1. U.S. Code
  2. title 18
  3. part I
  4. chapter 23
  5. § 441

Collapse to view only § 441. Postal supply contracts

§ 431. Contracts by Member of Congress

Whoever, being a Member of or Delegate to Congress, or a Resident Commissioner, either before or after he has qualified, directly or indirectly, himself, or by any other person in trust for him, or for his use or benefit, or on his account, undertakes, executes, holds, or enjoys, in whole or in part, any contract or agreement, made or entered into in behalf of the United States or any agency thereof, by any officer or person authorized to make contracts on its behalf, shall be fined under this title.

All contracts or agreements made in violation of this section shall be void; and whenever any sum of money is advanced by the United States or any agency thereof, in consideration of any such contract or agreement, it shall forthwith be repaid; and in case of failure or refusal to repay the same when demanded by the proper officer of the department or agency under whose authority such contract or agreement shall have been made or entered into, suit shall at once be brought against the person so failing or refusing and his sureties for the recovery of the money so advanced.

(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 702; Oct. 31, 1951, ch. 655, § 19, 65 Stat. 717; Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, § 330016(1)(J), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2147.)

CITE AS: 18 USC 431

§ 432. Officer or employee contracting with Member of Congress

Whoever, being an officer or employee of the United States, on behalf of the United States or any agency thereof, directly or indirectly makes or enters into any contract, bargain, or agreement, with any Member of or Delegate to Congress, or any Resident Commissioner, either before or after he has qualified, shall be fined under this title.

(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 702; Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, § 330016(1)(J), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2147.)

CITE AS: 18 USC 432

§ 433. Exemptions with respect to certain contracts

Sections 431 and 432 of this title shall not extend to any contract or agreement made or entered into, or accepted by any incorporated company for the general benefit of such corporation; nor to the purchase or sale of bills of exchange or other property where the same are ready for delivery and payment therefor is made at the time of making or entering into the contract or agreement. Nor shall the provisions of such sections apply to advances, loans, discounts, purchase or repurchase agreements, extensions, or renewals thereof, or acceptances, releases or substitutions of security therefor or other contracts or agreements made or entered into under the Reconstruction Finance Corporation Act, the Agricultural Adjustment Act, the Federal Farm Loan Act, the Emergency Farm Mortgage Act of 1933, the Farm Credit Act of 1933, or the Home Owners Loan Act of 1933, the Farmers’ Home Administration Act of 1946, the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act, or to crop insurance agreements or contracts or agreements of a kind which the Secretary of Agriculture may enter into with farmers.

Any exemption permitted by this section shall be made a matter of public record.

(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 703; Pub. L. 87–353, § 3(o), Oct. 4, 1961, 75 Stat. 774.)

CITE AS: 18 USC 433

[§ 434. Repealed. Pub. L. 87–849, § 2, Oct. 23, 1962, 76 Stat. 1126]

CITE AS: 18 USC 434

§ 435. Contracts in excess of specific appropriation

Whoever, being an officer or employee of the United States, knowingly contracts for the erection, repair, or furnishing of any public building, or for any public improvement, to pay a larger amount than the specific sum appropriated for such purpose, shall be fined under this title 1

1 See 1994 Amendment note below.
or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.

(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 703; Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, § 330016(1)(K), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2147.)

CITE AS: 18 USC 435

§ 436. Convict labor contracts

Whoever, being an officer, employee, or agent of the United States or any department or agency thereof, contracts with any person or corporation, or permits any warden, agent, or official of any penal or correctional institution, to hire out the labor of any prisoners confined for violation of any laws of the United States, shall be fined under this title 1

1 See 1994 Amendment note below.
or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.

(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 703; Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, § 330016(1)(K), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2147.)

CITE AS: 18 USC 436

[§ 437. Repealed. Pub. L. 104–178, § 1(a), Aug. 6, 1996, 110 Stat. 1565]

CITE AS: 18 USC 437

[§§ 438, 439. Repealed. Pub. L. 106–568, title VIII, § 812(c)(2), Dec. 27, 2000, 114 Stat. 2917]

CITE AS: 18 USC 438, 439

§ 440. Mail contracts

Whoever, being a person employed in the Postal Service, becomes interested in any contract for carrying the mail, or acts as agent, with or without compensation, for any contractor or person offering to become a contractor in any business before the Postal Service, shall be fined under this title 1

1 See 1994 Amendment note below.
or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.

(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 704; Pub. L. 91–375, § 6(j)(3), Aug. 12, 1970, 84 Stat. 777; Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, § 330016(1)(L), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2147.)

CITE AS: 18 USC 440

§ 441. Postal supply contracts

No contract for furnishing supplies to the Postal Service shall be made with any person who has entered, or proposed to enter, into any combination to prevent the making of any bid for furnishing such supplies, or to fix a price or prices therefor, or who has made any agreement, or given or performed, or promised to give or perform, any consideration whatever to induce any other person not to bid for any such contract, or to bid at a specified price or prices thereon.

Whoever violates this section shall be fined under this title 1

1 See 1994 Amendment note below.
or imprisoned not more than one year, or both; and if the offender is a contractor for furnishing such supplies his contract may be annulled.

(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 704; Pub. L. 91–375, § 6(j)(4), Aug. 12, 1970, 84 Stat. 777; Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, § 330016(1)(L), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2147.)

CITE AS: 18 USC 441

§ 442. Government Publishing Office
(a)Definitions.—In this section—
(1) the terms “diversified”, “employee benefit plan”, “holdings”, “mutual fund”, and “unit investment trust” have the meanings given those terms under section 2640.102 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor thereto; and
(2) the term “printing-related interest” means an interest, direct or indirect, in—
(A) the publication of any newspaper or periodical;
(B) any printing, binding, engraving, or lithographing of any kind; or
(C) any contract for furnishing paper or other material connected with the public printing, binding, lithographing, or engraving.
(b)Offense.—
(1)In general.—Except as provided in paragraph (2), the Director of the Government Publishing Office, Deputy Director of the Government Publishing Office, nor 1
1 So in original.
any of their assistants as determined by the Director of the Government Publishing Office shall not,1 during his or her continuance in office, have any printing-related interest.
(2)Exception for mutual funds, unit investment trusts, employee benefit plans, and retirement plans.—It shall not be a violation of paragraph (1) for an individual who is described in such paragraph to have an interest in a diversified mutual fund, diversified unit investment trust, employee benefit plan, investment fund under the Thrift Savings Plan under subchapter III of chapter 84 of title 5, or pension plan established or maintained by a State government or any political subdivision of a State government for its employees that has 1 or more holdings that are printing-related interests if the fund, trust, or plan does not exhibit a practice of concentrating in printing-related interests.
(3)Authority of supervising ethics office.—The supervising ethics office for the Government Publishing Office under the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) 2
2 See References in Text note below.
shall have the authority to issue rules and promulgate regulations governing the implementation of this subsection.
(c)Penalty.—Whoever violates subsection (b)(1) shall be fined under this title, imprisoned for not more than 1 year, or both.
(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 704; Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, § 330016(1)(H), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2147; Pub. L. 116–78, § 1(a), Dec. 5, 2019, 133 Stat. 1175.)

CITE AS: 18 USC 442

§ 443. War contracts
Whoever willfully secretes, mutilates, obliterates, or destroys—
(a) any records of a war contractor relating to the negotiation, award, performance, payment, interim financing, cancellation or other termination, or settlement of a war contract of $25,000 or more; or
(b) any records of a war contractor or purchaser relating to any disposition of termination inventory in which the consideration received by any war contractor or any government agency is $5,000 or more,
before the lapse of (1) five years after such disposition of termination inventory by such war contractor or government agency, or (2) five years after the final settlement of such war contract, whichever applicable period is longer, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.
The Administrator of General Services, by regulation, may authorize the destruction of such records upon such terms and conditions as he deems appropriate, including the requirement for the making and retaining of photographs or microphotographs, which shall have the same force and effect as the originals thereof.
The definitions of terms in section 103 1
1 See References in Text note below.
of Title 41 shall apply to similar terms used in this section.
(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 704; Oct. 31, 1951, ch. 655, § 20(a), 65 Stat. 717; Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, §§ 330004(17), 330016(2)(F), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2142, 2148.)

CITE AS: 18 USC 443