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To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide for increased penalties for sex offenses committed by officers of the United States and Members of Congress, and for other purposes.
Summary
- Increases penalties for sex offenses committed by federal officers and Members of Congress to include death or imprisonment for any term of years or for life.
- Applies enhanced penalties to sex trafficking, sexual abuse, aggravated sexual abuse, and sexual exploitation of minors when committed by federal officers or Congress members.
- Applies enhanced penalties to child pornography offenses and child sexual exploitation offenses when committed by federal officers or Congress members.
- Creates a new federal crime of adultery for federal officers and Members of Congress, punishable by up to one year imprisonment.
- Applies these increased penalties across multiple federal sex offense statutes to establish harsher consequences for federal officials and Congress members.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
- Rep. Fuller, Clay [R-GA-14] (R-GA)
Actions (2)
- Jun 30, 2026 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. · house
- Jun 30, 2026 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 30, 2026
Mr. Fuller introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide for increased penalties for sex offenses committed by officers of the United States and Members of Congress, 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. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Holding Officials to Necessary Ethical Standards and Transparency Act of 2026” or the “HONEST Act of 2026”.
SEC. 2. INCREASED PENALTIES FOR SEX OFFENSES COMMITTED BY OFFICERS OF THE UNITED STATES AND MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.
(a) Female Genital Mutilation.—Section 116(a) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting before the period at the end the following: “, or if the offender is an officer of the United States or a Member of Congress, be fined under this title, and punished by death or imprisoned for any term of years or for life”.
(b) Penalties for Civil Rights Offenses Involving Sexual Misconduct.—Section 250(b) of title 18, United States Code, is amended—
(1) in paragraph (5)(B), by striking “and” at the end;
(2) in paragraph (6)(B), by striking the period at the end and inserting “; and”; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
“(7) in the case of an offense with respect to which the offender is an officer of the United States or a Member of Congress, fined under this title, and punished by death or imprisonment for any term of years or for life.”.
(c) Sex Trafficking of Children or by Force, Fraud, or Coercion.— Section 1591(b) of title 18, United States Code, is amended—
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking “or” at the end;
(2) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at the end and inserting “; or”; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
“(3) if the offense was carried out by an officer of the United States or a Member of Congress, by a fine under this title, and by death or imprisonment for any term of years or for life.”.
(d) Aggravated Sexual Abuse.—Section 2241 of title 18, United States Code, is amended—
(1) in subsection (a), by inserting before the period at the end the following: “, or if the offender is an officer of the United States or a Member of Congress, be fined under this title, and punished by death or imprisoned for any term of years or for life”;
(2) in subsection (b), by inserting before the period at the end the following: “, or if the offender is an officer of the United States or a Member of Congress, be fined under this title, and punished by death or imprisoned for any term of years or for life”; and
(3) in subsection (c), by inserting after “not less than 30 years or for life” the following: “, or if the offender is an officer of the United States or a Member of Congress, be fined under this title, and punished by death or imprisoned for any term of years or for life”.
(e) Sexual Abuse of a Minor, a Ward, or an Individual in Federal Custody.—Section 2243 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(f) Offenses by Federal Officials or Members of Congress.— Whoever, being an officer of the United States or a Member of Congress, commits an offense under this section shall be fined under this title, and punished by death or imprisonment for any term of years or for life.”.
(f) Abusive Sexual Contact.—Section 2244 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(d) Offenses by Federal Officials or Members of Congress.— Whoever, being an officer of the United States or a Member of Congress, commits an offense under this section shall be fined under this title, and punished by death or imprisonment for any term of years or for life.”.
(g) Sexual Exploitation of Children.—Section 2251(e) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting after “not less than 35 years nor more than life” the following: “, but if such person is an officer of the United States or a Member of Congress, such person shall be fined under this title, and punished by death or imprisonment for any term of years or for life”.
(h) Selling or Buying of Children.—Section 2251A of title 18, United States Code, is amended—
(1) in subsection (a), by inserting after “and by a fine under this title” the following: “, or if the offender is an officer of the United States or a Member of Congress, be fined under this title, and punished by death or imprisoned for any term of years or for life”; and
(2) in subsection (b), by inserting after “and by a fine under this title” the following: “, or if the offender is an officer of the United States or a Member of Congress, be fined under this title, and punished by death or imprisoned for any term of years or for life”.
(i) Certain Activities Relating to Material Involving the Sexual Exploitation of Minors.—Section 2252(b) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(3) Whoever, being an officer of the United States or a Member of Congress, violates, or attempts or conspires to violate, subsection (a), shall be fined under this title, and punished by death or imprisoned for any term of years or for life.”.
(j) Certain Activities Relating to Material Constituting or Containing Child Pornography.—Section 2252A(b) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(4) Whoever, being an officer of the United States or a Member of Congress, violates, or attempts or conspires to violate, subsection (a), shall be fined under this title, and punished by death or imprisoned for any term of years or for life.”.
(k) Sexual Abuse.—Section 2422 of title 18, United States Code, is amended—
(1) in subsection (a), by inserting before the period at the end the following: “, or if the offender is an officer of the United States or a Member of Congress, be fined under this title, and punished by death or imprisoned for any term of years or for life”.
(2) in subsection (b), by inserting before the period at the end the following: “, or if the offender is an officer of the United States or a Member of Congress, be fined under this title, and punished by death or imprisoned for any term of years or for life”.
(l) Transportation of Minors.—Section 2423 of title 18, United States Code, is amended—
(1) by redesignating subsections (g) through (i) as subsection (h) through (j), respectively; and
(2) by inserting after subsection (f) the following:
“(g) Offenses by Federal Officials.—Whoever, being an officer of the United States or a Member of Congress, commits an offense under this section shall be fined under this title, and punished by death or imprisonment for any term of years or for life.”.
SEC. 3. FEDERAL ADULTERY OFFENSE FOR OFFICERS OF THE UNITED STATES AND MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.
(a) Offense.—Chapter 93 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: “Sec. 1925. Adultery by officers of the United States and Members of Congress “Whoever, being an officer of the United States or a Member of Congress, in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, knowingly engages in sexual intercourse (including genital-genital, oral-genital, anal-genital, or oral-anal, whether between persons of the same or opposite sex) with a person, and at the time of such conduct, the officer or Member or the person with whom the officer or Member engaged in such conduct, was married to another person, shall be fined under this title, and imprisoned for not more than one year, or both.”.
(b) Clerical Amendment.—The table of sections for chapter 93 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
“1925. Adultery by officers of the United States and Members of Congress.”. <all>
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