III 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. CON. RES. 82 

To establish a procedure for the appointment of independent Congressional 

Ethics Office to investigate ethics violations in the Senate and the House 

of Representatives. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 28, 2006 

Mr. KERRY submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred 

to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

To establish a procedure for the appointment of independent 

Congressional Ethics Office to investigate ethics violations in the Senate and the House of Representatives. 

1 Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 

2 concurring), 

3 SECTION 1. CONGRESSIONAL ETHICS OFFICER. 

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

5 legislative branch an independent authority to be known 

6 as the Congressional Ethics Office to be headed by a Con7 gressional Ethics Officer. 

8 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Congressional Ethics 

2 Officer shall be appointed in accordance with para3 graph (2). 

4 (2) APPOINTMENT.—The majority leader of the 

5 Senate, the minority leader of the Senate, the 

6 Speaker of the House of Representatives, the minor7 ity leader of the House of Representatives, the chair8 man and ranking member of the Committee on 

9 Standards of Official Conduct of the House of Rep10 resentatives, and the chairman and the ranking 

11 member of the Select Committee on Ethics of the 

12 Senate shall nominate the Congressional Ethics Offi13 cer at the beginning of a Congress. The Congres14 sional Ethics Officer shall be confirmed by both the 

15 Senate and the House of Representatives. 

16 (c) TERMS.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Congressional Ethics 

18 Officer shall serve a term of 2 years and may be re19 appointed for 2 additional terms. 

20 (2) DEATH OR RESIGNATION.—In the case of 

21 the death or resignation of the Congressional Ethics 

22 Officer a successor shall be appointed in the same 

23 manner to serve the remaining term of that Con24 gressional Ethics Officer. 


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1 (d) REMOVAL.—The Congressional Ethics Officer 

2 may be removed only by resolution of the Senate or the 

3 House of Representatives. 

4 (e) DUTIES.—It shall be the duty of the Congres5 sional Ethics Officer to— 

6 (1) receive requests for review of an allegation 

7 described in section 2(b); 

8 (2) make such informal preliminary inquiries in 

9 response to such a request as the Congressional Eth10 ics Officer deems to be appropriate; 

11 (3) if, as a result of those inquiries, the Con12 gressional Ethics Officer determines that a full in13 vestigation is not warranted, submit a report pursu14 ant to section 2(f); and 

15 (4) if, as a result of those inquiries, the Con16 gressional Ethics Officer determines that there is 

17 probable cause, the Congressional Ethics Officer— 

18 (A) may determine a full investigation is 

19 warranted and conduct such investigation; and 

20 (B) shall provide a full report of the inves21 tigation which shall be available for public in22 spection to either the Select Committee on Eth23 ics of the Senate or the Committee on Stand24 ards of Official Conduct of the House of Rep25 resentatives. 


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1 (f) COMPENSATION OF CONGRESSIONAL ETHICS OF2 FICER.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Congressional Ethics 

4 Officer shall be compensated at a rate equal to the 

5 daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay pre6 scribed for level IV of the Executive Schedule under 

7 section 5315 of title 5, United States Code, for each 

8 day (including travel time) during which he or she 

9 is engaged in the performance of the duties of the 

10 Congressional Ethics Officer. 

11 (2) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—The Congressional 

12 Ethics Officer and members of the Congressional 

13 Ethics Officer staff shall be allowed travel expenses, 

14 including per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates 

15 authorized for employees of agencies under sub16 chapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States 

17 Code, while away from their homes or regular places 

18 of business in the performance of services for the 

19 Congressional Ethics Officer. 

20 (g) STAFF.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Congressional Ethics 

22 Officer may, without regard to the civil service laws 

23 and regulations, appoint, and terminate an executive 

24 director and such other additional personnel as are 

25 necessary to enable the Congressional Ethics Officer 


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1 to perform his or her duties. The staff of the Con2 gressional Ethics Office shall be nonpartisan. 

3 (2) STAFF COMPENSATION.—The Congressional 

4 Ethics Officer may fix the compensation of the exec5 utive director and other personnel without regard to 

6 the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of 

7 chapter 53 of title 5, United States Code, relating 

8 to classification of positions and General Schedule 

9 pay rates, except that the rate of pay for the execu10 tive director and other personnel may not exceed the 

11 rate payable for level V of the Executive Schedule 

12 under section 5316 of that title. 

13 (3) DETAILEES.—Any Federal Government em14 ployee may be detailed to the Congressional Ethics 

15 Officer without reimbursement, and such detail shall 

16 be without interruption or loss of civil service status 

17 or privilege. 

18 (4) TEMPORARY SERVICES.—The Congressional 

19 Ethics Officer may procure temporary and intermit20 tent services under section 3109(b) of title 5, United 

21 States Code, at rates for individuals that do not ex22 ceed the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic 

23 pay prescribed for level V of the Executive Schedule 

24 under section 5316 of that title. 


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1 (5) STAFFING.—Except at a time when addi2 tional personnel are needed to assist the Congres3 sional Ethics Officer in his or her review of a par4 ticular request for review under section 2, the total 

5 number of staff personnel employed by or detailed to 

6 the Congressional Ethics Officer under this sub7 section shall not exceed 50. 

8 (h) INAPPLICABILITY OF THE FEDERAL ADVISORY

9 COMMITTEE ACT.—The Federal Advisory Committee Act 

10 (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the Commission. 

11 SEC. 2. REVIEW OF ALLEGATIONS OF MISCONDUCT AND 

12 VIOLATIONS OF ETHICS LAWS. 

13 (a) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term 

14 ‘‘officer or employee of Congress’’ means— 

15 (1) an elected officer of the Senate or the 

16 House of Representatives who is not a member of 

17 the Senate or the House of Representatives; 

18 (2) an employee of the Senate or the House of 

19 Representatives, any committee or subcommittee of 

20 the Senate or the House of Representatives, or any 

21 member of the Senate or the House of Representa22 tives; 

23 (3) an employee of the Vice President if such 

24 employee’s compensation is disbursed by the Sec25 retary of the Senate; and 


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1 (4) an employee of a joint committee of Con2 gress. 

3 (b) REQUEST FOR REVIEW.—Any person, including 

4 a person who is not an officer or employee of Congress, 

5 may present to the Congressional Ethics Officer a request 

6 to review and investigate an allegation of— 

7 (1) improper conduct that may reflect upon the 

8 Senate or the House of Representatives; 

9 (2) a significant violation of law; 

10 (3) a violation of the Senate Code of Official 

11 Conduct (rules XXXIV, XXXV, XXXVII, XXXVIII, 

12 XXXIX, XL, XLI, and XLII of the Standing Rules 

13 of the Senate) or the ethics rules of the House of 

14 Representatives; or 

15 (4) a significant violation of a rule or regulation 

16 of the Senate or the House of Representatives, relat17 ing to the conduct of a person in the performance 

18 of his or her duties as a member, officer, or em19 ployee of the Senate or the House of Representa20 tives. 

21 (c) SWORN STATEMENT.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—A request for review under 

23 subsection (b) shall be accompanied by a sworn 

24 statement, made under penalty of perjury under the 

25 laws of the United States, of facts within the perVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:46 Mar 01, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SC82.IS SC82

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1 sonal knowledge of the person making the statement 

2 alleging improper conduct or a violation described in 

3 subsection (b). 

4 (2) FALSE STATEMENT.—If the Congressional 

5 Ethics Officer determines that any part of a sworn 

6 statement presented under paragraph (1) may have 

7 been a false statement made knowingly and willfully, 

8 the Congressional Ethics Officer may refer the mat9 ter to the Attorney General for prosecution. 

10 (d) PROTECTION FROM FRIVOLOUS CHARGES.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any person who— 

12 (A) knowingly files with the Congressional 

13 Ethics Office a false complaint of misconduct 

14 on the part of any legislator or any other per15 son shall be subject to a $10,000 fine or the 

16 cost of the preliminary review, whichever is 

17 greater, and up to 1 year in prison; or 

18 (B) encourages another person to file a 

19 false complaint of misconduct on the part of 

20 any legislator or other person shall be subject 

21 to a $10,000 fine or the cost of the preliminary 

22 review, whichever is greater, and up to 1 year 

23 in prison. 

24 (2) SUBSEQUENT COMPLAINTS.—Any person 

25 subject to either of the penalties in paragraph (1) 


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1 may not file a complaint with the Congressional 

2 Ethics Office again. 

3 (3) BAN ON FILINGS PRIOR TO ELECTION.— 

4 The Congressional Ethics Office may not accept 

5 charges filed in the— 

6 (A) 30 days prior to a primary election for 

7 which the Member in question is a candidate; 

8 and 

9 (B) 60 days prior to a general election for 

10 which the Member in question is a candidate. 

11 (e) SUBPOENA.—The Congressional Ethics officer 

12 may bring a civil action to enforce a subpoena only when 

13 directed to do so by the adoption of a resolution by the 

14 Senate or the House of Representatives, as appropriate. 

15 (f) REFERRAL OF REPORTS TO THE SELECT COM16 MITTEE ON ETHICS OF THE SENATE, THE COMMITTEE

17 ON STANDARDS OF OFFICIAL CONDUCT OF THE HOUSE

18 OF REPRESENTATIVES OR THE DEPARTMENT OF JUS19 TICE.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—If, after making preliminary 

21 inquiries, the Congressional Ethics Officer finds 

22 probable cause that a violation of the ethics rules 

23 has occurred, the Congressional Ethics Officer shall 

24 submit to the members of the Senate, members of 


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1 the House of Representatives, and the Department 

2 of Justice a report that— 

3 (A) states findings of fact made as a result 

4 of the inquiries; 

5 (B) states any conclusions that may be 

6 drawn with respect to whether there is substan7 tial credible evidence that improper conduct or 

8 a violation of law may have occurred; and 

9 (C) states its reasons for concluding that 

10 further investigation is not warranted. 

11 (2) NO ACTION.—After submission of a report 

12 under paragraph (1), no action may be taken in the 

13 Senate or the House of Representatives to impose a 

14 sanction on a person who was the subject of the 

15 Congressional Ethics Officer’s inquiries on the basis 

16 of any conduct that was alleged in the request for 

17 review and sworn statement. 

18 SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES. 

19 The Congressional Ethics Officer shall— 

20 (1) periodically report to Congress any changes 

21 to the ethics law and regulations governing Congress 

22 that the Congressional Ethics Officer determines 

23 would improve the investigation and enforcement of 

24 such laws and regulations; and 


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1 (2) provide an annual report to Congress on the 

2 number of ethics complaints and a description of the 

3 ethics investigations undertaken during the prior 

4 year. 

Æ 


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