I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2797

To abolish the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct in the House

of Representatives, establish an Independent Commission on Congressional Ethics, and provide for the transfer of the duties and functions

of the Committee to the Independent Commission.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

DECEMBER 15, 1995

Mr. VOLKMER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Rules, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for

a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for

consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To abolish the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct

in the House of Representatives, establish an Independent Commission on Congressional Ethics, and provide

for the transfer of the duties and functions of the Committee to the Independent 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 ‘‘Ethics Reform Act

5 of 1995’’.
2

•HR 2797 IH

1 TITLE I—TERMINATION OF COM2 MITTEE ON STANDARDS OF

3 OFFICIAL CONDUCT IN THE

4 HOUSE OF REPRESENTA5 TIVES

6 SEC. 101. EXERCISE OF CONGRESSIONAL RULEMAKING

7 POWER.

8 The provisions of this title amending the Rules of the

9 House of Representatives are enacted by Congress—

10 (1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of

11 the House of Representatives and the Senate, re12 spectively, and as such they shall be considered a

13 part of the rules of the House of Representatives

14 and such rules shall supersede other rules only to

15 the extent that they are inconsistent therewith; and

16 (2) with full recognition of the constitutional

17 right of the House of Representatives to change

18 such rules at any time in the same manner and to

19 the same extent as in the case of any other rule of

20 such House.

21 SEC. 102. TERMINATION OF THE COMMITTEE ON STAND22 ARDS OF OFFICIAL CONDUCT.

23 (a) TERMINATION.—

24 (1) RULES.—Rule X of the Rules of the House

25 of Representatives is amended—
3

•HR 2797 IH

1 (A) in clause 1—

2 (i) by striking paragraph (p); and

3 (ii) by redesignating paragraphs (q),

4 (r), and (s) as paragraphs (p), (q), and (r),

5 respectively; and

6 (B) in clause 4—

7 (i) by striking paragraph (e); and

8 (ii) by redesignating paragraphs (f),

9 (g), (h), and (i) as paragraphs (e), (f), (g),

10 and (h), respectively.

11 (2) LAW.—The Ethics Reform Act of 1989

12 (Public Law 101–194) is amended by striking sub13 sections (b), (c), (d), and (i) of section 803 (2

14 U.S.C. 29d).

15 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

16 (1) RULES.—

17 (A) Clause 3(e) of rule VI of the Rules of

18 the House of Representatives is amended —

19 (i) by striking ‘‘Committee on Stand20 ards of Official Conduct’’ and inserting

21 ‘‘Independent Commission on Congres22 sional Ethics’’; and

23 (ii) by striking ‘‘clause 4(e)(1)(C) of

24 rule X’’ and inserting ‘‘section 203(3) the

25 Ethics Reform Act of 1995’’.
4

•HR 2797 IH

1 (B) Clause 1(m)(1) of rule X of such

2 Rules is amended by striking ‘‘(other than rules

3 or joint rules relating to the Code of Official

4 Conduct)’’.

5 (C) Clause 6(a) of rule X of such Rules is

6 amended—

7 (i) by striking subparagraph (2); and

8 (ii) by striking ‘‘(1)’’.

9 (D) Clause 2(e)(2) of rule XI of such

10 Rules is amended by striking ‘‘, except that in

11 the case of records in the Committee on Stand12 ards of Official Conduct’’ and all that follows

13 through ‘‘prior approval of the committee’’.

14 (E) Clause 2(g)(2) of rule XI of such

15 Rules is amended by striking ‘‘, with the excep16 tion of the Committee on Standards of Official

17 Conduct,’’.

18 (F) Clause 2(i)(1) of rule XI of such Rules

19 is amended by striking ‘‘the Committee on

20 Standards of Official Conduct,’’.

21 (G) Clause 4(a) of rule XI of such Rules

22 is amended—

23 (i) by striking ‘‘and the Committee on

24 Standards of Official Conduct’’ and all

25 that follows;
5

•HR 2797 IH

1 (ii) by inserting ‘‘and’’ before ‘‘the

2 Committee on Rules’’; and

3 (iii) by striking the semicolon after

4 ‘‘order of business’’ and inserting a period.

5 (H) Clause 6(a)(2) of rule XI of such

6 Rules is amended by striking ‘‘the Committee

7 on Standards of Official Conduct and’’.

8 (I) Clause 7(d) of rule XIII is amended—

9 (i) by striking ‘‘and the Committee on

10 Standards of Official Conduct,’’; and

11 (ii) by inserting ‘‘and’’ before ‘‘the

12 Committee on Rules’’.

13 (J) Clause 1 of rule XXXII of such Rules

14 is amended by striking ‘‘Committee on Stand15 ards of Official Conduct’’ and inserting ‘‘Inde16 pendent Commission on Congressional Ethics’’.

17 (K) Clause 4 of rule XLIII of such Rules

18 is amended by striking ‘‘Committee on Stand19 ards of Official Conduct pursuant to clause

20 4(e)(1)(E) of rule X’’ and inserting ‘‘Committee

21 on Rules’’.

22 (L) Clause 12(b) of rule XLIII of such

23 Rules is amended by striking ‘‘Committee on

24 Standards of Official Conduct’’ and inserting
6

•HR 2797 IH

1 ‘‘Independent Commission on Congressional

2 Ethics’’.

3 (M) Clause (1) of rule XLIV of such Rules

4 is amended by striking ‘‘Committee on Stand5 ards of Official Conduct’’ and inserting ‘‘Inde6 pendent Commission on Congressional Ethics’’.

7 (N) Clause 2(5) of rule XLVII of such

8 Rules is amended by striking ‘‘Committee on

9 Standards of Official Conduct’’ and inserting

10 ‘‘Independent Commission on Congressional

11 Ethics’’.

12 (O) Clause 5 of rule XLVIII of such Rules

13 is amended by striking ‘‘of the Committee on

14 Standards of Official Conduct and’’.

15 (P) Clause 7(d) of rule XLVIII of such

16 Rules is amended by striking ‘‘Committee on

17 Standards of Official Conduct’’ and inserting

18 ‘‘Independent Commission on Congressional

19 Ethics’’.

20 (Q) Clause 7(e) of rule XLVIII of such

21 Rules is amended by striking ‘‘Committee on

22 Standards of Official Conduct’’ and inserting

23 ‘‘Independent Commission on Congressional

24 Ethics’’.
7

•HR 2797 IH

1 (R) Clause 13 of rule LI of such Rules is

2 amended by striking ‘‘and the Rules of the

3 House Committee on Standards of Official Con4 duct’’.

5 (2) LAW.—The following provisions are each

6 amended by striking ‘‘the Committee on Standards

7 of Official Conduct of the House of Representatives’’

8 and inserting ‘‘the Independent Commission on Con9 gressional Ethics’’:

10 (A) Section 5(e) of Public Law 93–191 (2

11 U.S.C. 501(e)).

12 (B) Section 7342(a)(6)(A) of title 5, Unit13 ed States Code.

14 (C) Section 7353(d)(1) of title 5, United

15 States Code.

16 (D) Section 103(j)(1) of the Ethics in Gov17 ernment Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.).

18 (E) Section 109(1) of the Ethics in Gov19 ernment Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.).

20 (F) Section 109(18)(B) of the Ethics in

21 Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.).

22 (G) Section 111(2) of the Ethics in Gov23 ernment Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.).

24 (H) Section 503(1)(A) of the Ethics in

25 Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.).
8

•HR 2797 IH

1 SEC. 103. REFERENCE TO COMMITTEE ON STANDARDS OF

2 OFFICIAL CONDUCT.

3 Any reference in a law, regulation, document, paper,

4 or other record of the United States to the ‘‘Committee

5 on Standards of Official Conduct of the House of Rep6 resentatives’’ shall be deemed to be a reference to the

7 ‘‘Independent Commission on Congressional Ethics’’.

8 SEC. 104. TRANSITION PROVISIONS.

9 In the case of investigations pending before the Com10 mittee on Standards of Official Conduct on the day before

11 the date of the enactment of this Act, the proceedings

12 shall be continued by the Independent Commission on

13 Congressional Ethics.

14 TITLE II—ESTABLISHMENT OF

15 COMMISSION

16 SEC. 201. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION.

17 There is established an independent commission with18 in the legislative branch of the Federal Government to be

19 known as the Independent Commission on Congressional

20 Ethics (in this title referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’).

21 SEC. 202. MEMBERSHIP OF COMMISSION.

22 (a) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT.—The Commission

23 shall be composed of five retired or senior Federal judges

24 as follows:

25 (1) Two individuals appointed by the Speaker

26 of the House of Representatives.
9

•HR 2797 IH

1 (2) Two individuals appointed by the Minority

2 Leader of the House of Representatives.

3 (3) One individual appointed by the individuals

4 appointed under paragraphs (1) and (2).

5 (b) TERMS.—The term of office for a member of the

6 Commission shall be four years. A member shall be eligible

7 for two terms of office.

8 (c) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the Commission shall

9 be filled in the manner in which the original appointment

10 was made.

11 (d) REMOVAL.—Any member of the Commission may

12 be removed from office by a majority decision of the ap13 pointing authorities described in subsection (a), but only

14 for—

15 (1) disability that substantially prevents the

16 member from carrying out the duties of the member;

17 (2) incompetence;

18 (3) neglect of duty; or

19 (4) malfeasance, including a felony or conduct

20 involving moral turpitude.

21 (e) COMPENSATION.—

22 (1) RATE OF PAY.—Except as provided in para23 graph (2), each member of the Commission shall

24 serve without pay or benefits.
10

•HR 2797 IH

1 (2) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Each member of the

2 Commission may receive travel expenses, including

3 per diem in lieu of subsistence, in accordance with

4 sections 5702 and 5703 of title 5, United States

5 Code.

6 (f) QUORUM.—A majority of the members of the

7 Commission shall constitute a quorum.

8 (g) CHAIRPERSON.—

9 (1) ELECTION.—The Commission shall elect a

10 Chairperson of the Commission from among its

11 members at its first meeting.

12 (2) TERM.—The term of the Chairperson shall

13 be two years.

14 (h) MEETINGS.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall meet

16 at the call of the Chairperson or a majority of its

17 members.

18 (2) INITIAL MEETING.—The Commission shall

19 hold its initial meeting not later than 60 days after

20 the date on which appointments are completed.

21 SEC. 203. DUTIES OF COMMISSION.

22 The Commission is authorized—

23 (1) to recommend to the House of Representa24 tives, from time to time, such administrative actions

25 as it may deem appropriate to establish or enforce
11

•HR 2797 IH

1 standards of official conduct for Members, officers,

2 and employees of the House of Representatives;

3 (2) to investigate any alleged violation, by a

4 Member, officer, or employee of the House of Rep5 resentatives, of any law, rule, regulation, or other

6 standard of conduct applicable to the conduct of

7 such Member, officer, or employee in the perform8 ance of his duties or the discharge of his responsibil9 ities, and after notice and hearing (unless the right

10 to a hearing is waived by the Member, officer, or

11 employee), shall report to the House of Representa12 tives its findings of fact and recommendations, if

13 any, upon the final disposition of any such investiga14 tion, and such action as the Commission may deem

15 appropriate in the circumstances;

16 (3) to report to the appropriate Federal or

17 State authorities, with the approval of the House of

18 Representatives, any substantial evidence of a viola19 tion, by a Member, officer, or employee of the House

20 of Representatives, of any law applicable to the per21 formance of his duties or the discharge of his re22 sponsibilities, which may have been disclosed in a

23 Commission investigation;

24 (4) to give consideration to the request of any

25 Member, officer, or employee of the House of Rep-
12

•HR 2797 IH

1 resentatives for an advisory opinion with respect to

2 the general propriety of any current or proposed

3 conduct of such Member, officer, or employee and,

4 with appropriate deletions to assure the privacy of

5 the individual concerned, to publish such opinion for

6 the guidance of other Members, officers, and em7 ployees of the House of Representatives; and

8 (5) to provide information and guidance to

9 Members, officers and employees of the House of

10 Representatives regarding any laws, rules, regula11 tions, and other standards of conduct applicable to

12 such individuals in their official capacities, and de13 velop and carry out periodic educational briefings for

14 Members, officers, and employees of the House of

15 Representatives on those laws, rules, regulations, or

16 other standards.

17 SEC. 204. PROCEDURAL RULES.

18 (a) MAJORITY APPROVAL.—No resolution, report,

19 recommendation, or advisory opinion relating to the offi20 cial conduct of a Member, officer, or employee of the

21 House shall be made by the Commission, and no investiga22 tion of such conduct shall be undertaken by the Commis23 sion, unless approved by the affirmative vote of a majority

24 of the members of the Commission.
13

•HR 2797 IH

1 (b) INVESTIGATIONS.—Except in the case of an in2 vestigation undertaken by the Commission on its own ini3 tiative, the Commission may undertake an investigation

4 relating to the official conduct of an individual Member,

5 officer, or employee of the House of Representatives

6 only—

7 (i) upon receipt of a complaint, in writing and

8 under oath, made by or submitted to a Member of

9 the House of Representatives and transmitted to the

10 Commission by such Member, or

11 (ii) upon receipt of a complaint, in writing and

12 under oath, directly from an individual not a Mem13 ber of the House of Representatives if the Commis14 sion finds that such complaint has been submitted

15 by such individual to not less than three Members

16 of the House who have refused, in writing, to trans17 mit such complaint to the Commission.

18 (c) PROHIBITION OF CERTAIN INVESTIGATIONS.—No

19 investigation shall be undertaken by the Commission of

20 any alleged violation of a law, rule, regulation, or standard

21 of conduct not in effect at the time of the alleged violation;

22 nor shall any investigation be undertaken by the Commis23 sion of any alleged violation which occurred before the

24 third previous Congress unless the Commission determines
14

•HR 2797 IH

1 that the alleged violation is directly related to any alleged

2 violation which occurred in a more recent Congress.

3 (d) DISCLOSURE.—No information or testimony re4 ceived, or the contents of a complaint or the fact of its

5 filing, shall be publicly disclosed by any member of the

6 Commission or staff of the Commission unless specifically

7 authorized in each instance by a vote of the full Commis8 sion.

9 SEC. 205. STAFF OF COMMISSION.

10 (a) STAFF.—The Commission may appoint and fix

11 the compensation of such staff as the Commission consid12 ers necessary to perform its duties.

13 (b) DETAILED PERSONNEL.—The Commission may,

14 with the prior consent of the department or agency of the

15 Federal Government concerned, use on a reimbursable or

16 nonreimbursable basis the services of personnel of any

17 such department or agency, including the services of mem18 bers or personnel of the General Accounting Office Per19 sonnel Appeals Board.

20 (c) CONSULTANTS.—In carrying out the functions of

21 the Commission, the Commission may procure the tem22 porary (not to exceed one year) or intermittent services

23 of consultants.
15

•HR 2797 IH

1 TITLE III—DISCHARGE OF COM2 MISSION REPORT FROM COM3 MITTEE ON RULES IN THE

4 HOUSE OF REPRESENTA5 TIVES

6 SEC. 301. DISCHARGE OF COMMITTEE.

7 (1) If the Rules Committee in the House of Rep8 resentatives to which the report has been referred has not

9 reported it at the end of 30 legislative days after the intro10 duction, it is in order to move either to discharge the com11 mittee from further consideration of the report or to dis12 charge the committee from further consideration of any

13 other resolution introduced with respect to the same mat14 ter, except that a motion to discharge—

15 (A) may only be made on the second legislative

16 day after the calendar day on which the Member

17 making the motion announces to the House his in18 tention to do so; and

19 (B) is not in order after the Committee has re20 ported a resolution with respect to the same matter.

21 (2) A motion to discharge under paragraph (1) may

22 be made only by an individual favoring the resolution, and

23 is highly privileged in the House; and debate thereon shall

24 be limited to not more than 1 hour, the time to be divided

25 in the House equally between those favoring and those op-
16

•HR 2797 IH

1 posing the resolution. An amendment to the motion is not

2 in order, and it is not in order to move to reconsider the

3 vote by which the motion is agreed to or disagreed to.

4 SEC. 302. FLOOR CONSIDERATION IN THE HOUSE OF REP5 RESENTATIVES.

6 (1) A motion in the House of Representatives to pro7 ceed to the consideration of the resolution shall be highly

8 privileged and not debatable. An amendment to the motion

9 shall not be in order, nor shall it be in order to move to

10 reconsider the vote by which the motion is agreed to or

11 disagreed to.

12 (2) Debate in the House of Representatives on a reso13 lution shall be limited to not more than 6 hours, which

14 shall be divided equally between those favoring the resolu15 tion and those opposing the resolution. A further motion

16 to limit debate shall not be debatable. No amendment to,

17 or motion to recommit, the resolution shall be in order.

18 It shall not be in order to move to reconsider the vote

19 by which a resolution is agreed to or disagreed to.

Æ