Union Calendar No. 272

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 1593

[Report No. 103–354, Part I]

A BILL

To amend the Government in the Sunshine Act to

require the disclosure of certain activities.

APRIL 29, 1994

Committee on the Judiciary discharged; committed to the

Union, and ordered to be printedCommittee of the Whole House on the State of the
IB

Union Calendar No. 272

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 1593

[Report No. 103–354, Part I]

To amend the Government in the Sunshine Act to require the disclosure

of certain activities.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 1, 1993

Mr. CONYERS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Government Operations

NOVEMBER 10, 1993

Reported with an amendment and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

for a period ending not later than February 28, 1994, for consideration

of such provisions of the bill and amendment as fall within the jurisdiction of that committee pursuant to clause 1(l), rule X

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

FEBRUARY 28, 1994

Referral to the Committee on the Judiciary extended for a period ending not

later than April 15, 1994

APRIL 14, 1994

Referral to the Committee on the Judiciary extended for a period ending not

later than April 29, 1994

APRIL 29, 1994

Additional sponsor: Mr. ZIMMER

APRIL 29, 1994

Committee on the Judiciary discharged; committed to the Committee of the

Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on April 1, 1993]
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A BILL

To amend the Government in the Sunshine Act to require

the disclosure of certain activities.

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 ‘‘Revolving Door

5 Sunshine Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. PUBLIC DISCLOSURE OF COMMUNICATIONS.

7 (a) DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENT.—Section 552b of

8 title 5, United States Code, commonly referred to as the

9 ‘‘Government in the Sunshine Act’’, is amended by adding

10 at the end the following:

11 ‘‘(n)(1) Any person who is a senior member of the Fed12 eral Government shall, after his or her service or employ13 ment as a senior member of the Federal Government termi14 nates, file, in accordance with paragraph (2), reports con15 taining the following information:

16 ‘‘(A)(i) The name of any Member of Congress,

17 and the name and title of any congressional staff

18 member or of any officer or employee of any agency,

19 to whom he or she makes an oral or written commu20 nication on behalf of anyone other than himself or

21 herself or the United States, during the 5-year period

22 beginning on the date on which his or her service or
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1 employment as a senior member of the Federal Gov2 ernment terminates, regarding an official action of

3 the Congress or that agency.

4 ‘‘(ii) A person who is a former senior appointee

5 is required under this subparagraph to report only a

6 communication regarding—

7 ‘‘(I) an official action by an agency of

8 which he or she, as such senior appointee, was

9 an officer or employee;

10 ‘‘(II) an official action by the Congress that

11 directly affects an agency described in subclause

12 (I); or

13 ‘‘(III) an official action relating to a mat14 ter in which he or she participated personally

15 and substantially as such senior appointee.

16 ‘‘(B) The name, address, and telephone number

17 of any person on whose behalf he or she makes a com18 munication described in subparagraph (A).

19 ‘‘(C) A description of the legislation, regulation,

20 trade negotiation, or other matter that a communica21 tion described in subparagraph (A) concerns.

22 ‘‘(D) The name, address, and telephone number

23 of any foreign government, foreign political party, or

24 foreign business entity whom he or she represents,

25 aids, or advises, during the 5-year period beginning
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1 on the date on which his or her service or employment

2 as a senior member of the Federal Government termi3 nates, regarding any official action of the Congress or

4 of an agency.

5 ‘‘(2)(A) Subject to subparagraph (B), each person who

6 is required to file a report under paragraph (1) shall file

7 such report—

8 ‘‘(i) by July 30 of each year, containing infor9 mation relating to the period January 1 through

10 June 30 of that year; and

11 ‘‘(ii) by January 31 of each year, containing in12 formation relating to the period July 1 through De13 cember 31 of the preceding year.

14 ‘‘(B)(i) A person shall file the first report under para15 graph (1) for the first reporting period described in sub16 paragraph (A) of this paragraph—

17 ‘‘(I) which occurs after the person leaves his or

18 her office or position; and

19 ‘‘(II) in which he or she made any communica20 tion described in paragraph (1)(A), or any represen21 tation, aid, or advice described in paragraph (1)(D).

22 For all subsequent reporting periods, such person shall file

23 a report under paragraph (1) whether or not the person

24 made any communication described in paragraph (1)(A),
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1 or any representation, aid, or advice described in para2 graph (1)(D), during the reporting period.

3 ‘‘(ii) In the case of a person who makes no communica4 tion described in paragraph (1)(A), and no representation,

5 aid, or advice described in paragraph (1)(D), during the

6 5-year period beginning on the date on which his or her

7 service or employment as a senior member of the Federal

8 Government terminates, such person shall file under para9 graph (1) a report covering the first 2 years of such 5-year

10 period, and a report covering the next 3 years of such 5-

11 year period.

12 ‘‘(iii) The last report which a person described in

13 clause (i) or (ii) is required to file under paragraph (1)

14 is a report filed by the date specified in clause (i) or (ii)

15 of subparagraph (A) that first occurs after the end of the

16 5-year period beginning on the date on which his or her

17 service or employment as a senior member of the Federal

18 Government terminates.

19 ‘‘(3)(A) A former President, Vice President, or senior

20 appointee shall file the report required by paragraph (1)

21 with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

22 ‘‘(B) A former Representative in the Congress, Delegate

23 or Resident Commissioner to the Congress, or senior con24 gressional staff member whose pay was disbursed by the Di25 rector of Nonlegislative and Financial Services of the House
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1 of Representatives, shall file the report required by para2 graph (1) with the Clerk of the House of Representatives.

3 ‘‘(C) A former Senator, or former senior congressional

4 staff member whose pay was disbursed by the Secretary of

5 the Senate, shall file the report required by paragraph (1)

6 with the Secretary of the Senate.

7 ‘‘(4) The Clerk of the House of Representatives, the Sec8 retary of the Senate, and the Director of the Office of Man9 agement and Budget shall, within 30 days after receiving

10 a report filed under paragraph (1), make such report avail11 able to the public for inspection and copying during normal

12 business hours.

13 ‘‘(5) In any case in which a person—

14 ‘‘(A) has failed to file a report required by para15 graph (1) with the Director of the Office of Manage16 ment and Budget, the Clerk of the House of Rep17 resentatives, or the Secretary of the Senate, as the

18 case may be,

19 ‘‘(B) has failed to file information required in

20 such report, or

21 ‘‘(C) has filed false information in such report,

22 the Director, Clerk, or Secretary, as the case may be, shall,

23 within 60 days after the date on which the report should

24 have been filed or was filed, make public the name of such
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1 person and refer the name of such person to the Attorney

2 General.

3 ‘‘(6) The Attorney General may bring a civil action

4 in any appropriate United States district court against

5 any person who fails to file a report required by paragraph

6 (1), fails to file information required in such report, or has

7 filed false information in any such report. The court in

8 which such action is brought shall, upon proof of such filing

9 or failure to file by a preponderance of the evidence, assess

10 against such person a civil penalty of not more than

11 $10,000.

12 ‘‘(7)(A) The Clerk of the House of Representatives shall

13 make public on January 31 of each year the names of each

14 former Representative in the Congress, each Delegate or

15 Resident Commissioner to the Congress, and each senior

16 congressional staff member whose compensation was dis17 bursed by the Director of Nonlegislative and Financial

18 Services of the House of Representatives, who is required

19 to file a report under paragraph (1).

20 ‘‘(B) The Secretary of the Senate shall make public

21 on January 31 of each year the names of each former Sen22 ator, and each senior congressional staff member whose

23 compensation was disbursed by the Secretary of the Senate,

24 who is required to file a report under paragraph (1).
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1 ‘‘(C) The Director of the Office of Management and

2 Budget shall make public on January 31 of each year the

3 names of each senior appointee who is required to file a

4 report under paragraph (1).

5 ‘‘(D) The requirements of this paragraph shall first

6 apply in January of 1995.

7 ‘‘(8) For purposes of this subsection—

8 ‘‘(A) the term ‘agency’ has the meaning given

9 that term in section 552(f) of this title;

10 ‘‘(B) the term ‘congressional staff member’ means

11 an elected officer of either House of Congress, an em12 ployee whose pay is disbursed by the Director of Non13 legislative and Financial Services of the House of

14 Representatives, and an employee whose pay is dis15 bursed by the Secretary of the Senate;

16 ‘‘(C) the term ‘foreign business entity’ means a

17 partnership, association, corporation, organization, or

18 other combination of persons either organized under

19 the laws of or having its principal place of business

20 in a foreign country;

21 ‘‘(D) the term ‘foreign government’ means the

22 ‘government of a foreign country’, as defined in sec23 tion 1(e) of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of

24 1938, as amended;
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1 ‘‘(E) the term ‘foreign political party’ has the

2 meaning given that term in section 1(f) of the For3 eign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended;

4 ‘‘(F) the term ‘Member of Congress’ means a

5 Senator or a Representative in, or Delegate or Resi6 dent Commissioner to, the Congress;

7 ‘‘(G) the term ‘official action’ does not include

8 the routine provision of information and services;

9 ‘‘(H) the term ‘senior appointee’ means any in10 dividual—

11 ‘‘(i) who is appointed by the President, the

12 Vice President, or the head of an agency to a

13 full-time position in an agency in the civil serv14 ice or in the uniformed services, or is appointed

15 to a position in the Foreign Service or the Sen16 ior Executive Service; and

17 ‘‘(ii)(I) whose rate of basic pay, if ap18 pointed to a position in the civil service, the For19 eign Service, or the Senior Executive Service, is

20 not less than the rate of basic pay in effect for

21 level V of the Executive Schedule under section

22 5316 of this title; or

23 ‘‘(II) who, if appointed to a position in the

24 uniformed services, is serving in a grade or rank
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1 for which the pay grade (as specified in section

2 201 of title 37) is pay grade O–7 or above;

3 ‘‘(I) the term ‘senior congressional staff member’

4 means any individual who is a congressional staff

5 member and whose rate of basic pay is not less than

6 the rate of basic pay in effect for level V of the Execu7 tive Schedule under section 5316 of this title;

8 ‘‘(J) the term ‘senior member of the Federal Gov9 ernment’ means an individual who—

10 ‘‘(i) is President, Vice President, or a senior

11 appointee, or

12 ‘‘(ii) is a Member of Congress or a senior

13 congressional staff member,

14 and is serving in such position after January 4,

15 1995; and

16 ‘‘(K) the term ‘written communication’ includes

17 any communication, other than an oral communica18 tion, that is transmitted by any means, including by

19 an electronic device.’’.

20 (b) CONFORMING AND CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—Sec21 tion 552b(a)(1) of title 5, United States Code, is amended—

22 (1) by inserting ‘‘, except as provided in sub23 section (n),’’ after ‘‘ ‘agency’ ’’; and

24 (2) by striking ‘‘section 552(e)’’ and inserting

25 ‘‘section 552(f)’’.