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records. The attendance of witnesses and the production
of evidence may be required from any place within the
United States.
(2) If a person refuses to obey a subpoena issued
under paragraph (1), the hearing board may report the
refusal to the Committee on Rules which may take any
action it deems appropriate. Such action may include—
(A) a referral to the Committee on Standards
of Official Conduct if the refusal is by a current
Member of the House of Representatives or officer
or employee of the House of Representatives, or
(B) a report to the House of Representatives of
a resolution to certify a contempt pursuant to sec-
tions 102 and 104 of the Joint Resolution of June
22, 1938 (2 U.S.C. 192, 194) if the failure is by
someone other than a current Member of the House
of Representatives or officer or employee of the
House of Representatives.
(3) The subpoenas of the hearing board shall be
served in the manner provided for subpoenas issued by
a United States district court under the Federal Rules of
Civil Procedure for the United States district courts.
(4) All process of any court to which application is
to be made under paragraph (2) may be served in the judi-
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cial district in which the person required to be served re-
sides or may be found.
(5) The hearing board is an agency of the United
States for the purpose of part V of title 18, United States
Code (relating to immunity of witnesses).
(g) As expeditiously as possible, but in no case more
than 45 days after the conclusion of the hearing, the hear-
ing board shall make a decision in the matter for which
the hearing was held. The decision of the hearing board
shall be transmitted by the Office to the employee of the
House and the employing authority. The decision shall
state the issues raised by the complaint, describe the evi-
dence in the record, and contain a determination as to
whether a violation of a law made applicable to the House
of Representatives under this rule has occurred. Any deci-
sion of the hearing board shall contain a written statement
of the reasons for the hearing board’s decision. A final
decision of the hearing board shall be made available to
the public by the Office.
(h) If the decision of the hearing board under sub-
section (g) is that a violation of a law made applicable
to the House of Representatives under rule LII of the
Rules of the House of Representatives, it shall order the
remedies under such law as made applicable to the House
of Representatives under that rule, except that no Member
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of the House of Representatives or any other head of an
employing authority, or agent of such a Member shall be
personally liable for the payment of compensation. The
hearing board shall have no authority to award punitive
damages.
(i)(1) A House employee or an employing authority
may request the Board of Directors to review a decision
of the hearing board under subsection (g) (including a de-
cision after a remand under paragraph (2)(A)). Such a
request shall be made within 30 days of the date of the
decision of the hearing board. Review by the Board of Di-
rectors shall be based on the record of the hearing board.
(2) The Board of Directors shall issue a decision not
later than 60 days after the date of the request under
paragraph (1). The decision of the Board of Directors
may—
(A) remand to the hearing board the matter be-
fore the Board of Directors for the purpose of
supplementing the record or for further consider-
ation;
(B) reverse the decision of the hearing board
and enter a new decision and order in accordance
with subsection (h); or
(C) direct that the decision and order of the
hearing board be considered as the final decision.
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(j) There shall be established in the House of Rep-
resentatives a fund from which compensation (including
attorney’s fees) may be paid in accordance with an order
under subsection (h) or (i). From the outset of any pro-
ceeding in which compensation may be paid from a fund
of the House of Representatives, the General Counsel of
the House of Representatives may provide the respondent
with representation.
SEC. 11. RESOLUTION OF COMPLAINT.
If, after a formal complaint is filed under section 10,
the employee and the employing authority resolve the is-
sues involved, the employee may withdraw the complaint
or the parties may enter into a written agreement, subject
to the approval of the executive director.
SEC. 12. PROHIBITION OF INTIMIDATION.
Any intimidation of, or reprisal against, any employee
of the House by any Member, officer, or employee of the
House of Representatives because of the exercise of a right
under this resolution constitutes an unlawful employment
practice, which may be remedied in the same manner
under this resolution as is a violation of a law made appli-
cable to the House of Representatives under rule LII of
the Rules of the House of Representatives.
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SEC. 13. CONFIDENTIALITY.
(a) All counseling shall be strictly confidential except
that the Office and the employee may agree to notify the
head of the employing authority of the allegations.
(b) All mediation shall be strictly confidential.
(c) Except as provided in subsection (d), the hearings
and deliberations of the hearing board shall be confiden-
tial.
(d) At the discretion of the executive director, the ex-
ecutive director may provide to the Committee on Stand-
ards of Official Conduct access to the records of the hear-
ings and decisions of the hearing boards, including all
written and oral testimony in the possession of the hearing
boards, concerning a decision under section 10(g). The ex-
ecutive director shall not provide such access until the ex-
ecutive director has consulted with the individual filing the
complaint at issue in the hearing, and until the hearing
board has issued the decision.
(e) The executive director shall coordinate the pro-
ceedings with the Committee on Standards of Official
Conduct to ensure effectiveness, to avoid duplication, and
to prevent penalizing cooperation by respondents in their
respective proceedings.
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SEC. 14. POLITICAL AFFILIATION AND PLACE OF RESI-
DENCE.
(a) It shall not be a violation of a law made applicable
to the House of Representatives under rule LII of the
Rules of the House of Representatives to consider the—
(1) party affiliation,
(2) domicile, or
(3) political compatibility with the employing
authority,
of an employee of the House with respect to employment
decisions.
(b) For purposes of subsection (a), the term ‘‘em-
ployee’’ means—
(1) an employee on the staff of the House of
Representatives leadership,
(2) an employee on the staff of a committee or
subcommittee,
(3) an employee on the staff of a Member of
the House of Representatives,
(4) an officer or employee of the House of Rep-
resentatives elected by the House of Representatives
or appointed by a Member of the House of Rep-
resentatives, other than those described in para-
graphs (1) through (3), or
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(5) an applicant for a position that is to be oc-
cupied by an individual described in paragraphs (1)
through (4).
SEC. 15. EXCLUSIVITY OF PROCEDURES AND REMEDIES.
The procedures and remedies under rule LII of the
Rules of the House of Representatives are exclusive except
to the extent that the Rules of the House of Representa-
tives and the rules of the Committee on Standards of Offi-
cial Conduct provide for additional procedures and rem-
edies.
SEC. 16. STUDY.
(a) The Office shall conduct a study—
(1) of the ways that access by the public to in-
formation held by the House of Representatives may
be improved and streamlined, and of the application
of section 552 of title 5, United States Code to the
House of Representatives; and
(2) of the application of the requirement of sec-
tion 552a of title 5, United States Code, to the
House of Representatives.
(b) The study conducted under subsection (a) shall
examine—
(1) information that is currently made available
under such section 552 by Federal agencies and not
by the House of Representatives;
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(2) information held by the nonlegislative of-
fices of the House of Representatives, including—
(A) the Director of Non-legislative and Fi-
nancial Services,
(B) the Clerk,
(C) the Inspector General,
(D) the Sergeant at Arms,
(E) the Doorkeeper,
(F) the United States Capitol Police, and
(G) the House Commission on Congres-
sional Mailing Standards;
(3) financial expenditure information of the
House of Representatives; and
(4) provisions for judicial review of denial of ac-
cess to information held by the House of Represent-
atives.
(c) The Office shall conduct the study prescribed by
subsection (a) and report the results of the study to the
House of Representatives not later than one year after the
date of the initial appointment of the Board of Directors.
SEC. 17. EFFECTIVE DATE AND TRANSITION RULES.
(a) The amendments made by section 1 shall take
effect immediately prior to noon January 3, 1995.
(b) Effective at the beginning of the second session
of the One Hundred Fourth Congress, rule LI of the Rules
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of the House of Representatives is repealed and rule LII
of such Rules is redesignated as rule LI and all references
to rule LII in sections 2 through 16 of this resolution are
deemed to be references to rule LI of such Rules.
(c) Notwithstanding subsection (b), until the begin-
ning of the second session of the One Hundred Fourth
Congress, the functions under rule LI of the Rules of the
House of Representatives that are the responsibility of the
Office of Fair Employment Practices shall continue to be
the responsibility of that Office.
(d) Any formal complaint filed under rule LI of the
Rules of the House of Representatives before the close of
the first session of the One Hundred Fourth Congress
which has not been finally disposed of shall be transferred
to the Office of Compliance for completion of all pending
proceedings relating to that complaint. The Office of Com-
pliance may make regulations to provide for the orderly
transfer and disposition of such complaints.
(e) In appointing staff under section 4(b), the execu-
tive director should give full consideration to employees
of the Office of Fair Employment Practices.
(f) Sections 1 through 16 and subsections (a) through
(e) of this section shall have no force or effect upon the
enactment by the One Hundred Third Congress of the
Congressional Accountability Act, whether by enactment
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of the bill H.R. 4822, by incorporation of the text of that
bill in another measure, or otherwise.
SEC. 18. LIMITATION ON USE OF TRAVEL AWARDS IN THE
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
(a)(1) Rule XLV of the Rules of the House of Rep-
resentatives is amended by adding at the end the following
new clause:
‘‘5. (a) 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.
‘‘(b) The Committee on House Administration shall
have authority to prescribe regulations to carry out this
clause.
‘‘(c) As used in this clause—
‘‘(1) 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; and
‘‘(2) the term ‘official travel’ means, with re-
spect to the House of Representatives, travel per-
formed for the conduct of official business of the
House of Representatives.’’.
(2) The center heading of rule XLV of the Rules of
the House of Representatives is amended by inserting a
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semicolon and ‘‘Limitation on Use of Travel Awards’’
after ‘‘Accounts’’.
(b) The amendments made by subsection (a) shall
take effect immediately prior to noon January 3, 1995.
House Calendar No. 245
103D CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. RES. 571
[Report No. 103–841]
RESOLUTION
Amending the Rules of the House of Representa-
tives to apply certain laws to the House of Rep-
resentatives, and for other purposes.
OCTOBER 6 (legislative day, OCTOBER 5), 1994
Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be
printed