I
104TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3792
To restore integrity, goodwill, honesty, and trust to Congress.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 11, 1996
Mr. BASS (for himself, Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland, Mr. CAMP, Mr. CHRYS-
LER, Mr. COBLE, Mr. COBURN, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. ENGLISH of Penn-
sylvania, Mr. FOLEY, Mr. FRANKS of New Jersey, Mr. LOBIONDO, Mr.
LONGLEY, Mr. NEUMANN, Mr. RADANOVICH, Ms. RIVERS, Mr. SHAYS,
and Mr. TATE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on House Oversight, and in addition to the Committees on
Government Reform and Oversight, Rules, National Security, 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 restore integrity, goodwill, honesty, and trust to Congress.
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 ‘‘R.I.G.H.T. Congress
Act’’.
TITLE I—CONGRESSIONAL
COMPENSATION
SEC. 101. ACCRUAL RATES FOR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS
AND CONGRESSIONAL EMPLOYEES UNDER
CSRS AND FERS.
(a) CSRS.—
(1) MEMBERS.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—Section 8339(c) of title
5, United States Code, is amended by striking
all that follows ‘‘with respect to—’’ and insert-
ing the following:
‘‘(1) so much of his service as a Member as was
performed before the beginning of the One Hundred
Fifth Congress;
‘‘(2) so much of his military service as—
‘‘(A) is creditable for the purpose of this
subsection; and
‘‘(B) was performed before the beginning
of such Congress; and
‘‘(3) so much of his Congressional employee
service as was performed before the beginning of
such Congress;
by multiplying 21⁄2 percent of his average pay by the years
of that service.’’.
(B) 
TECHNICAL
AMENDMENT.—Section
8332(d) of title 5, United States Code, is
amended by striking ‘‘section 8339(c)(1)’’ and
inserting ‘‘section 8339(c)’’.
(2) 
CONGRESSIONAL
EMPLOYEES.—Section
8339(b) of title 5, United States Code, is amend-
ed—
(A) by inserting ‘‘so much of’’ after ‘‘is
computed with respect to’’; and
(B) by inserting ‘‘as was performed before
the beginning of the One Hundred Fifth Con-
gress,’’ before ‘‘by multiplying’’.
(3) CAPITOL POLICE.—Section 8339(q) of title
5, United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘in
acccordance with subsection (b),’’ and inserting ‘‘in
accordance with subsection (b) (disregarding the
amendments made by section 101(a)(2) of the
R.I.G.H.T. Congress Act),’’.
(b) FERS.—
(1) MEMBERS.—Section 8415(b) of title 5,
United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘shall’’
and inserting ‘‘shall, to the extent that such service
was performed before the beginning of the One Hun-
dred Fifth Congress,’’.
(2) 
CONGRESSIONAL
EMPLOYEES.—Section
8415(c) of title 5, United States Code, is amended
by striking ‘‘shall’’ and inserting ‘‘shall, to the ex-
tent that such service was performed before the be-
ginning of the One Hundred Fifth Congress,’’.
(3) PROVISIONS
RELATING
TO
THE
1.1
PER-
CENT ACCRUAL RATE.—Section 8415(g) of title 5,
United States Code, is amended—
(A) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘an em-
ployee under paragraph (2),’’ and inserting ‘‘an
employee or Member under paragraph (2),’’;
(B) in paragraph (2) by inserting ‘‘or
Member’’ after ‘‘in the case of an employee’’
and by striking ‘‘Congressional employee,’’; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of this sub-
section—
‘‘(A) this subsection shall not apply in the case
of a Member or Congressional employee whose sepa-
ration (on which entitlement to annuity is based) oc-
curs before the beginning of the One Hundred Fifth
Congress; and
‘‘(B) in the case of a Member or Congressional
employee to whom this subsection applies, the 1.1
percent accrual rate shall apply only with respect to
any period of service other than a period with re-
spect to which the 1.7 percent accrual rate applies
under subsection (b) or (c).’’.
SEC. 102. ELIMINATION OF AUTOMATIC ANNUITY ADJUST-
MENTS FOR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.
The portion of anuity of a Member of Congress which
is based solely on service as a Member of Congress shall
not be subject to a COLA adjustment under section 8340
or 8462 of title 5, United States Code.
SEC. 103. ELIMINATION OF AUTOMATIC PAY ADJUSTMENTS
FOR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS; RECORDED
VOTE REQUIRED ON ANY PAY ADJUSTMENT
FOR MEMBERS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 601(a) of the Legislative
Reorganization Act of 1946 is amended to read as follows:
‘‘SEC. 601. (a)(1) Until otherwise provided under sec-
tion 225 of the Federal Salary Act of 1967 (2 U.S.C. 351
and following) or any other provision of law, the annual
rate of pay for—
‘‘(A) each Senator, Member of the House of
Representatives, and Delegate to the House of Rep-
resentatives, and the Resident Commissioner from
Puerto Rico,
‘‘(B) the President pro tempore of the Senate,
the majority leader and the minority leader of the
Senate, and the majority leader and the minority
leader of the House of Representatives, and
‘‘(C) the Speaker of the House of Representa-
tives,
shall be the rate payable for each such office or position
on the date of the enactment of the R.I.G.H.T. Congress
Act.
‘‘(2)(A) Any bill or resolution, and any amendment
to any bill or resolution, that provides for any adjustment
in the amount of pay payable for any office or position
referred to in paragraph (1) may be adopted by the House
of Representatives only by a vote recorded so as to reflect
the vote of each Member voting.
‘‘(B) The provisions of subparagraph (A) are en-
acted—
‘‘(i) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of
the House of Representatives and, as such, they
shall be considered as part of the rules of the House,
and such rule shall supersede other rules only to the
extent inconsistent therewith; and
‘‘(ii) with full recognition of the constitutional
right of the House to change such rule at any time,
in the same manner, and to the same extent as in
the case of any other rule of the House.
(2) by striking ‘‘and (4)’’ and inserting ‘‘(4),
and (5)’’; and
(3) by striking ‘‘75 percent’’ and inserting ‘‘50
percent’’.
SEC. 202. DENIAL OF FLOOR PRIVILEGES TO FORMER MEM-
BERS OF CONGRESS WHO ARE REGISTERED
LOBBYISTS.
(a) HOUSE FLOOR PRIVILEGES.—Clause 3 of rule
XXXII of the Rules of the House of Representatives is
amended by striking ‘‘and only ’’ and inserting ‘‘, only’’,
and by inserting ‘‘, and only if they are not registered lob-
byists under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995’’ before
the period at the end.
(b) ADDITIONAL PRIVILEGES.—(1) No former Mem-
ber of Congress who is a registered lobbyist under the
Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 may enter any dining
area in the Capital which is reserved for Members of Con-
gress or enter any gymnasium facility which is reserved
for Members of Congress.
(2) The Committee on House Oversight of the House
of Representatives shall have authority to prescribe regu-
lations to carry out this subsection.
SEC. 203. REQUIRING IDENTIFICATION FOR REGISTERED
LOBBYISTS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 4 of the Lobbying Disclo-
sure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1603) is amended by adding
at the end the following new subsection:
‘‘(e) IDENTIFICATION
FOR
REGISTERED
LOBBY-
ISTS.—Each person required to register under this section
shall wear, in a visible manner, an identification badge
similar to the identification badge required for persons
who use the press gallery of the House of Representatives
or the Senate. The form of such identification shall be pre-
scribed by the Sergeant at Arms of the House of Rep-
resentatives and the Sergeant at Arms of the Senate act-
ing jointly and shall be worn when such registered person
is in the United States Capitol or in an office building
of the House of Representatives or the Senate while en-
gaged in lobbying activities. When a person registers
under subsection (a), such person shall be given such a
badge.’’.
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Subsection (a) shall take ef-
fect with respect to registrations under section 4 of the
Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 which occur after the
expiration of the 60-day period which begins on the date
of the enactment of this Act.
TITLE III—CONGRESSIONAL
TRAVEL
SEC. 301. LIMITATION ON TRANSPORTATION OF MEMBERS
OF CONGRESS ON MILITARY AIRCRAFT.
(a) LIMITATION ON TRANSPORTATION.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Chapter 157 of title 10,
United States Code, is amended by adding at the
end the following new section:
‘‘§ 2643. Limitation on transportation of Members of
Congress on military aircraft
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense may
not provide transportation on a military aircraft to a des-
tination for a Member or group of Members of Congress
unless—
‘‘(1) the transportation is provided on a space-
available basis as part of the scheduled operations of
the military aircraft unrelated to the provision of
transportation to the Member or group of Members;
‘‘(2) the destination, or an airfield located with-
in a reasonable distance from the destination, is not
accessible by regularly scheduled flights of commer-
cial aircraft; or
‘‘(3) the transportation is the least expensive
method for the Member or group of Members to
reach the destination by aircraft.
‘‘(b) SPECIAL RULE
FOR MEMBERS
AND STAFF
TRAVELLING TO A HEARING.—The Secretary may not
provide transportation on a military aircraft for a Member
or group of Members of Congress or the staff of the Mem-
ber or group of Members for travel to a hearing of a Com-
mittee of Congress unless the transportation meets the re-
quirement in subsection (a)(3).
‘‘(c) DESTINATION.—The Secretary shall not select
the destination of a military aircraft to accommodate the
travel plans of a Member or group of Members of Con-
gress requesting transportation that meets the require-
ment in subsection (a)(1).’’.
‘‘(d) MEMBER OF CONGRESS DEFINED.—In this sec-
tion, the term ‘Member of Congress’ means a Senator or
Representative in, or a Delegate or Resident Commis-
sioner to, the Congress.’’.
(2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of
sections at the beginning of such chapter is amended
by adding at the end the following new item:
‘‘2643. Limitation on transportation of Members of Congress on military air-
craft.’’.
(b) PRIOR APPROVAL REQUIREMENT FOR MEMBERS
AND STAFF TRAVELLING TO A HEARING.—A Member or
group of Members of the House of Representatives or the
staff of such Member or group of Members may not accept
transportation on a military aircraft for travel to a hearing
of a committee of Congress until the chairman of the com-
mittee of Congress—
(1) submits information to the Committee on
Standards of Official Conduct of the House of Rep-
resentatives demonstrating that the transportation is
the least expensive method for the Member or group
of Members or staff to travel to the hearing by air-
craft; and
(2) receives approval from the Committee on
Standards of Official Conduct for the Member or
group of Members or staff to accept the transpor-
tation.
SEC. 302. RESTRICTION ON FOREIGN TRAVEL BY MEMBERS
NOT SEEKING REELECTION.
The Rules of the House of Representatives are
amended by adding at the end the following new rule:
‘‘RULE LIII.
‘‘RESTRICTION ON FOREIGN TRAVEL BY MEMBERS NOT
SEEKING REELECTION.
‘‘1. A retiring Member, or such Member’s personal
staff, shall not engage in travel outside the United States
pursuant to clause 8 of rule I, clause 2(n) or 5(e) of rule
XI, or section 502(b) of the Mutual Security Act of 1954
(22 U.S.C. 1754), unless the Committee on Standards of
Official Conduct determines such travel is essential to the
official responsibilities of the retiring member.
‘‘2. As used in this rule—
‘‘(1) a Member is a retiring Member after the
earlier of the date upon which the Member—
‘‘(A) announces to the press the intention
not to seek election to the House of Representa-
tives for the succeeding Congress;
‘‘(B) fails to meet the qualifying deadline
for election to the House of Representatives for
the succeeding Congress; or
‘‘(C) is defeated in any primary or general
election to the House of Representatives for the
succeeding Congress; and
‘‘(1) the term ‘Member’ means a Representative
in, or a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the
House of Representatives.’’.
SEC. 303. LIMITATION ON USE OF TRAVEL AWARDS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—(1) Except as provided by para-
graph (2) and notwithstanding any provision of law or any
rule, regulation, or other authority, any travel award that
accrues by reason of official travel of a Member, officer,
or employee of the House of Representatives may be used
only with respect to official travel.
(2) Any travel award that accrues by reason of offi-
cial travel of a Member of the House of Representatives
may be used by the spouse or children of that Member
for travel between Washington, D.C., and the district of
that Member.
(b) REGULATIONS.—The Committee on House Over-
sight of the House of Representatives shall have authority
to prescribe regulations to carry out this section.
(c) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section—
(1) the term ‘‘Member of the House of Rep-
resentatives’’ means a Representative in, or a
Delgate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress;
(2) the term ‘‘offical travel’’ means, with re-
spect to the House of Representatives, travel per-
formed for the conduct of official business of the
House of Representatives, including official and rep-
resentational duties of a Member relating to the dis-
trict of the Member; and
(3) the term ‘‘travel award’’ means any fre-
quent flier mileage, free travel, discounted travel, or
other travel benefit, whether awarded by coupon,
membership, or otherwise.
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