I

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4400

To amend title 39, United States Code, to prevent the use of paid confidential

informants by the United States Postal Service in certain narcotics

investigations; to require that the appointment of the Inspector General

of the United States Postal Service be made by the President, with

the advice and consent of the Senate; and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 12, 1994

Mr. CLAY (for himself, Mr. STOKES, Miss COLLINS of Michigan, and Mrs.

BYRNE) introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to the

Committees on Post Office and Civil Service and Government Operations

A BILL

To amend title 39, United States Code, to prevent the use

of paid confidential informants by the United States

Postal Service in certain narcotics investigations; to require that the appointment of the Inspector General of

the United States Postal Service be made by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate; 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 ‘‘Postal Inspection Serv5 ice and Inspector General Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. RESTRICTION ON THE USE OF PAID CONFIDENTIAL

2 INFORMANTS BY THE POSTAL SERVICE;

3 CHANGE IN THE METHOD FOR APPOINTING

4 CERTAIN POSTAL OFFICERS.

5 (a) CONFIDENTIAL INFORMANTS.—

6 (1) RESTRICTION.—Section 404 of title 39,

7 United States Code, is amended by adding at the

8 end the following:

9 ‘‘(c)(1) The Postal Service may not retain the serv10 ices of a paid confidential informant for purposes of any

11 investigation concerning the possible violation of any law

12 relating to controlled substances, unless the unlawful use

13 of the mails is involved.

14 ‘‘(2) The Postal Service shall render a semiannual re15 port to the Congress concerning any investigation—

16 ‘‘(A) in which the Postal Service retains the

17 services of a paid confidential informant; and

18 ‘‘(B) which results in the arrest of 1 or more

19 individuals for violating any law relating to con20 trolled substances.

21 ‘‘(3) For the purpose of this subsection—

22 ‘‘(A) the term ‘controlled substance’ has the

23 meaning given such term by section 102(6) of the

24 Controlled Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act

25 of 1970; and
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1 ‘‘(B) a confidential informant shall be consid2 ered to be ‘paid’ if such informant receives, or is to

3 receive, a monetary or nonmonetary benefit (includ4 ing any forbearance from a civil or criminal action)

5 for the services involved.’’.

6 (2) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by

7 paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to any inves8 tigation commencing on or after the date of the en9 actment of this Act.

10 (b) OFFICERS.—

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 204 of title 39,

12 United States Code, is amended—

13 (A) by amending the section heading to

14 read as follows:

15 ‘‘§ 204. Assistant Postmasters General; General Coun16 sel; Judicial Officer; Chief Postal Inspec17 tor’’;

18 (B) in the first sentence by striking ‘‘and

19 a Judicial Officer.’’ and inserting ‘‘a Judicial

20 Officer, and a Chief Postal Inspector.’’;

21 (C) in the second sentence by striking

22 ‘‘and the Judicial Officer’’ and inserting ‘‘the

23 Judicial Officer, and the Chief Postal Inspec24 tor’’; and
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1 (D) by striking ‘‘Postmaster General’’ each

2 place it appears and inserting ‘‘Board’’.

3 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of

4 sections for chapter 2 of title 39, United States

5 Code, is amended by striking the item relating to

6 section 204 and inserting the following:

‘‘204. Assistant Postmasters General; General Counsel; Judicial Officer; Chief

Postal Inspector.’’.

7 (3) SAVINGS PROVISION.—The appointment of

8 the individual serving as the General Counsel, Judi9 cial Officer, or Chief Postal Inspector of the United

10 States Postal Service on the date of the enactment

11 of this Act, or of an individual serving as an Assist12 ant Postmaster General on such date, shall, if such

13 appointment was made in accordance with then ap14 plicable provisions of law, be considered to have been

15 made under the second sentence of section 204 of

16 title 39, United States Code, as amended by this

17 subsection, except that this paragraph shall not

18 apply with respect to any interim appointment.

19 SEC. 3. INSPECTOR GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES

20 POSTAL SERVICE.

21 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 11 of the Inspector Gen22 eral Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended—

23 (1) in paragraph (1) by inserting ‘‘the Post24 master General;’’ after ‘‘the Attorney General;’’; and
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1 (2) in paragraph (2) by inserting ‘‘the United

2 States Postal Service,’’ after ‘‘Treasury;’’.

3 (b) TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS.—Section 9(a) of the

4 Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended by section

5 203(g)(3)(A) of the National and Community Service

6 Trust Act of 1993 (Public Law 103-82; 107 Stat. 890),

7 is amended—

8 (1) in paragraph (1)—

9 (A) in subparagraph (U) by striking ‘‘and’’

10 after the semicolon; and

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

12 ‘‘(W) of the United States Postal Service,

13 that portion of the Postal Inspection Service

14 that is engaged in internal audit and program

15 review activities; and’’; and

16 (2) in paragraph (2) by inserting ‘‘(or, in the

17 case of the United States Postal Service, the Post18 master General, in consultation with the Board of

19 Governors)’’ after ‘‘head of the establishment in20 volved’’.

21 (c) SPECIAL PROVISIONS.—The Inspector General

22 Act of 1978 is amended—

23 (1) by redesignating the first section designated

24 as section 8G as section 8H;
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1 (2) by redesignating the second section des2 ignated as section 8G as section 8I; and

3 (3) by inserting after section 8F the following:

4 ‘‘SPECIAL PROVISIONS CONCERNING THE UNITED STATES

5 POSTAL SERVICE

6 ‘‘SEC. 8G. In carrying out the duties and responsibil7 ities specified in this Act, the Inspector General of the

8 United States Postal Service shall have oversight respon9 sibility for all activities of the Postal Inspection Service,

10 including any internal investigation performed thereby.

11 The Chief Postal Inspector shall promptly report the sig12 nificant activities being carried out by the Postal Inspec13 tion Service to such Inspector General.’’.

14 (d) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

15 (1) RELATING TO THE INSPECTOR GENERAL

16 ACT OF 1978.—Section 8H of the Inspector General

17 Act of 1978 (as so redesignated by subsection

18 (c)(1)) is amended—

19 (A) in subsection (a)(2) by striking ‘‘Ten20 nessee Valley Authority,’’ and all that follows

21 through the semicolon and inserting ‘‘Tennessee

22 Valley Authority, and the United States Inter23 national Trade Commission;’’; and

24 (B)(i) by striking subsection (f), and redes25 ignating subsections (g) and (h) as subsections

26 (f) and (g), respectively;
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1 (ii) in paragraphs (3) and (4) of subsection

2 (a) by striking ‘‘(h)(1)’’ and inserting ‘‘(g)(1)’’;

3 and

4 (iii) in subsection (c) by striking ‘‘Except

5 as provided under subsection (f) of this section,

6 the’’ and inserting ‘‘The’’.

7 (2) RELATING TO TITLE 39, UNITED STATES

8 CODE.—Section 410(b) of title 39, United States

9 Code, is amended—

10 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para11 graph (9); and

12 (B) by amending paragraph (10) to read

13 as follows:

14 ‘‘(10) the Inspector General Act of 1978; and’’.

15 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE; INTERIM SERVICE.—

16 (1) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section and the

17 amendments made by this section shall take effect

18 upon the expiration of the 3-month period beginning

19 on the date of the enactment of this Act.

20 (2) INTERIM SERVICE.—The individual serving

21 as Inspector General of the United States Postal

22 Service on the day before this section takes effect

23 may continue to serve in that capacity until—

24 (A) a successor has taken office, or
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1 (B) such individual ceases to be the Chief

2 Postal Inspector of the United States Postal

3 Service.

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