or to be rendered at
a time when the person to whom the compensation is given,
promised, or offered, is or was such a Member, Member Elect,
Delegate, Delegate Elect, Commissioner, Commissioner Elect,
Federal judge, officer, or employee;

shall be subject to the penalties set forth in section 216 of
this title.
(b) Whoever, otherwise than as provided by law for the proper
discharge of official duties, directly or indirectly -

(1) demands, seeks, receives, accepts, or agrees to receive or
accept any compensation for any representational services, as
agent or attorney or otherwise, rendered or to be rendered either
personally or by another, at a time when such person is an
officer or employee of the District of Columbia, in relation to
any proceeding, application, request for a ruling or other
determination, contract, claim, controversy, charge, accusation,
arrest, or other particular matter in which the District of
Columbia is a party or has a direct and substantial interest,
before any department, agency, court, officer, or commission; or

(2) knowingly gives, promises, or offers any compensation for
any such representational services rendered or to be rendered at
a time when the person to whom the compensation is given,
promised, or offered, is or was an officer or employee of the
District of Columbia;
shall be subject to the penalties set forth in section 216 of this
title.
(c) A special Government employee shall be subject to subsections
(a) and (b) only in relation to a particular matter involving a
specific party or parties -

(1) in which such employee has at any time participated
personally and substantially as a Government employee or as a
special Government employee through decision, approval,
disapproval, recommendation, the rendering of advice,
investigation or otherwise; or

(2) which is pending in the department or agency of the
Government in which such employee is serving except that
paragraph (2) of this subsection shall not apply in the case of a
special Government employee who has served in such department or
agency no more than sixty days during the immediately preceding
period of three hundred and sixty-five consecutive days.
(d) Nothing in this section prevents an officer or employee,
including a special Government employee, from acting, with or
without compensation, as agent or attorney for or otherwise
representing his parents, spouse, child, or any person for whom, or
for any estate for which, he is serving as guardian, executor,
administrator, trustee, or other personal fiduciary except -

(1) in those matters in which he has participated personally
and substantially as a Government employee or as a special
Government employee through decision, approval, disapproval,
recommendation, the rendering of advice, investigation, or
otherwise; or

(2) in those matters that are the subject of his official
responsibility,
subject to approval by the Government official responsible for
appointment to his position.
(e) Nothing in this section prevents a special Government
employee from acting as agent or attorney for another person in the
performance of work under a grant by, or a contract with or for the
benefit of, the United States if the head of the department or
agency concerned with the grant or contract certifies in writing
that the national interest so requires and publishes such
certification in the Federal Register.
(f) Nothing in this section prevents an individual from giving
testimony under oath or from making statements required to be made
under penalty of perjury.

AMENDMENTS
1990 - Subsec. (a)(1)(B). Pub. L. 101-280, Sec. 5(b)(1), inserted
"or Federal judge" after "employee".
Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 101-280, Sec. 5(b)(2), inserted
"Commissioner Elect, Federal judge," after "Commissioner,".
Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 101-280, Sec. 5(b)(3), inserted
"representational" before "services".
Subsec. (d)(1). Pub. L. 101-280, Sec. 5(b)(4), substituted
"Government employee or as a special Government employee" for
"Government employee,".
Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 101-280, Sec. 5(b)(5), added subsec. (f).
1989 - Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 101-194, Sec. 402(3), in concluding
provisions, substituted "shall be subject to the penalties set
forth in section 216 of this title" for "shall be fined under this
title or imprisoned for not more than two years, or both; and shall
be incapable of holding any office of honor, trust, or profit under
the United States".
Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 101-194, Sec. 402(1), (2), (7), in
introductory provisions, substituted "representational services, as
agent or attorney or otherwise," for "services", in concluding
provisions, inserted "court," after "department, agency," and in
subpar. (B), struck out "including the District of Columbia," after
"agency of the United States".
Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 101-194, Sec. 402(4)-(6), inserted
"representational" before "services", "Member Elect," after
"Member," and "Delegate Elect," after "Delegate,".
Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 101-194, Sec. 402(9), added subsec. (b).
Former subsec. (b) redesignated (c).
Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 101-194, Sec. 402(8), redesignated subsec.
(b) as (c) and substituted "subsections (a) and (b)" for
"subsection (a)".
Subsecs. (d), (e). Pub. L. 101-194, Sec. 402(10), added subsecs.
(d) and (e).
1986 - Pub. L. 99-646, Sec. 47(a)(3)(D), provided for alignment
of margins of each subsection, paragraph, and subparagraph of this
section.
Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 99-646, Sec. 47(a)(1), (2), substituted
"indirectly - " for "indirectly" in introductory provisions,
redesignated the undesignated par. which followed former subsec.
(b) as concluding par. of subsec. (a), and substituted "shall be
fined under this title" for "Shall be fined not more than $10,000".
Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 99-646, Sec. 47(a)(1), substituted "(1)
demands, seeks, receives, accepts, or agrees to receive or accept
any" for "receives or agrees to receive, or asks, demands,
solicits, or seeks, any" and "personally or by" for "by himself
or", redesignated former par. (1) as subpar. (A) and substituted
"such person" for "he" and "Delegate, Delegate Elect" for "Delegate
from the District of Columbia, Delegate Elect from the District of
Columbia", redesignated former par. (2) as subpar. (B) and
substituted "such person" for "he", and in closing provisions
substituted "commission; or" for "commission, or".
Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 99-646, Sec. 47(a)(2), redesignated
former subsec. (b) as par. (2) and substituted "knowingly gives"
for "Whoever, knowingly, otherwise than as provided by law for the
proper discharge of official duties, directly or indirectly gives"
and "employee;" for "employee - ".
Subsecs. (b), (c). Pub. L. 99-646, Sec. 47(a)(3), (4),
redesignated former subsec. (c) as (b) and substituted "parties - "
for "parties", "such employee" for "he", "otherwise; or" for
"otherwise, or", and "in which such employee is serving except that
paragraph (2) of this subsection" for "in which he is serving:
Provided, That clause (2)". Former subsec. (b) redesignated (a)(2).
1970 - Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 91-405, Sec. 204(d)(2), included
references to Delegate from District of Columbia and Delegate Elect
from District of Columbia.
Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 91-405, Sec. 204(d)(3), included reference
to Delegate.

EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1986 AMENDMENT
Section 47(b) of Pub. L. 99-646 provided that: "The amendments
made by this section [amending this section] shall take effect 30
days after the date of enactment of this Act [Nov. 10, 1986]."

EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1970 AMENDMENT
Amendment by Pub. L. 91-405 effective Sept. 22, 1970, see section
206(b) of Pub. L. 91-405, set out as an Effective Date note under
section 25a of Title 2, The Congress.

EFFECTIVE DATE
Section effective 90 days after Oct. 23, 1962, see section 4 of
Pub. L. 87-849, set out as a note under section 201 of this title.
PRIVATE SECTOR REPRESENTATIVES ON UNITED STATES DELEGATIONS TO

INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS MEETINGS AND CONFERENCES
Pub. L. 97-241, title I, Sec. 120, Aug. 24, 1982, 96 Stat. 280,
provided that:
"(a) Sections 203, 205, 207, and 208 of title 18, United States
Code, shall not apply to a private sector representative on the
United States delegation to an international telecommunications
meeting or conference who is specifically designated to speak on
behalf of or otherwise represent the interests of the United States
at such meeting or conference with respect to a particular matter,
if the Secretary of State (or the Secretary's designee) certifies
that no Government employee on the delegation is as well qualified
to represent United States interests with respect to such matter
and that such designation serves the national interest. All such
representatives shall have on file with the Department of State the
financial disclosure report required for special Government
employees.
"(b) As used in this section, the term 'international
telecommunications meeting or conference' means the conferences of
the International Telecommunications Union, meetings of its
International Consultative Committees for Radio and for Telephone
and Telegraph, and such other international telecommunications
meetings or conferences as the Secretary of State may designate."

Last modified: April 12, 2006

Crimes and Criminal Procedure - 18 USC Section 203

Sec. 203. Compensation to Members of Congress, officers, and others in matters affecting the Government

Sec. 203. Compensation to Members of Congress, officers, and others
in matters affecting the Government