I 
117TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7542 
To amend the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 to require Members 
of Congress to reimburse the Treasury for amounts paid as settlements 
and awards under such Act in all cases of employment discrimination 
acts committed personally by Members, to permit individuals who file 
claims under such Act to file an amended claim if the preliminary 
review of the individual’s claim by a hearing officer includes the deter-
mination that the individual filing the claim is not a covered employee 
under such Act or has not stated a claim for which relief may be 
granted under title IV of such Act, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 18, 2022 
Ms. SPEIER (for herself, Ms. UNDERWOOD, Ms. SCANLON, Ms. PORTER, Mrs. 
BUSTOS, Ms. NORTON, Ms. NEWMAN, Mr. CLEAVER, Ms. ADAMS, Ms. 
JACOBS of California, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS 
of Illinois, Mr. VARGAS, and Mrs. CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK) introduced 
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Admin-
istration 
A BILL 
To amend the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 to 
require Members of Congress to reimburse the Treasury 
for amounts paid as settlements and awards under such 
Act in all cases of employment discrimination acts com-
mitted personally by Members, to permit individuals who 
file claims under such Act to file an amended claim 
if the preliminary review of the individual’s claim by 
a hearing officer includes the determination that the 
individual filing the claim is not a covered employee 
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under such Act or has not stated a claim for which 
relief may be granted under title IV of such Act, 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. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Congressional Ac-
countability Act Enhancement Act’’. 
SEC. 2. REVISION OF RULES REQUIRING REIMBURSEMENT 
FOR AMOUNTS PAID AS SETTLEMENTS AND 
AWARDS UNDER CONGRESSIONAL ACCOUNT-
ABILITY ACT OF 1995 IN CASES OF EMPLOY-
MENT DISCRIMINATION. 
(a) REQUIRING MEMBERS OF CONGRESS TO REIM-
BURSE TREASURY FOR AMOUNTS PAID AS SETTLEMENTS 
AND AWARDS IN ALL CASES OF EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMI-
NATION ACTS BY MEMBERS.— 
(1) REQUIRING
REIMBURSEMENT.—Clause (i) 
of section 415(d)(1)(C) of the Congressional Ac-
countability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1415(d)(1)(C)) is 
amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(i) a violation of section 201(a) or 
section 206(a); or’’. 
(2) CONFORMING
AMENDMENT
RELATING
TO 
NOTIFICATION
OF
POSSIBILITY
OF
REIMBURSE-
MENT.—Clause (i) of section 402(b)(2)(B) of the 
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Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 
1402(b)(2)(B)) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(i) a violation of section 201(a) or 
section 206(a); or’’. 
(b) REQUIRING OTHER EMPLOYING OFFICES TO RE-
IMBURSE TREASURY FOR AMOUNTS PAID IN CLAIMS IN-
VOLVING RETALIATION FOR FILING EMPLOYMENT DIS-
CRIMINATION CLAIM.—Section 415(e) of such Act (2 
U.S.C. 1415(e)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘a violation of 
section 201(a) or 206(a)’’ and inserting ‘‘a violation 
described in paragraph (4)’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(4) VIOLATIONS DESCRIBED.—A violation de-
scribed in this paragraph is— 
‘‘(A) a violation of section 201(a) or 
206(a); or 
‘‘(B) intimidation, reprisal, or discrimina-
tion that is unlawful under section 207 and is 
taken against a covered employee because of a 
claim alleging a violation described in subpara-
graph (A).’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply with respect to claims under the 
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Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 which are made 
on or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 3. PERMITTING INDIVIDUALS FILING CLAIMS UNDER 
CONGRESSIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY ACT OF 
1995 TO FILE AMENDED CLAIMS IF PRELIMI-
NARY REVIEW INCLUDES DETERMINATION 
OF FAILURE TO STATE CLAIM FOR WHICH 
RELIEF MAY BE GRANTED. 
(a) PERMITTING FILING OF AMENDED CLAIMS.— 
Section 403(d) of the Congressional Accountability Act of 
1995 (2 U.S.C. 1402a(d)) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(d) EFFECT OF DETERMINATION OF FAILURE TO 
STATE CLAIM FOR WHICH RELIEF MAY BE GRANTED.— 
‘‘(1) 
PERMITTING
FILING
OF
AMENDED 
VERSION OF CLAIM.—If the hearing officer’s report 
on the preliminary review of a claim under sub-
section (c) includes the determination that the indi-
vidual filing the claim is not a covered employee or 
has not stated a claim for which relief may be grant-
ed under this title— 
‘‘(A) the individual may file an amended 
version of the claim under this section; and 
‘‘(B) the amended claim shall be subject to 
a preliminary review under this section in the 
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same manner as the original version of the 
claim. 
‘‘(2) EFFECT OF DETERMINATION.—If the indi-
vidual does not file an amended claim under para-
graph (1)(A) prior to the expiration of the 10-day 
period which begins on the date the hearing officer 
submits the report on the preliminary review of the 
individual’s original version of the claim under sub-
section (c), or if the hearing officer’s report on the 
amended version of the claim includes the deter-
mination that the individual filing the claim is not 
a covered employee or has not stated a claim for 
which relief may be granted under this title— 
‘‘(A) the individual (including an individual 
who is a Library claimant, as defined in section 
401(d)(1)) may not obtain a formal hearing 
with respect to the claim as provided under sec-
tion 405; and 
‘‘(B) the hearing officer shall provide the 
individual and the Executive Director with a 
written notice that the individual may file a 
civil action with respect to the claim in accord-
ance with section 408.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply with respect to claims under the 
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Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 which are made 
on or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 4. PERMITTING OFFICE OF EMPLOYEE ADVOCACY TO 
PROVIDE ASSISTANCE TO COVERED EMPLOY-
EES IN CONNECTION WITH CIVIL ACTIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 724(c) of 
House Resolution 724, One Hundred Fifteenth Congress, 
if a covered employee of the House of Representatives 
under the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 files 
a civil action with respect to an alleged violation of such 
Act, as provided in section 408 of such Act, the Office 
of Employee Advocacy may provide assistance to the em-
ployee with respect to investigations or proceedings under 
such Act in connection with such alleged violation at any 
time, including after the employee files such action. 
(b) EXERCISE OF RULEMAKING AUTHORITY.—This 
section is enacted by Congress— 
(1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of 
the House of Representatives, and as such it is 
deemed a part of the rules of the House of Rep-
resentatives, and it supersedes other rules only to 
the extent that it is inconsistent with such rules; and 
(2) with full recognition of the constitutional 
right of the House of Representatives to change the 
rules (so far as relating to the procedure of the 
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House) at any time, in the same manner, and to the 
same extent as in the case of any other rule of the 
House. 
Æ 
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