II

Calendar No. 689

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2705

[Report No. 106–348]

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

JULY 18, 2000

Reported by Mr. THOMPSON, without amendment

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,
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•S 2705 RS

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Presidential Transition

3 Act of 2000’’.

4 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION ACT

5 OF 1963.

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

7 1963 (3 U.S.C. 102 note) is amended—

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

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

10 following:’’;

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

12 striking the semicolon at the end and inserting a pe13 riod; and

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

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

16 transition for briefings, workshops, or other activi17 ties to acquaint key prospective Presidential ap18 pointees with the types of problems and challenges

19 that most typically confront new political appointees

20 when they make the transition from campaign and

21 other prior activities to assuming the responsibility

22 for governance after inauguration.

23 ‘‘(ii) Activities under this paragraph may in24 clude interchange between such appointees and indi25 viduals who—
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•S 2705 RS

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

2 administrations;

3 ‘‘(II) are department or agency experts

4 from the Office of Management and Budget or

5 an Office of Inspector General of a department

6 or agency; or

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

8 Accounting Office.

9 ‘‘(iii) Activities under this paragraph may in10 clude training in records management to comply

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

12 including training on the separation of Presidential

13 records and personal records to comply with sub14 section (b) of that section.

15 ‘‘(iv) Activities under this paragraph may in16 clude training in human resources management and

17 performance-based management.

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

19 conducted primarily for individuals the President20 elect intends to nominate as department heads or

21 appoint to key positions in the Executive Office of

22 the President.

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

24 by the Administrator for activities conducted under

25 paragraph (8).
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•S 2705 RS

1 ‘‘(B) The transition directory shall be a com2 pilation of Federal publications and materials with

3 supplementary materials developed by the Adminis4 trator that provides information on the officers, or5 ganization, and statutory and administrative au6 thorities, functions, duties, responsibilities, and mis7 sion of each department and agency.

8 ‘‘(10)(A) Notwithstanding subsection (b), con9 sultation by the Administrator with any candidate

10 for President or Vice President to develop a systems

11 architecture plan for the computer and communica12 tions systems of the candidate to coordinate a tran13 sition to Federal systems, if the candidate is elected.

14 ‘‘(B) Consultations under this paragraph shall

15 be conducted at the discretion of the Adminis16 trator.’’.

17 SEC. 3. REPORT ON IMPROVING THE FINANCIAL DISCLO18 SURE PROCESS FOR PRESIDENTIAL NOMI19 NEES.

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

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

22 Ethics shall conduct a study and submit a report on im23 provements to the financial disclosure process for Presi24 dential nominees required to file reports under section

25 101(b) of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C.
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1 App.) to the Committee on Governmental Affairs of the

2 Senate and the Committee on Government Reform of the

3 House of Representatives.

4 (b) CONTENT OF REPORT.—

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The report under this sec6 tion shall include recommendations and legislative

7 proposals on—

8 (A) streamlining, standardizing, and co9 ordinating the financial disclosure process and

10 the requirements of financial disclosure reports

11 under the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5

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

13 (B) avoiding duplication of effort and re14 ducing the burden of filing with respect to fi15 nancial disclosure of information to the White

16 House Office, the Office of Government Ethics,

17 and the Senate; and

18 (C) any other relevant matter the Office of

19 Government Ethics determines appropriate.

20 (2) LIMITATION RELATING TO CONFLICTS OF

21 INTEREST.—The recommendations and proposals

22 under this subsection shall not (if implemented)

23 have the effect of lessening substantive compliance

24 with any conflict of interest requirement.
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1 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

2 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be

3 necessary to carry out this section.

Calendar No. 689

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2705

[Report No. 106–348]

A BILL

To provide for the training of individuals, during a

Presidential transition, who the President intendsto appoint to certain key positions, to provide fora study and report on improving the financialdisclosure process for certain Presidential nominees, and for other purposes.

JULY 18, 2000

Reported without amendment