I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 251

To amend the Ethics Reform Act of 1989 to prevent any action to dissolve,

diminish the scope of the mission of, or limit the activities of, the

House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct during certain investigations.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 4, 1995

Mr. GUTIERREZ introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Rules

A BILL

To amend the Ethics Reform Act of 1989 to prevent any

action to dissolve, diminish the scope of the mission

of, or limit the activities of, the House Committee on

Standards of Official Conduct during certain investigations.

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 ‘‘House Ethics Protec5 tion Act of 1995’’.
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1 SEC. 2. COMMITTEE ON STANDARDS OF OFFICIAL CON2 DUCT OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

3 Section 29d(b) of the Ethics Reform Act of 1989 (2

4 U.S.C. 29d(b)) is amended by striking subsection (b) and

5 inserting the following:

6 ‘‘(b) STRUCTURE AND COMPOSITION OF COMMIT7 TEE.—

8 ‘‘(1) COMMITTEE COMPOSITION.—The respec9 tive party caucus or conference of the House of Rep10 resentatives shall each nominate to the House of

11 Representatives at the beginning of each Congress

12 seven members to serve on the Committee on Stand13 ards of Official Conduct.

14 ‘‘(2) STRUCTURAL CHANGES TO COMMITTEE ON

15 STANDARDS OF OFFICIAL CONDUCT PROHIBITED

16 DURING CERTAIN INVESTIGATIONS.—If any member

17 who was the subject of an investigation during the

18 previous Congress also serves in the current Con19 gress, the following actions are prohibited:

20 ‘‘(A) action to disband the Committee on

21 Standards of Official Conduct;

22 ‘‘(B) action to shift jurisdiction of the

23 Committee on Standards of Official Conduct to

24 any other committee;
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1 ‘‘(C) action to combine the Committee on

2 Standards of Official Conduct with any other

3 committee or subcommittee;

4 ‘‘(D) action making the Committee on

5 Standards of Official Conduct a subcommittee;

6 ‘‘(E) action to change the number of mem7 bers nominated by either party caucus to the

8 committee.

9 ‘‘(3) RECUSAL OF CERTAIN MEMBERS.—A

10 member of the House of Representatives shall not

11 participate in the procedure nominating members to

12 the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct if

13 the member was a subject of an investigation by the

14 Committee on Standards of Official Conduct during

15 the current or previous session of Congress.

16 ‘‘(4) LIMITS ON POWER OF THE SPEAKER OF

17 THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TO APPOINT

18 MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE ON STANDARDS OF

19 OFFICIAL CONDUCT.—The Speaker of the House

20 may not take any action or exercise any power re21 garding the appointment of members to the Commit22 tee on Standards of Official Conduct if the member

23 who is Speaker is or has been the subject of an in24 vestigation by the Committee during the current or

25 previous session of Congress.’’.
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1 SEC. 3. INVESTIGATIONS BY PREVIOUS CONGRESS.

2 Section 29d of the Ethics Reform Act of 1989 (2

3 U.S.C. 29d) is further amended by adding at the end the

4 following:

5 ‘‘(k) REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON POST6 PONED INVESTIGATIONS.—

7 ‘‘(1) REPORT.—Within 30 days after the later

8 of the date on which a new session of Congress as9 sembles or the date of the enactment of this Act, the

10 Committee on Standards of Official Conduct shall

11 report to the House on each investigation conducted

12 and matter heard by the Committee on Standards of

13 Official Conduct during the previous Congress for

14 which final action was postponed or otherwise left

15 unresolved.

16 ‘‘(2) CONTENT OF REPORT.—Each report shall

17 include recommendations for further hearings, inves18 tigation, and potential reproval or other administra19 tive action.

20 ‘‘(3) ORDER OF REPORTS.—If more than one

21 member of the current Congress was investigated by

22 the previous Congress, the Committee on Standards

23 of Official Conduct shall submit reports in the order

24 in which the members of the current Congress took

25 the oath of office pursuant to section 30 of the Re26 vised Statutes of the United States (2 U.S.C. 25).
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1 ‘‘(l) INVESTIGATION DEFINED.—For purposes of this

2 Act, a member of Congress is deemed a subject of an in3 vestigation during the previous Congress if during the pre4 vious session of Congress the Committee on Standards of

5 Official Conduct solicited material or information in re6 sponse to a complaint filed against the member, or if the

7 Committee on Standards of Official Conduct held one or

8 more sessions to examine or discuss any findings regard9 ing a complaint filed against a member.’’.

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