I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3235

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.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 15, 1996

Mr. CANADY of Florida (for himself and Mr. HYDE) introduced the following

bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, 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 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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

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

5 Ethics Authorization Act of 1996’’.
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1 SEC. 2. GIFT ACCEPTANCE AUTHORITY.

2 Section 403 of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978

3 (5 U.S.C. App. 5) is amended—

4 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a)’’ before ‘‘Upon the re5 quest’’; and

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

7 ‘‘(b)(1) The Director is authorized to accept and uti8 lize on behalf of the United States, any gift, donation, be9 quest, or devise of money, use of facilities, personal prop10 erty, or services for the purpose of aiding or facilitating

11 the work of the Office of Government Ethics.

12 ‘‘(2) No gift may be accepted—

13 ‘‘(A) that attaches conditions inconsistent with

14 applicable laws or regulations; or

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

16 the expenditure of appropriated funds that are not

17 available to the Office of Government Ethics.

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

19 forth the criteria to be used in determining whether the

20 acceptance of contributions of money, services, use of fa21 cilities, or personal property under this subsection would

22 reflect unfavorably upon the ability of the Office of Gov23 ernment Ethics, or any employee of such Office, to carry

24 out its responsibilities or official duties in a fair and objec25 tive manner, or would compromise the integrity or the ap-
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1 pearance of the integrity of its programs or any official

2 involved in those programs.’’.

3 SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA4 TIONS.

5 The text of section 405 of the Ethics in Government

6 Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App. 5) is amended to read as fol7 lows: ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to carry

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

9 fiscal years 1997 through 1999.’’.

10 SEC. 4. REPEAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

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

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

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

14 (5 U.S.C. 7301 note), is repealed.

15 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

16 (1) FDIA.—Section 12(f)(3) of the Federal De17 posit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1822(f)(3)) is

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

19 Office of Government Ethics,’’.

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

21 The heading for section 401 of the Ethics in Gov22 ernment Act of 1978 is amended to read as follows:

23 ‘‘ESTABLISHMENT; APPOINTMENT OF DIRECTOR’’.

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

25 striking ‘‘March 31’’ and inserting ‘‘April 30’’.
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1 SEC. 5. LIMITATION ON POSTEMPLOYMENT RESTRICTIONS.

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

3 amended by adding at the end the following new para4 graph:

5 ‘‘(7) POLITICAL PARTIES AND CAMPAIGN COM6 MITTEES.—(A) Except as provided in subparagraph

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

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

9 appearance made solely on behalf of a candidate in

10 his or her capacity as a candidate, an authorized

11 committee, a national committee, a national Federal

12 campaign committee, a State committee, or a politi13 cal party.

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

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

16 before, the Federal Election Commission by a

17 former officer or employee of the Federal Elec18 tion Commission; or

19 ‘‘(ii) a communication or appearance made

20 by a person who is subject to the restrictions

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

22 the time of the communication or appearance,

23 the person is employed by a person or entity

24 other than—

25 ‘‘(I) a candidate, an authorized com26 mittee, a national committee, a national
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1 Federal campaign committee, a State com2 mittee, or a political party; or

3 ‘‘(II) a person or entity who rep4 resents, aids, or advises only persons or en5 tities described in subclause (I).

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

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

8 who seeks nomination for election, or election,

9 to Federal or State office or who has authorized

10 others to explore on his or her behalf the possi11 bility of seeking nomination for election, or elec12 tion, to Federal or State office;

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

14 means any political committee designated in

15 writing by a candidate as authorized to receive

16 contributions or make expenditures to promote

17 the nomination for election, or the election, of

18 such candidate, or to explore the possibility of

19 seeking nomination for election, or the election,

20 of such candidate, except that a political com21 mittee that receives contributions or makes ex22 penditures to promote more than 1 candidate

23 may not be designated as an authorized com24 mittee for purposes of subparagraph (A);
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1 ‘‘(iii) the term ‘national committee’ means

2 the organization which, by virtue of the bylaws

3 of a political party, is responsible for the day4 to-day operation of such political party at the

5 national level;

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

7 committee’ means an organization that, by vir8 tue of the bylaws of a political party, is estab9 lished primarily for the purpose of providing as10 sistance, at the national level, to candidates

11 nominated by that party for election to the of12 fice of Senator or Representative in, or Dele13 gate or Resident Commissioner to, the Con14 gress;

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

16 organization which, by virtue of the bylaws of

17 a political party, is responsible for the day-to18 day operation of such political party at the

19 State level;

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

21 association, committee, or organization that

22 nominates a candidate for election to any Fed23 eral or State elected office whose name appears

24 on the election ballot as the candidate of such

25 association, committee, or organization; and
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1 ‘‘(vii) the term ‘State’ means a State of

2 the United States, the District of Columbia, the

3 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any terri4 tory or possession of the United States.’’.

5 SEC. 6. PAY LEVEL.

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

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

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

9 Service,’’.

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