[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 11, Volume 1]
[Revised as of January 1, 2007]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 11CFR7.8]

[Page 34-35]
 
                       TITLE 11--FEDERAL ELECTIONS
 
                 CHAPTER I--FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION
 
PART 7_STANDARDS OF CONDUCT--Table of Contents
 
  Subpart B_Conduct and Responsibilities of Employees or Commissioners
 
Sec.  7.8  Gifts, entertainment, and favors.

    (a) A Commissioner or employee of the Federal Election Commission 
shall not solicit or accept, directly or indirectly, any gift, gratuity, 
favor, entertainment, loan, or any other thing of monetary value, from a 
person who:
    (1) Has, or is seeking to obtain, contractual or other business or 
financial relations with the Commission;
    (2) Conducts operations or activities that are regulated or examined 
by the Commission; or
    (3) Has interests that may be substantially affected by the 
performance or nonperformance of the Commissioner or employee's official 
duty.
    (b) Paragraph (a) of this section shall not apply:
    (1) Where obvious family or personal relationships govern when the 
circumstances make it clear that it is those relationships rather than 
the business of the persons concerned which are the motivating factors;
    (2) To the acceptance of food, refreshments, and accompanying 
entertainment of nominal value in the ordinary course of a social 
occasion or a luncheon or dinner meeting or other function where a 
Commissioner or an employee is properly in attendance;
    (3) To the acceptance of unsolicited advertising or promotional 
material or other items of nominal intrinsic value such as pens, 
pencils, note pads, calendars; and
    (4) To the acceptance of loans from banks or other financial 
institutions on customary terms to finance proper and usual activities, 
such as home mortgage loans.
    (c) A Commissioner or an employee shall not solicit a contribution 
from another employee for a gift to an official superior, make a 
donation as a gift to an official superior, or accept a gift from an 
employee receiving less pay than himself or herself. However, this 
paragraph does not prohibit a voluntary gift of nominal value or 
donation in a nominal amount made on a special occasion such as 
birthday, holiday, marriage, illness, or retirement.
    (d) A Commissioner or employee shall not accept a gift, present, 
decoration, or other thing from a foreign government unless authorized 
by Congress as provided by the Constitution and in section 7342 of title 
5, United States Code.
    (e) Neither this section nor 11 CFR 7.7 precludes a Commissioner or 
employee from receipt of a bona fide reimbursement, unless prohibited by 
law, for expenses of travel and such other necessary subsistence as is 
compatible with this part for which no Government payment or 
reimbursement is made. However, this section does not allow an employee 
or Commissioner to be reimbursed, or payment to be made on his or her 
behalf, for excessive personal living expenses, gifts, entertainment, or 
other personal benefits, nor does it allow an employee to be reimbursed 
by a person for travel on official

[[Page 35]]

business under agency orders when reimbursement is proscribed by 
Decision B-128527 of the Comptroller General dated March 7, 1967 (46 
Comp. Gen. 689).