II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2705

To provide for the training of individuals, during a Presidential transition,

who the President intends to appoint to certain key positions, to provide

for a study and report on improving the financial disclosure process

for certain Presidential nominees, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 8, 2000

Mr. THOMPSON (for himself, Mr. LIEBERMAN, Mr. AKAKA, Ms. COLLINS, Mr.

DURBIN, Mr. LEVIN, and Mr. VOINOVICH) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Governmental Affairs

A BILL

To provide for the training of individuals, during a Presidential transition, who the President intends to appoint

to certain key positions, to provide for a study and

report on improving the financial disclosure process for

certain Presidential nominees, and for other purposes.

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 ‘‘Presidential Transition

5 Act of 2000’’.
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1 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION ACT

2 OF 1963.

3 Section 3(a) of the Presidential Transition Act of

4 1963 (3 U.S.C. 102 note) is amended—

5 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1) by

6 striking ‘‘including—’’ and inserting ‘‘including the

7 following:’’;

8 (2) in each of paragraphs (1) through (6) by

9 striking the semicolon at the end and inserting a pe10 riod; and

11 (3) by adding at the end the following:

12 ‘‘(8)(A)(i) Payment of expenses during the

13 transition for briefings, workshops, or other activi14 ties to acquaint key prospective Presidential ap15 pointees with the types of problems and challenges

16 that most typically confront new political appointees

17 when they make the transition from campaign and

18 other prior activities to assuming the responsibility

19 for governance after inauguration.

20 ‘‘(ii) Activities under this paragraph may in21 clude interchange between such appointees and indi22 viduals who—

23 ‘‘(I) held similar leadership roles in prior

24 administrations;

25 ‘‘(II) are department or agency experts

26 from the Office of Management and Budget or
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1 an Office of Inspector General of a department

2 or agency; or

3 ‘‘(III) are relevant staff from the General

4 Accounting Office.

5 ‘‘(iii) Activities under this paragraph may in6 clude training in records management to comply

7 with section 2203 of title 44, United States Code,

8 including training on the separation of Presidential

9 records and personal records to comply with sub10 section (b) of that section.

11 ‘‘(iv) Activities under this paragraph may in12 clude training in human resources management and

13 performance-based management.

14 ‘‘(B) Activities under this paragraph shall be

15 conducted primarily for individuals the President16 elect intends to nominate as department heads or

17 appoint to key positions in the Executive Office of

18 the President.

19 ‘‘(9)(A) Development of a transition directory

20 by the Administrator for activities conducted under

21 paragraph (8).

22 ‘‘(B) The transition directory shall be a com23 pilation of Federal publications and materials with

24 supplementary materials developed by the Adminis25 trator that provides information on the officers, or-
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1 ganization, and statutory and administrative au2 thorities, functions, duties, responsibilities, and mis3 sion of each department and agency.

4 ‘‘(10)(A) Notwithstanding subsection (b), con5 sultation by the Administrator with any candidate

6 for President or Vice President to develop a systems

7 architecture plan for the computer and communica8 tions systems of the candidate to coordinate a tran9 sition to Federal systems, if the candidate is elected.

10 ‘‘(B) Consultations under this paragraph shall

11 be conducted at the discretion of the Adminis12 trator.’’.

13 SEC. 3. REPORT ON IMPROVING THE FINANCIAL DISCLO14 SURE PROCESS FOR PRESIDENTIAL NOMI15 NEES.

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after the

17 date of enactment of this Act, the Office of Government

18 Ethics shall conduct a study and submit a report on im19 provements to the financial disclosure process for Presi20 dential nominees required to file reports under section

21 101(b) of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C.

22 App.) to the Committee on Governmental Affairs of the

23 Senate and the Committee on Government Reform of the

24 House of Representatives.

25 (b) CONTENT OF REPORT.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The report under this sec2 tion shall include recommendations and legislative

3 proposals on—

4 (A) streamlining, standardizing, and co5 ordinating the financial disclosure process and

6 the requirements of financial disclosure reports

7 under the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5

8 U.S.C. App.) for Presidential nominees;

9 (B) avoiding duplication of effort and re10 ducing the burden of filing with respect to fi11 nancial disclosure of information to the White

12 House Office, the Office of Government Ethics,

13 and the Senate; and

14 (C) any other relevant matter the Office of

15 Government Ethics determines appropriate.

16 (2) LIMITATION RELATING TO CONFLICTS OF

17 INTEREST.—The recommendations and proposals

18 under this subsection shall not (if implemented)

19 have the effect of lessening substantive compliance

20 with any conflict of interest requirement.

21 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

22 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be

23 necessary to carry out this section.

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