I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 117

To reform the independent counsel statute, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 6, 1999

Mr. DICKEY (for himself, Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina, Mr. DUNCAN, Ms.

MCKINNEY, Mr. STUMP, Mr. NORWOOD, and Mr. HEFLEY) introduced

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To reform the independent counsel statute, 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 Accountability and Reform Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. BASIS FOR INVESTIGATION.

7 (a) PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION.—Section 591 of

8 title 28, United States Code, is amended—

9 (1) in subsection (a)—
2

HR 117 IH

1 (A) by striking ‘‘information’’ and insert2 ing ‘‘specific information from a credible source

3 that is’’; and

4 (B) by striking ‘‘may have’’ and inserting

5 ‘‘has’’; and

6 (2) in subsection (c)(1)—

7 (A) by striking ‘‘information’’ and insert8 ing ‘‘specific information from a credible source

9 that is’’; and

10 (B) by striking ‘‘may have’’ and inserting

11 ‘‘has’’.

12 (b) FURTHER INVESTIGATION.—Section 592(c)(2) of

13 title 28, United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘in14 formation’’ and inserting ‘‘specific information from a

15 credible source that is’’.

16 SEC. 3. SUBPOENA POWER.

17 Section 592(a)(2) of title 28, United States Code, is

18 amended by striking ‘‘grant immunity, or issue subpoe19 nas’’ and inserting ‘‘or grant immunity, but may issue

20 subpoenas duces tecum’’.

21 SEC. 4. AUTHORITY OF ATTORNEY GENERAL.

22 Section 592(a)(2) of title 28, United States Code, is

23 amended by striking subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘(A)’’,

24 and by running the text of subparagraph (A) into the

25 paragraph heading.
3

HR 117 IH

1 SEC. 5. PROSECUTORIAL JURISDICTION OF INDEPENDENT

2 COUNSEL.

3 (a) PROSECUTORIAL JURISDICTION.—Section 593(b)

4 of title 28, United States Code, is amended—

5 (1) in paragraph (1)—

6 (A) by striking ‘‘define’’ and inserting

7 ‘‘, with specificity, define’’; and

8 (B) by adding at the end the following:

9 ‘‘Such jurisdiction shall be limited to the al10 leged violations of criminal law with respect to

11 which the Attorney General has requested the

12 appointment of the independent counsel and

13 matters directly related to such criminal viola14 tions.’’; and

15 (2) by amending paragraph (3) to read as

16 follows:

17 ‘‘(3) SCOPE OF PROSECUTORIAL JURISDIC18 TION.—In defining the independent counsel’s pros19 ecutorial jurisdiction, the division of the court shall

20 assure that the independent counsel has adequate

21 authority to fully investigate and prosecute the al22 leged violations of criminal law with respect to which

23 the Attorney General has requested the appointment

24 of the independent counsel and matters directly re25 lated to such criminal violations, including perjury,
4

HR 117 IH

1 obstruction of justice, destruction of evidence, and

2 intimidation of witnesses.’’.

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 592(d) of

4 title 28, United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘sub5 ject matter and all matters related to that subject matter’’

6 and inserting ‘‘the alleged violations of criminal law with

7 respect to which the application is made and matters di8 rectly related to such criminal violations’’.

9 SEC. 6. ATTORNEYS’ FEES.

10 Section 593(f) of title 28, United States Code, is

11 amended—

12 (1) in the first sentence of paragraph (1)—

13 (A) by striking ‘‘the court may’’ and in14 serting ‘‘the court shall’’;

15 (B) by inserting after ‘‘pursuant to that

16 investigation,’’ the following: ‘‘if such individual

17 is acquitted of all charges, or no conviction is

18 obtained against such individual, at a trial

19 brought pursuant to that investigation, or if the

20 conviction of such individual at such a trial is

21 overturned on appeal,’’; and

22 (C) by inserting ‘‘, trial, and appeal (if

23 any)’’ after ‘‘during that investigation’’; and
5

HR 117 IH

1 (2) by striking paragraph (2) and striking ‘‘(1)

2 AWARD OF FEES.—’’ and running the matter in

3 paragraph (1) into the subsection heading.

4 SEC. 7. ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT.

5 (a) ADMINISTRATOR OF GENERAL SERVICES.—Sec6 tion 594(l)(2) of title 28, United States Code, is

7 amended—

8 (1) by striking ‘‘Director of the Administrative

9 Office of the United States Courts’’ and inserting

10 ‘‘Administrator of General Services’’; and

11 (2) by striking ‘‘Administrative Office of the

12 United States Courts’’ and inserting ‘‘General Serv13 ices Administration’’.

14 (b) OFFICE SPACE.—Section 594(l)(3) of title 28,

15 United States Code, is amended to read as follows:

16 ‘‘(3) OFFICE SPACE.—The Administrator of

17 General Services shall promptly provide appropriate

18 office space for each independent counsel. Such of19 fice space shall be within a Federal building unless

20 the Administrator of General Services determines

21 that other arrangements would cost less.’’.

22 SEC. 8. AUTHORITIES AND DUTIES OF INDEPENDENT

23 COUNSEL.

24 (a) COMPLIANCE WITH POLICIES OF THE DEPART25 MENT OF JUSTICE.—Section 594(f) of title 28, United
6

HR 117 IH

1 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘enforcement of the

2 criminal laws’’ and inserting ‘‘the enforcement of criminal

3 laws and the release of information relating to criminal

4 proceedings’’.

5 (b) LIMITATION ON EXPENDITURES.—Section 594 of

6 title 28, United States Code is amended by adding at the

7 end the following:

8 ‘‘(m) LIMITATION ON EXPENDITURES.—No funds

9 may be expended for the operation of any office of inde10 pendent counsel after the end of the 2-year period after

11 its establishment, except to the extent that an appropria12 tions Act enacted after such establishment specifically

13 makes available funds for such office for use after the end

14 of that 2-year period.’’.

15 SEC. 9. TREATMENT OF CLASSIFIED INFORMATION.

16 Section 594(a) of title 28, United States Code, is

17 amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘An inde18 pendent counsel appointed under this chapter who gains

19 access to classified information shall follow all procedures

20 established by the United States Government regarding

21 the maintenance, use, and disclosure of such information.

22 The failure to follow such procedures shall be grounds for

23 removal for good cause under section 596(a)(1), in addi24 tion to any penalty provided in section 798 of title 18 or

25 any other law that may apply.’’.
7

HR 117 IH

1 SEC. 10. OUTSIDE LEGAL WORK.

2 Section 594(j)(1) of title 28, United States Code, is

3 amended by inserting before the period the following: ‘‘and

4 any such independent counsel may not during such period

5 engage in any legal work which is additional to the legal

6 work the counsel is engaged in as such a counsel’’.

7 SEC. 11. ELIMINATION OF REPORTS.

8 (a) SECTION 594.—Section 594(h) of title 28, United

9 States Code, is amended—

10 (1) by striking subparagraph (B) of paragraph

11 (1), by striking the dash, and by striking ‘‘(A)’’ and

12 running the text of subparagraph (A) after ‘‘shall’’;

13 (2) by striking everything after the first sen14 tence in paragraph (2); and

15 (3) by striking paragraph (3).

16 (b) SECTION 595.—Section 595(a) of title 28, United

17 States Code, is amended—

18 (1) by striking paragraph (2); and

19 (2) by striking the heading for paragraph (1)

20 and running the text of such paragraph into the

21 heading for subsection (a).

22 (c) SECTION 596.—Section 596(b) of title 28, United

23 States Code, is amended—

24 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking subparagraph

25 (B) of paragraph (1), by striking the dash, and by
8

HR 117 IH

1 striking ‘‘(A)’’ and running the text of subparagraph

2 (A) after ‘‘when’’; and

3 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking the second

4 sentence.

5 SEC. 12. REMOVAL, TERMINATION, AND PERIODIC RE6 APPOINTMENT OF INDEPENDENT COUNSEL.

7 (a) GROUNDS FOR REMOVAL.—Section 596(a)(1) of

8 title 28, United States Code, is amended by adding at the

9 end the following: ‘‘Failure of the independent counsel to

10 comply with—

11 ‘‘(A) the established policies of the Depart12 ment of Justice as required by section 594(f),

13 and

14 ‘‘(B) section 594(j),

15 may be grounds for removing that independent

16 counsel from office for good cause under this sub17 section.’’.

18 (b) TERMINATION.—Section 596(b)(2) of title 28,

19 United States Code, is amended to read as follows:

20 ‘‘(2) TERMINATION BY DIVISION OF THE

21 COURT.—The division of the court may terminate an

22 office of independent counsel at any time—

23 ‘‘(A) on its own motion, or

24 ‘‘(B) upon the request of the Attorney

25 General,
9

HR 117 IH

1 on the ground that the investigation conducted by

2 the independent counsel has been completed or sub3 stantially completed and that it would be appro4 priate for the Department of Justice to complete

5 such investigation or to conduct any prosecution

6 brought pursuant to such investigation, or on the

7 ground that continuation of the investigation or

8 prosecution conducted by the independent counsel is

9 not in the public interest.’’.

10 (c) QUARTERLY EXPENDITURES.—

11 (1) AMENDMENT.—Section 596(c) of title 28,

12 United States Code, is amended by adding at the

13 end the following:

14 ‘‘(3) On or before the end of March 31, June 30,

15 September 30, and December 31 of each year, an inde16 pendent counsel shall report to the committees listed in

17 paragraph (2)(B) the aggregate amount expended in the

18 previous quarter. The requirement to report such amount

19 shall not be construed to require a disclosure of the inves20 tigation for which such amount was expended.’’.

21 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made

22 by paragraph (1), shall take effect at the end of the

23 1st quarter beginning after the date of the enact24 ment of this Act.
10

HR 117 IH

1 (d) PERIODIC REAPPOINTMENT.—Section 596 of title

2 28, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end

3 the following:

4 ‘‘(d) PERIODIC REAPPOINTMENT OF INDEPENDENT

5 COUNSEL.—If an office of independent counsel has not

6 terminated before—

7 ‘‘(1) the date that is 2 years after the original

8 appointment to that office, or

9 ‘‘(2) the end of each succeeding 2-year period,

10 such counsel shall apply to the division of the court for

11 reappointment. The court shall first determine whether

12 the office of that independent counsel should be termi13 nated under subsection (b)(2). If the court determines

14 that such office will not be terminated under such sub15 section, the court shall reappoint the applicant if the court

16 determines that such applicant remains the appropriate

17 person to carry out the duties of the office. If not, the

18 court shall appoint some other person whom it considers

19 qualified under the standards set forth in section 593 of

20 this title. If the court has not taken the actions required

21 by this subsection within 90 days after the end of the ap22 plicable 2-year period, then that office of independent

23 counsel shall terminate at the end of that 90-day period.’’.
11

HR 117 IH

1 SEC. 13. EFFECTIVE DATE.

2 The amendments made by this Act shall not apply

3 with respect to any investigation which is pending, before

4 an independent counsel appointed under chapter 40 of

5 title 28, United States Code, on the date of enactment

6 of this Act.

Æ