H. R. 3754—22
(c) The Committee on House Oversight shall prescribe such
rules and regulations and shall take such other action as the
Committee considers necessary and proper for Members to conform
to the provisions of this subsection and applicable rules and regula-
tions.
(d) For purposes of this section—
(1) the term ‘‘Member of the House of Representatives’’
means a Representative in, or a Delegate or Resident Commis-
sioner to, the Congress; and
(2) the term ‘‘mass mailing’’ has the meaning given such
term by section 3210(a)(6)(E) of title 39, United States Code.
(e) This section shall apply with respect to sessions of Congress
beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 312. (a) Section 203(a)(3) of Public Law 104–1 (2 U.S.C.
1313(a)(3)) is amended by inserting ‘‘and in subsection (c)(4)’’ after
‘‘(c)(3)’’.
(b) Section 203(c) of Public Law 104–1 (2 U.S.C. 1313(c)) is
amended by adding at the end the following paragraph:
‘‘(4) LAW
ENFORCEMENT.—Law enforcement personnel of
the Capitol Police who are subject to the exemption under
section 7(k) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C.
207(k)) may elect to receive compensatory time off in lieu of
overtime compensation for hours worked in excess of the maxi-
mum for their work period.’’.
SEC. 313. Section 316 of Public Law 101–302 is amended in
the first sentence of subsection (a) by striking ‘‘1996’’ and inserting
‘‘1997’’.
SEC. 314. (a) Upon enactment into law of this Act, there shall
be established a program for providing the widest possible exchange
of information among legislative branch agencies with the long-
range goal of improving information technology planning and
evaluation. The Committee on House Oversight of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Rules and Administration
of the Senate are requested to determine the structure and oper-
ation of this program and to provide appropriate oversight. All
of the appropriate offices and agencies of the legislative branch
as defined below shall participate in this program for information
exchange, and shall report annually on the extent and nature
of their participation in their budget submissions to the Committee
on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Commit-
tee on Appropriations of the Senate.
(b) As used in this section—
(1) the term ‘‘offices and agencies of the legislative branch’’
means, the office of the Clerk of the House, the office of the
Secretary of the Senate, the office of the Architect of the Capitol,
the General Accounting Office, the Government Printing Office,
the Library of Congress, the Congressional Research Service,
the Congressional Budget Office, the Chief Administrative Offi-
cer of the House of Representatives, and the Sergeant at Arms
of the Senate; and
(2) the term ‘‘technology’’ refers to any form of computer
hardware and software; computer-based systems, services, and
support for the creation, processing, exchange, and delivery
of information; and telecommunications systems, and the associ-
ated hardware and software, that provide for voice, data, or
image communication.
H. R. 3754—23
PROHIBITIONS AGAINST POLITICAL RECOMMENDATIONS RELATING TO
FEDERAL EMPLOYMENT
SEC. 315. (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3303 of title 5, United
States Code, is amended to read as follows:
‘‘§ 3303. Competitive service; recommendations of Senators
or Representatives
‘‘An individual concerned in examining an applicant for or
appointing him in the competitive service may not receive or con-
sider a recommendation of the applicant by a Senator or Representa-
tive, except as to the character or residence of the applicant.’’.
(b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—(1) The table
of sections for chapter 33 of title 5, United States Code, is amended
by amending the item relating to section 3303 to read as follows:
‘‘3303. Competitive service; recommendations of Senators or Representatives.’’.
(2) Section 2302(b)(2) of title 5, United States Code, is amended
to read as follows:
‘‘(2) solicit or consider any recommendation or statement,
oral or written, with respect to any individual who requests
or is under consideration for any personnel action unless such
recommendation or statement is based on the personal knowl-
edge or records of the person furnishing it and consists of—
‘‘(A) an evaluation of the work performance, ability,
aptitude, or general qualifications of such individual; or
‘‘(B) an evaluation of the character, loyalty, or suit-
ability of such individual;’’.
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect 30 days
after the date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 316. Limitation on Exclusive Copyrights for Literary
Works in Specialized Format for the Blind and Disabled.—
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 1 of title 17, United States Code,
is amended by adding after section 120 the following new section:
‘‘§ 121. Limitations on exclusive rights: reproduction for blind
or other people with disabilities
‘‘(a) Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 710,
it is not an infringement of copyright for an authorized entity
to reproduce or to distribute copies or phonorecords of a previously
published, nondramatic literary work if such copies or phonorecords
are reproduced or distributed in specialized formats exclusively
for use by blind or other persons with disabilities.
‘‘(b)(1) Copies or phonorecords to which this section applies
shall—
‘‘(A) not be reproduced or distributed in a format other
than a specialized format exclusively for use by blind or other
persons with disabilities;
‘‘(B) bear a notice that any further reproduction or distribu-
tion in a format other than a specialized format is an infringe-
ment; and
‘‘(C) include a copyright notice identifying the copyright
owner and the date of the original publication.
‘‘(2) The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to
standardized, secure, or norm-referenced tests and related testing
material, or to computer programs, except the portions thereof
that are in conventional human language (including descriptions
H. R. 3754—24
of pictorial works) and displayed to users in the ordinary course
of using the computer programs.
‘‘(c) For purposes of this section, the term—
‘‘(1) ‘authorized entity’ means a nonprofit organization or
a governmental agency that has a primary mission to provide
specialized services relating to training, education, or adaptive
reading or information access needs of blind or other persons
with disabilities;
‘‘(2) ‘blind or other persons with disabilities’ means individ-
uals who are eligible or who may qualify in accordance with
the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide books for the adult blind’’,
approved March 3, 1931 (2 U.S.C. 135a; 46 Stat. 1487) to
receive books and other publications produced in specialized
formats; and
‘‘(3) ‘specialized formats’ means braille, audio, or digital
text which is exclusively for use by blind or other persons
with disabilities.’’.
(b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of
sections for chapter 1 of title 17, United States Code, is amended
by adding after the item relating to section 120 the following:
‘‘121. Limitations on exclusive rights: reproduction for blind or other people with
disabilities.’’.
SEC. 317. For payment to Jo Ann Emerson, widow of Bill
Emerson, late a Representative from the State of Missouri,
$133,600.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Legislative Branch Appropriations
Act, 1997’’.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.