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[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 658 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        H.R.658

                       One Hundred Eighth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America

                          AT THE FIRST SESSION

          Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
           the seventh day of January, two thousand and three

                                 An Act

 
 To provide for the protection of investors, increase confidence in the 
 capital markets system, and fully implement the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 
2002 by streamlining the hiring process for certain employment positions 
               in the Securities and Exchange Commission.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Accountant, Compliance, and 
Enforcement Staffing Act of 2003''.

SEC. 2. APPOINTMENT OF ACCOUNTANTS, ECONOMISTS, AND EXAMINERS BY THE 
              SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION.

    (a) In General.--Subchapter I of chapter 31 of title 5, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

``Sec. 3114. Appointment of accountants, economists, and examiners by 
            the Securities and Exchange Commission

    ``(a) Applicability.--This section applies with respect to any 
position of accountant, economist, and securities compliance examiner 
at the Commission that is in the competitive service.
    ``(b) Appointment Authority.--
        ``(1) In general.--The Commission may appoint candidates to any 
    position described in subsection (a)--
            ``(A) in accordance with the statutes, rules, and 
        regulations governing appointments in the excepted service; and
            ``(B) notwithstanding any statutes, rules, and regulations 
        governing appointments in the competitive service.
        ``(2) Rule of construction.--The appointment of a candidate to 
    a position under authority of this subsection shall not be 
    considered to cause such position to be converted from the 
    competitive service to the excepted service.
    ``(c) Reports.--No later than 90 days after the end of fiscal year 
2003 (for fiscal year 2003) and 90 days after the end of fiscal year 
2005 (for fiscal years 2004 and 2005), the Commission shall submit a 
report with respect to its exercise of the authority granted by 
subsection (b) during such fiscal years to the Committee on Government 
Reform and the Committee on Financial Services of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Governmental Affairs and the 
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate. Such 
reports shall describe the changes in the hiring process authorized by 
such subsection, including relevant information related to--
        ``(1) the quality of candidates;
        ``(2) the procedures used by the Commission to select 
    candidates through the streamlined hiring process;
        ``(3) the numbers, types, and grades of employees hired under 
    the authority;
        ``(4) any benefits or shortcomings associated with the use of 
    the authority;
        ``(5) the effect of the exercise of the authority on the hiring 
    of veterans and other demographic groups; and
        ``(6) the way in which managers were trained in the 
    administration of the streamlined hiring system.
    ``(d) Commission Defined.--For purposes of this section, the term 
`Commission' means the Securities and Exchange Commission.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 31 of 
title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item 
relating to section 3113 the following:
``3114. Appointment of accountants, economists, and examiners by the 
          Securities and Exchange Commission.''.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.
```