H. R. 3235
One Hundred Fourth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,
the third day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-six
An Act
To amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, to extend the authorization
of appropriations for the Office of Government Ethics for 3 years, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Office of Government Ethics
Authorization Act of 1996’’.
SEC. 2. GIFT ACCEPTANCE AUTHORITY.
Section 403 of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C.
App. 5) is amended—
(1) by inserting ‘‘(a)’’ before ‘‘Upon the request’’; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(b)(1) The Director is authorized to accept and utilize on behalf
of the United States, any gift, donation, bequest, or devise of money,
use of facilities, personal property, or services for the purpose
of aiding or facilitating the work of the Office of Government Ethics.
‘‘(2) No gift may be accepted—
‘‘(A) that attaches conditions inconsistent with applicable
laws or regulations; or
‘‘(B) that is conditioned upon or will require the expenditure
of appropriated funds that are not available to the Office of
Government Ethics.
‘‘(3) The Director shall establish written rules setting forth
the criteria to be used in determining whether the acceptance
of contributions of money, services, use of facilities, or personal
property under this subsection would reflect unfavorably upon the
ability of the Office of Government Ethics, or any employee of
such Office, to carry out its responsibilities or official duties in
a fair and objective manner, or would compromise the integrity
or the appearance of the integrity of its programs or any official
involved in those programs.’’.
SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
The text of section 405 of the Ethics in Government Act of
1978 (5 U.S.C. App. 5) is amended to read as follows: ‘‘There
are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this title such sums
as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 1997 through 1999.’’.
SEC. 4. REPEAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.
(a) REPEAL OF DISPLAY REQUIREMENT.—The Act entitled ‘‘An
Act to provide for the display of the Code of Ethics for Government
Service,’’ approved July 3, 1980 (5 U.S.C. 7301 note), is repealed.
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(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—
(1) FDIA.—Section 12(f)(3) of the Federal Deposit Insurance
Act (12 U.S.C. 1822(f)(3)) is amended by striking ‘‘, with the
concurrence of the Office of Government Ethics,’’.
(2) ETHICS IN GOVERNMENT ACT OF 1978.—(A) The heading
for section 401 of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 is
amended to read as follows:
‘‘ESTABLISHMENT; APPOINTMENT OF DIRECTOR’’.
(B) Section 408 of such Act is amended by striking ‘‘March
31’’ and inserting ‘‘April 30’’.
SEC. 5. LIMITATION ON POSTEMPLOYMENT RESTRICTIONS.
Section 207(j) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by
adding at the end the following new paragraph:
‘‘(7) POLITICAL PARTIES AND CAMPAIGN COMMITTEES.—(A)
Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the restrictions con-
tained in subsections (c), (d), and (e) shall not apply to a
communication or appearance made solely on behalf of a can-
didate in his or her capacity as a candidate, an authorized
committee, a national committee, a national Federal campaign
committee, a State committee, or a political party.
‘‘(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to—
‘‘(i) any communication to, or appearance before, the
Federal Election Commission by a former officer or
employee of the Federal Election Commission; or
‘‘(ii) a communication or appearance made by a person
who is subject to the restrictions contained in subsections
(c), (d), or (e) if, at the time of the communication or
appearance, the person is employed by a person or entity
other than—
‘‘(I) a candidate, an authorized committee, a
national committee, a national Federal campaign
committee, a State committee, or a political party;
or
‘‘(II) a person or entity who represents, aids, or
advises only persons or entities described in subclause
(I).
‘‘(C) For purposes of this paragraph—
‘‘(i) the term ‘candidate’ means any person who seeks
nomination for election, or election, to Federal or State
office or who has authorized others to explore on his or
her behalf the possibility of seeking nomination for election,
or election, to Federal or State office;
‘‘(ii) the term ‘authorized committee’ means any politi-
cal committee designated in writing by a candidate as
authorized to receive contributions or make expenditures
to promote the nomination for election, or the election,
of such candidate, or to explore the possibility of seeking
nomination for election, or the election, of such candidate,
except that a political committee that receives contributions
or makes expenditures to promote more than 1 candidate
may not be designated as an authorized committee for
purposes of subparagraph (A);
‘‘(iii) the term ‘national committee’ means the organiza-
tion which, by virtue of the bylaws of a political party,
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is responsible for the day-to-day operation of such political
party at the national level;
‘‘(iv) the term ‘national Federal campaign committee’
means an organization that, by virtue of the bylaws of
a political party, is established primarily for the purpose
of providing assistance, at the national level, to candidates
nominated by that party for election to the office of Senator
or Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner
to, the Congress;
‘‘(v) the term ‘State committee’ means the organization
which, by virtue of the bylaws of a political party, is respon-
sible for the day-to-day operation of such political party
at the State level;
‘‘(vi) the term ‘political party’ means an association,
committee, or organization that nominates a candidate for
election to any Federal or State elected office whose name
appears on the election ballot as the candidate of such
association, committee, or organization; and
‘‘(vii) the term ‘State’ means a State of the United
States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of
Puerto Rico, and any territory or possession of the United
States.’’.
SEC. 6. PAY LEVEL.
Section 207(c)(2)(A)(ii) of title 18, United States Code, is
amended by striking ‘‘level V of the Executive Schedule,’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘level 5 of the Senior Executive Service,’’.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.