I
103D CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4582
To require the Architect of the Capitol to establish and maintain a
comprehensive personnel management system, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 15, 1994
Ms. NORTON (for herself, Mr. WYNN, Mr. MFUME, and Mr. RANGEL) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred jointly to the Committees on
House Administration and Post Office and Civil Service
A BILL
To require the Architect of the Capitol to establish and
maintain a comprehensive personnel management system,
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Architect of the Capitol
Human Resources Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDING AND PURPOSE.
(a) FINDING.—The Congress finds that the Office of
the Architect of the Capitol has not kept pace with human
resource management practices common among other
Federal and private sector organizations.
(b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to re-
quire the Architect of the Capitol to establish and main-
tain a personnel management system that incorporates
fundamental principles that exist in other modern person-
nel systems.
SEC. 3. PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Architect of the Capitol
shall establish and maintain a personnel management sys-
tem.
(b) REQUIREMENTS.—The personnel management
system shall at a minimum include the following:
(1) A system which ensures that applicants for
employment and employees of the Architect of the
Capitol are appointed, promoted, and assigned on
the basis of merit and fitness after fair and equi-
table consideration of all applicants and employees
through open competition.
(2) An equal employment opportunity program
which includes an affirmative employment program
for employees and applicants for employment, and
procedures for monitoring progress by the Architect
of the Capitol in ensuring a workforce reflective of
the diverse labor force.
(3) A system for the classification of positions
which takes into account the difficulty, responsibil-
ity, and qualification requirements of the work per-
formed, and which conforms to the principle of equal
pay for substantially equal work.
(4) A program for the training of Architect of
the Capitol employees which has among its goals im-
proved employee performance and opportunities for
employee advancement.
(5) A formal performance appraisal system
which will permit the accurate evaluation of job per-
formance on the basis of objective criteria for all Ar-
chitect of the Capitol employees.
(6) A fair and equitable system to address un-
acceptable conduct and performance by Architect of
the Capitol employees, including a general statement
of violations, sanctions, and procedures which shall
be made known to all employees, and a formal griev-
ance procedure.
(7) A program to provide services to deal with
mental health, alcohol abuse, drug abuse, and other
employee problems, and which ensures employee con-
fidentiality.
(8) A formal policy statement regarding the use
and accrual of sick and annual leave which shall be
made known to all employees, and which is consist-
ent with the other requirements of this section.
SEC. 4. IMPLEMENTATION OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT
SYSTEM.
(a) DEVELOPMENT OF PLAN.—The Architect of the
Capitol shall—
(1) develop a plan for the establishment and
maintenance of a personnel management system de-
signed to achieve the requirements of section 3;
(2) submit the plan to the Congress not later
than 3 months after the date of enactment of this
Act; and
(3) implement the plan not earlier than 30 days
and not later than 90 days after the plan is submit-
ted to the Congress, as specified in paragraph (2).
(b) EVALUATION AND REPORTING.—The Architect of
the Capitol shall develop a system of oversight and evalua-
tion to ensure that the personnel management system of
the Architect of the Capitol achieves the requirements of
section 3 and complies with all other relevant laws, rules
and regulations. The Architect of the Capitol shall report
to the Congress on an annual basis the results of its eval-
uation under this subsection.
(c) APPLICATION OF LAWS.—Nothing in this Act
shall be construed to alter or supersede any other provi-
sion of law otherwise applicable to the Architect of the
Capitol or its employees, unless expressly provided in this
Act.
SEC. 5. DISCRIMINATION COMPLAINT PROCESSING.
(a) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section:
(1) The term ‘‘employee of the Architect of the
Capitol’’ or ‘‘employee’’ means—
(A) any employee of the Architect of the
Capitol;
(B) any applicant for a position that is to
be occupied by an individual described in sub-
paragraph (A); or
(C) any individual who was formerly an
employee described in subparagraph (A) and
whose claim of a violation arises out of the indi-
vidual’s employment with the Architect of the
Capitol.
(2) The term ‘‘violation’’ means a practice that
violates subsection (b) of this section.
(b) DISCRIMINATORY PRACTICES PROHIBITED.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—All personnel actions affect-
ing employees of the Architect of the Capitol shall
be made free from any discrimination based on—
(A) race, color, religion, sex, or national
origin, within the meaning of section 717 of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e–16);
(B) age, within the meaning of section 15
of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act
of 1967 (29 U.S.C. 633a); or
(C) handicap or disability, within the
meaning of section 501 of the Rehabilitation
Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 791) and sections 102
through 104 of the Americans with Disabilities
Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12112–14).
(2) INTIMIDATION PROHIBITED.—Any intimida-
tion of, or reprisal against, any employee by the Ar-
chitect of the Capitol, or by any employee of the Ar-
chitect of the Capitol, because of the exercise of a
right under this section constitutes an unlawful em-
ployment practice, which may be remedied in the
same manner as are other violations described in
paragraph (1).
(c) PROCEDURE FOR CONSIDERATION OF ALLEGED
VIOLATIONS.—
(1) GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE PERSONNEL
APPEALS BOARD.—Any employee of the Architect of
the Capitol alleging a violation of subsection (b) may
file a charge with the General Accounting Office
Personnel Appeals Board in accordance with the
General Accounting Office Personnel Act of 1980
(31 U.S.C. 751–55) and regulations of the Board.
Such a charge may be filed only after the employee
has filed a complaint with the Architect of the Cap-
itol in accordance with requirements prescribed by
the Architect of the Capitol and has exhausted all
remedies pursuant to such requirements.
(2) AUTHORITY OF ARCHITECT.—The Architect
of the Capitol shall carry out any action within its
authority that the Board orders under section 4 of
the General Accounting Office Personnel Act of
1980 (31 U.S.C. 753).
(3) REIMBURSEMENT.—The Architect of the
Capitol shall reimburse the General Accounting Of-
fice for costs incurred by the Board in considering
charges filed under this section.
(d) AMENDMENTS TO THE GENERAL ACCOUNTING
OFFICE PERSONNEL ACT OF 1980.—
(1) Section 751(a)(1) of title 31, United States
Code, amended by inserting ‘‘or Architect of the
Capitol’’ after ‘‘Office’’.
(2) Section 753(a) of title 31, United States
Code, is amended—
(A) in paragraph (7) by striking ‘‘and’’ at
the end of the paragraph;
(B) in paragraph (8) by striking the period
and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
(C) by inserting at the end thereof the fol-
lowing:
‘‘(9) an action involving discrimination prohib-
ited under section 4(b) of the Architect of the Cap-
itol Human Resources Act.’’.
(3) Section 755 of title 31, United States Code,
is amended—
(A) in subsection (a) by striking the ‘‘or
(7)’’ and inserting ‘‘, 7, or (9)’’; and
(B) in subsection (b) by striking ‘‘or appli-
cant for employment’’ and inserting ‘‘applicant
for employment, or employee of the Architect of
the Capitol’’.
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