I
104TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1639
To amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 with respect to honoraria,
and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 15, 1995
Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts introduced the following bill; which was referred
to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees
on Government Reform and Oversight, House Oversight, and National
Security, 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 amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 with
respect to honoraria, 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 ‘‘Ethics in Government
Act Amendments of 1995’’.
SEC. 2. MODIFICATION OF PROHIBITION OF HONORARIA.
Section 501(b) of the Ethics in Government Act of
1978 is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘An individual’’ and inserting
‘‘(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), an indi-
vidual’’; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
‘‘(2)(A) Subject to subparagraph (B), paragraph (1)
shall not apply to an honorarium paid to an officer or em-
ployee for an appearance, a speech, or an article published
in a bona fide publication if—
‘‘(i) the purpose of the appearance, or the sub-
ject of the speech or article, does not relate pri-
marily to the responsibilities, policies, or programs
of the agency or office in which the individual is em-
ployed, and does not involve the use of Government
time, property or other resources of the Government,
or nonpublic Government information;
‘‘(ii) the reason for which the honorarium is
paid is unrelated to that individual’s official duties
or status as such officer or employee; and
‘‘(iii) the person offering the honorarium has no
interests that may be substantially affected by the
performance or nonperformance of that individual’s
official duties.
‘‘(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to an officer
or employee who is—
‘‘(i) a Member, or
‘‘(ii) a noncareer officer or employee employed
in a position for which the rate of basic pay, exclu-
sive of any locality-based pay adjustment under sec-
tion 5302 of title 5 (or any comparable adjustment
pursuant to interim authority of the President) is
equal to or greater than the rate of basic pay pay-
able for Level V of the Executive Schedule.
‘‘(C) A statement of the source, date, and amount
of any honorarium accepted by an individual under sub-
paragraph (A) shall be included in any report required by
such individual by section 101 or section 107 of this Act.
‘‘(D) The amount of any honorarium accepted under
subparagraph (A) shall not exceed the usual and cus-
tomary fee for the services for which the honorarium is
paid, up to a maximum of $2,000.’’.
SEC. 3. REGULATIONS.
Section 503 of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978
is amended—
(1) by inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’ before
‘‘This’’; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(b) PRIOR NOTIFICATION
OF ACCEPTANCE
OF
HONORARIA.—(1)(A) Rules and regulations issued under
subsection (a) shall include procedures under which indi-
viduals described in paragraph (2) shall notify the appro-
priate entity administering such rules and regulations be-
fore 
accepting 
honoraria 
permitted 
under 
section
501(b)(2)(A) that, in the aggregate, equal or exceed $200
in value from any one source in a calendar year. Such
rules and regulations may include provision for notifica-
tion after the acceptance of a noncash honorarium for an
appearance or speech if the offer of the honorarium is
made at the appearance or speech. Such rules and regula-
tions may also provide for the notification of the appro-
priate entity if an honorarium is not accepted.
‘‘(B) Each entity administering such rules and regu-
lations shall compile all notifications received under sub-
paragraph (A) during each calendar quarter. Such com-
pilations shall be made available to the public in the same
manner as reports are made available to the public under
section 105 of this Act.
‘‘(2) The individuals to whom paragraph (1) applies
are any noncareer officer or employee who occupies a posi-
tion classified above GS–15 of the General Schedule or,
in the case of positions not under the General Schedule,
for which the rate of basic pay is equal to or greater than
120 percent of the minimum rate of basic pay payable for
GS–15.
‘‘(3) Any person who fails to notify the appropriate
entity, pursuant to procedures established under para-
graph (1), before accepting honoraria—
‘‘(A) shall pay, for deposit in the general fund
of the Treasury, an amount equal to the value of the
honoraria involved; and
‘‘(B) shall be subject to appropriate disciplinary
and other remedial action in accordance with appli-
cable laws, Executive orders, and rules or regula-
tions.
The entity administering rules and regulations issued
under paragraph (1) may, in accordance with procedures
established in such rules and regulations, waive any pen-
alty 
under 
this 
paragraph 
in 
extraordinary 
cir-
cumstances.’’.
SEC. 4. DEFINITION OF HONORARIUM.
Section 505(3) of the Ethics in Government Act of
1978 is amended by striking ‘‘if the subject matter’’ and
all that follows through ‘‘Government’’.
SEC. 5. LIMITATION ON POSTEMPLOYMENT RESTRICTIONS.
(a) LIMITATION
ON POSTEMPLOYMENT RESTRIC-
TIONS.—Section 207(j) of title 18, United States Code,
is amended by adding at the end the following new para-
graph: