I 
109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4988 
To amend the Rules of the House of Representatives to strengthen the 
ethics process, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 16, 2006 
Mr. 
HEFLEY
(for 
himself, 
Mr. 
HULSHOF, 
Mr. 
GUTKNECHT, 
Mr. 
LATOURETTE, Mr. JONES of North Carolina, Mr. PETERSON of Min-
nesota, Mr. ENGLISH of Pennsylvania, Mr. SHADEGG, Mr. WELDON of 
Pennsylvania, Mr. BEAUPREZ, and Mr. UDALL of Colorado) introduced 
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Rules, and in 
addition to the Committees on Standards of Official Conduct and the Ju-
diciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
tion of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Rules of the House of Representatives to 
strengthen the ethics process, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘House Ethics Reform Act of 2006’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.— 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
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TITLE I—TRAINING 
Sec. 101. Mandatory annual ethics training; 
Sec. 102. Ethics officers. 
TITLE II—ETHICS INVESTIGATION 
Sec. 201. Ethics investigatory powers and procedures. 
Sec. 202. Letters of admonition. 
Sec. 203. Due process rights of respondents. 
Sec. 204. Simplification of settlement during ethics process. 
TITLE III—ETHICS COMMITTEE REFORM 
Sec. 301. Amendment to Code of Official Conduct to add the Code of Ethics 
for Government Service. 
Sec. 302. Renaming the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct the Eth-
ics Committee. 
Sec. 303. Terms of service of chairman and ranking minority member of Ethics 
Committee. 
Sec. 304. Removal of chairman and ranking minority member of Ethics Com-
mittee. 
Sec. 305. Prohibited consultations. 
Sec. 306. Removal of Ethics Committee staff. 
TITLE IV—TRAVEL 
Sec. 401. Required certification that congressional travel meets certain condi-
tions. 
Sec. 402. Disclosure by lobbyists of activities related to congressional travel. 
Sec. 403. Enhanced travel records for privately-funded official travel. 
Sec. 404. Member and employee travel on corporate jets. 
TITLE V—LOBBYISTS 
Sec. 501. Immediate electronic disclosure of lobbyist and foreign agent registra-
tions. 
TITLE VI—GIFT RULE 
Sec. 601. Disclosure of gifts. 
TITLE VI—FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE 
Sec. 701. Posting of lobbying registration and disclosure statements on House 
of Representatives Internet site. 
TITLE I—TRAINING 
SEC. 101. MANDATORY ANNUAL ETHICS TRAINING; 
Clause 3 of rule XI of the Rules of the House of Rep-
resentatives is amended by adding at the end the following 
new paragraph: 
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‘‘Ethics training 
‘‘(r) Within 120 days after an individual takes office 
each Congress in the case of a Member, Delegate, or Resi-
dent Commissioner or 120 days after the individual is ap-
pointed in the case of an officer, the Ethics Committee 
shall— 
‘‘(1) provide comprehensive ethics training for 
each Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, and 
officer of the House; and 
‘‘(2) provide regular comprehensive ethics train-
ing for each ethics officer. 
The committee shall maintain an up-to-date list on its 
website on the Internet of the names of all Members, Dele-
gates, and the Resident Commissioner who have received 
such training.’’. 
SEC. 102. ETHICS OFFICERS. 
Clause 3 of rule XI of the Rules of the House of Rep-
resentatives (as amended by section 101) is further 
amended by adding at the end the following new para-
graph: 
‘‘Ethics officers 
‘‘(s)(1) Each Member, Delegate, Resident Commis-
sioner, officer, standing committee, and permanent select 
committee of the House shall— 
‘‘(A) designate an employee to serve as the eth-
ics officer for that office; 
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‘‘(B) notify the Ethics Committee of the name 
and e-mail address of the ethics officer; and 
‘‘(C) notify the Ethics Committee whenever a 
new ethics officer is designated. 
‘‘(2) Each ethics officer shall— 
‘‘(A) certify to the Ethics Committee that ethics 
notices have been distributed to and received by each 
employee of the Member, Delegate, Resident Com-
missioner, officer, standing committee, and perma-
nent select committee of the House by whom such 
ethics officer is employed; and 
‘‘(B) provide each employee and the Member, 
Delegate, Resident Commissioner, or officer by 
whom such ethics officer is employed all pertinent 
information provided by the Ethics Committee at 
each regular ethics training session. 
Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to impose 
any liability on any ethics officer for any ethic violations 
of any such employee.’’. 
TITLE II—ETHICS 
INVESTIGATION 
SEC. 201. ETHICS INVESTIGATORY POWERS AND PROCE-
DURES. 
Clause 3 of rule XI of the Rules of the House of Rep-
resentatives (as amended by section 102) is further 
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amended by adding at the end the following new para-
graph: 
‘‘Investigatory powers and procedures 
‘‘(s) The committee shall adopt rules to— 
‘‘(1) authorize the chairman and ranking mi-
nority member of the committee the power to au-
thorize and issue subpoenas after they jointly deter-
mine, pursuant to paragraph (k)(1), that informa-
tion submitted to the committee meets the require-
ments of the rules of the committee for what con-
stitutes a complaint and before the establishment of 
an investigative subcommittee or when the com-
mittee undertakes an investigation on its own initia-
tive; 
‘‘(2)(A) provide the committee with the author-
ity to issue a Letter of Admonition to any Member, 
Delegate, Resident Commissioner, officer, or em-
ployee of the House upon dismissal of a complaint, 
pursuant to paragraph (k)(1) or when the committee 
undertakes an investigation on its own initiative, 
after informal fact-finding or at the conclusion of an 
investigation as an additional alternative to a Letter 
of Reproval; 
‘‘(B) require that each such Letter of Admoni-
tion includes the following statement: ‘Resolution of 
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a complaint or investigation by a Letter of Admoni-
tion is appropriate where, according to the informa-
tion before the committee, the respondent’s conduct 
either violates or raises concerns under the Rules of 
the House of Representatives and standards of con-
duct, but the circumstances, including the complete-
ness of the information before the committee and 
the nature of the violation, indicate that a formal in-
vestigation or sanction is not warranted.’; and 
‘‘(C) provide that whenever the committee de-
termines, by a majority vote, that there is evidence 
that a violation within the jurisdiction of the com-
mittee has occurred, but that the alleged violation is 
inadvertent, technical, or otherwise of a de minimis 
nature, the committee may issue a public or private 
Letter of Admonition, which shall not be considered 
a sanction and which shall not be subject to appeal 
to the House.’’. 
SEC. 202. LETTERS OF ADMONITION. 
Clause 3(a) of rule XI of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new subparagraph: 
‘‘(6) At any time after receipt of information 
offered as a complaint pursuant to this clause or in 
the case of an investigation undertaken by the com-
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mittee on its own initiative, the committee may, if 
it deems appropriate, issue a Letter of Admonition 
to the applicable Member, Delegate, Resident Com-
missioner, officer, or employee of the House.’’. 
SEC. 203. DUE PROCESS RIGHTS OF RESPONDENTS. 
Clause 3(p) of rule XI of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end 
of subparagraph (7), by striking the period and inserting 
‘‘; and’’ at the end of subparagraph (8), and by adding 
at the end the following new subparagraph: 
‘‘(9)(A) whenever the committee or an inves-
tigative subcommittee proposes to issue a letter (in-
cluding a letter of admonition) or other document 
that includes comments critical of the conduct of a 
Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, officer, 
or employee of the House, it shall provide prior no-
tice and equal opportunity to respond; 
‘‘(B) a Member, Delegate, Resident Commis-
sioner, officer, or employee of the House has the 
right to notification of the decision of the committee 
to dismiss a complaint, send a letter pursuant to 
paragraph (k)(1)(A), create an investigative sub-
committee, or any other committee action, including 
a report or letter that alleges that such individual 
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has or may have violated the Code of Official Con-
duct; and 
‘‘(C) a Member, Delegate, Resident Commis-
sioner, officer, or employee of the House shall have 
7 calendar days to respond in writing to any letter 
or notice provided pursuant to this subparagraph, 
and that any such response shall be appended to the 
report or letter.’’. 
SEC. 204. SIMPLIFICATION OF SETTLEMENT DURING ETH-
ICS PROCESS. 
Clause 3(p) of rule XI of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives (as amended by section 303) is further 
amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subparagraph 
(8), by striking the period and inserting ‘‘; and’’ at the 
end of subparagraph (9), and by adding at the end the 
following new subparagraph: 
‘‘(10) a respondent may negotiate a settlement 
at any time after an investigation pursuant to a 
complaint or undertaken at its own initiative is un-
dertaken by the committee.’’. 
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TITLE III—ETHICS COMMITTEE 
REFORM 
SEC. 301. AMENDMENT TO CODE OF OFFICIAL CONDUCT TO 
ADD THE CODE OF ETHICS FOR GOVERN-
MENT SERVICE. 
Rule XXIII of the Rules of the House of Representa-
tives is amended by redesignating clause 14 as clause 15 
and by inserting after clause 13 the following new clause: 
‘‘14. A Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, 
officer, or employee of the House should: 
‘‘(A) Put loyalty to the highest moral principles 
and to country above loyalty to Government, per-
sons, party, or department. 
‘‘(B) Uphold the Constitution, laws, and legal 
regulations of the United States and of all govern-
ments therein and never be a party to their evasion. 
‘‘(C) Give a full day’s labor for a full day’s pay; 
giving to the performance of his duties his earnest 
effort and best thought. 
‘‘(D) Seek to find and employ more efficient 
and economical ways of getting tasks accomplished. 
‘‘(E) Never discriminate unfairly by the dis-
pensing of special favors or privileges to anyone, 
whether for remuneration or not; and never accept, 
for himself or his family, favors or benefits under 
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circumstances which might be construed by reason-
able persons as influencing the performance of his 
governmental duties. 
‘‘(F) Make no private promises of any kind 
binding upon the duties of office, since a Govern-
ment employee has no private word which can be 
binding on public duty. 
‘‘(G) Engage in no business with the Govern-
ment, either directly or indirectly, which is incon-
sistent with the conscientious performance of his 
governmental duties. 
‘‘(H) Never use any information coming to him 
confidentially in the performance of governmental 
duties as a means for making private profit. 
‘‘(I) Expose corruption wherever discovered. 
‘‘(J) Uphold these principles, ever conscious 
that public office is a public trust.’’. 
SEC. 302. RENAMING THE COMMITTEE ON STANDARDS OF 
OFFICIAL 
CONDUCT 
THE 
ETHICS 
COM-
MITTEE. 
The Rules of the House of Representatives are 
amended by striking ‘‘Committee on Standards of Official 
Conduct’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘Ethics 
Committee’’. 
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SEC. 303. TERMS OF SERVICE OF CHAIRMAN AND RANKING 
MINORITY MEMBER OF ETHICS COMMITTEE. 
Clause 5(a)(3)(C) of rule X of the Rules of the House 
of Representatives is amended by striking ‘‘fourth’’ and 
inserting ‘‘sixth’’ and by striking ‘‘five’’ and inserting 
‘‘seven’’. 
SEC. 304. REMOVAL OF CHAIRMAN AND RANKING MINOR-
ITY MEMBER OF ETHICS COMMITTEE. 
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) The chairman or the ranking minority member 
of the Ethics Committee may be removed before the end 
of a Congress only by the affirmative vote of two-thirds 
of the total membership of the House.’’. 
SEC. 305. PROHIBITED CONSULTATIONS. 
Clause 3 of rule XI of the Rules of the House of Rep-
resentatives (as amended by section 301) is further 
amended by adding at the end the following new para-
graph: 
‘‘Prohibited consultations 
‘‘(t) Neither the chairman nor the ranking minority 
member of the committee may consult or otherwise discuss 
with the Speaker or the majority or minority leader, or 
the staff of any such Member, any investigation by the 
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committee (or any subcommittee thereof), including sched-
uling matters.’’. 
SEC. 306. REMOVAL OF ETHICS COMMITTEE STAFF. 
Clause 3(g)(3)(A) of rule XI of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives is amended by adding at the end 
the following new sentence: ‘‘Any existing staff member 
may only not be rehired at the beginning of a Congress 
or may only be removed by the affirmative vote of a major-
ity of the total membership of the committee.’’. 
TITLE IV—TRAVEL 
SEC. 401. REQUIRED CERTIFICATION THAT CONGRES-
SIONAL TRAVEL MEETS CERTAIN CONDI-
TIONS. 
Clause 5 of rule XXV of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives is amended by redesignating paragraphs 
(e) and (f) as paragraphs (g) and (h), respectively, and 
by inserting after paragraph (d) the following new para-
graphs: 
‘‘(e) Before a Member, Delegate, Resident Commis-
sioner, officer, or employee of the House may accept a gift 
of transportation or lodging permissible under this clause 
from any person, such Member, Delegate, Resident Com-
missioner, officer, or employee of the House, as applicable, 
shall obtain a written certification from the Ethics Com-
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mittee (and provide a copy of such certification to the 
Clerk) that— 
‘‘(1) the trip was not planned, organized, ar-
ranged, or financed by a registered lobbyist or for-
eign agent and was not organized at the request of 
a registered lobbyist or foreign agent; 
‘‘(2) the person did not accept, from any 
source, funds specifically earmarked for the purpose 
of financing the travel expenses; and 
‘‘(3) the trip is permissible under these rules. 
The Clerk shall make public on its website on the Internet 
information received under this paragraph within 10 days. 
‘‘(f) Before a Member, Delegate, Resident Commis-
sioner, officer, or employee of the House, or a spouse or 
dependent thereof, may take a privately-funded trip, that 
Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, officer, or em-
ployee shall provide the complete itinerary and total esti-
mated cost of that trip and the Ethics Committee shall 
have determined that the proposed funding and itinerary 
complies with all rules of the House, including the certifi-
cation required by paragraph (d).’’. 
SEC. 402. DISCLOSURE BY LOBBYISTS OF ACTIVITIES RE-
LATED TO CONGRESSIONAL TRAVEL. 
(a) PAYMENTS
TO ORGANIZATIONS THAT FUND 
CONGRESSIONAL TRAVEL.—Whenever a lobbyist required 
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to register under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 
provides funding to an organization that funds official 
travel of a Member of Congress, the lobbyist shall, not 
more than 48 hours after providing those funds, disclose 
to the Clerk of the House of Representatives— 
(1) the organization; 
(2) the Member; 
(3) the amount of the funds; and 
(4) the date and nature of the travel. 
(b) MEMBERSHIP IN ORGANIZATION THAT FUNDS 
CONGRESSIONAL TRAVEL.—Whenever a lobbyist required 
to register under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 be-
comes a member of an organization that funds official 
travel of a Member of Congress, the lobbyist shall, not 
more than 48 hours after becoming a member of the orga-
nization or after the organization funds the travel, as the 
case may be, disclose to the Clerk of the House of Rep-
resentatives— 
(1) the organization; 
(2) the Member; 
(3) the amount of the funds; and 
(4) the date and nature of the travel. 
(c) IN-PERSON LOBBYING CONTACT DURING CON-
GRESSIONAL TRAVEL.—Whenever a lobbyist required to 
register under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 has 
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an in-person lobbying contact with a covered legislative 
branch official while the official is on official travel, the 
lobbyist shall, not more than 48 hours after the lobbying 
contact, disclose to the Clerk of the House of Representa-
tives— 
(1) the official; 
(2) the date and nature of the lobbying contact; 
and 
(3) the client on whose behalf the lobbying con-
tact was made. 
SEC. 403. ENHANCED TRAVEL RECORDS FOR PRIVATELY- 
FUNDED OFFICIAL TRAVEL. 
(a) 
ENHANCED
TRAVEL
RECORDS.—Clause 
5(b)(1)(A)(ii) of rule XXV of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives is amended by— 
(1) inserting ‘‘a detailed description of each of’’ 
before ‘‘the expenses’’; 
(2) striking ‘‘30 days’’ and inserting ‘‘10 days’’; 
and 
(3) inserting ‘‘, including a description of all 
meetings, tours, events, and outings during such 
travel’’ before the period at the end thereof. 
(b) ELECTRONIC FORM.—Clause 5(b)(1)(A) of rule 
XXV of the Rules of the House of Representatives is 
amended by adding at the end the following new sentence: 
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‘‘The disclosures required by this subdivision shall be 
made to the Clerk in electronic form and posted on its 
website on the Internet.’’. 
SEC. 404. MEMBER AND EMPLOYEE TRAVEL ON COR-
PORATE JETS. 
Clause 5(b) of rule XXV of the Rules of the House 
of Representatives is amended by adding at the end the 
following new subparagraph: 
‘‘(6) Not later than 10 days after completion of travel 
on a flight on an aircraft that is not licensed by the Fed-
eral Aviation Administration to operate for compensation 
or hire, excluding a flight on an aircraft owned, operate, 
or leased by a governmental entity, taken in connection 
with the duties of the Member, Delegate, Resident Com-
missioner, officer, or employee approved by the Ethics 
Committee, that individual shall file with the Clerk a de-
scription of meetings and events attended during such 
travel and the names of all passengers who accompanied 
that individual during the travel, except when disclosure 
of such information is deemed by the Member, Delegate, 
Resident Commissioner, or supervisor under whose direct 
supervision the employee is employed to jeopardize the 
safety of an individual or adversely affect national secu-
rity. Such information shall be posted by the Clerk on a 
public database and on the Member’s, Delegate’s, or Resi-
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dent Commissioner’s official website not later than 10 
days after the completion of the travel, except when disclo-
sure of such information is deemed by the Member, Dele-
gate, or Resident Commissioner to jeopardize the safety 
of an individual or adversely affect national security.’’. 
TITLE V—LOBBYISTS 
SEC. 501. IMMEDIATE ELECTRONIC DISCLOSURE OF LOB-
BYIST AND FOREIGN AGENT REGISTRATIONS. 
(a) PROMPT REGISTRATION REQUIRED.—Any person 
required to register under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 
1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) or the Foreign Agents Reg-
istration Act of 1938, as amended (22 U.S.C. 611 et seq.), 
shall, in addition to any other requirements imposed by 
either such Act or other law, register with the Clerk of 
the House of Representatives within 10 days. Each such 
registration shall be filed electronically, in a form accept-
able to the Clerk of the House. 
(b) ELECTRONIC DATABASE AVAILABLE
TO PUB-
LIC.—The Clerk of the House of Representatives shall 
maintain, and make available to the public, an electronic 
database of all registrations filed under subsection (a). 
Such electronic database shall be established within 180 
days after the date of enactment of this Act. 
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