106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4931

AN ACT

To provide for the training or orientation of individuals, during a Presidential transition, who the

President intends to appoint to certain key positions, to provide for a study and report on improving the financial disclosure process for certain Presidential nominees, and for other purposes.

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4931

AN ACT

To provide for the training or orientation of individuals,

during a Presidential transition, who the President intends to appoint to certain key positions, to provide

for a study and report on improving the financial disclosure process for certain Presidential nominees, and for

other purposes.
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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 ‘‘Presidential Transition

5 Act of 2000’’.

6 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION ACT

7 OF 1963.

8 Section 3(a) of the Presidential Transition Act of

9 1963 (3 U.S.C. 102 note) is amended—

10 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1) by

11 striking ‘‘including—’’ and inserting ‘‘including the

12 following:’’;

13 (2) in each of paragraphs (1) through (6) by

14 striking the semicolon at the end and inserting a pe15 riod; and

16 (3) by adding at the end the following:

17 ‘‘(8)(A)(i) Not withstanding subsection (b),

18 payment of expenses during the transition for brief19 ings, workshops, or other activities to acquaint key

20 prospective Presidential appointees with the types of

21 problems and challenges that most typically confront

22 new political appointees when they make the transi23 tion from campaign and other prior activities to as24 suming the responsibility for governance after inau25 guration.
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1 ‘‘(ii) Activities under this paragraph may in2 clude interchange between such appointees and indi3 viduals who—

4 ‘‘(I) held similar leadership roles in prior

5 administrations;

6 ‘‘(II) are department or agency experts

7 from the Office of Management and Budget or

8 an Office of Inspector General of a department

9 or agency; or

10 ‘‘(III) are relevant staff from the General

11 Accounting Office.

12 ‘‘(iii) Activities under this paragraph may in13 clude training or orientation in records management

14 to comply with section 2203 of title 44, United

15 States Code, including training on the separation of

16 Presidential records and personal records to comply

17 with subsection (b) of that section.

18 ‘‘(iv) Activities under this paragraph may in19 clude training or orientation in human resources

20 management and performance-based management.

21 ‘‘(B) Activities under this paragraph shall be

22 conducted primarily for individuals the President23 elect intends to nominate as department heads or

24 appoint to key positions in the Executive Office of

25 the President.
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1 ‘‘(9)(A) Notwithstanding subsection (b), devel2 opment of a transition directory by the Adminis3 trator of General Services Administration, in con4 sultation with the Archivist of the United States

5 (head of the National Archives and Records Admin6 istration) for activities conducted under paragraph

7 (8).

8 ‘‘(B) The transition directory shall be a com9 pilation of Federal publications and materials with

10 supplementary materials developed by the Adminis11 trator that provides information on the officers, or12 ganization, and statutory and administrative au13 thorities, functions, duties, responsibilities, and mis14 sion of each department and agency.

15 ‘‘(10)(A) Notwithstanding subsection (b), con16 sultation by the Administrator with any candidate

17 for President or Vice President to develop a systems

18 architecture plan for the computer and communica19 tions systems of the candidate to coordinate a tran20 sition to Federal systems, if the candidate is elected.

21 ‘‘(B) Consultations under this paragraph shall

22 be conducted at the discretion of the Adminis23 trator.’’.
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1 SEC. 3. REPORT ON IMPROVING THE FINANCIAL DISCLO2 SURE PROCESS FOR PRESIDENTIAL NOMI3 NEES.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after the

5 date of the enactment of this Act, the Office of Govern6 ment Ethics shall conduct a study and submit a report

7 on improvements to the financial disclosure process for

8 Presidential nominees required to file reports under sec9 tion 101(b) of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5

10 U.S.C. App.) to the Committee on Governmental Affairs

11 of the Senate and the Committee on Government Reform

12 of the House of Representatives.

13 (b) CONTENT OF REPORT.—

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The report under this sec15 tion shall include recommendations and legislative

16 proposals on—

17 (A) streamlining, standardizing, and co18 ordinating the financial disclosure process and

19 the requirements of financial disclosure reports

20 under the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5

21 U.S.C. App.) for Presidential nominees;

22 (B) avoiding duplication of effort and re23 ducing the burden of filing with respect to fi24 nancial disclosure of information to the White

25 House Office, the Office of Government Ethics,

26 and the Senate; and
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1 (C) any other relevant matter the Office of

2 Government Ethics determines appropriate.

3 (2) LIMITATION RELATING TO CONFLICTS OF

4 INTEREST.—The recommendations and proposals

5 under this subsection shall not (if implemented)

6 have the effect of lessening substantive compliance

7 with any conflict of interest requirement.

8 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

9 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be

10 necessary to carry out this section.

Passed the House of Representatives September 13,

2000.

Attest:

Clerk.