II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2259 

To establish an Office of Public Integrity in the Congress and a Congressional 

Ethics Enforcement Commission. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 8, 2006 

Mr. OBAMA introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To establish an Office of Public Integrity in the Congress 

and a Congressional Ethics Enforcement Commission. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Congressional Ethics 

5 Enforcement Commission Act of 2006’’. 

6 SEC. 2. OFFICE OF PUBLIC INTEGRITY. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the legisla8 tive branch an independent office to be known as the ‘‘Of9 fice of Public Integrity’’ (referred to in this Act as the 
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1 ‘‘Office’’) the authority of which shall be vested in the 

2 Commission established in section 3. 

3 (b) AUTHORITY.—The Commission shall have the fol4 lowing authority: 

5 (1) Investigating lobbying disclosures filed with 

6 the Senate and the House of Representatives. 

7 (2) Investigating Senate members and staff who 

8 violate restrictions on interactions with lobbyists, as 

9 provided in section 4. 

10 (3) Conducting research concerning govern11 mental ethics and implement any public educational 

12 programs it considers necessary to give effect to this 

13 Act. 

14 (4) Reporting, not later than December 1 of 

15 each year, to the Senate Select Committee on Ethics 

16 and the House Committee on Standards of Official 

17 Conduct on the Commission’s activities in the pre18 ceding fiscal year which report shall include a sum19 mary of Commission determinations and advisory 

20 opinions. The report may contain recommendations 

21 on matters within the Commission’s jurisdiction. 

22 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL ETHICS ENFORCEMENT COMMIS23 SION. 

24 (a) MEMBERSHIP.—The Congressional Ethics En25 forcement Commission shall consist of 9 members— 
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1 (1) 2 of whom shall be appointed by the Major2 ity Leader of the Senate; 

3 (2) 2 of whom shall be appointed by the Minor4 ity Leader of the Senate; 

5 (3) 2 of whom shall be appointed by Speaker of 

6 the House; 

7 (4) 2 of whom shall be appointed by the Minor8 ity Leader of the House; and 

9 (5) the last member shall be chosen by agree10 ment of at least 3 of the Speaker, the Senate Major11 ity Leader, the House Minority Leader, and the 

12 Senate Minority Leader 

13 All members of the Commission shall be United States 

14 citizens. Of the 2 members each appointed by the Senate 

15 Majority Leader and Minority Leader, the Speaker of the 

16 House, and the Minority Leader for the House, 1 shall 

17 be a former judge, and 1 shall be a former member of 

18 Congress. 

19 (b) PAY AND STAFF.—Commissioners shall receive a 

20 $100 per diem for each day of service for the Commission. 

21 Each Commissioner shall have 1 enforcement counsel as 

22 staff, housed in an Office of Public Integrity created by 

23 this Act. 

24 (c) TERMS OF SERVICE.—The members of the Com25 mission shall be appointed not later than 60 days after 
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1 the investment of this Act to serve a 2-year term. There2 after, each member shall serve 4-year terms. 

3 (d) VACANCIES.—Vacancies in membership of the 

4 Commission shall be filled by appointment by the original 

5 appointing authority in the same manner as the original 

6 appointments. 

7 (e) LIMITS ON EMPLOYMENT.—While serving on the 

8 Commission, a member shall not— 

9 (1) serve as a fundraiser for a Senate or House 

10 candidate; 

11 (2) contribute to a candidate for Federal office; 

12 (3) serve as an officer in a political party; 

13 (4) participate in the management or conduct 

14 of the political campaign of a candidate; or 

15 (5) serve as a registered lobbyist. 

16 (f) DISMISSAL.—A member of the Commission may 

17 be removed only by unanimous agreement between the 

18 Speaker of the House, the Minority Leader of the House, 

19 the Majority Leader of the Senate, and the Minority Lead20 er of the Senate, and only for cause. 

21 (g) CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR.—The chair and the vice 

22 chair of the Commission shall be elected by a majority vote 

23 of the members of the Commission. The chair and the vice 

24 chair shall serve terms of 1 year and may be reelected. 

25 The chair shall preside at meetings of the Commission. 
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1 The vice chair shall preside in the absence or disability 

2 of the chair. 

3 (h) MEETINGS.—The Commission shall meet not 

4 later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act. 

5 The time and place of the meeting shall be determined 

6 by the chair. Thereafter, the Commission shall meet twice 

7 a year or at such times deemed necessary at the call of 

8 the chair or a majority of its members. 

9 (i) QUORUM.—A quorum of the Commission shall 

10 consist of 5 or more members. 

11 (j) VOTE REQUIRED.—An affirmative vote of 5 or 

12 more members shall be necessary for Commission action. 

13 SEC. 4. INVESTIGATIONS AND REPORTS. 

14 (a) COMPLAINTS.— 

15 (1) SWORN COMPLAINT.— 

16 (A) CITIZEN INITIATED.—The Commission 

17 may only initiate an investigation as a result of 

18 a sworn complaint filed by a citizen of the 

19 United States. 

20 (B) BAN ON FILING PRIOR TO ELEC21 TION.—The Commission may not accept 

22 charges filed in the— 

23 (i) 30 days prior to a primary election 

24 for which the Member in question is a can25 didate; and 
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1 (ii) 60 days prior to a general election 

2 for which the Member in question is a can3 didate. 

4 (2) CONTENT.—The complaint shall be a nota5 rized written statement alleging a violation against 

6 1 or more named persons and stating the essential 

7 facts constituting the violation charged. The Com8 mission shall have no jurisdiction in absence of a 

9 complaint. A member of the Commission may file a 

10 complaint. 

11 (3) SERVICE.—Not later than 10 days after the 

12 filing of a complaint, the Commission shall cause a 

13 copy of the complaint to be served upon the person 

14 alleged to have committed the violation. 

15 (4) ANSWER.—Not later than 20 days after 

16 service of the complaint, the person alleged to have 

17 committed the violation may file an answer with the 

18 Commission. The filing of an answer is wholly per19 missive, and no inferences shall be drawn from the 

20 failure to file an answer. 

21 (b) INQUIRY.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 10 days after 

23 the Commission receives the answer under sub24 section (a)(4), or the time expires for the filing of 

25 an answer, the Commission shall initiate a prelimi-
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1 nary inquiry into any alleged violation of this code. 

2 If a majority of the Commission staff determines 

3 that the complaint fails to state a claim of an ethics 

4 violation or is clearly spurious, the complaint shall 

5 be dismissed. 

6 (2) STATUS.—Not later than 30 days after the 

7 commencement of the inquiry, the Commission staff 

8 shall give notice of the status of the complaint and 

9 a general statement of the applicable law to the per10 son alleged to have committed a violation. 

11 (c) RIGHTS OF ALLEGED VIOLATOR.—The Commis12 sion shall afford a person who is the subject of a prelimi13 nary inquiry an opportunity to appear in response to the 

14 allegations in the complaint. The person shall have the 

15 right to be represented by counsel, to appear and be heard 

16 under oath, and to offer evidence in response to the allega17 tions in the complaint. 

18 (d) COMMISSION PROCEEDING.—All Commission pro19 ceedings, including the complaint and answer and other 

20 records relating to a preliminary inquiry, shall be con21 fidential until a final determination is made by the Com22 mission, except— 

23 (1) the Commission may, at any time, turn over 

24 to the Attorney General of the United States evi-
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1 dence which may be used in criminal proceedings; 

2 and 

3 (2) if the complainant or alleged violator pub4 licly discloses the existence of a preliminary inquiry, 

5 the Commission may publicly confirm the existence 

6 of the inquiry and, in its discretion, make public any 

7 documents which were issued to either party. 

8 (e) DISPOSITION.—If the Commission— 

9 (1) determines by the answer or in the prelimi10 nary inquiry that the complaint does not allege facts 

11 sufficient to constitute a violation of the rules of the 

12 Senate or the House of Representatives or the Lob13 bying Disclosure Act of 1995, the Commission— 

14 (A) shall immediately terminate the matter 

15 and notify in writing the complainant and the 

16 person alleged to have committed a violation; 

17 (B) may confidentially inform the alleged 

18 violator of potential violations and provide in19 formation to ensure future compliance with the 

20 law; and 

21 (C) if the alleged violator publicly discloses 

22 the existence of such action by the Commission, 

23 may confirm the existence of the action and, in 

24 its discretion, make public any documents that 

25 were issued to the alleged violator; and 
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1 (2) during the course of the preliminary in2 quiry, finds probable cause to believe that an ethics 

3 violation has occurred, the Commission— 

4 (A) shall notify the alleged violator of the 

5 finding; and 

6 (B) may, upon majority vote, either— 

7 (i) due to mitigating circumstances 

8 such as lack of significant economic advan9 tage or gain by the alleged violator, lack of 

10 significant economic loss to the state, or 

11 lack of significant impact on public con12 fidence in government— 

13 (I) confidentially reprimand, in 

14 writing, the alleged violator for poten15 tial violations of the law and provide 

16 a copy of the reprimand to the pre17 siding officer of the House in which 

18 the alleged violator serves, or the al19 leged violator’s employer, if the al20 leged violator is a legislative agent; or 

21 (II) if the alleged violator pub22 licly discloses the existence of such an 

23 action, confirm the existence of the 

24 action and, in its discretion, make 
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1 public any documents which were 

2 issued to the alleged violator; or 

3 (ii) initiate an adjudicatory proceeding 

4 to determine whether to present a case to 

5 the Select Committee on Ethics of the Sen6 ate or the Committee on Standards of Offi7 cial Conduct of the House of Representa8 tives as to whether there has been a viola9 tion. 

10 (f) CONDUCTING INVESTIGATION.—As a part of an 

11 investigation, the Commission may— 

12 (1) administer oaths; 

13 (2) issue subpoenas; 

14 (3) compel the attendance of witnesses and the 

15 production of papers, books, accounts, documents, 

16 and testimony; 

17 (4) take the deposition of witnesses; and 

18 (5) conduct general audits of filings under the 

19 Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995. 

20 (g) CONTEMPT.—If a person disobeys or refuses to 

21 comply with a subpoena, or if a witness refuses to testify 

22 to a matter regarding which he may be held in contempt 

23 of Congress. 

24 (h) FEES FOR WITNESSES.—Each witness subpoe25 naed under this section shall receive for his attendance 
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1 the fees and mileage provided for witnesses in the District 

2 of Columbia Circuit Court, which shall be audited and 

3 paid upon the presentation of proper vouchers sworn to 

4 by the witness. 

5 (i) ETHICS COMMITTEES.— 

6 (1) PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION.—The inves7 tigation of the Commission under this section shall 

8 be in lieu of the preliminary ethics investigation re9 quired for the Select Committee on Ethics of the 

10 Senate or the Committee on Standards of Official 

11 Conduct of the House of Representatives. Those 

12 committees shall not conduct preliminary investiga13 tions upon the establishment of the Commission. 

14 (2) REFERRAL.—Upon a majority vote of the 

15 Commission at the conclusion of the adjudicatory 

16 proceeding, the Commission may present a case with 

17 evidence to the Select Committee on Ethics of the 

18 Senate or the Committee on Standards of Official 

19 Conduct of the House of Representatives, as appro20 priate. The Select Committee on Ethics of the Sen21 ate and the Committee on Standards of Official 

22 Conduct of the House of Representatives shall retain 

23 the authority to impose sanctions. 

24 (j) CIVIL OFFENSE.—Upon a majority vote of the 

25 Commission, the Office of Public Integrity could refer po-
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1 tential legal violations to the Justice Department for Civil 

2 Enforcement. 

3 (k) PUBLIC REPORT.—Unless otherwise provided in 

4 this Act, the Commission shall make each report and 

5 statement filed under this Act available for public inspec6 tion and copying during regular office hours at the ex7 pense of any person requesting copies of them and at a 

8 charge not to exceed actual cost, not including the cost 

9 of staff required. 

10 SEC. 5. PROTECTION FROM FRIVOLOUS CHARGES. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Any person who— 

12 (1) knowingly files with the Commission a false 

13 complaint of misconduct on the part of any legislator 

14 or other person shall be subject to a $10,000 fine or 

15 the cost of the preliminary review, whichever is 

16 greater, and up to 1 year in prison; and 

17 (2) encourages another person to file a false 

18 complaint of misconduct on the part of any legislator 

19 or other person shall be shall subject to a $10,000 

20 fine or the cost of the preliminary review, whichever 

21 is greater, and up to 1 year in jail. 

22 (b) SUBSEQUENT COMPLAINTS.—Any person subject 

23 to either of the penalties in subsection (a) may not file 

24 a complaint with the Commission again. 

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