103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 24

AMENDMENT
In the House of Representatives, U. S.,

February 10, 1994.

Resolved, That the bill from the Senate (S. 24) entitled ‘‘An Act to reauthorize the independent counsel law for

an additional 5 years, and for other purposes’’, do pass with

the following

AMENDMENT:

Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert:

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Independent Counsel

3 Reauthorization Act of 1994’’.

4 SEC. 2. FIVE-YEAR REAUTHORIZATION.

5 (a) REAUTHORIZATION.—Section 599 of title 28,

6 United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘1987’’ and in7 serting ‘‘1993’’.

8 (b) EFFECTIVENESS OF STATUTE.—Chapter 40 of title

9 28, United States Code, shall be effective, on and after the

10 date of enactment of this Act, as if the authority for such

11 chapter had not expired before such date.

12 SEC. 3. ADDED CONTROLS.

13 (a) COST CONTROLS AND ADMINISTRATIVE SUP14 PORT.—Section 594 of title 28, United States Code, is

15 amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
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1 ‘‘(l) COST CONTROLS AND ADMINISTRATIVE SUP2 PORT.—

3 ‘‘(1) COST CONTROLS.—

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An independent counsel

5 shall—

6 ‘‘(i) conduct all activities with due re7 gard for expense;

8 ‘‘(ii) authorize only reasonable and

9 lawful expenditures; and

10 ‘‘(iii) promptly, upon taking office, as11 sign to a specific employee the duty of cer12 tifying that expenditures of the independent

13 counsel are reasonable and made in accord14 ance with law.

15 ‘‘(B) DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE POLICIES.—

16 An independent counsel shall comply with the es17 tablished policies of the Department of Justice

18 respecting expenditures of funds, except to the ex19 tent that compliance would be inconsistent with

20 the purposes of this chapter.

21 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT.—The Director

22 of the Administrative Office of the United States

23 Courts shall provide administrative support and

24 guidance to each independent counsel. No officer or

25 employee of the Administrative Office of the United
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1 States Courts shall disclose information related to an

2 independent counsel’s expenditures, personnel, or ad3 ministrative acts or arrangements without the author4 ization of the independent counsel.

5 ‘‘(3) OFFICE SPACE.—The Administrator of Gen6 eral Services, in consultation with the Director of the

7 Administrative Office of the United States Courts,

8 shall promptly provide appropriate office space for

9 each independent counsel. Such office space shall be

10 within a Federal building unless the Administrator of

11 General Services determines that other arrangements

12 would cost less.’’.

13 (b) INDEPENDENT COUNSEL PER DIEM EXPENSES.—

14 Section 594(b) of title 28, United States Code, is amend15 ed—

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

17 inserting—

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An independent counsel’’;

19 and

20 (2) by adding at the end the following new para21 graphs:

22 ‘‘(2) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Except as provided in

23 paragraph (3), an independent counsel and persons

24 appointed under subsection (c) shall be entitled to the

25 payment of travel expenses as provided by subchapter
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1 1 of chapter 57 of title 5, including travel or trans2 portation expenses in accordance with section 5703 of

3 title 5.

4 ‘‘(3) TRAVEL TO PRIMARY OFFICE.—An inde5 pendent counsel and any person appointed under sub6 section (c) shall not be entitled to the payment of

7 travel and subsistence expenses under subchapter 1 of

8 chapter 57 of title 5 with respect to duties performed

9 in the city in which the primary office of that inde10 pendent counsel or person is located after 1 year of

11 service by that independent counsel or person (as the

12 case may be) under this chapter unless the employee

13 assigned duties under subsection (l)(1)(A)(iii) certifies

14 that the payment is in the public interest to carry out

15 the purposes of this chapter. Any such certification

16 shall be effective for 6 months, but may be renewed for

17 additional periods of 6-months each if, for each such

18 renewal, the employee assigned duties under sub19 section (l)(1)(A)(iii) makes a recertification with re20 spect to the public interest described in the preceding

21 sentence. In making any certification or

22 recertification under this paragraph with respect to

23 travel and subsistence expenses of an independent

24 counsel or person appointed under subsection (c), such
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1 employee shall consider, among other relevant fac2 tors—

3 ‘‘(A) the cost to the Government of reim4 bursing such travel and subsistence expenses;

5 ‘‘(B) the period of time for which the inde6 pendent counsel anticipates that the activities of

7 the independent counsel or person, as the case

8 may be, will continue;

9 ‘‘(C) the personal and financial burdens on

10 the independent counsel or person, as the case

11 may be, of relocating so that such travel and

12 subsistence expenses would not be incurred; and

13 ‘‘(D) the burdens associated with appoint14 ing a new independent counsel, or appointing

15 another person under subsection (c), to replace

16 the individual involved who is unable or unwill17 ing to so relocate.

18 An employee making a certification or recertification

19 under this paragraph shall be liable for an invalid

20 certification or recertification to the same extent as a

21 certifying official certifying a voucher is liable under

22 section 3528 of title 31.’’.

23 (c) INDEPENDENT COUNSEL EMPLOYEE PAY COM24 PARABILITY.—Section 594(c) of title 28, United States

25 Code, is amended by striking the last sentence and inserting
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1 the following: ‘‘Not more than 2 such employees may be

2 compensated at a rate not to exceed the rate of basic pay

3 payable for level V of the Executive schedule under section

4 5316 of title 5, and all other such employees shall be com5 pensated at rates not to exceed the maximum rate of basic

6 pay payable for GS–15 of the General Schedule under sec7 tion 5332 of title 5.’’.

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

9 28, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end

10 the following new paragraph:

11 ‘‘(5) ENFORCEMENT.—The Attorney General and

12 the Director of the Office of Government Ethics have

13 authority to enforce compliance with this subsection.’’.

14 (e) COMPLIANCE WITH POLICIES OF THE DEPART15 MENT OF JUSTICE.—Section 594(f) of title 28, United

16 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘shall, except where

17 not possible, comply’’ and inserting ‘‘shall, except to the ex18 tent that to do so would be inconsistent with the purposes

19 of this chapter, comply’’.

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

21 28, United States Code, is amended—

22 (1) by adding at the end the following new para23 graph:

24 ‘‘(3) PUBLICATION OF REPORTS.—At the request

25 of an independent counsel, the Public Printer shall
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1 cause to be printed any report previously released to

2 the public under paragraph (2). The independent

3 counsel shall certify the number of copies necessary

4 for the public, and the Public Printer shall place the

5 cost of the required number to the debit of such inde6 pendent counsel. Additional copies shall be made

7 available to the public through the Superintendent of

8 Documents sales program under section 1702 of title

9 44 and the depository library program under section

10 1903 of such title.’’; and

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

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

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

14 maximizing public disclosure, ensuring a full expla15 nation of independent counsel activities and decision16 making, and facilitating the release of information

17 and materials which the independent counsel has de18 termined should be disclosed’’.

19 (g) ANNUAL REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Section

20 595(a)(2) of title 28, United States Code, is amended by

21 striking ‘‘such statements’’ and all that follows through ‘‘ap22 propriate’’ and inserting ‘‘annually a report on the activi23 ties of the independent counsel, including a description of

24 the progress of any investigation or prosecution conducted

25 by the independent counsel. Such report may omit any mat-
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1 ter that in the judgment of the independent counsel should

2 be kept confidential, but shall provide information adequate

3 to justify the expenditures that the office of the independent

4 counsel has made’’.

5 (h) PERIODIC REAPPOINTMENT OF INDEPENDENT

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

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

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

9 under this paragraph, the division of the court shall deter10 mine on its own motion whether termination is appropriate

11 under this paragraph not later than 3 years after the ap12 pointment of an independent counsel and at the end of each

13 succeeding 3-year period.’’.

14 (i) AUDITS BY THE COMPTROLLER GENERAL.—Sec15 tion 596(c) of title 28, United States Code, is amended to

16 read as follows:

17 ‘‘(c) AUDITS.—By December 31 of each year, an inde18 pendent counsel shall prepare a statement of expenditures

19 for the fiscal year that ended on the immediately preceding

20 September 30. An independent counsel whose office is termi21 nated prior to the end of the fiscal year shall prepare a

22 statement of expenditures by the date that is 90 days after

23 the date on which the office is terminated. The Comptroller

24 General shall audit each such statement and shall, not later

25 than March 31 of the year following the submission of any
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1 such statement, report the results of each audit to the Com2 mittee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Government

3 Operations of the House of Representatives and to the Com4 mittee on Governmental Affairs and the Committee on the

5 Judiciary of the Senate.’’.

6 SEC. 4. MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.

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

8 amended—

9 (1) by indenting paragraphs (1) and (2) two

10 ems to the right and by redesignating such para11 graphs as subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively;

12 (2) by striking ‘‘The Attorney’’ and all that fol13 lows through ‘‘if—’’ and inserting the following:

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General may

15 conduct a preliminary investigation in accordance

16 with section 592 if—’’; and

17 (3) by adding at the end the following new para18 graph:

19 ‘‘(2) MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.—Whenever the At20 torney General determines that it would be in the

21 public interest, the Attorney General may conduct a

22 preliminary investigation in accordance with section

23 592 if the Attorney General has received information

24 sufficient to constitute grounds to investigate whether

25 a Member of Congress may have violated any Federal
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1 criminal law other than a violation classified as a

2 Class B or C misdemeanor or an infraction.’’.

3 SEC. 5. GROUNDS FOR REMOVAL.

4 Section 596(a)(1) of title 28, United States Code, is

5 amended by striking ‘‘physical disability, mental incapac6 ity’’ and inserting ‘‘physical or mental disability (consist7 ent with prohibitions on discrimination otherwise imposed

8 by law)’’.

9 SEC. 6. NATIONAL SECURITY.

10 Section 597 of title 28, United States Code, is amended

11 by adding at the end the following:

12 ‘‘(c) NATIONAL SECURITY.—An independent counsel

13 shall comply with guidelines and procedures used by the

14 Department in the handling and use of classified mate15 rials.’’.

16 SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE.

17 The amendments made by this Act shall become effec18 tive on the date of the enactment of this Act.

Attest:

Clerk.