104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3235

AN ACT

To amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978,

for other purposes.the Office of Government Ethics for 3 years, andto extend the authorization of appropriations for
104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3235

AN ACT

To amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, to extend

the authorization of appropriations for the Office of Government Ethics for 3 years, and for other purposes.

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

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Office of Government

3 Ethics Authorization Act of 1996’’.

4 SEC. 2. GIFT ACCEPTANCE AUTHORITY.

5 Section 403 of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978

6 (5 U.S.C. App. 5) is amended—

7 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a)’’ before ‘‘Upon the re8 quest’’; and

9 (2) by adding at the end the following:

10 ‘‘(b)(1) The Director is authorized to accept and uti11 lize on behalf of the United States, any gift, donation, be12 quest, or devise of money, use of facilities, personal prop13 erty, or services for the purpose of aiding or facilitating

14 the work of the Office of Government Ethics.

15 ‘‘(2) No gift may be accepted—

16 ‘‘(A) that attaches conditions inconsistent with

17 applicable laws or regulations; or

18 ‘‘(B) that is conditioned upon or will require

19 the expenditure of appropriated funds that are not

20 available to the Office of Government Ethics.

21 ‘‘(3) The Director shall establish written rules setting

22 forth the criteria to be used in determining whether the

23 acceptance of contributions of money, services, use of fa24 cilities, or personal property under this subsection would

25 reflect unfavorably upon the ability of the Office of Gov26 ernment Ethics, or any employee of such Office, to carry
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1 out its responsibilities or official duties in a fair and objec2 tive manner, or would compromise the integrity or the ap3 pearance of the integrity of its programs or any official

4 involved in those programs.’’.

5 SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA6 TIONS.

7 The text of section 405 of the Ethics in Government

8 Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App. 5) is amended to read as fol9 lows: ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to carry

10 out this title such sums as may be necessary for each of

11 fiscal years 1997 through 1999.’’.

12 SEC. 4. REPEAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

13 (a) REPEAL OF DISPLAY REQUIREMENT.—The Act

14 entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for the display of the Code

15 of Ethics for Government Service,’’ approved July 3, 1980

16 (5 U.S.C. 7301 note), is repealed.

17 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

18 (1) FDIA.—Section 12(f)(3) of the Federal De19 posit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1822(f)(3)) is

20 amended by striking ‘‘, with the concurrence of the

21 Office of Government Ethics,’’.

22 (2) ETHICS IN GOVERNMENT ACT OF 1978.—(A)

23 The heading for section 401 of the Ethics in Gov24 ernment Act of 1978 is amended to read as follows:
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1 ‘‘ESTABLISHMENT; APPOINTMENT OF DIRECTOR’’.

2 (B) Section 408 of such Act is amended by

3 striking ‘‘March 31’’ and inserting ‘‘April 30’’.

4 SEC. 5. LIMITATION ON POSTEMPLOYMENT RESTRICTIONS.

5 Section 207(j) of title 18, United States Code, is

6 amended by adding at the end the following new para7 graph:

8 ‘‘(7) POLITICAL PARTIES AND CAMPAIGN COM9 MITTEES.—(A) Except as provided in subparagraph

10 (B), the restrictions contained in subsections (c),

11 (d), and (e) shall not apply to a communication or

12 appearance made solely on behalf of a candidate in

13 his or her capacity as a candidate, an authorized

14 committee, a national committee, a national Federal

15 campaign committee, a State committee, or a politi16 cal party.

17 ‘‘(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to—

18 ‘‘(i) any communication to, or appearance

19 before, the Federal Election Commission by a

20 former officer or employee of the Federal Elec21 tion Commission; or

22 ‘‘(ii) a communication or appearance made

23 by a person who is subject to the restrictions

24 contained in subsections (c), (d), or (e) if, at

25 the time of the communication or appearance,
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1 the person is employed by a person or entity

2 other than—

3 ‘‘(I) a candidate, an authorized com4 mittee, a national committee, a national

5 Federal campaign committee, a State com6 mittee, or a political party; or

7 ‘‘(II) a person or entity who rep8 resents, aids, or advises only persons or en9 tities described in subclause (I).

10 ‘‘(C) For purposes of this paragraph—

11 ‘‘(i) the term ‘candidate’ means any person

12 who seeks nomination for election, or election,

13 to Federal or State office or who has authorized

14 others to explore on his or her behalf the possi15 bility of seeking nomination for election, or elec16 tion, to Federal or State office;

17 ‘‘(ii) the term ‘authorized committee’

18 means any political committee designated in

19 writing by a candidate as authorized to receive

20 contributions or make expenditures to promote

21 the nomination for election, or the election, of

22 such candidate, or to explore the possibility of

23 seeking nomination for election, or the election,

24 of such candidate, except that a political com25 mittee that receives contributions or makes ex-
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1 penditures to promote more than 1 candidate

2 may not be designated as an authorized com3 mittee for purposes of subparagraph (A);

4 ‘‘(iii) the term ‘national committee’ means

5 the organization which, by virtue of the bylaws

6 of a political party, is responsible for the day7 to-day operation of such political party at the

8 national level;

9 ‘‘(iv) the term ‘national Federal campaign

10 committee’ means an organization that, by vir11 tue of the bylaws of a political party, is estab12 lished primarily for the purpose of providing as13 sistance, at the national level, to candidates

14 nominated by that party for election to the of15 fice of Senator or Representative in, or Dele16 gate or Resident Commissioner to, the Con17 gress;

18 ‘‘(v) the term ‘State committee’ means the

19 organization which, by virtue of the bylaws of

20 a political party, is responsible for the day-to21 day operation of such political party at the

22 State level;

23 ‘‘(vi) the term ‘political party’ means an

24 association, committee, or organization that

25 nominates a candidate for election to any Fed-
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1 eral or State elected office whose name appears

2 on the election ballot as the candidate of such

3 association, committee, or organization; and

4 ‘‘(vii) the term ‘State’ means a State of

5 the United States, the District of Columbia, the

6 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any terri7 tory or possession of the United States.’’.

8 SEC. 6. PAY LEVEL.

9 Section 207(c)(2)(A)(ii) of title 18, United States

10 Code, is amended by striking ‘‘level V of the Executive

11 Schedule,’’ and inserting ‘‘level 5 of the Senior Executive

12 Service,’’.

Passed the House of Representatives June 4, 1996.

Attest:

Clerk.