I 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4799 

To establish the Office of Public Integrity as an independent office within 

the legislative branch of the Government, to reduce the duties of the 

Committee on Standards of Official Conduct of the House of Representatives and the Select Committee on Ethics of the Senate, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 16, 2006 

Mr. SHAYS (for himself and Mr. MEEHAN) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition 

to the Committees on Rules and the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 

provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To establish the Office of Public Integrity as an independent 

office within the legislative branch of the Government, 

to reduce the duties of the Committee on Standards 

of Official Conduct of the House of Representatives and 

the Select Committee on Ethics of the Senate, 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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1 SECTION 1. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE OF PUBLIC INTEG2 RITY. 

3 There is established, as an independent office within 

4 the legislative branch of the Government, the Office of 

5 Public Integrity (hereinafter referred to as the ‘‘Office’’). 

6 SEC. 2. DIRECTOR. 

7 (a) APPOINTMENT OF DIRECTOR.—(1) The Office 

8 shall be headed by a Director who shall be appointed joint9 ly by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the 

10 majority leader of the Senate, and the minority leaders 

11 of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The selec12 tion and appointment of the Director shall be without re13 gard to political affiliation and solely on the basis of fit14 ness to perform the duties of the Office. 

15 (2)(A) No individual who has been a registered lob16 byist under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 or an 

17 agent of a foreign government under the Foreign Agents 

18 Registration Act within 5 years of the date of appointment 

19 shall be eligible for appointment as the Director. 

20 (B) The Director may not have been a Member of 

21 the House of Representatives or Senator. 

22 (C) The Director shall possess demonstrated integ23 rity, independence, and public credibility and shall have 

24 training or experience in law enforcement, the judiciary, 

25 or as a member of a Federal, State, or local ethics enforce26 ment agency. 


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1 (b) VACANCY.—A vacancy in the directorship shall be 

2 filled in the manner in which the original appointment was 

3 made. 

4 (c) TERM OF OFFICE.—The Director shall serve for 

5 a term of 5 years and may be reappointed. 

6 (d) REMOVAL .—The Director may be removed by a 

7 majority of the appointing authority for— 

8 (1) disability that substantially prevents the Di9 rector from carrying out his duties; 

10 (2) incompetence; 

11 (3) neglect of duty; or 

12 (4) malfeasance, including a felony or conduct 

13 involving moral turpitude. 

14 In removing the Director, a statement of the reasons for 

15 removal shall be provided in writing to the Director by 

16 the members who voted for removing the Director and 

17 shall be made public. 

18 (e) COMPENSATION.—The Director shall be com19 pensated at the annual rate of basic pay prescribed for 

20 level V of the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of 

21 title 5, United States Code. 

22 SEC. 3. DUTIES AND POWERS OF THE OFFICE. 

23 (a) DUTIES.—The Office is authorized— 

24 (1) to receive, monitor, and oversee financial 

25 disclosure and other reports filed by Members of 


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1 Congress and officers and employees of Congress 

2 under the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, and 

3 reports filed by registered lobbyists under the Lob4 bying Disclosure Act of 1995; 

5 (2) to investigate any alleged violation, by a 

6 Member, officer, or employee of the House of Rep7 resentatives or the Senate, of any rule or other 

8 standard of conduct applicable to the conduct of 

9 such Member, officer, or employee under applicable 

10 House or Senate rules in the performance of his du11 ties or the discharge of his responsibilities; 

12 (3) to present a case of probable ethics viola13 tions to the Committee on Standards of Official 

14 Conduct of the House of Representatives or the Sen15 ate Select Committee on Ethics; 

16 (4) to make recommendations to the Committee 

17 on Standards of Official Conduct of the House of 

18 Representatives or the Senate Select Committee on 

19 Ethics that it report to the appropriate Federal or 

20 State authorities any substantial evidence of a viola21 tion by a Member, officer, or employee of the House 

22 of Representatives or the Senate of any law applica23 ble to the performance of his duties or the discharge 

24 of his responsibilities, which may have been disclosed 

25 in an investigation by the Office; 


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1 (5) to provide information and informal guid2 ance to Members, officers and employees of the 

3 House of Representatives and the Senate regarding 

4 any rules and other standards of conduct applicable 

5 to such individuals in their official capacities, and 

6 develop and carry out periodic educational briefings 

7 for Members, officers, and employees of the House 

8 of Representatives on those laws, rules, regulations, 

9 or other standards; 

10 (6) to give consideration to the request of any 

11 Member, officer, or employee of the House of Rep12 resentatives or the Senate for a formal advisory 

13 opinion or other formal ruling, subject to the review 

14 of the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct 

15 of the House of Representatives or the Senate Select 

16 Committee on Ethics, as applicable, with respect to 

17 the general propriety of any current or proposed 

18 conduct of such Member, officer, or employee and, 

19 with appropriate deletions to assure the privacy of 

20 the individual concerned, to publish such opinion for 

21 the guidance of other Members, officers, and em22 ployees of the House of Representatives or the Sen23 ate; 


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1 (7) to conduct periodic and random reviews and 

2 audits of reports filed with it to ensure compliance 

3 with all applicable laws and rules; and 

4 (8) to provide informal guidance to registrants 

5 under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 of their 

6 responsibilities under such Act. 

7 (b) POWERS.— 

8 (1) OBTAINING INFORMATION.—Upon request 

9 of the Office, the head of any agency or instrumen10 tality of the Government shall furnish information 

11 deemed necessary by the Director to enable the Of12 fice to carry out its duties. 

13 (2) REFERRALS TO THE DEPARTMENT OF JUS14 TICE.—Whenever the Director has reason to believe 

15 that a violation of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 

16 1995 may have occurred, he shall refer that matter 

17 to the Department of Justice for it to investigate. 

18 (3) GENERAL AUDITS.—The Director shall have 

19 the authority to conduct general audits of filings 

20 under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995. 


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1 SEC. 4. INVESTIGATIONS AND INTERACTION WITH THE 

2 HOUSE COMMITTEE ON STANDARDS OF OFFI3 CIAL CONDUCT OR THE SENATE SELECT 

4 COMMITTEE ON ETHICS. 

5 (a) INITIATION OF ENFORCEMENT MATTERS.—(1) 

6 An investigation may be initiated by the filing of a com7 plaint with the Office by a Member of Congress or an out8 side complainant, or by the Office on its own initiative, 

9 based on any information in its possession. The Director 

10 shall not accept a complaint concerning a Member of Con11 gress within 60 days of an election involving such Member. 

12 (2) In the case of a complaint that is filed, the Direc13 tor shall within 30 days make an initial determination as 

14 to whether the complaint should be dismissed or whether 

15 there are sufficient grounds to conduct an investigation. 

16 The subject of the complaint shall be provided by the Di17 rector with an opportunity during the 30-day period to 

18 challenge the complaint. In any case where the Director 

19 decides to dismiss a complaint, the Director can determine 

20 the complaint to be frivolous. 

21 (3) Whenever the Director determines that a com22 plaint is frivolous, the Director shall not accept any future 

23 complaint filed by that same person and the complainant 

24 shall be required to pay for the costs of the Office result25 ing from such complaint. The Director may refer the mat26 ter to the Department of Justice to collect such costs. 


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1 (4) For any investigation conducted by the Office at 

2 its own initiative, the Director shall make a preliminary 

3 determination of whether there are sufficient grounds to 

4 conduct an investigation. Before making that determina5 tion, the subject of the investigation shall be provided by 

6 the Director with an opportunity to submit information 

7 to the Director that there are not sufficient grounds to 

8 conduct an investigation. 

9 (5) Whenever the Director determines that there are 

10 sufficient grounds to conduct an investigation— 

11 (A) the Director shall notify the Committee on 

12 Standards of Official Conduct or the Senate Select 

13 Committee on Ethics, as applicable, of this deter14 mination; 

15 (B) the applicable committee may overrule the 

16 determination of the Director if, within 10 legislative 

17 days— 

18 (i) the committee by an affirmative, roll19 call vote of two-thirds of the full committee 

20 votes to overrule the determination of the Di21 rector; 

22 (ii) the committee issues a public report 

23 detailing its reasoning for overruling the Direc24 tor; 


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1 (iii) the vote of each member of the com2 mittee on such roll- call vote is included in the 

3 report; and 

4 (iv) dissenting members are allowed to 

5 issue their own report detailing their reasons 

6 for disagreeing with the majority vote; and 

7 (C) if the applicable committee votes to overrule 

8 the determination of the Director pursuant to sub9 paragraph (B), the Director may publish and make 

10 available to the general public a report detailing the 

11 reasons that the Director concluded there were suffi12 cient grounds to conduct an investigation. 

13 (b) CONDUCTING INVESTIGATIONS.—(1) If the Direc14 tor determines that there are sufficient grounds to conduct 

15 an investigation and his determination is not overruled 

16 under subsection (a)(5), the Director shall conduct an in17 vestigation to determine if probable cause exists that a vio18 lation occurred. 

19 (2) As part of an investigation, the Director may— 

20 (A) administer oaths; 

21 (B) issue subpoenas; 

22 (C) compel the attendance of witnesses and the 

23 production of papers, books, accounts, documents, 

24 and testimony; and 

25 (D) take the deposition of witnesses. 


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1 (3) If a person disobeys or refuses to comply with 

2 a subpoena, or if a witness refuses to testify to a matter, 

3 he may be held in contempt of Congress. 

4 (c) PRESENTATION OF CASE TO HOUSE COMMITTEE

5 ON STANDARDS OF OFFICIAL CONDUCT OR SENATE SE6 LECT COMMITTEE ON ETHICS.—(1) If the Director deter7 mines, upon conclusion of an investigation, that probable 

8 cause exists that an ethics violation has occurred, the Di9 rector shall notify the Committee on Standards of Official 

10 Conduct of the House of Representatives or the Senate 

11 Select Committee on Ethics, as applicable, of this deter12 mination. 

13 (2) The applicable committee may overrule the deter14 mination of the Director if, within 10 legislative days— 

15 (A) the committee by an affirmative, roll-call 

16 vote of two-thirds of the full committee votes to 

17 overrule the determination of the Director; 

18 (B) the committee issues a public report detail19 ing its reasoning for overruling the Director; 

20 (C) the vote of each member of the committee 

21 on such roll-call vote is included in the report; and 

22 (D) dissenting members are allowed to issue 

23 their own report detailing their reasons for dis24 agreeing with the majority vote. 


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1 (3) If the applicable committee votes to overrule the 

2 determination of the Director pursuant to paragraph (2), 

3 the Director may publish and make available to the gen4 eral public a report detailing the reasons that he concluded 

5 there were sufficient grounds to present such case to the 

6 committee. 

7 (4)(A) If the Director determines there is probable 

8 cause that an ethics violation has occurred and the Direc9 tor’s determination is not overruled, the Director shall 

10 present the case and evidence to the Committee on Stand11 ards of Official Conduct of the House of Representatives 

12 or the Senate Select Committee on Ethics, as applicable, 

13 to hear and make a determination pursuant to its rules. 

14 (B) The applicable committee shall vote upon wheth15 er the individual who is the subject of the investigation 

16 has violated any rules or other standards of conduct appli17 cable to that individual in his official capacity. Such votes 

18 shall be a roll-call vote of the full committee, a quorum 

19 being present. The committee shall issue a public report 

20 which shall include the vote of each member of the com21 mittee on such roll-call vote. Dissenting members may 

22 issue their own report detailing their own reasons for dis23 agreeing with the majority vote. 

24 (f) SANCTIONS.—Whenever the Committee on Stand25 ards of Official Conduct of the House of Representatives 


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1 or the Senate Select Committee on Ethics finds that an 

2 ethics violation has occurred, the Director shall rec3 ommend appropriate sanctions to the committee and 

4 whether a matter should be referred to the Department 

5 of Justice for investigation. 

6 SEC. 5. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW AND IN THE RULES OF 

7 THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 

8 (a) RULES OF THE HOUSE.—(1) Paragraphs (a) 

9 through (e) of clause 3 of rule XI of the Rules of the 

10 House of Representatives are amended to read as follows: 

11 ‘‘(a) The Committee on Standards of Official Con12 duct has the following functions: 

13 ‘‘(1) The committee may recommend to the 

14 House from time to time such administrative actions 

15 as it may consider appropriate to establish or en16 force standards of official conduct for Members, Del17 egates, the Resident Commissioner, officers, and em18 ployees of the House. A letter of reproval or other 

19 administrative action of the committee pursuant to 

20 an investigation by the Office of Public Integrity re21 ferred to in subparagraph (2) shall only be issued or 

22 implemented as a part of a report required by such 

23 subparagraph. 

24 ‘‘(2) The committee may hear, in an adjudica25 tory capacity, a case presented to it by the Director 


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1 of the Office of Public Integrity (hereinafter referred 

2 to in this clause as the ‘Director’) of an alleged vio3 lation by a Member, Delegate, Resident Commis4 sioner, officer, or employee of the House of the Code 

5 of Official Conduct or of a rule or other standard of 

6 conduct applicable to the conduct of such Member, 

7 Delegate, Resident Commissioner, officer, or em8 ployee in the performance of his duties or the dis9 charge of his responsibilities. After notice and hear10 ing (unless the right to such a hearing is waived by 

11 the Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, offi12 cer, or employee), the committee shall report to the 

13 House its findings of fact and recommendations, if 

14 any, for the final disposition of any such investiga15 tion and such action as the committee may consider 

16 appropriate in the circumstances. 

17 ‘‘(3) After the Director determines that there 

18 are sufficient grounds to pursue an investigation of 

19 any individual referred to in subparagraph (2) or 

20 that there is probable cause to believe that a viola21 tion has occurred, the committee may overrule this 

22 determination by a two-thirds vote of the committee 

23 within 10 legislative days after being so notified by 

24 the Director. Any such vote shall be recorded and 

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1 verses the Director’s determination to proceed with 

2 the case, then the committee shall file in a timely 

3 manner a report to the House and made available to 

4 the general public explaining its decision. Committee 

5 members who voted against reversing the Director’s 

6 determination may file their own public reports on 

7 the matter. 

8 ‘‘(4) The committee may report to the appro9 priate Federal or State authorities, either with the 

10 approval of the House or by an affirmative vote of 

11 a majority of the members of the committee, any 

12 substantial evidence of a violation by a Member, 

13 Delegate, Resident Commissioner, officer, or em14 ployee of the House, of a law applicable to the per15 formance of his duties or the discharge of his re16 sponsibilities that may have been disclosed to the 

17 committee by the Director as the result of an inves18 tigation. 

19 ‘‘(b)(1) Unless approved by an affirmative vote of a 

20 majority of its members, the Committee on Standards of 

21 Official Conduct may not report a resolution, report,or 

22 recommendation relating to the official conduct of a Mem23 ber, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, officer, or em24 ployee of the House. 


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1 ‘‘(2) A member of the committee shall be ineligible 

2 to participate as a member of the committee in a com3 mittee proceeding relating to the member’s official con4 duct. Whenever a member of the committee is ineligible 

5 to act as a member of the committee under the preceding 

6 sentence, the Speaker shall designate a Member, Delegate, 

7 or Resident Commissioner from the same political party 

8 as the ineligible member to act in any proceeding of the 

9 committee relating to that conduct. 

10 ‘‘(3) A member of the committee may disqualify him11 self from participating in an investigation of the conduct 

12 of a Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, officer, 

13 or employee of the House upon the submission in writing 

14 and under oath of an affidavit of disqualification stating 

15 that the member cannot render an impartial and unbiased 

16 decision in the case in which the member seeks to be dis17 qualified. If the committee approves and accepts such affi18 davit of disqualification, the chairman shall so notify the 

19 Speaker and request the Speaker to designate a Member, 

20 Delegate, or Resident Commissioner from the same polit21 ical party as the disqualifying member to act in any pro22 ceeding of the committee relating to that case. 

23 ‘‘(4) Information or testimony received, or the con24 tents of a complaint or the fact of its filing, may not be 

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1 less specifically authorized in each instance by a vote of 

2 the full committee. 

3 ‘‘(c)(1) Notwithstanding clause 2(g)(1) of rule XI, 

4 each meeting of the Committee on Standards of Official 

5 Conduct or a subcommittee thereof shall occur in executive 

6 session unless the committee or subcommittee, by an af7 firmative vote of a majority of its members, opens the 

8 meeting to the public. 

9 ‘‘(2) Notwithstanding clause 2(g)(2) of rule XI, each 

10 adjudicatory hearing of the Committee on Standards of 

11 Official Conduct shall be held in open session unless the 

12 committee, in open session by an affirmative vote of a ma13 jority of its members, closes all or part of the remainder 

14 of the hearing on that day to the public. 

15 ‘‘(d) Before a member, officer, or employee of the 

16 Committee on Standards of Official Conduct may have ac17 cess to information that is confidential under the rules of 

18 the committee, the following oath (or affirmation) shall 

19 be executed: 

20 ‘‘ ‘I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will 

21 not disclose, to any person or entity outside the 

22 Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, any in23 formation received in the course of my service with 

24 the committee, except as authorized by the com25 mittee or in accordance with its rules.’. 


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1 Copies of the executed oath shall be retained by the Clerk 

2 as part of the records of the House. This paragraph estab3 lishes a standard of conduct within the meaning of para4 graph (a)(2). Breaches of confidentiality shall be inves5 tigated by the Committee on Standards of Official Con6 duct and appropriate action shall be taken.’’. 

7 (2) Paragraphs (f) through (q) of clause 3 of rule 

8 XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives is amend9 ed by redesignating paragraphs (f) through (i) as para10 graphs (e) through (h), respectively, and by striking para11 graphs (j) through (q), and in redesignated paragraph (g) 

12 by striking ‘‘any hearing held by an adjudicatory sub13 committee or’’ both places it appears. 

14 (3) Clause 5(a)(4) of rule X of the Rules of the House 

15 of Representatives is repealed. 

16 (b) STANDING RULES OF THE SENATE.—øLanguage 

17 to be inserted by the Senate.¿ 

18 (c) CHANGES IN ETHICS IN GOVERNMENT ACT OF

19 1978.—(1) The following provisions of the Ethics in Gov20 ernment Act of 1978 are each amended as follows: 

21 (A) In section 101(h), strike ‘‘the congressional 

22 ethics committees’’ and insert ‘‘the Director of the 

23 Office of Public Integrity’’. 

24 (B) In section 103(h)(1)(A), strike ‘‘Clerk of 

25 the House of Representatives’’ each place it appears 


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1 and insert ‘‘Director of the Office of Public Integ2 rity’’. 

3 (C) In section 103(h)(1)(A), strike ‘‘Secretary 

4 of the Senate’’ each place it appears and insert ‘‘Di5 rector of the Office of Public Integrity’’. 

6 (D) In section 103(i), strike ‘‘Clerk of the 

7 House of Representatives or Secretary of the Senate, 

8 as the case may be’’ and insert ‘‘Director of the Of9 fice of Public Integrity’’. 

10 (E) In section 103, strike subsection (j) and re11 designate subsection (k) as subsection (j). 

12 (F) In subsection (j) (as redesignated), strike 

13 ‘‘Clerk of the House of Representatives and Sec14 retary of the Senate’’ and insert ‘‘Director of the Of15 fice of Public Integrity’’ and strike ‘‘Clerk and the 

16 Secretary’’ both places it appears and insert ‘‘Direc17 tor of the Office of Public Integrity’’. 

18 (G) In section 105, strike ‘‘Clerk of the House 

19 of Representatives, and the Secretary of the Senate’’ 

20 each place it appears and insert ‘‘Director of the Of21 fice of Public Integrity’’. 

22 (H) In section 105, strike ‘‘Clerk or the Sec23 retary of the Senate, as the case may be’’ each place 

24 it appears and insert ‘‘Director of the Office of Pub25 lic Integrity’’. 


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1 (I) In section 105, strike ‘‘Clerk, or Secretary 

2 of the Senate, as the case may be’’ and insert ‘‘Di3 rector of the Office of Public Integrity’’. 

4 (J) In section 105(d), strike ‘‘Clerk of the 

5 House of Representatives or the Secretary of the 

6 Senate’’ and insert ‘‘Director of the Office of Public 

7 Integrity’’. 

8 (K) In section 109, strike paragraph (1) and 

9 redesignate the succeeding paragraphs accordingly. 

10 (L) In paragraph (2) of section 111, strike ‘‘Se11 lect Committee on Ethics of the Senate and the 

12 Committee on Standards of Official Conduct of the 

13 House of Representatives, as appropriate,’’ and in14 sert ‘‘Director of the Office of Public Integrity’’. 

15 (2) Section 803 of the Ethics Reform Act of 1989 

16 (2 U.S.C 29d) is amended by striking ‘‘Committee on 

17 Standards of Official Conduct’’ and inserting ‘‘Office of 

18 Public Integrity’’. 

19 (d) CHANGES IN LOBBYING DISCLOSURE ACT OF

20 1995.— 

21 (1) TRANSFER OF JURISDICTION TO OFFICE OF

22 PUBLIC INTEGRITY.— 

23 (A) FILING OF REGISTRATIONS.—Section 

24 4 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 

25 U.S.C. 1603) is amended— 


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1 (i) in subsection (a)(1), by striking 

2 ‘‘Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of 

3 the House of Representatives’’ and insert4 ing ‘‘Office of Public Integrity’’; and 

5 (ii) in subsection (d), by striking 

6 ‘‘Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of 

7 the House of Representatives’’ and insert8 ing ‘‘Office of Public Integrity’’. 

9 (B) REPORTS BY REGISTERED LOBBY10 ISTS.—Section 5(a) of the Lobbying Disclosure 

11 Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1604(a)) is amended by 

12 striking ‘‘Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk 

13 of the House of Representatives’’ and inserting 

14 ‘‘Office of Public Integrity’’. 

15 (C) DISCLOSURE AND ENFORCEMENT.— 

16 Section 6 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 

17 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1605) is amended by striking 

18 ‘‘Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the 

19 House of Representatives’’ and inserting ‘‘Of20 fice of Public Integrity’’. 

21 (D) PENALTIES.—Section 7 of the Lob22 bying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1606) 

23 is amended by striking ‘‘Secretary of the Senate 

24 or the Clerk of the House of Representatives’’ 

25 and inserting ‘‘Office of Public Integrity’’. 


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1 (E) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—Section 

2 8(c) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 

3 U.S.C. 1607(c)) is amended by striking ‘‘Sec4 retary of the Senate or the Clerk of the House 

5 of Representatives’’ and inserting ‘‘Office of 

6 Public Integrity’’. 

7 (F) ESTIMATES BASED ON TAX REPORTING

8 SYSTEM.—Section 15(c)(1) of the Lobbying 

9 Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1610(c)(1)) is 

10 amended by striking ‘‘Secretary of the Senate 

11 and the Clerk of the House of Representatives’’ 

12 and inserting ‘‘Office of Public Integrity’’. 

13 (2) FILING IN ELECTRONIC FORM.— 

14 (A) REGISTRATIONS.—Section 4 of the 

15 Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 

16 1603) is amended by adding at the end the fol17 lowing: 

18 ‘‘(e) FILING IN ELECTRONIC FORM.—A registration 

19 required to be filed under this section shall be filed in elec20 tronic form, in addition to any other form that may be 

21 required by the Office of Public Integrity.’’. 

22 (B) REPORTS.—Section 5 of the Lobbying 

23 Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1604) is 

24 amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(d) FILING IN ELECTRONIC FORM.—A report re2 quired to be filed under this section shall be filed in elec3 tronic form, in addition to any other form that may be 

4 required by the Office of Public Integrity. The Office shall 

5 make such filings available to the public on the Internet 

6 in a searchable database.’’. 

7 SEC. 6. FORMAL ADVISORY OPINIONS AND INTERPRETA8 TIONS. 

9 The Office shall have the authority to provide formal 

10 advisory opinions and interpretations of rules and other 

11 standards of conduct applicable to Members, officers, and 

12 employees of the House of Representatives and the Sen13 ate. The Committee on Standards of Official Conduct of 

14 the House of Representatives or the Senate Select Com15 mittee on Ethics, by a two-thirds vote of the full com16 mittee may revise or overturn any such formal ruling by 

17 the Office that is applicable to the Members, officers, and 

18 employees of that House of Congress. Any such vote shall 

19 be recorded and made publicly available, and shall be ac20 companied by a written explanation for that action. Dis21 senting members are allowed to issue their own report de22 tailing reasons for disagreeing with the majority vote. 

23 SEC. 7. PROCEDURAL RULES. 

24 (a) PROHIBITION OF CERTAIN INVESTIGATIONS.— 

25 No investigation shall be undertaken by the Office of any 


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1 alleged violation of a law, rule, regulation, or standard of 

2 conduct not in effect at the time of the alleged violation; 

3 nor shall any investigation be undertaken by the Office 

4 of any alleged violation which occurred before the third 

5 previous Congress unless the Office determines that the 

6 alleged violation is directly related to any alleged violation 

7 which occurred in a more recent Congress. 

8 (b) DISCLOSURE.—Information or testimony re9 ceived, or the contents of a complaint or the fact of its 

10 filing, may be publicly disclosed by the Director or by the 

11 staff of the Office only if authorized by the Director. 

12 SEC. 8. ADMINISTRATION. 

13 (a) STAFF AND SUPPORT SERVICES.—The Director 

14 may appoint and fix the compensation of such staff as the 

15 Director considers necessary, including deputy directors 

16 for ethics matters relating to the House of Representatives 

17 and to the Senate, a general counsel, and such investiga18 tors, auditors, and other staff as he deems necessary. 

19 (b) APPLICABILITY OF CIVIL SERVICE LAWS.—The 

20 Director and other members of the staff of the Office shall 

21 be appointed without regard to the provisions of title 5, 

22 United States Code, governing appointments in the com23 petitive service, and shall be paid without regard to the 

24 provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 


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1 of such title relating to classification and General Schedule 

2 pay rates. 

3 (c) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—The Director 

4 may procure temporary and intermittent services under 

5 section 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code. 

6 (d) PHYSICAL FACILITIES.—The Architect of the 

7 Capitol, in consultation with the appropriate entities in the 

8 legislative branch, shall locate and provide suitable office 

9 space for the operation of the Office on a nonreimbursable 

10 basis. The facilities shall serve as the headquarters of the 

11 Office and shall include all necessary equipment and 

12 incidentals required for the proper functioning of the Of13 fice. 

14 (e) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT SERVICES AND

15 OTHER ASSISTANCE.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Upon the request of the Di17 rector, the Architect of the Capitol and the Adminis18 trator of General Services shall provide to the Direc19 tor on a nonreimbursable basis such administrative 

20 support services as the Commission may request. 

21 (2) ADDITIONAL SUPPORT.—In addition to the 

22 assistance set forth in paragraph (1), departments 

23 and agencies of the United States may provide the 

24 Director such services, funds, facilities, staff, and 


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1 other support services as the Director may deem ad2 visable and as may be authorized by law. 

3 (f) USE OF MAILS.—The Office may use the United 

4 States mails in the same manner and under the same con5 ditions as Federal agencies and shall, for purposes of the 

6 frank, be considered a commission of Congress as de7 scribed in section 3215 of title 39, United States Code. 

8 (g) PRINTING.—For purposes of costs relating to 

9 printing and binding, including the cost of personnel de10 tailed from the Government Printing Office, the Office 

11 shall be deemed to be a committee of the Congress. 

12 SEC. 9. EXPENSES. 

13 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

14 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

15 necessary to carry out this Act. 

16 (b) FINANCIAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES.— 

17 The Director may place orders and enter into agreements 

18 for goods and services with the head of any agency, or 

19 major organizational unit within an agency, in the legisla20 tive or executive branch of the Government in the same 

21 manner and to the same extent as agencies are authorized 

22 to do so under sections 1535 and 1536 of title 31, United 

23 States Code. 

24 (c) WITNESS FEES AND ALLOWANCES.—Witnesses 

25 before the Office shall be paid the same fee and mileage 


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1 allowances as are paid subpoenaed witnesses in the courts 

2 of the United States. 

3 SEC. 10. REPORTS BY COMPTROLLER GENERAL. 

4 Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment, 

5 and at the close of the 110th Congress and at the close 

6 of each Congress thereafter, the Comptroller General shall 

7 submit a report to each House of Congress of the level 

8 of funding necessary for the Office to effectively carry out 

9 its duties under the Act. 

10 SEC. 11. TRANSFER OF RECORDS. 

11 Ninety days after the effective date of this Act, the 

12 Office of Public Records in the Senate and the Office of 

13 Clerk of the House of Representatives shall transfer all 

14 records to the Office with respect to their former duties 

15 under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 and the Ethics 

16 in Government Act of 1978. 

17 SEC. 12. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided by subsection 

19 (b) and by section 10, this Act shall take effect on Janu20 ary 1, 2007. 

21 (b) EXCEPTION.—Sections 2, 8, and 9 shall take ef22 fect upon the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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