II

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 24

To reauthorize the independent counsel law for an additional 5 years, and

for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JANUARY 21 (legislative day, JANUARY 5), 1993

Mr. LEVIN (for himself and Mr. COHEN) introduced the following bill; which

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Governmental Affairs

A BILL

To reauthorize the independent counsel law for an additional

5 years, 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 ‘‘Independent Counsel

5 Reauthorization Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. FIVE-YEAR REAUTHORIZATION.

7 Section 599 of title 28, United States Code, is

8 amended by striking ‘‘1987’’ and inserting ‘‘1993’’.
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1 SEC. 3. ADDED CONTROLS.

2 (a) COST CONTROLS AND ADMINISTRATIVE SUP3 PORT.—Section 594 of title 28, United States Code, is

4 amended by adding at the end the following new sub5 section:

6 ‘‘(l) COST CONTROLS AND ADMINISTRATIVE SUP7 PORT.—

8 ‘‘(1) COST CONTROLS.—

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An independent coun10 sel shall—

11 ‘‘(i) conduct all activities with due re12 gard for expense;

13 ‘‘(ii) authorize only reasonable and

14 lawful expenditures; and

15 ‘‘(iii) promptly, upon taking office, as16 sign to a specific employee the duty of cer17 tifying that expenditures of the independ18 ent counsel are reasonable and made in ac19 cordance with law.

20 ‘‘(B) DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE POLI21 CIES.—An independent counsel shall comply

22 with the established policies of the Department

23 of Justice respecting expenditures of funds, ex24 cept to the extent that compliance would be in25 consistent with the purposes of this chapter.
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1 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT.—The Admin2 istrative Office of the United States Courts shall

3 provide administrative support and guidance to each

4 independent counsel. The Administrative Office shall

5 not disclose information related to an independent

6 counsel’s expenditures, personnel, or administrative

7 acts or arrangements without the authorization of

8 the independent counsel.

9 ‘‘(3) OFFICE SPACE.—The General Services Ad10 ministration, in consultation with the Administrative

11 Office, shall promptly provide appropriate office

12 space for each independent counsel. Such office

13 space shall be within a Federal building unless the

14 General Services Administration determines that

15 other arrangements would cost less.’’.

16 (b) INDEPENDENT COUNSEL PER DIEM EX17 PENSES.— Section 594(b) of title 28, United States Code,

18 is amended—

19 (1) by striking ‘‘An independent counsel’’ and

20 inserting ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An independent coun21 sel’’; and

22 (2) by adding at the end the following new

23 paragraphs:

24 ‘‘(2) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Except as provided

25 in paragraph (3), an independent counsel and per-
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1 sons appointed under subsection (c) shall be entitled

2 to the payment of travel expenses as provided by

3 subchapter 1 of chapter 57 of title 5, United States

4 Code, including travel expenses and per diem in lieu

5 of subsistence in accordance with section 5703 of

6 title 5.

7 ‘‘(3) TRAVEL TO PRIMARY OFFICE.—An inde8 pendent counsel and persons appointed under sub9 section (c) shall not be entitled to the payment of

10 travel and subsistence expenses under subchapter 1

11 of chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, with re12 spect to duties performed in the city in which the

13 primary office of that independent counsel or person

14 is located after 1 year of service under this chapter

15 unless the employee assigned duties under sub16 section (l)(1)(A)(iii) certifies that the payment is in

17 the public interest to carry out the purposes of this

18 chapter.’’.

19 (c) INDEPENDENT COUNSEL EMPLOYEE PAY COM20 PARABILITY.—Section 594(c) of title 28, United States

21 Code, is amended by striking the last sentence and insert22 ing: ‘‘Such employees shall be compensated at levels not

23 to exceed those payable for comparable positions in the

24 Office of United States Attorney for the District of Colum25 bia under sections 548 and 550, but in no event shall any
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1 such employee be compensated at a rate greater than the

2 rate of basic pay payable for level IV of the Executive

3 Schedule under section 5315 of title 5.’’.

4 (d) ETHICS ENFORCEMENT.—Section 594(j) of title

5 28, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end

6 the following new paragraph:

7 ‘‘(5) ENFORCEMENT.—The Department of Jus8 tice and Office of Government Ethics have authority

9 to enforce compliance with this subsection.’’.

10 (e) COMPLIANCE WITH POLICIES OF THE DEPART11 MENT OF JUSTICE.—Section 594(f) is amended by strik12 ing ‘‘shall, except where not possible, comply’’ and insert13 ing ‘‘shall, except to the extent that to do so would be

14 inconsistent with the purposes of this chapter, comply’’.

15 (f) PUBLICATION OF REPORTS.—Section 594(h) of

16 title 28, United States Code, is amended—

17 (1) by adding at the end the following new

18 paragraph:

19 ‘‘(3) PUBLICATION OF REPORTS.—At the re20 quest of an independent counsel, the Public Printer

21 shall cause to be printed any report previously re22 leased to the public under paragraph (2). The inde23 pendent counsel shall certify the number of copies

24 necessary for the public service, and the Public

25 Printer shall place the cost of the required number
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1 to the debit of such independent counsel. Additional

2 copies shall be made available to the public through

3 the depository library program and Superintendent

4 of Documents sales program pursuant to sections

5 1702 and 1903 of title 44.’’; and

6 (2) in the first sentence of paragraph (2), by

7 striking ‘‘appropriate’’ the second place it appears

8 and inserting ‘‘in the public interest, consistent with

9 maximizing public disclosure, ensuring a full expla10 nation of independent counsel activities and decision11 making, and facilitating the release of information

12 and materials which the independent counsel has de13 termined should be disclosed’’.

14 (g) ANNUAL REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Section

15 595(a)(2) of title 28, United States Code, is amended by

16 striking ‘‘such statements’’ and all that follows through

17 ‘‘appropriate’’ and inserting ‘‘annually a report on the ac18 tivities of the independent counsel, including a description

19 of the progress of any investigation or prosecution con20 ducted by the independent counsel. Such report may omit

21 any matter that in the judgment of the independent coun22 sel should be kept confidential, but shall provide informa23 tion adequate to justify the expenditures that the office

24 of the independent counsel has made’’.
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1 (h) PERIODIC REAPPOINTMENT OF INDEPENDENT

2 COUNSEL.—Section 596(b)(2) of title 28, United States

3 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new

4 sentence: ‘‘If the Attorney General has not made a request

5 under this paragraph, the division of the court shall deter6 mine on its own motion whether termination is appro7 priate under this paragraph no later than 3 years after

8 the appointment of an independent counsel and at the end

9 of each succeeding 3-year period.’’.

10 (i) AUDITS BY THE COMPTROLLER GENERAL.—Sec11 tion 596(c) of title 28, United States Code, is amended

12 to read as follows:

13 ‘‘(c) AUDITS.—By December 31 of each year, an

14 independent counsel shall prepare a statement of expendi15 tures for the fiscal year that ended on the immediately

16 preceding September 30. An independent counsel whose

17 office is terminated prior to the end of the fiscal year shall

18 prepare a statement of expenditures by the date that is

19 90 days after the date on which the office is terminated.

20 The Comptroller General shall audit each such statement

21 and report the results of each audit to the appropriate

22 committees of the Congress not later than March 31 of

23 the year following the submission of any such statement.’’.
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1 SEC. 4. MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.

2 Section 591(c) of title 28, United States Code, is

3 amended—

4 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as

5 subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively;

6 (2) by designating the text as paragraph (1)

7 and inserting at the beginning of the text the follow8 ing: ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—’’; and

9 (3) by adding at the end the following new

10 paragraph:

11 ‘‘(2) MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.—When the At12 torney General determines that it would be in the

13 public interest, the Attorney General may conduct a

14 preliminary investigation in accordance with section

15 592 if the Attorney General receives information

16 sufficient to constitute grounds to investigate wheth17 er a Member of Congress may have violated any

18 Federal criminal law other than a violation classified

19 as a Class B or C misdemeanor or an infraction.’’.

20 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

21 The amendments made by this Act shall become ef22 fective on the date of enactment of this Act.

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