"...Members, officers, candidates, and certain employees must file annual Financial Disclosure Statements, summarizing financial information concerning themselves, their spouses, and dependent children. Among other information, these statements must disclose outside compensation, investments and assets, and business transactions...

Members, officers, and certain employees must annually disclose personal financial interests, including investments, income, and liabilities. Financial disclosure provisions were enacted to monitor and to deter possible conflicts of interest due to outside financial holdings...

A report must be physically filed or postmarked by the due date, unless an extension has been granted by the Committee pursuant to a written request. Total extensions for any report may not exceed 90 days. An individual who files a report more than 30 days after it is due must pay a late filing fee of $200, unless the Committee waives the fee in exceptional circumstances.

Within 60 days of receipt, the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct reviews Financial Disclosure Statements of filers under its jurisdiction to determine whether the reports have been filed in a timely manner, appear substantially accurate and complete, and comply with applicable conflict of interest laws and rules. If the review indicates a possible problem, the reporting individual is notified and given an opportunity to amend within a specified period...

The House Clerk retains the reports of House Members and employees for six years and the reports of unsuccessful candidates for one year. The Clerk makes all forms on file available for inspection by the public within thirty days of receipt. In addition, pursuant to the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act, the Clerk must make the reports of all Members filed after June 1, 2008 available on a public, searchable website within 45 days of their filing.

Anyone wishing to review a report on file with the Clerk must provide his or her name, occupation, and address; the name of any other person or entity on whose behalf the information is sought; and a statement that he or she is aware of the prohibitions on use of the information...

The financial disclosure provisions of EIGA [Ethics in Government Act of 1978] have been incorporated by reference as a rule of the House of Representatives,58 over which the Standards Committee has jurisdiction. In addition to any Committee action, EIGA authorizes the Attorney General of the United States to seek a civil penalty of up to $11,000 against an individual who knowingly and willfully falsifies or fails to file or to report any required information. Moreover, under federal criminal law, anyone who knowingly and willfully falsifies or conceals any material fact in a statement to the government may be fined up to $11,000, imprisoned for up to five years, or both."

2008 - US House Ethics Manual (4.12 MB)  

"Pursuant to statute and rule, Members, officers, and certain employees of Congress are required to file comprehensive annual public financial disclosure reports...

[P]ublic disclosure of assets, financial interests, and investments has been required and is generally regarded as the preferred method of monitoring possible conflicts of interest of Members of the Senate and certain Senate staff. Public disclosure is intended to provide the information necessary to allow Members’ constituencies to judge official conduct in light of possible financial conflicts with private holdings.

The Senate has required some financial disclosure by rule since 1968, and public reporting by statute since 1978... The Ethics Reform Act of 1989 revised and condensed what had been different requirements for each branch into one uniform title covering the entire Federal Government. Filers now must indicate outside compensation, holdings, transactions, liabilities, positions held and gifts received on their Financial Disclosure Reports...

All reports are filed with the Office of Public Records of the Secretary of the Senate. A report must be physically filed or postmarked by the due date, unless an extension has been granted by the Committee in response to a written request by the filer. Total extensions for any report may not exceed 90 days. The Committee may not grant an extension that was requested by the filer after expiration of the 30 day 'grace' period following the Report’s due date. An individual who files a report more than 30 days after it is due must pay a penalty of $200 when he or she files the report, unless the Committee waives the penalty...

Within 60 days of receipt, the Committee reviews the Reports to determine whether they have been filed in a timely manner and whether their contents have been disclosed accurately and in compliance with the law and Senate Rule...Within thirty days of filing, Reports will be disclosed to any requesting party by the Senate Office of Public Records. All Reports will remain available on microfilm for public inspection for a period of six years after receipt. Any person requesting actual copies of Reports is required to pay a reasonable fee ($0.20 per page in 2000) to cover production and mailing. Filers may also inspect applications by the public for review of their own Report at the Office of Public Records...

The financial disclosure provisions of the Ethics in Government Act have been incorporated as Senate Rule 34, over which the Committee has jurisdiction. In addition to any Committee action, the Ethics in Government Act authorizes the Attorney General of the United States to seek a civil penalty of up to $11,000 against an individual who knowingly and willfully falsifies or fails to file or to report any required information. Moreover, anyone who knowingly and willfully falsifies or conceals any material fact in a statement to the Government may be fined up to $11,000 and is subject to criminal prosecution. The Committee is authorized to render advisory opinions interpreting the financial disclosure provisions of the Ethics in Government Act for any person under its jurisdiction. An individual who acts in good faith in accordance with a written advisory opinion shall not be subject to any sanction under the Act."

2003 - US Senate Ethics Manual (2.83 MB)