I

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4931

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.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 24, 2000

Mr. HORN (for himself and Mr. TURNER) introduced the following bill; which

was referred to the Committee on Government Reform

A BILL

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.

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’’.
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1 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION ACT

2 OF 1963.

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

4 1963 (3 U.S.C. 102 note) is amended—

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

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

7 following:’’;

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

9 striking the semicolon at the end and inserting a pe10 riod; and

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

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

13 payment of expenses during the transition for brief14 ings, workshops, or other activities to acquaint key

15 prospective Presidential appointees with the types of

16 problems and challenges that most typically confront

17 new political appointees when they make the transi18 tion from campaign and other prior activities to as19 suming the responsibility for governance after inau20 guration.

21 ‘‘(ii) Activities under this paragraph may in22 clude interchange between such appointees and indi23 viduals who—

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

25 administrations;
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1 ‘‘(II) are department or agency experts

2 from the Office of Management and Budget or

3 an Office of Inspector General of a department

4 or agency; or

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

6 Accounting Office.

7 ‘‘(iii) Activities under this paragraph may in8 clude training or orientation in records management

9 to comply with section 2203 of title 44, United

10 States Code, including training on the separation of

11 Presidential records and personal records to comply

12 with subsection (b) of that section.

13 ‘‘(iv) Activities under this paragraph may in14 clude training or orientation in human resources

15 management and performance-based management.

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

17 conducted primarily for individuals the President18 elect intends to nominate as department heads or

19 appoint to key positions in the Executive Office of

20 the President.

21 ‘‘(9)(A) Notwithstanding subsection (b), devel22 opment of a transition directory by the Adminis23 trator of General Services Administration, in con24 sultation with the Archivist of the United States

25 (head of the National Archives and Records Admin-
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1 istration) for activities conducted under paragraph

2 (8).

3 ‘‘(B) The transition directory shall be a com4 pilation of Federal publications and materials with

5 supplementary materials developed by the Adminis6 trator that provides information on the officers, or7 ganization, and statutory and administrative au8 thorities, functions, duties, responsibilities, and mis9 sion of each department and agency.

10 ‘‘(10)(A) Notwithstanding subsection (b), con11 sultation by the Administrator with any candidate

12 for President or Vice President to develop a systems

13 architecture plan for the computer and communica14 tions systems of the candidate to coordinate a tran15 sition to Federal systems, if the candidate is elected.

16 ‘‘(B) Consultations under this paragraph shall

17 be conducted at the discretion of the Adminis18 trator.’’.

19 SEC. 3. REPORT ON IMPROVING THE FINANCIAL DISCLO20 SURE PROCESS FOR PRESIDENTIAL NOMI21 NEES.

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

23 date of enactment of this Act, the Office of Government

24 Ethics shall conduct a study and submit a report on im25 provements to the financial disclosure process for Presi-
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1 dential nominees required to file reports under section

2 101(b) of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C.

3 App.) to the Committee on Governmental Affairs of the

4 Senate and the Committee on Government Reform of the

5 House of Representatives.

6 (b) CONTENT OF REPORT.—

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The report under this sec8 tion shall include recommendations and legislative

9 proposals on—

10 (A) streamlining, standardizing, and co11 ordinating the financial disclosure process and

12 the requirements of financial disclosure reports

13 under the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5

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

15 (B) avoiding duplication of effort and re16 ducing the burden of filing with respect to fi17 nancial disclosure of information to the White

18 House Office, the Office of Government Ethics,

19 and the Senate; and

20 (C) any other relevant matter the Office of

21 Government Ethics determines appropriate.

22 (2) LIMITATION RELATING TO CONFLICTS OF

23 INTEREST.—The recommendations and proposals

24 under this subsection shall not (if implemented)
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1 have the effect of lessening substantive compliance

2 with any conflict of interest requirement.

3 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

4 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be

5 necessary to carry out this section.

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