[Congressional Bills 118th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 1702 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 118th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 1702 To amend PROMESA to include certain ethics provisions to provide for the disqualification of certain advisors to the Financial Oversight and Management Board, and for other purposes. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES March 22, 2023 Mrs. Gonzalez-Colon (for herself, Mr. Torres of New York, and Mr. Soto) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To amend PROMESA to include certain ethics provisions to provide for the disqualification of certain advisors to the Financial Oversight and Management Board, 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. DISQUALIFICATION OF CERTAIN ADVISORS TO THE FINANCIAL OVERSIGHT AND MANAGEMENT BOARD. Section 109 of PROMESA (48 U.S.C. 2129) is amended by adding at the end the following: ``(c) Disqualification of Certain Advisors.-- ``(1) Definition of covered contract.--In this subsection, the term `covered contract' means a contract with the territorial government or an instrumentality of the territorial government, the performance of which is within the jurisdiction of the Oversight Board under section 204(b). ``(2) Disqualification.--In accordance with the rules adopted by the Oversight Board under paragraph (3), any third- party advisory or consulting firm shall be disqualified from advising the Oversight Board for the duration of any period during which the firm has as a client, or provides advisory or other consulting services in any capacity to, an individual, corporation, association, organization, or other business entity, including a subsidiary, that is competing for, or is performing, a covered contract. ``(3) Rules.--For purposes of carrying out paragraph (2), the Oversight Board shall adopt rules to carry out the following: ``(A) To be eligible to advise or consult the Oversight Board with respect to the review, procurement, or performance of a covered contract, a third-party advisory or consulting firm shall certify to the Oversight Board that the third-party advisory or consulting firm is not disqualified from advising the Oversight Board under paragraph (2). ``(B) Any officer or employee of a third-party advisory or consulting firm who prepares, presents, or certifies any information or report with respect to the certification of the third-party advisory or consulting firm under subparagraph (A) for the Oversight Board, or any agent of the Oversight Board, that is intentionally false or misleading, or, on learning that any such information is false or misleading, fails to immediately advise the Oversight Board or an agent of the Oversight Board in writing, shall be subject to prosecution and penalties under law. ``(C) If, after an investigation conducted by the Oversight Board, the Oversight Board determines that a third-party advisory or consulting firm has provided services to the Oversight Board in violation of paragraph (2), has failed to submit a certification required under subparagraph (A), or is in violation of subparagraph (B) (including any rules adopted under subparagraph (A) or (B)), the Oversight Board shall immediately refer such information to the Attorney General for the covered territory and the Office of the United States Attorney for the covered territory.''. <all>