IV
105TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. RES. 456
Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to provide for mandatory
drug testing of Members, officers, and employees of the House of Rep-
resentatives.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 4, 1998
Mr. BARTON of Texas (for himself, Mr. SOLOMON, Mr. GIBBONS, Mr. SES-
SIONS, Mr. COBURN, Mrs. MYRICK, Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi, Mr.
BALLENGER, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. TRAFICANT, Mr.
PORTMAN, Mr. HASTERT, Mrs. NORTHRUP, Mr. GRAHAM, and Mr.
LATHAM) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the
Committee on Rules
RESOLUTION
Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to
provide for mandatory drug testing of Members, officers,
and employees of the House of Representatives.
Resolved,
SECTION 1. MANDATORY DRUG TESTING OF MEMBERS, OF-
FICERS, AND EMPLOYEES OF THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Rules of the House of Rep-
resentatives are amended by adding at the end the follow-
ing new Rule:
•HRES 456 IH
‘‘RULE LII.
‘‘DRUG TESTING.
‘‘1. Each Member, officer, and employee of the House
of Representatives shall participate in accordance with
this rule in a program for testing for illegal use of con-
trolled substances, and participation in the program shall
be considered a condition of employment for officers and
employees of the House of Representatives.
‘‘2. Not later than 3 months after the date on which
the resolution enacting this rule is agreed to, the Clerk
of the House of Representatives shall contract with a pri-
vate, nongovernmental entity to carry out the drug testing
program under this rule.
‘‘3. The drug testing program under this rule shall
include the following features:
‘‘(a) The program shall be mandatory for each
Member, officer, and employee of the House of Rep-
resentatives.
‘‘(b) Except as otherwise provided in this rule,
the program shall be conducted in accordance with
the Mandatory Guidelines for Federal Workplace
Drug Testing Programs, as prescribed pursuant to
section 503 of the Supplemental Appropriations Act,
1987 (5 U.S.C. 7301 note).
•HRES 456 IH
‘‘(4) In the case of an employee of a com-
mittee, to the chair and ranking minority mem-
ber of the committee involved.
‘‘(5) In the case of an officer or employee
not described in subparagraph (3) or (4), to the
Speaker, Majority Leader, Majority Whip, Mi-
nority Leader, and Minority Whip.
‘‘(f) The final results of each test of Members
shall be included in a biennial report of the Clerk of
the House of Representatives and printed as a
House document in October of each even-numbered
year.
‘‘4. (a) At the request of the supervising Member of
an officer or employee of the House of Representatives,
an officer or employee of the House shall be subject to
a drug test under any of the following conditions:
‘‘(1) Evidence exists that supports a reasonable
suspicion that the officer or employee may be engag-
ing in or has engaged in the illegal use of controlled
substances, or is otherwise in violation of a drug-
abuse prevention policy of the supervising Member.
‘‘(2) The officer or employee is participating in
or has participated in a substance abuse treatment
program under an employee assistance program, or
•HRES 456 IH
is otherwise receiving treatment or counseling for
substance abuse.
‘‘(3) The officer or employee has been involved
in an incident which may have involved human error
and which caused or may have caused a fatality, an
injury, or significant property damage in an esti-
mated amount of not less than $200.
‘‘(4) The supervising Member proposes to pro-
mote the officer or employee.
‘‘(5) The officer or employee is returning to em-
ployment with the House of Representatives after a
period of absence of not less than 6 months.
‘‘(b) In paragraph (a), the term ‘supervising Member’
means—
‘‘(1) in the case of an employee of a Member,
the Member involved;
‘‘(2) in the case of an employee of a committee,
the chair of the committee involved (or, in the case
of an employee designated as a member of the com-
mittee minority staff, the ranking minority member
of the committee involved); and
‘‘(3) in the case of an officer or employee not
described in subparagraph (1) or (2), the Speaker of
the House of Representatives.
•HRES 456 IH
‘‘5. The Committee on Standards of Official Conduct
shall take such action as it considers appropriate against
any Member of the House of Representatives who refuses
to provide a sample for testing under the program.
‘‘6. No individual who is first given an offer of em-
ployment by the House of Representatives on or after
June 1, 1998, may be hired as an officer or employee of
the House unless—
‘‘(a) the individual executes a witnessed state-
ment agreeing to participate in random drug testing
under the program under this rule if hired and
agreeing to waive legal rights of challenge;
‘‘(b) the individual provides a sample for drug
testing under the program under this rule; and
‘‘(c) the individual’s sample does not produce a
confirmed positive result.
‘‘7. The Committee on House Oversight shall issue
such regulations as may be necessary to carry out this
rule.
‘‘8. No officer or employee may carry out any duties
with respect to the fields of national defense, foreign pol-
icy, intelligence, law enforcement, or any other field involv-
ing national security or public safety (as determined in
accordance with regulations issued by the Committee on
House Oversight) unless the officer or employee partici-
•HRES 456 IH
pates in the drug testing program established pursuant
to this rule.
‘‘9. In this rule, the following definitions shall apply:
‘‘(a) The term ‘appropriate testing frequency
and ratio’ means a frequency and ratio of random
drug tests such that—
‘‘(1) the total number of random drug
tests administered in any calendar year with re-
spect to each pool described in clause 3(c) shall
be equal to 25 percent of the number of individ-
uals in the pool;
‘‘(2) random drug tests shall be conducted
on not less than 4 and not more than 6 occa-
sions during any calendar year; and
‘‘(3) any individual who is selected for a
random drug test during a calendar year shall
be placed in a pool for further random drug
testing with a selection frequency rate of 50
percent of the rate applicable to individuals who
have not been selected for a test during the
year and shall remain in this pool for the re-
mainder of the calendar year without regard of
the number of times the individual is selected
for a test during the year.
•HRES 456 IH
‘‘(b) The term ‘confirmed positive result’ means
a drug screen—
‘‘(1) which has initially tested as positive
for the presence of an illegal controlled sub-
stance;
‘‘(2) for which the initially positive test has
been confirmed by a second test using a dif-
ferent chemical process than the process used
for the initial test; and
‘‘(3) which has been reviewed and certified
as positive by a medical review officer with
whom the House of Representatives has entered
into a contract to perform such reviews. In per-
forming such reviews, a medical officer shall not
count as positive the presence of legal prescrip-
tion drugs or legal over-the-counter drugs.
‘‘(c) The term ‘controlled substance’ has the
meaning given that term in section 102 of the Con-
trolled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802).
‘‘(d) A ‘Member’ of the House of Representa-
tives includes a Delegate or Resident Commissioner
to the Congress.
‘‘(e) The term ‘neutral selection basis’ means a
method under which individuals are selected for ran-
dom drug testing through a neutral, computer-based