I

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 957

To abolish the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct in the House

of Representatives, establish an Independent Commission on House Ethics, and provide for the transfer of the duties and functions of the

committee to the Independent Commission.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 5, 1997

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

was referred to the Committee on Rules

A BILL

To abolish the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct

in the House of Representatives, establish an Independent Commission on House Ethics, and provide for the

transfer of the duties and functions of the committee

to the Independent Commission.

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 ‘‘Ethics Reform Act

5 of 1997’’.
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1 TITLE I—TERMINATION OF COM2 MITTEE ON STANDARDS OF

3 OFFICIAL CONDUCT IN THE

4 HOUSE OF REPRESENTA5 TIVES

6 SEC. 101. TERMINATION OF THE COMMITTEE ON STAND7 ARDS OF OFFICIAL CONDUCT.

8 (a) TERMINATION.—

9 (1) RULES.—Rule X of the Rules of the House

10 of Representatives is amended—

11 (A) in clause 1—

12 (i) by striking paragraph (p); and

13 (ii) by redesignating paragraphs (q),

14 (r), and (s) as paragraphs (p), (q), and (r),

15 respectively; and

16 (B) in clause 4—

17 (i) by striking paragraph (e); and

18 (ii) by redesignating paragraphs (f),

19 (g), (h), and (i) as paragraphs (e), (f), (g),

20 and (h), respectively.

21 (2) LAW.—The Ethics Reform Act of 1989

22 (Public Law 101–194) is amended by striking sub23 sections (b), (c), (d), and (i) of section 803 (2

24 U.S.C. 29d).

25 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—
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1 (1) RULES.—

2 (A) Clause 3(e) of rule VI of the Rules of

3 the House of Representatives is amended—

4 (i) by striking ‘‘Committee on Stand5 ards of Official Conduct’’ and inserting

6 ‘‘Independent Commission on House Eth7 ics’’; and

8 (ii) by striking ‘‘clause 4(e)(1)(C) of

9 rule X’’ and inserting ‘‘section 203(3) the

10 Ethics Reform Act of 1997’’.

11 (B) Clause 1(m)(1) of rule X of such

12 Rules is amended by striking ‘‘(other than rules

13 or joint rules relating to the Code of Official

14 Conduct)’’.

15 (C) Clause 6(a) of rule X of such Rules is

16 amended—

17 (i) by striking subparagraph (2); and

18 (ii) by striking ‘‘(1)’’.

19 (D) Clause 2(e)(2) of rule XI of such

20 Rules is amended by striking ‘‘, except that in

21 the case of records in the Committee on Stand22 ards of Official Conduct’’ and all that follows

23 through ‘‘prior approval of the committee’’.
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1 (E) Clause 2(g)(2) of rule XI of such

2 Rules is amended by striking ‘‘, with the excep3 tion of the Committee on Standards of Official

4 Conduct,’’.

5 (F) Clause 2(i)(1) of rule XI of such Rules

6 is amended by striking ‘‘the Committee on

7 Standards of Official Conduct,’’.

8 (G) Clause 4(a) of rule XI of such Rules

9 is amended—

10 (i) by striking ‘‘and the Committee on

11 Standards of Official Conduct’’ and all

12 that follows;

13 (ii) by inserting ‘‘and’’ before ‘‘the

14 Committee on Rules’’; and

15 (iii) by striking the semicolon after

16 ‘‘order of business’’ and inserting a period.

17 (H) Clause 6(a)(2) of rule XI of such

18 Rules is amended by striking ‘‘the Committee

19 on Standards of Official Conduct and’’.

20 (I) Clause 7(d) of rule XIII is amended—

21 (i) by striking ‘‘and the Committee on

22 Standards of Official Conduct,’’; and

23 (ii) by inserting ‘‘and’’ before ‘‘the

24 Committee on Rules’’.
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1 (J) Clause 1 of rule XXXII of such Rules

2 is amended by striking ‘‘Committee on Stand3 ards of Official Conduct’’ and inserting ‘‘Inde4 pendent Commission on House Ethics’’.

5 (K) Clause 12(b) of rule XLIII of such

6 Rules is amended by striking ‘‘Committee on

7 Standards of Official Conduct’’ and inserting

8 ‘‘Independent Commission on House Ethics’’.

9 (L) Clause (1) of rule XLIV of such Rules

10 is amended by striking ‘‘Committee on Stand11 ards of Official Conduct’’ and inserting ‘‘Inde12 pendent Commission on House Ethics’’.

13 (M) Clauses 2(5) and 3(2) of rule XLVII

14 of such Rules are amended by striking ‘‘Com15 mittee on Standards of Official Conduct’’ and

16 inserting ‘‘Independent Commission on House

17 Ethics’’.

18 (N) Clause 5 of rule XLVIII of such Rules

19 is amended by striking ‘‘of the Committee on

20 Standards of Official Conduct and’’.

21 (O) Clause 7(d) of rule XLVIII of such

22 Rules is amended by striking ‘‘Committee on

23 Standards of Official Conduct’’ and inserting

24 ‘‘Independent Commission on House Ethics’’.
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1 (P) Clause 7(e) of rule XLVIII of such

2 Rules is amended by striking ‘‘Committee on

3 Standards of Official Conduct’’ and inserting

4 ‘‘Independent Commission on House Ethics’’.

5 (Q) Clauses 1(c)(5) and (20), 1(e),

6 2(d)(1), and 6 of rule LI are amended by strik7 ing ‘‘Committee on Standards of Official Con8 duct’’ and inserting ‘‘Independent Commission

9 on House Ethics’’.

10 (2) LAW.—The following provisions are each

11 amended by striking ‘‘Committee on Standards of

12 Official Conduct’’ and inserting ‘‘Independent Com13 mission on House Ethics’’:

14 (A) Section 5(e) of Public Law 93–191 (2

15 U.S.C. 501(e)).

16 (B) Section 7342(a)(6)(A) of title 5, Unit17 ed States Code.

18 (C) Section 7353(d)(1) of title 5, United

19 States Code.

20 (D) Section 103(j)(1) of the Ethics in Gov21 ernment Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.).

22 (E) Section 109(1) of the Ethics in Gov23 ernment Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.).

24 (F) Section 109(18)(B) of the Ethics in

25 Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.).
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1 (G) Section 111(2) of the Ethics in Gov2 ernment Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.).

3 (H) Section 503(1)(A) of the Ethics in

4 Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.).

5 (I) Sections 416(e) and 503 of the Con6 gressional Accountability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C.

7 1416(e) and 1433).

8 (J) Section 803 of the Ethics Reform Act

9 of 1989 (2 U.S.C 29d).

10 SEC. 102. REFERENCE TO COMMITTEE ON STANDARDS OF

11 OFFICIAL CONDUCT.

12 Any reference in a law, regulation, document, paper,

13 or other record of the United States to the ‘‘Committee

14 on Standards of Official Conduct of the House of Rep15 resentatives’’ shall be deemed to be a reference to the

16 ‘‘Independent Commission on House Ethics’’.

17 TITLE II—ESTABLISHMENT OF

18 COMMISSION

19 SEC. 201. ESTABLISHMENT AND MEMBERSHIP OF COMMIS20 SION.

21 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established an inde22 pendent commission within the legislative branch of the

23 Government to be known as the Independent Commission

24 on House Ethics (in this title referred to as the ‘‘Commis25 sion’’).
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1 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Commission shall consist of

2 7 individuals appointed jointly by the Speaker and the mi3 nority leader of the House of Representatives. Appoint4 ments of the members of the Commission shall be com5 pleted not later than 90 days after the date of the enact6 ment of this Act.

7 (c) CHAIR.—The Chair shall be appointed from mem8 bers of the Commission jointly by the Speaker and the

9 minority leader of the House of Representatives.

10 (d) QUALIFICATIONS.—

11 (1) SPECIFIC QUALIFICATIONS.—Selection and

12 appointment of members shall be without regard to

13 political affiliation and solely on the basis of fitness

14 to perform the duties of the office.

15 (2) DISQUALIFICATIONS FOR APPOINTMENTS.—

16 (A) LOBBYING.—No individual who en17 gages in, or is otherwise employed in, lobbying

18 of the Congress and who is required under the

19 Federal Regulation of Lobbying Act to register

20 with the Clerk of the House of Representatives

21 or the Secretary of the Senate shall be eligible

22 for appointment to, or service on, the Commis23 sion.

24 (B) INCOMPATIBLE OFFICE.—No member

25 of the Commission appointed under subsection
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1 (b) may hold or have held within 8 years of the

2 date of appointment the position of Member of

3 the House of Representatives, Senator, or offi4 cer or employee of the House of Representa5 tives, Senate, or instrumentality or other entity

6 of the legislative branch.

7 (3) VACANCIES.—A vacancy on the Commission

8 shall be filled in the manner in which the original

9 appointment was made.

10 (e) TERM OF OFFICE.—

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para12 graph (2), membership on the Commission shall be

13 for 3 Congresses. A member of the Commission who

14 is appointed to a term of office shall only be eligible

15 for appointment for a single term of office.

16 (2) FIRST APPOINTMENTS.—Of the members

17 first appointed to the Commission—

18 (A) 3 shall have a term of office of 3 Con19 gresses, 1 of whom shall be the Chair, as des20 ignated at the time of appointment by the per21 sons specified in subsection (b),

22 (B) 2 shall have a term of office of 2 Con23 gresses, and

24 (C) 2 shall have a term of office of 1 Con25 gress.
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1 (f) REMOVAL.—

2 (1) AUTHORITY.—Any member of the Commis3 sion may be removed from office by agreement of

4 the appointing authorities described in subsection

5 (b), but only for—

6 (A) disability that substantially prevents

7 the member from carrying out the duties of the

8 member,

9 (B) incompetence,

10 (C) neglect of duty,

11 (D) malfeasance, including a felony or con12 duct involving moral turpitude, or

13 (E) holding an office or employment or en14 gaging in an activity that disqualifies the indi15 vidual from service as a member of the Com16 mission under subsection (d)(2).

17 (2) STATEMENT OF REASONS FOR REMOVAL.—

18 In removing a member of the Commission, the

19 Speaker and the minority leader of the House of

20 Representatives shall state in writing to the member

21 of the Commission being removed the specific rea22 sons for the removal.

23 (3) VACANCIES.—A vacancy on the Commission

24 shall be filled in the manner in which the original

25 appointment was made.
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1 (g) COMPENSATION.—Members of the Commission

2 shall each be paid at a rate equal to the rate of basic pay

3 for level IV of the Executive Schedule.

4 (h) QUORUM.—A majority of the members of the

5 Commission shall constitute a quorum.

6 (i) MEETINGS.—

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall meet

8 at the call of the Chairperson or a majority of its

9 members.

10 (2) INITIAL MEETING.—The Commission shall

11 hold its initial meeting not later than 60 days after

12 the date on which appointments are completed.

13 SEC. 202. DUTIES OF COMMISSION.

14 The Commission is authorized—

15 (1) to recommend to the House of Representa16 tives, from time to time, such administrative actions

17 as it may deem appropriate to establish or enforce

18 standards of official conduct for Members, officers,

19 and employees of the House of Representatives;

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

21 Member, officer, or employee of the House of Rep22 resentatives, of any law, rule, regulation, or other

23 standard of conduct applicable to the conduct of
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1 such Member, officer, or employee in the perform2 ance of his duties or the discharge of his responsibil3 ities, and after notice and hearing (unless the right

4 to a hearing is waived by the Member, officer, or

5 employee), shall report to the House of Representa6 tives its findings of fact and recommendations, if

7 any, upon the final disposition of any such investiga8 tion, and such action as the Commission may deem

9 appropriate in the circumstances;

10 (3) to report to the appropriate Federal or

11 State authorities, with the approval of the House of

12 Representatives, any substantial evidence of a viola13 tion, by a Member, officer, or employee of the House

14 of Representatives, of any law applicable to the per15 formance of his duties or the discharge of his re16 sponsibilities, which may have been disclosed in a

17 Commission investigation;

18 (4) to give consideration to the request of any

19 Member, officer, or employee of the House of Rep20 resentatives for an advisory opinion with respect to

21 the general propriety of any current or proposed

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

23 with appropriate deletions to assure the privacy of

24 the individual concerned, to publish such opinion for
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1 the guidance of other Members, officers, and em2 ployees of the House of Representatives; and

3 (5) to provide information and guidance to

4 Members, officers and employees of the House of

5 Representatives regarding any laws, rules, regula6 tions, and other standards of conduct applicable to

7 such individuals in their official capacities, and de8 velop and carry out periodic educational briefings for

9 Members, officers, and employees of the House of

10 Representatives on those laws, rules, regulations, or

11 other standards.

12 SEC. 203. PROCEDURAL RULES.

13 (a) MAJORITY APPROVAL.—No resolution, report,

14 recommendation, or advisory opinion relating to the offi15 cial conduct of a Member, officer, or employee of the

16 House shall be made by the Commission, and no investiga17 tion of such conduct shall be undertaken by the Commis18 sion, unless approved by the affirmative vote of a majority

19 of the members of the Commission.

20 (b) INVESTIGATIONS.—Except in the case of an in21 vestigation undertaken by the Commission on its own ini22 tiative, the Commission may undertake an investigation

23 relating to the official conduct of an individual Member,

24 officer, or employee of the House of Representatives

25 only—
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1 (1) upon receipt of a complaint, in writing and

2 under oath, made by or submitted to a Member of

3 the House of Representatives and transmitted to the

4 Commission by such Member, or

5 (2) upon receipt of a complaint, in writing and

6 under oath, directly from an individual not a Mem7 ber of the House of Representatives if the Commis8 sion finds that such complaint has been submitted

9 by such individual to not less than three Members

10 of the House who have refused, in writing, to trans11 mit such complaint to the Commission.

12 (c) PROHIBITION OF CERTAIN INVESTIGATIONS.—No

13 investigation shall be undertaken by the Commission of

14 any alleged violation of a law, rule, regulation, or standard

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

16 nor shall any investigation be undertaken by the Commis17 sion of any alleged violation which occurred before the

18 third previous Congress unless the Commission determines

19 that the alleged violation is directly related to any alleged

20 violation which occurred in a more recent Congress.

21 (d) DISCLOSURE.—No information or testimony re22 ceived, or the contents of a complaint or the fact of its

23 filing, shall be publicly disclosed by any member of the

24 Commission or staff of the Commission unless specifically
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1 authorized in each instance by a vote of the full Commis2 sion.

3 SEC. 204. STAFF OF COMMISSION.

4 The Commission may appoint and fix the compensa5 tion of such staff as the Commission considers necessary

6 to perform its duties.

7 SEC. 205. ADVICE AND EDUCATION.

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Independent Commission

9 on House Ethics shall establish within the Commission an

10 Office on Advice and Education (hereinafter in this section

11 referred to as the ‘‘Office’’) under the supervision of the

12 chairman of the Commission.

13 (b) STAFF.—The Office shall be headed by a director

14 who shall be appointed by the chairman and shall be com15 prised of such staff as the chairman determines is nec16 essary to carry out the responsibilities of the Office.

17 (c) DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES.—The primary

18 duties and responsibilities of the Office shall include:

19 (1) Providing information and guidance to

20 Members, officers and employees of the House re21 garding any laws, rules, regulations, and other

22 standards of conduct applicable to such individuals

23 in their official capacities, and any interpretations

24 and advisory opinions of the Commission.
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1 (2) Submitting to the chairman of the Commis2 sion any written request from any such Member, of3 ficer or employee for an interpretation of applicable

4 laws, rules, regulations, or other standards of con5 duct, together with any recommendations thereon.

6 (3) Recommending to the Commission for its

7 consideration formal advisory opinions of general ap8 plicability.

9 (4) Developing and carrying out, subject to the

10 approval of the chairman, periodic educational brief11 ings for Members, officers and employees of the

12 House on those laws, rules, regulations, or other

13 standards of conduct applicable to them.

14 (d) SPECIAL RULE.—No information provided to the

15 Commission by a Member, officer or employee of the

16 House of Representatives when seeking advice regarding

17 prospective conduct of such Member, officer or employee

18 may be used as the basis for initiating an investigation

19 under clause 4(e)(1)(B) of rule X of the Rules of the

20 House of Representatives, if such Member, officer or em21 ployee acts in accordance with the written advice of the

22 Commission.
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1 TITLE III—GENERAL

2 PROVISIONS

3 SEC. 301. TRANSITION PROVISIONS.

4 In the case of investigations pending before the Com5 mittee on Standards of Official Conduct on the day before

6 the date of the enactment of this Act, the proceedings

7 shall be continued by the Independent Commission on

8 House Ethics.

9 SEC. 302. ACTION ON ETHICS COMMISSION RECOMMENDA10 TIONS.

11 (a) PRINTING OF REPORTS IN CONGRESSIONAL

12 RECORD.—Upon the receipt by the House of Representa13 tives of any report of the Independent Commission on

14 House Ethics made to the House of Representatives under

15 section 202(2), the Speaker shall have the report printed

16 in the Congressional Record.

17 (b) HOUSE CONSIDERATION OF ETHICS COMMISSION

18 RECOMMENDATIONS.—Within 30 calendar days after a re19 port referred to in subsection (a) is printed in the Con20 gressional Record, that portion of the report recommend21 ing action by the House of Representatives respecting any

22 alleged violation, by a Member, officer, or employee of the

23 House of Representatives, of any law, rule, regulation, or

24 other standard of conduct applicable to the conduct of

25 such Member, officer, or employee in the performance of
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1 his duties or the discharge of his responsibilities shall be

2 introduced (by request) in the House by the majority lead3 er of the House, for himself and the minority leader of

4 the House in the form of a resolution. This resolution shall

5 constitute a question of privilege under rule IX of the

6 Rules of the House of Representatives. Any Member favor7 ing the resolution may call it up as a question of privilege

8 but only on the third day after the calendar date upon

9 which such Member announces to the House his intention

10 to do so.

11 SEC. 303. EXERCISE OF CONGRESSIONAL RULEMAKING

12 POWER.

13 The provisions of title I amending the Rules of the

14 House of Representatives and sections 301 and 302 are

15 enacted by Congress—

16 (1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of

17 the House of Representatives, and as such they shall

18 be considered a part of the rules of the House of

19 Representatives and such rules shall supersede other

20 rules only to the extent that they are inconsistent

21 therewith; and

22 (2) with full recognition of the constitutional

23 right of the House of Representatives to change

24 such rules at any time in the same manner and to
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1 the same extent as in the case of any other rule of

2 such House.

Æ