Me Too Congressional Ethics Act

Bill: 115-hr-4705
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Wasserman Schultz, Debbie [D-FL-23]
Introduced: 2017-12-20
Policy area: Congress
Subjects: Administrative remedies

Civil actions and liability

Congressional officers and employees

Congressional operations and organization

Employment discrimination and employee rights

Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management

Government ethics and transparency, public corruption

Government studies and investigations

House Committee on Ethics

Senate Select Committee on Ethics
Latest action: action_date: 2017-12-20
text: Referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on Rules, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

Summaries:
action_date: 2017-12-20
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p><b>Me Too Congressional Ethics Act</b></p> <p>This bill amends the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 (CAA) to: (1) require the automatic referral to the congressional ethics committees of the final disposition of any allegation that an employing office of the House of Representatives or Senate violated certain CAA rights and protections, and (2) allow the employee alleging such violation to request a waiver of the referral or requirements to provide the congressional ethics committees with access to records and information regarding the allegation. </p>

tv_txt: I 115th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 4705 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES December 20, 2017 Ms. Wasserman Schultz (for herself and Ms. Frankel of Florida ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration , and in addition to the Committee on Rules , for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 to require the automatic referral to the congressional ethics committees of the disposition of any allegation that an employing office of the House of Representatives or Senate violated part A of title II of such Act.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Me Too Congressional Ethics Act . 2. Automatic referral to congressional ethics committees of disposition of allegations of violations of Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 involving congressional offices (a) Automatic referral Section 416(e) of the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 ( 2 U.S.C. 1416(d) ) is amended to read as follows: (e) Automatic referrals to Congressional Ethics Committees of dispositions of allegations involving employing offices of House or Senate (1) Referral Upon the final disposition under this title of an allegation that an employing office of the House of Representatives or an employing office of the Senate has committed a violation of part A of title II, the Executive Director shall refer the allegation to— (A) the Committee on Ethics of the House of Representatives, in the case of an employing office of the House; or (B) the Select Committee on Ethics of the Senate, in the case of an employing office of the Senate. (2) Access to records and information If the Executive Director refers an allegation to a Committee under paragraph (1), the Executive Director shall provide the Committee with access to the records of any hearings or decisions of the hearing officers and the Board under this title, and any information relating to an award or settlement paid, in response to such allegation. (3) Permitting covered employee to waive referral At the request of the covered employee filing an allegation described in paragraph (1), the Executive Director shall waive paragraph (1) or paragraph (2) with respect to the allegation or the records and information in response to the allegation. (4) Final disposition described In this subsection, the final disposition of an allegation means any of the following: (A) The payment of an award or settlement. (B) A final decision of a hearing officer under section 405(g). (C) A final decision of the Board under section 406(e). (D) A final decision in a civil action under section 408. . (b) Actions by congressional ethics committees (1) Mandatory initiation of investigation If the Executive Director of the Board of Compliance refers an allegation to the Committee on Ethics of the House of Representatives or the Select Committee on Ethics of the Senate under section 415(d) of the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 (as amended by subsection (a)), such Committee shall promptly initiate an investigation into the allegation and take such actions in response to the investigation as may be appropriate. (2) Protection of identity of individuals making allegations If a Committee to which an allegation is referred under paragraph (1) issues a report with respect to the allegation, the Committee shall ensure that the report does not disclose the identity of the individual who made the allegation. (c) Effective date This section and the amendments made by this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.