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 EXAM-
INERS BY THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMIS-
SION.
(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 exam-
iners by the Securities and Exchange Commis-
sion
‘‘(a) APPLICABILITY.—This section applies with respect to any
position of accountant, economist, and securities compliance exam-
iner 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 regula-
tions governing appointments in the excepted service; and
‘‘(B) notwithstanding any statutes, rules, and regula-
tions governing appointments in the competitive service.
‘‘(2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The appointment of a can-
didate 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 Govern-
mental Affairs and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban
Affairs of the Senate. Such reports shall describe the changes in
H. R. 658—2
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 can-
didates 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 Commis-
sion.’’.
(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.