Calendar No. 26

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. RES. 39

RESOLUTION

Authorizing expenditures by the Committee on

Governmental Affairs.

MARCH 6, 1997

Reported with an amendment
III

Calendar No. 26

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. RES. 39

Authorizing expenditures by the Committee on Governmental Affairs.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JANUARY 30, 1997

Mr. THOMPSON, from the Committee on Governmental Affairs, reported the

following original resolution; which was referred to the Committee on

Rules and Administration

MARCH 6, 1997

Reported by Mr. WARNER, with an amendment

[Strike out all after the resolving clause and insert the part printed in italic]

RESOLUTION

Authorizing expenditures by the Committee on Governmental

Affairs.

1 Resolved, That, in carrying out its powers, duties, and

2 functions under the Standing Rules of the Senate, in ac3 cordance with its jurisdiction under rule XXV of such

4 rules, including holding hearings, reporting such hearings,

5 and making investigations as authorized by paragraphs 1

6 and 8 of rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate,

7 the Committee on Governmental Affairs is authorized
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SRES 39 RS2

1 from March 1, 1997, through February 28, 1998, and

2 March 1, 1998 through February 28, 1999, in its discre3 tion: (1) To make expenditures from the contingent fund

4 of the Senate, (2) to employ personnel, and (3) with the

5 prior consent of the Government department or agency

6 concerned and the Committee on Rules and Administra7 tion, to use on a reimbursable, or nonreimbursable basis

8 the services of personnel of any such department or agen9 cy.

10 SEC. 2. (a) The expenses of the committee for the

11 period March 1, 1997, through February 28, 1998, under

12 this resolution shall not exceed $11,050,721, of which

13 amount: (1) Not to exceed $375,000 may be expended for

14 the procurement of the services of individual consultants,

15 or organizations thereof (as authorized by section 202(i)

16 of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946, as amend17 ed), and not to exceed $2,470 may be expended for the

18 training of the professional staff of such committee (under

19 procedures specified by section 202(j) of the Legislative

20 Reorganization Act of 1946).

21 (b) For the period March 1, 1998, through February

22 28, 1999, expenses of the committee under this resolution

23 shall not exceed $4,653,386, of which amount: (1) Not

24 to exceed $75,000 may be expended for the procurement

25 of the services of individual consultants, or organizations
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SRES 39 RS2

1 thereof (as authorized by section 202(i) of the Legislative

2 Reorganization Act of 1946, as amended), and not to ex3 ceed $2,470 may be expended for the training of the pro4 fessional staff of such committee (under procedures speci5 fied by section 202(j) of the Legislative Reorganization

6 Act of 1946).

7 SEC. 3. (a) The committee, or any duly authorized

8 subcommittee thereof, is authorized to study or inves9 tigate—

10 (1) the efficiency and economy of operations of

11 all branches of the Government including the pos12 sible existence of fraud, misfeasance, malfeasance,

13 collusion, mismanagement, incompetence, corruption,

14 or unethical practices, waste, extravagance, conflicts

15 of interest, and the improper expenditure of Govern16 ment funds in transactions, contracts, and activities

17 of the Government or of Government officials and

18 employees and any and all such improper practices

19 between Government personnel and corporations, in20 dividuals, companies, or persons affiliated therewith,

21 doing business with the Government; and the com22 pliance or noncompliance of such corporations, com23 panies, or individuals or other entities with the rules,

24 regulations, and laws governing the various govern25 mental agencies and its relationships with the public;
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1 (2) the extent to which criminal or other im2 proper practices or activities are, or have been, en3 gaged in the field of labor-management relationships

4 or in groups or organizations of employees or em5 ployers, to the detriment of interests of the public,

6 employers, or employees, and to determine whether

7 any changes are required in the laws of the United

8 States in order to protect such interests against the

9 occurrence of such practices or activities;

10 (3) organized criminal activities which may op11 erate in or otherwise utilize the facilities of inter12 state or international commerce in furtherance of

13 any transactions and the manner and extent to

14 which, and the identity of the persons, firms, or cor15 porations, or other entities by whom such utilization

16 is being made, and further, to study and investigate

17 the manner in which and the extent to which per18 sons engaged in organized criminal activity have in19 filtrated lawful business enterprise, and to study the

20 adequacy of Federal laws to prevent the operations

21 of organized crime in interstate or international

22 commerce; and to determine whether any changes

23 are required in the laws of the United States in

24 order to protect the public against such practices or

25 activities;
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1 (4) all other aspects of crime and lawlessness

2 within the United States which have an impact upon

3 or affect the national health, welfare, and safety; in4 cluding but not limited to investment fraud schemes,

5 commodity and security fraud, computer fraud, and

6 the use of offshore banking and corporate facilities

7 to carry out criminal objectives;

8 (5) the efficiency and economy of operations of

9 all branches and functions of the Government with

10 particular reference to—

11 (A) the effectiveness of present national se12 curity methods, staffing, and processes as test13 ed against the requirements imposed by the

14 rapidly mounting complexity of national secu15 rity problems;

16 (B) the capacity of present national secu17 rity staffing, methods, and processes to make

18 full use of the Nation’s resources of knowledge

19 and talents;

20 (C) the adequacy of present intergovern21 mental relations between the United States and

22 international organizations principally con23 cerned with national security of which the

24 United States is a member; and
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1 (D) legislative and other proposals to im2 prove these methods, processes, and relation3 ships;

4 (6) the efficiency, economy, and effectiveness of

5 all agencies and departments of the Government in6 volved in the control and management of energy

7 shortages including, but not limited to, their per8 formance with respect to—

9 (A) the collection and dissemination of ac10 curate statistics on fuel demand and supply;

11 (B) the implementation of effective energy

12 conservation measures;

13 (C) the pricing of energy in all forms;

14 (D) coordination of energy programs with

15 State and local governments;

16 (E) control of exports of scarce fuels;

17 (F) the management of tax, import, pric18 ing, and other policies affecting energy supplies;

19 (G) maintenance of the independent sector

20 of the petroleum industry as a strong competi21 tive force;

22 (H) the allocation of fuels in short supply

23 by public and private entities;

24 (I) the management of energy supplies

25 owned or controlled by the Government;
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1 (J) relations with other oil producing and

2 consuming countries;

3 (K) the monitoring of compliance by gov4 ernments, corporations, or individuals with the

5 laws and regulations governing the allocation,

6 conservation, or pricing of energy supplies; and

7 (L) research into discovery and develop8 ment of alternative energy supplies; and

9 (7) the efficiency and economy of all branches

10 and functions of government with particular ref11 erence to the operations and management of Federal

12 regulatory policies and programs: Provided, That, in

13 carrying out the duties herein set forth, the inquiries

14 of this committee or any subcommittee thereof shall

15 not be deemed limited to the records, functions, and

16 operations of any particular branch of the Govern17 ment; but may extend to the records and activities

18 of any persons, corporation, or other entity.

19 (b) Nothing contained in this section shall affect or

20 impair the exercises of any other standing committee of

21 the Senate of any power, or the discharge by such commit22 tee of any duty, conferred or imposed upon it by the

23 Standing Rules of the Senate or by the Legislative Reor24 ganization Act of 1946, as amended.
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1 (c) For the purpose of this section the committee, or

2 any duly authorized subcommittee thereof, or its chair3 man, or any other member of the committee or sub4 committee designated by the chairman, from March 1,

5 1997, through February 28, 1998, and March 1, 1998,

6 through February 28, 1999, is authorized, in its, his, or

7 their discretion: (1) To require by subpoena or otherwise

8 the attendance of witnesses and production of correspond9 ence, books, papers, and documents, (2) to hold hearings,

10 (3) to sit and act at any time or place during the sessions,

11 recess, and adjournment periods of the Senate, (4) to ad12 minister oaths, and (5) to take testimony, either orally or

13 by sworn statement, or, in the case of staff members of

14 the committee and the Permanent Subcommittee on Inves15 tigations, by deposition in accordance with the Committee

16 Rules of Procedure.

17 (d) All subpoenas and related legal processes of the

18 committee and its subcommittees authorized under S. Res.

19 71 of the One Hundredth Third Congress, second session,

20 are authorized to continue.

21 SEC. 4. The committee shall report its findings, to22 gether with such recommendations for legislation as it

23 deems advisable, to the Senate at the earliest practicable

24 date, but not later than February 28, 1995, and February

25 28, 1996, respectively.
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1 SEC. 5. Expenses of the committee under this resolu2 tion shall be paid from the contingent fund of the Senate

3 upon vouchers approved by the chairman of the commit4 tee, except that vouchers shall not be required: (1) For

5 the disbursement of salaries of employees paid at an an6 nual rate, (2) the payment of telecommunications provided

7 by the Office of the Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper,

8 United States Senate, (3) for the payment of stationery

9 supplies purchased through the Keeper of the Stationery,

10 United States Senate, (4) for payments to the Postmaster,

11 United States Senate, (5) for the payment of metered

12 charges on copying equipment provided by the Office of

13 the Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper, United States Sen14 ate, or (6) for the payment of Senate Recording and Pho15 tographic Services.

16 SEC. 6. There are authorized such sums as may be

17 necessary for agency contributions related to the com18 pensation of employees of the committee from March 1,

19 1997, through February 28, 1998, and March 1, 1998,

20 through February 28, 1999, to be paid from the Appro21 priations account for ‘‘Expenses of Inquiries and Inves22 tigations’’.

23 That (a) Senate Resolution 54, agreed to February 13,

24 1997, is amended by adding at the end the following:
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1 ‘‘AUTHORIZATION OF ADDITIONAL FUNDS

2 ‘‘SEC. 24. (a) IN GENERAL.—A sum equal to not more

3 than $4,350,000, for the period beginning on the date of

4 adoption of this section and ending on December 31, 1997,

5 shall be made available from the contingent fund of the Sen6 ate out of the Account for Expenses for Inquiries and Inves7 tigations for payment of salaries and other expenses of the

8 Committee on Governmental Affairs under this resolution,

9 of which amount not to exceed $375,000 may be expended

10 for the procurement of the services of individual consultants,

11 or organizations thereof (as authorized by section 202(i) of

12 the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946, as amended).

13 The expenditures by the Committee on Governmental Af14 fairs authorized by this section supplement those authorized

15 in section 13 and may be expended solely for the purpose

16 stated in this section.

17 ‘‘(b) PURPOSE OF ADDITIONAL FUNDS.—The addi18 tional funds authorized by this section are for the sole pur19 pose of conducting an investigation of illegal activities in

20 connection with 1996 Federal election campaigns.

21 ‘‘(c) REFERRAL TO SELECT COMMITTEE ON ETH22 ICS.—The Committee on Governmental Affairs shall refer

23 any evidence of illegal activities involving any Member of

24 the Senate revealed pursuant to the investigation authorized

25 by subsection (b) to the Select Committee on Ethics.
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1 ‘‘(d) FINAL REPORT.—The Committee on Govern2 mental Affairs shall submit a final public report to the Sen3 ate no later than January 31, 1998, of the results of the

4 investigation, study, and hearings conducted by the Com5 mittee pursuant to this section.’’.

6 (b) Section 16(b) of Senate Resolution 54, agreed to

7 February 13, 1997, is amended by—

8 (1) striking ‘‘$1,339,109’’ and inserting

9 ‘‘$1,789,109’’; and

10 (2) striking ‘‘$200,000’’ and inserting

11 ‘‘$300,000’’.

12 (c) The Committee on Rules and Administration shall

13 continue to conduct hearings on campaign reform.