I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1395

To amend section 207 of title 18, United States Code, to tighten restrictions

on former executive and legislative branch officials and employees.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 18, 1993

Mr. BACCHUS of Florida (for himself, Mr. ZIMMER, Mr. KREIDLER, Mr.

BARRETT of Wisconsin, Mr. PAXON, Mr. CAMP, Mr. GREENWOOD, Mr.

KLUG, Mr. LEWIS of Florida, Mr. THOMAS of Wyoming, Mr. PETRI, Mr.

GENE GREEN of Texas, and Mr. GUTIERREZ) introduced the following

bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To amend section 207 of title 18, United States Code, to

tighten restrictions on former executive and legislative

branch officials and employees.

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 ‘‘Ethics in Government

5 Reform Act of 1993’’.
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1 SEC. 2. SPECIAL RULES FOR HIGHLY PAID EXECUTIVE AP2 POINTEES AND MEMBERS OF CONGRESS AND

3 HIGHLY PAID CONGRESSIONAL EMPLOYEES.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—

5 (1) APPEARANCES BEFORE AGENCY.—(A) Sec6 tion 207(d) of title 18, United States Code, is

7 amended by adding at the end thereof the following:

8 ‘‘(3) RESTRICTIONS ON POLITICAL AP9 POINTEES.—(A) In addition to the restrictions set

10 forth in subsection (a), (b), and (c) and paragraph

11 (1) of this subsection, any person who—

12 ‘‘(i) serves in the position of President or

13 Vice President of the United States; or

14 ‘‘(ii) is a full-time, noncareer Presidential,

15 Vice Presidential, or agency head appointee in

16 an executive agency whose rate of basic pay is

17 not less than $70,000 (adjusted for any COLA

18 after the date of enactment of the Ethics in

19 Government Reform Act of 1993) and is not an

20 appointee of the senior foreign service or solely

21 an appointee as a uniformed service commis22 sioned officer, and who, after termination of his

23 or her service or employment as such officer or

24 employee, knowingly makes, with the intent to

25 influence, any communication to or appearance

26 before any officer or employee of a department
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1 or agency in which such person served within 5

2 years before such termination, during the pe3 riod beginning on the termination of service or

4 employment as such officer or employee and

5 ending 5 years after the termination of service

6 in the department or agency, on behalf of any

7 other person (except the United States), in con8 nection with any matter on which such person

9 seeks official action by any officer or employee

10 of such department or agency, shall be punished

11 as provided in section 216 of this title.

12 ‘‘(B) In addition to the restrictions set forth in

13 subsections (a), (b), and (c) and paragraph (1) of

14 this subsection, any person whose position is listed

15 under section 5312 of title 5, or is employed in a

16 full-time, noncareer position in the Executive Office

17 of the President and whose rate of basic pay is not

18 less than $70,000 (adjusted for any COLA after the

19 date of enactment of the Ethics in Government Re20 form Act of 1993) and is not an appointee of the

21 senior foreign service or solely an appointee as a

22 uniformed service commissioned officer or is a full23 time, noncareer Presidential, Vice Presidential, or

24 agency head appointee in an executive agency whose

25 rate of basic pay is not less than $70,000 (adjusted
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1 for any COLA after the date of enactment of the

2 Ethics in Government Reform Act of 1993) and is

3 not an appointee of the senior foreign service or

4 solely an appointee as a uniformed service commis5 sioned officer, and who, within 2 years after the ter6 mination of his or her service or employment as such

7 officer or employee, knowingly makes, with the in8 tent to influence, any communication to or appear9 ance before any person described in paragraph

10 (2)(B) on behalf of any other person (except the

11 United States), in connection with any matter on

12 which such person seeks official action by the person

13 described in paragraph (2)(B), shall be punished as

14 provided in section 216 of this title.

15 ‘‘(C) In addition to the restrictions set forth in

16 subsections (a), (b), and (c) and paragraph (1) of

17 this subsection, any person whose position is listed

18 under section 5312 of title 5, or is employed in the

19 Executive Office of the President and whose basic

20 rate of pay is not less than $70,000 (adjusted for

21 any COLA after the date of enactment of the Ethics

22 in Government Reform Act of 1993) and is not an

23 appointee of the senior foreign service or solely an

24 appointee as a uniformed service commissioned offi25 cer, and who, after the termination of his or her
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1 service or employment as such officer or employee,

2 knowingly makes, with the intent to influence, any

3 communication to or appearance before any officer

4 or employee of a department or agency with respect

5 to which the person had personal and substantial re6 sponsibility within 5 years before such termination,

7 during the period beginning on the termination of

8 service or employment as such officer or employee

9 and ending 5 years after the termination of personal

10 and substantial responsibility with respect to the de11 partment or agency, on behalf of any other person

12 (except the United States), in connection with any

13 matter on which such person seeks official action by

14 any officer or employee of such department or agen15 cy, shall be punished as provided in section 216 of

16 this title.

17 ‘‘(D) For purposes of this paragraph, the term

18 ‘‘personal and substantial responsibility’’ means,

19 with respect to a department or agency, ongoing de20 cision-making involvement in the budget, major pro21 grams, or personnel actions of the department or

22 agency, when acting both personally and substan23 tially.

24 ‘‘(E) This paragraph shall not apply to an offi25 cer or employee who has served less than 90 days
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1 before his or her service or employment as such offi2 cer or employee terminates.’’.

3 (B) The first sentence of section 207(h)(1) of

4 title 18, United States Code, is amended by insert5 ing after ‘‘subsection (c)’’ the following: ‘‘and sub6 section (d)(3)’’.

7 (C) Section 207(d)(1)(A) of title 18, United

8 States Code, is amended to read as follows:

9 ‘‘(A) serves in the position of President or

10 Vice President of the United States,’’.

11 (2) FOREIGN AGENTS.—Section 207(f) of title

12 18, United States Code, is amended—

13 (A) by striking ‘‘foreign entity’’ each place

14 it appears and inserting ‘‘foreign national’’; and

15 (B) by striking paragraph (2) and insert16 ing the following:

17 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RESTRICTIONS.—Any person

18 who—

19 ‘‘(A)(i) serves in the position of President

20 or Vice President of the United States,

21 ‘‘(ii) is a full-time, noncareer Presidential,

22 Vice Presidential, or agency head appointee in

23 an executive agency whose rate of basic pay is

24 not less than $70,000 (adjusted for any COLA

25 after the date of enactment of the Ethics in
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1 Government Reform Act of 1993) and is not an

2 appointee of the senior foreign service or solely

3 an appointee as a uniformed service commis4 sioned officer,

5 ‘‘(iii) is employed in a full-time, noncareer

6 position in the Executive Office of the President

7 whose rate of basic pay is not less than $70,000

8 (adjusted for any COLA after the date of en9 actment of the Ethics in Government Reform

10 Act of 1993) and is not an appointee of the

11 senior foreign service or solely an appointee as

12 a uniformed service commissioned officer, or

13 ‘‘(iv) is a Member of Congress or employed

14 in a position by the Congress at a rate of pay

15 equal to or greater the $70,000 (adjusted for

16 any COLA after the date of enactment of the

17 Ethics in Government Reform Act of 1993),

18 and

19 ‘‘(B) knowingly, after such service or em20 ployment terminates—

21 ‘‘(i) represents, directly or indirectly,

22 a foreign national before any officer or em23 ployee of any department or agency of the

24 United States with the intent to influence

25 a decision of such officer or employee in
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1 carrying out his or her official duties and

2 receives compensation for such representa3 tion, or

4 ‘‘(ii) aids or advises, directly or indi5 rectly, a foreign national with the intent to

6 influence a decision of any officer or em7 ployee of any department or agency of the

8 United States in carrying out his or her of9 ficial duties and receives compensation for

10 such aid or advice,

11 shall be punished as provided in section 216 of

12 this title.

13 ‘‘(3) GIFTS FROM A FOREIGN GOVERNMENT OR

14 FOREIGN POLITICAL PARTY.—Any person who—

15 ‘‘(A)(i) serves in the position of President

16 or Vice President of the United States,

17 ‘‘(ii) is a full-time, noncareer Presidential,

18 Vice Presidential, or agency head appointee in

19 an executive agency whose rate of basic pay is

20 not less than $70,000 (adjusted for any COLA

21 after the date of enactment of the Ethics in

22 Government Reform Act of 1993) and is not an

23 appointee of the senior foreign service or solely

24 an appointee as a uniformed service commis25 sioned officer,
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1 ‘‘(iii) is a full-time, noncareer Presidential,

2 Vice Presidential, or agency head appointee in

3 an executive agency whose rate of basic pay is

4 not less than $70,000 (adjusted for any COLA

5 after the date of enactment of the Ethics in

6 Government Reform Act of 1993) and is not an

7 appointee of the senior foreign service or solely

8 an appointee as a uniformed service commis9 sioned officer,

10 ‘‘(iv) is employed in a full-time, noncareer

11 position in the Executive Office of the President

12 whose rate of basic pay is not less than $70,000

13 (adjusted for any COLA after the date of en14 actment of the Ethics in Government Act of

15 1993) and is not an appointee of the senior for16 eign service or solely an appointee as a uni17 formed service commissioned officer,

18 ‘‘(v) is a Member of Congress, or

19 ‘‘(vi) is employed in a position by the Con20 gress at a rate of pay equal to or greater than

21 $70,000 (adjusted for any COLA after the date

22 of enactment of the Ethics in Government

23 Reform Act of 1993), and
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1 ‘‘(B) after such service or employment ter2 minates, receives a gift from a foreign govern3 ment or foreign political party,

4 shall be punished as provided in section 216 of this

5 title.

6 ‘‘(4) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub7 section—

8 ‘‘(A) the term ‘foreign national’ means—

9 ‘‘(i) a government of a foreign country

10 as defined in section 1(e) of the Foreign

11 Agents Registration Act of 1938, as

12 amended, or a foreign political party as de13 fined in section 1(f) of that Act;

14 ‘‘(ii) a person outside of the United

15 States, unless such person is an individual

16 and a citizen of the United States, or un17 less such person is not an individual and is

18 organized under or created by the laws of

19 the United States or of any State or other

20 place subject to the jurisdiction of the

21 United States and has its principal place

22 of business within the United States;

23 ‘‘(iii) a partnership, association, cor24 poration, organization, or other combina25 tion of persons organized under the laws of
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1 or having its principal place of business in

2 a foreign country; and

3 ‘‘(iv) a person any of whose activities

4 are directly or indirectly supervised, di5 rected, controlled, financed, or subsidized

6 in whole or in major part by an entity de7 scribed in clause (i), (ii), or (iii); and

8 ‘‘(B) the term ‘gift’—

9 (i) includes any gratuity, favor, dis10 count, entertainment, hospitality, loan, for11 bearance, or other item having monetary

12 value greater than $20; and

13 ‘‘(ii) does not include—

14 ‘‘(I) modest items of food and re15 freshments offered other than as part

16 of a meal;

17 ‘‘(II) greeting cards and items of

18 little intrinsic value which are in19 tended solely for presentation;

20 ‘‘(III) loans from banks and

21 other financial institutions on terms

22 generally available to the public;

23 ‘‘(IV) opportunities and benefits,

24 including favorable rates and commer-
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1 cial discounts, available to the public;

2 or

3 ‘‘(V) travel, subsistence, and re4 lated expenses in connection with the

5 person’s rendering of advice or aid to

6 a government of a foreign country or

7 foreign political party, if the Secretary

8 of State certifies in advance that such

9 activity is in the best interests of the

10 United States.’’.

11 (3) TRADE NEGOTIATORS.—Section 207(b)(1)

12 of title 18, United States Code, is amended—

13 (A) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘IN GEN14 ERAL.—’’; and

15 (B) by adding at the end thereof the fol16 lowing:

17 ‘‘(B) For any person who—

18 ‘‘(i) is a full-time, noncareer Presidential,

19 Vice Presidential, or agency head appointee in

20 an executive agency whose rate of basic pay is

21 not less than $70,000 (adjusted for any COLA

22 after the date of enactment of the Ethics in

23 Government Reform Act of 1993) and is not an

24 appointee of the senior foreign service or solely
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1 an appointee as a uniformed service commis2 sioned officer,

3 ‘‘(ii) is employed in a full-time, noncareer

4 position in the Executive Office of the Presi5 dent, whose rate of basic pay is not less than

6 $70,000 (adjusted for any COLA after the date

7 of enactment of the Ethics in Government Re8 form Act of 1993) and is not an appointee of

9 the senior foreign service or solely an appointee

10 as a uniformed service commissioned officer, or

11 ‘‘(iii) is a Member of Congress or employed

12 in a position by the Congress at a rate of pay

13 equal to or greater than $70,000 (adjusted for

14 any COLA after the date of enactment of the

15 Ethics in Government Reform Act of 1993),

16 the restricted period after the termination of service

17 or employment that is referred to in subparagraph

18 (A) shall be permanent.’’.

19 (4) LEGISLATIVE BRANCH.—Section 207(e) of

20 title 18, United States Code, is amended—

21 (A) by striking paragraph (1) and insert22 ing the following:

23 ‘‘(1) MEMBERS OF CONGRESS, ELECTED OFFI24 CERS, AND HIGHLY-PAID STAFFERS.—(A) Any per25 son who is a Member of Congress, an elected officer
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1 of either House of Congress, or employed in a posi2 tion by the Congress at a rate of pay equal to or

3 greater than $70,000 (adjusted for any COLA after

4 the date of enactment of the Ethics in Government

5 Reform Act of 1993) and who, within 2 years after

6 that person leaves his or her employment, knowingly

7 makes, with the intent to influence, any communica8 tion to or appearance before any Member, officer,

9 employee of either House of Congress, or any em10 ployee of any other legislative office of the Congress

11 on behalf of any other person (except the United

12 States) in connection with any matter on which such

13 former Member, elected officer, or employee seeks

14 action by a Member, officer, or employee of either

15 House of Congress, in his or her official capacity,

16 shall be punished as provided in section 216 of this

17 title.

18 ‘‘(B) Any person who is a Member of Congress

19 and who, after that person leaves office, knowingly

20 makes, with the intent to influence, any communica21 tion to or appearance before any member or em22 ployee of a committee of Congress on which the

23 Member served within 5 years before that person left

24 office, during the period beginning on the date that

25 person leaves office and ending 5 years after the ter-
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1 mination of that person’s service on that committee,

2 on behalf of any other person (except the United

3 States) in connection with any matter on which such

4 former Member seeks action by the member or em5 ployee of the committee in his or her official capac6 ity, shall be punished as provided in section 216 of

7 this title.’’;

8 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (6) and

9 (7) as paragraphs (7) and (8), respectively; and

10 (C) by inserting after paragraph (5) the

11 following new paragraph:

12 ‘‘(6) HIGHLY PAID STAFFERS.—For any person

13 to whom the restrictions in paragraph (2), (3), (4),

14 or (5) apply, and who is employed in a position at

15 a rate of pay equal to or greater than $70,000 (ad16 justed for any COLA after the date of enactment of

17 the Ethics in Government Reform Act of 1993) the

18 restricted period after termination of employment in

19 paragraph (2), (3), (4), or (5) that applies to such

20 person shall be 5 years.’’.

21 (5) GOVERNMENTWIDE COOLING OFF PE22 RIOD.—

23 (A) EXECUTIVE BRANCH.—Subsection (c)

24 of section 207 of title 18, United States Code,

25 is amended—
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1 (i) by amending the caption for such

2 subsection to read as follows:

3 ‘‘(c) ONE-YEAR RESTRICTION ON ALL OFFICERS AND

4 EMPLOYEES OF THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH AND CERTAIN

5 OTHER AGENCIES.—’’;

6 (ii) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘who

7 is referred to in paragraph (2)’’ and insert8 ing ‘‘who is subject to the restrictions con9 tained in subsection (a)(1)’’; and

10 (iii) by striking paragraph (2) and in11 serting the following:

12 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—(A) Paragraph (1) shall

13 not apply to a special Government employee who

14 serves less than 90 days in the 1-year period before

15 his or her service or employment as such employee

16 terminates.

17 ‘‘(B) At the request of a department or agency,

18 the Director of the Office of Government Ethics may

19 waive the restrictions contained in paragraph (1)

20 with respect to any position, or category of positions,

21 referred to in subsection (a)(1), in such department

22 or agency if the Director determines that—

23 ‘‘(i) the imposition of the restrictions with

24 respect to such position or positions would cre25 ate an undue hardship on the department or
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1 agency in obtaining qualified personnel to fill

2 such position or positions, and

3 ‘‘(ii) granting the waiver would not create

4 the potential for use of undue influence or un5 fair advantage.’’.

6 (B) CONGRESS.—Section 207(e) of title

7 18, United States Code, is amended by striking

8 paragraph (6) and inserting the following:

9 ‘‘(6) LIMITATION ON RESTRICTIONS.—(A) The

10 restrictions contained in paragraphs (2), (3), (4),

11 and (5) apply only to acts by a former employee who

12 was employed for at least 90 days, in the aggregate,

13 during the 1-year period before that former employ14 ee’s service as such employee terminated.’’.

15 (b) PENALTIES.—

16 (1) FUTURE ACTIVITIES.—Section 216 of title

17 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at

18 the end thereof the following:

19 ‘‘(d) In addition to the penalties provided in sub20 sections (a), (b), and (c), the punishment for each viola21 tion of section 207 may include a prohibition on the person

22 knowingly, with the intent to influence, communicating to

23 or appearing before any employee of the executive or legis24 lative branch, for a period of not to exceed 5 years.’’.
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1 (2) USE OF PROFITS.—Section 216(b) of title

2 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting

3 after the first sentence the following: ‘‘Any amount

4 of compensation recovered pursuant to the preceding

5 sentence for a violation of section 207 shall be de6 posited in the general fund of the Treasury to re7 duce the deficit.’’.

8 (c) EXCEPTIONS.—Section 207(j) of title 18, United

9 States Code, is amended by adding at the end thereof the

10 following:

11 ‘‘(7) NON-INFLUENTIAL CONTACTS.—Nothing

12 in this section shall prevent an individual from mak13 ing requests for appointments, requests for the sta14 tus of Federal action, or other similar ministerial

15 contacts, if there is no attempt to influence an offi16 cer or employee of the legislative or executive

17 branch.

18 ‘‘(8) COMMENTS.—Nothing in this section shall

19 prevent an individual from making communications

20 in response to a notice in the Federal Register,

21 Commerce Business Daily, or other similar publica22 tion soliciting communications from the public and

23 directed to the agency official specifically designated

24 in the notice to receive such communications.
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1 ‘‘(9) ADJUDICATION.—Nothing in this section

2 shall prevent an individual from making communica3 tions or appearances in compliance with written

4 agency procedures regarding an adjudication con5 ducted by the agency under section 554 of title 5,

6 or substantially similar provisions.

7 ‘‘(10) COMMENTS FOR THE RECORD.—Nothing

8 in this section shall prevent an individual from sub9 mitting written comments filed in a public docket

10 and other communications that are made on the

11 record.’’.

12 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.

13 The restrictions contained in section 207 of title 18,

14 United States Code, as added by section 2 of this Act—

15 (1) shall apply only to persons whose service as

16 officers or employees of the Government, or as Mem17 bers of Congress terminates on or after the date of

18 the enactment of this Act; and

19 (2) in the case of officers, employees, and Mem20 bers of Congress described in section 207(b)(1)(B)

21 of title 18, United States Code (as added by section

22 2 of this Act), shall apply only with respect to par23 ticipation in trade negotiations or treaty negotia24 tions, and with respect to access to information, oc25 curring on or after such date of enactment.
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