(1) LOBBYING.—No individual who has been a 
lobbyist registered under the Lobbying Disclosure 
Act of 1995 or engages in, or is otherwise employed 
in, lobbying of the Congress or who is an agent of 
a foreign principal registered under the Foreign 
Agents Registration Act within the 4-year period im-
mediately preceding appointment shall be eligible for 
appointment to, or service on, the Commission. 
(2) INCOMPATIBLE OFFICE.—No member of the 
Commission appointed under subsection (b) may be 
an elected public official or an officer or employee of 
the Government. 
(3) FINANCIAL BENEFIT.—No member of the 
Commission appointed under subsection (b) may 
serve on the board or be an officer of any entity that 
has a direct financial interest in any matter before 
the House of Representatives. 
(e) VACANCIES.—A vacancy on the Commission shall 
be filled in the manner in which the original appointment 
was made. 
(f) COMPENSATION.—Members shall each be entitled 
to receive the daily equivalent of the maximum annual rate 
of basic pay in effect for Level III of the Executive Sched-
ule for each day (including travel time) during which they 
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are engaged in the actual performance of duties vested in 
the Commission. 
(g) QUORUM.—A majority of the members of the 
Commission shall constitute a quorum. 
(h) MEETINGS.—The Commission shall meet at the 
call of the chairman or a majority of its members. 
SEC. 3. DUTIES OF COMMISSION. 
The Commission is authorized— 
(1) to investigate any alleged violation, by a 
Member, officer, or employee of the House of Rep-
resentatives, of any law, rule, regulation, or other 
standard of conduct applicable to the conduct of 
such Member, officer, or employee in the perform-
ance of his duties or the discharge of his responsibil-
ities, and after notice and hearing (unless the right 
to a hearing is waived by the Member, officer, or 
employee), shall report to the House of Representa-
tives its findings of fact and recommendations, if 
any, upon the final disposition of any such investiga-
tion, and such action as the Commission may deem 
appropriate in the circumstances; 
(2) to issue any letter of admonishment with re-
spect to such an alleged violation; 
(3) to report to the appropriate Federal or 
State authorities any substantial evidence of a viola-
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tion, by a Member, officer, or employee of the House 
of Representatives, of any law applicable to the per-
formance of his duties or the discharge of his re-
sponsibilities, which may have been disclosed in a 
Commission investigation; and 
(4) to adopt rules governing its procedures to 
provide protections to respondents comparable to 
those that were provided by clause 3 of rule XI of 
the Rules of the House of Representatives in effect 
immediately before the amendments to such rule 
made by section 8. 
SEC. 4. POWERS OF COMMISSION. 
(a) HEARINGS AND EVIDENCE.—The Commission or, 
on the authority of the Commission, the chairman or vice 
chairman, may, for the purpose of carrying out this Act— 
(1) hold such hearings and sit and act at such 
times and places, take such testimony, receive such 
evidence, administer such oaths; and 
(2) subject to subsection (b), require, by sub-
poena or otherwise, the attendance and testimony of 
such witnesses and the production of such books, 
records, correspondence, memoranda, papers, and 
documents, as the Commission or the chairman or 
vice chairman may determine advisable. 
(b) SUBPOENAS.— 
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(1) PRIOR WRITTEN AUTHORIZATION.—A sub-
poena may be issued only upon the prior written ap-
proval of the chairman and ranking minority mem-
ber of the Committee on Standards of Official Con-
duct. 
(2) ISSUANCE.—A subpoena may be issued only 
under the signature of the chairman or the vice 
chairman, and may be served by any person des-
ignated by the chairman or the vice chairman. 
(c) OBTAINING INFORMATION.—Upon request of the 
Commission, the head of any agency or instrumentality 
of the Government shall furnish information deemed nec-
essary by the panel to enable it to carry out its duties. 
SEC. 5. PROCEDURAL RULES. 
(a) MAJORITY
APPROVAL.—No report or rec-
ommendation relating to the official conduct of a Member, 
officer, or employee of the House of Representatives shall 
be made by the Commission, and no investigation of such 
conduct shall be undertaken by the Commission, unless 
approved by the affirmative vote of a majority of the mem-
bers of the Commission. 
(b) INVESTIGATIONS.—Except in the case of an in-
vestigation undertaken by the Commission on its own ini-
tiative, the Commission may undertake an investigation 
relating to the official conduct of an individual Member, 
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officer, or employee of the House of Representatives 
only— 
(1) upon receipt of a complaint, in writing and 
under oath, made by or submitted to a Member of 
the House of Representatives and transmitted to the 
Commission by such Member, or 
(2) upon receipt of a complaint from the Com-
mittee on Standards of Official Conduct of the 
House of Representatives, in writing and under 
oath, made by that committee. 
(c) SUBMISSIONS.—(1) Any individual may submit a 
letter to the Commission requesting that it undertake an 
investigation on its own initiative of any alleged violation 
by a Member, officer, or employee of the House of Rep-
resentatives, of any law, rule, regulation, or other stand-
ard of conduct applicable to the conduct of such Member, 
officer, or employee in the performance of his duties or 
the discharge of his responsibilities. 
(2) The Commission shall make available forms to be 
used in the submission of letters under paragraph (1). 
(3) The submission of a letter to the Commission 
under paragraph (1) does not necessitate any action by 
the Commission. 
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