IV 
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 1003 
Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to provide increased 
accountability and transparency in the Committee on Standards of Offi-
cial Conduct. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 27, 2008 
Mr. SMITH of Texas (for himself, Mr. BOEHNER, Mr. BLUNT, Mr. PUTNAM, 
Mr. MCCOTTER, Ms. GRANGER, Mr. CARTER, Mr. COLE of Oklahoma, 
Mr. DREIER, Mr. CANTOR, Mr. CAMP of Michigan, Mr. HOBSON, and Mr. 
TIAHRT) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on Rules 
RESOLUTION 
Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to 
provide increased accountability and transparency in the 
Committee on Standards of Official Conduct. 
Resolved, 
SECTION 1. MEMBERSHIP OF THE COMMITTEE ON STAND-
ARDS OF OFFICIAL CONDUCT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Clause 5(a)(3)(A) of rule X of the 
Rules of the House of Representatives is amended to read 
as follows: 
‘‘(A) The Committee on Standards of Official Con-
duct shall be composed of ten members appointed jointly 
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•HRES 1003 IH 
by the Speaker and the minority leader, three from the 
majority party and three from the minority party and four 
former Members who have not been registered lobbyists 
for a period of at least two years. The four former Mem-
bers shall possess in such committee the same powers and 
privileges as the other members of the committee, except 
that only a current Member may serve as chairman.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
subsection (a) shall apply with respect to the One Hun-
dred Eleventh Congress and each succeeding Congress. 
SEC. 2. ROTATING CHAIRMANSHIP OF COMMITTEE OF 
STANDARDS OF OFFICIAL CONDUCT. 
Clause 5(a)(3) of rule X of the Rules of the House 
of Representatives is amended by adding at the end the 
following new subdivision: 
‘‘(D) In the One Hundred Eleventh Congress, the 
chairmanship of the Committee on Standards of Official 
Conduct shall be held by a member of the political party 
that is the majority party at the beginning of that Con-
gress. The chairmanship in the next Congress shall be held 
by a member of the opposite political party and, with re-
spect to succeeding Congresses, the chairmanship shall 
continue to alternate, Congress by Congress, between the 
two parties.’’. 
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•HRES 1003 IH 
SEC. 3. RECEIPT BY THE INSPECTOR GENERAL OF CER-
TAIN 
ALLEGATIONS 
OF 
MISCONDUCT 
BY 
MEMBERS, DELEGATES, THE RESIDENT COM-
MISSIONER, OFFICERS, OR EMPLOYEES OF 
THE HOUSE. 
Clause 6 of rule II of the Rules of the House of Rep-
resentatives is amended by adding at the end the following 
new paragraph: 
‘‘(d) The Inspector General shall receive and prompt-
ly transmit (without any change) to the Committee on 
Standards of Official Conduct any written information 
submitted by any outside individual or organization of an 
alleged violation by a Member, Delegate, Resident Com-
missioner, officer, or employee of the House of the House 
of the Code of Official Conduct or a law, rule, regulation, 
or other standard of conduct applicable to the conduct of 
such Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, office, or 
employee in the performance of his duties or the discharge 
of his responsibilities.’’. 
SEC. 4. MONTHLY PUBLIC REPORTS ON INVESTIGATIVE AC-
TIVITIES OF THE COMMITTEE ON STAND-
ARDS OF OFFICIAL CONDUCT. 
Clause 3(q) of rule XI of the rules of the House of 
Representatives is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end 
of subparagraph (2), by striking the period and inserting 
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‘‘; and’’ at the end of subparagraph (3), and by adding 
at the end the following new subparagraph: 
‘‘(4) each month the committee shall publish a 
public report on its investigative activities, including 
a list of each new allegation received since the pre-
ceding report, but without disclosing the name of 
any individual who is the subject of any allegation 
or its particulars, and each such report shall also in-
clude status updates on all pending matters not pre-
viously reported as resolved, using notations such as: 
awaiting investigation, under active investigation, 
dismissed—frivolous, dismissed—allegations deter-
mined to lack merit, subject of an active investiga-
tive subcommittee, action suspended—deferral to 
Justice Department, action suspended—internal 
committee disagreement, matter resolved publicly— 
see attached report, matters resolved privately (re-
quires concurrence by at least 8 out of 10 members, 
referred to the Department of Justice (with or with-
out recommendation).’’. 
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SEC. 5. RESOLUTION OF PARTISAN IMPASSES IN THE COM-
MITTEE OF STANDARDS OF OFFICIAL CON-
DUCT. 
Clause 3(b) of rule XI of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new subparagraph: 
‘‘(8) Notwithstanding any other provision of this 
clause, not later than 30 calendar days after the chairman 
and the ranking minority member, an investigative sub-
committee, an adjudicatory subcommittee, or the com-
mittee is unable to reach a consensus at any stage of an 
investigation respecting any alleged violation described in 
subparagraph (a)(2), the committee shall publicly disclose 
its inability to reach a resolution of the alleged violation. 
Not later than 60 calendar days after the end of any appli-
cable 30-calendar day period, the committee shall forward 
the compliant and all accompanying documentation to the 
Department of Justice for its consideration if such im-
passe persists.’’. 
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