III

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. RES. 154

Authorizing expenditures by the Committee on Governmental Affairs.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 15, 1999

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

following original resolution; which was referred to the Committee on

Rules and Administration

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

8 from October 1, 1999, through September 30, 2000, and

9 October 1, 2000, through February 28, 2001, in its discre10 tion (1) to make expenditures from the contingent fund
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1 of the Senate; (2) to employ personnel; and (3) with the

2 prior consent of the Government department or agency

3 concerned and the Committee on Rules and Administra4 tion to use, on a reimbursable or nonreimbursable basis,

5 the services of personnel of any such department or agen6 cy.

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

8 period October 1, 1999, through September 30, 2000,

9 under this resolution shall not exceed $5,026,582, of

10 which amount (1) not to exceed $75,000, may be expended

11 for the procurement of the services of individual consult12 ants, or organizations thereof (as authorized by section

13 202(i) of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946, as

14 amended; and (2) not to exceed $20,000, may be expended

15 for the training of the professional staff of such committee

16 (under procedures specified by section 202(j) of the Legis17 lative Reorganization Act of 1946).

18 (b) For the period October 1, 2000, through Feb19 ruary 28, 2001, expenses of the committee under this res20 olution shall not exceed $2,144,819, of which amount (1)

21 not to exceed $75,000 may be expended for the procure22 ment of the services of individual consultants, or organiza23 tions thereof (as authorized by section 202(i) of the Legis24 lative Reorganization Act of 1946, as amended), and (2)

25 not to exceed $20,000 may be expended for the training
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1 of the professional staff of such committee (under proce2 dures specified by section 202(j) of the Legislative Reorga3 nization Act of 1946).

4 SEC. 3. The committee shall report its findings, to5 gether with such recommendations for legislation as it

6 deems advisable, to the Senate at the earliest practicable

7 date, but not later than February 29, 2000, and February

8 28, 2001, respectively.

9 SEC. 4. Expenses of the committee under this resolu10 tion shall be paid from the contingent fund of the Senate

11 upon vouchers approved by the chairman of the com12 mittee, except that vouchers shall not be required (1) for

13 the disbursement of salaries of employees paid at an an14 nual rate, or (2) for the payment of telecommunications

15 provided by the Office of the Sergeant at Arms and Door16 keeper, United States Senate, or (3) for the payment of

17 stationery supplies purchased through the Keeper of the

18 Stationery, United States Senate, or (4) for payments to

19 the Postmaster, United States Senate, or (5) for the pay20 ment of metered charges on copying equipment provided

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

22 United States Senate, or (6) for the payment of Senate

23 Recording and Photographic Services, or (7) for payment

24 of franked and mass mail costs by the Sergeant at Arms

25 and Doorkeeper, United States Senate.
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1 SEC. 5. There are authorized such sums as may be

2 necessary for agency contributions related to the com3 pensation of employees of the committee from October 1,

4 1999, through September 30, 2000, and October 1, 2000,

5 through February 28, 2001, to be paid from the Appro6 priations account for ‘‘Expenses of Inquiries and Inves7 tigations’’.

8 INVESTIGATIONS

9 SEC. 6. (a) IN GENERAL.—The committee, or any

10 duly authorized subcommittee of the committee, is author11 ized to study or investigate—

12 (1) the efficiency and economy of operations of

13 all branches of the Government including the pos14 sible existence of fraud, misfeasance, malfeasance,

15 collusion, mismanagement, incompetence, corruption,

16 or unethical practices, waste, extravagance, conflicts

17 of interest, and the improper expenditure of Govern18 ment funds in transactions, contracts, and activities

19 of the Government or of Government officials and

20 employees and any and all such improper practices

21 between Government personnel and corporations, in22 dividuals, companies, or persons affiliated therewith,

23 doing business with the Government; and the com24 pliance or noncompliance of such corporations, com25 panies, or individuals or other entities with the rules,
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1 regulations, and laws governing the various govern2 mental agencies and its relationships with the public;

3 (2) the extent to which criminal or other im4 proper practices or activities are, or have been, en5 gaged in the field of labor-management relations or

6 in groups or organizations of employees or employ7 ers, to the detriment of interests of the public, em8 ployers, or employees, and to determine whether any

9 changes are required in the laws of the United

10 States in order to protect such interests against the

11 occurrence of such practices or activities;

12 (3) organized criminal activity which may oper13 ate in or otherwise utilize the facilities of interstate

14 or international commerce in furtherance of any

15 transactions and the manner and extent to which,

16 and the identity of the persons, firms, or corpora17 tions, or other entities by whom such utilization is

18 being made, and further, to study and investigate

19 the manner in which and the extent to which per20 sons engaged in organized criminal activity have in21 filtrated lawful business enterprise, and to study the

22 adequacy of Federal laws to prevent the operations

23 of organized crime in interstate or international

24 commerce; and to determine whether any changes

25 are required in the laws of the United States in
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1 order to protect the public against such practices or

2 activities;

3 (4) all other aspects of crime and lawlessness

4 within the United States which have an impact upon

5 or affect the national health, welfare, and safety; in6 cluding but not limited to investment fraud schemes,

7 commodity and security fraud, computer fraud, and

8 the use of offshore banking and corporate facilities

9 to carry out criminal objectives;

10 (5) the efficiency and economy of operations of

11 all branches and functions of the Government with

12 particular reference to—

13 (A) the effectiveness of present national se14 curity methods, staffing, and processes as test15 ed against the requirements imposed by the

16 rapidly mounting complexity of national secu17 rity problems;

18 (B) the capacity of present national secu19 rity staffing, methods, and processes to make

20 full use of the Nation’s resources of knowledge

21 and talents;

22 (C) the adequacy of present intergovern23 mental relations between the United States and

24 international organizations principally con-
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1 cerned with national security of which the

2 United States is a member; and

3 (D) legislative and other proposals to im4 prove these methods, processes, and relation5 ships;

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

7 all agencies and departments of the Government in8 volved in the control and management of energy

9 shortages including, but not limited to, their per10 formance with respect to—

11 (A) the collection and dissemination of ac12 curate statistics on fuel demand and supply:

13 (B) the implementation of effective energy

14 conservation measures;

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

16 (D) coordination of energy programs with

17 State and local government;

18 (E) control of exports of scarce fuels;

19 (F) the management of tax, import, pric20 ing, and other policies affecting energy supplies;

21 (G) maintenance of the independent sector

22 of the petroleum industry as a strong competi23 tive force;

24 (H) the allocation of fuels in short supply

25 by public and private entities;
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1 (I) the management of energy supplies

2 owned or controlled by the Government;

3 (J) relations with other oil producing and

4 consuming countries;

5 (K) the monitoring of compliance by gov6 ernments, corporations, or individuals with the

7 laws and reguatlions governing the allocation,

8 conservation, or pricing of energy supplies; and

9 (L) research into the discovery and devel10 opment of alternative energy supplies; and

11 (7) the efficiency and economy of all branches

12 and functions of Government with particular ref13 erences to the operations and management of Fed14 eral regulatory policies and programs.

15 (b) EXTENT OF INQUIRIES.—In carrying out the du16 ties provide in paragraph (1), the inquiries of this com17 mittee or any subcommittee of the committee shall not be

18 construed to be limited to the records, functions, and oper19 ations of any particular branch of the Government and

20 may extend to the records and activities of any persons,

21 corporation, or other entity.

22 (c) SPECIAL COMMITTEE AUTHORITY.—For the pur23 poses of this subsection, the committee, or any duly au24 thorized subcommittee of the committee, or its chairman,

25 or any other member of the committee or subcommittee
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1 designated by the chairman, from October 1, 1999,

2 through September 30, 2000, and October 1, 2000,

3 through February 28, 2001, is authorized, in its, his, or

4 their discretion—

5 (1) to require by subpoena or otherwise the at6 tendance of witnesses and production of correspond7 ence, books, papers, and documents;

8 (2) to hold hearings;

9 (3) to sit and act at any time or place during

10 the sessions, recess, and adjournment periods of the

11 Senate;

12 (4) to administer oaths; and

13 (5) to take testimony, either orally or by sworn

14 statement, or, in the case of staff members of the

15 Committee and the Permanent Subcommittee on In16 vestigations, by deposition in accordance with the

17 Committee Rules of Procedure.

18 (d) AUTHORITY OF OTHER COMMITTEES.—Nothing

19 in this subsection shall affect or impair the exercise of any

20 other standing committee of the Senate of any power, or

21 the discharge by such committee of any duty, conferred

22 or imposed upon it by the Standing Rules of the Senate

23 or by the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946.

24 (e) SUBPOENA AUTHORITY.—All subpoenas and re25 lated legal processes of the committee and its subcommit-
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1 tees authorized under S. Res. 49, agreed to February 24,

2 1999 (106th Congress) are authorized to continue.

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