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:

‘‘§ 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
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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.