[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1639 Introduced in House (IH)]







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 jurisdiction 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 Representatives 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 individual''; 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 employee for an appearance, a 
speech, or an article published in a bona fide publication if--
            ``(i) the purpose of the appearance, or the subject of the 
        speech or article, does not relate primarily to the 
        responsibilities, policies, or programs of the agency or office 
        in which the individual is employed, 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, exclusive of any 
        locality-based pay adjustment under section 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 
        payable for Level V of the Executive Schedule.
    ``(C) A statement of the source, date, and amount of any honorarium 
accepted by an individual under subparagraph (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 customary 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 individuals described in paragraph (2) shall notify the 
appropriate entity administering such rules and regulations before 
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 
notification 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 regulations may also provide for 
the notification of the appropriate entity if an honorarium is not 
accepted.
    ``(B) Each entity administering such rules and regulations shall 
compile all notifications received under subparagraph (A) during each 
calendar quarter. Such compilations 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 position 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 paragraph (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 applicable laws, 
        Executive orders, and rules or regulations.
The entity administering rules and regulations issued under paragraph 
(1) may, in accordance with procedures established in such rules and 
regulations, waive any penalty under this paragraph in extraordinary 
circumstances.''.

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 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 
        contained in subsections (c), (d), and (e) shall not apply to a 
        communication or appearance made solely on behalf of a 
        candidate, 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;
                    ``(ii) any communication to, or appearance before, 
                an employee (as defined in section 2105 of title 5) of 
                an Executive agency (as defined in section 105 of title 
                5), unless the employee is--
                            ``(I) an employee of the Executive Office 
                        of the President;
                            ``(II) the head or assistant head of an 
                        Executive department or a military department 
                        (as such terms are defined in sections 101 and 
                        102 of title 5); or
                            ``(III) an employee appointed by the 
                        President, by and with the advice and consent 
                        of the Senate;
                    ``(iii) any communication or appearance referred to 
                in subparagraph (A) that is made by a person on any 
                matter in which that person also represents, as agent 
                or attorney or otherwise, anyone other than a person or 
                entity described in subparagraph (C); or
                    ``(iv) a communication or appearance that is made 
                by--
                            ``(I) a person who is subject to the 
                        restrictions of subsection (c) or (d) if the 
                        communication or appearance is made before an 
                        officer or employee of a department or agency, 
                        other than the Executive Office of the 
                        President, and if that person is also 
                        representing, aiding, or advising anyone else 
                        (other than the United States or a person or 
                        entity referred to in subparagraph (C)) in any 
                        matter pending before that department or 
                        agency;
                            ``(II) a person who is subject to the 
                        restrictions of subsection (e)(1)(A) and who is 
                        also representing, aiding, or advising anyone 
                        else (other than the United States or a person 
                        or entity referred to in subparagraph (C)) in 
                        any matter pending before either House of 
                        Congress or any legislative office of the 
                        Congress;
                            ``(III) a person who is subject to the 
                        restrictions of subsection (e)(2)(A) and who is 
                        also representing, aiding, or advising anyone 
                        else (other than the United States or a person 
                        or entity referred to in subparagraph (C)) in 
                        any matter pending before any person described 
                        in subsection (e)(2)(B);
                            ``(IV) a person who is subject to the 
                        restrictions of subsection (e)(3) and who is 
                        also representing, aiding, or advising anyone 
                        else (other than the United States or a person 
                        or entity referred to in subparagraph (C)) in 
                        any matter pending before the committee by 
                        which the former employee was employed;
                            ``(V) a person who is subject to the 
                        restrictions of subsection (e)(5)(A) and who is 
                        also representing, aiding, or advising anyone 
                        else (other than the United
                         States or a person or entity referred to in 
subparagraph (C)) in any matter pending before any person described in 
subsection (e)(5)(B).
            ``(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 
                political 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 
                organization which, by virtue of the bylaws of a 
                political party, 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 responsible 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.''.
    (b) Applicability.--A former officer or employee who is subject to 
the prohibitions contained in section 207(c) of title 18, United States 
Code, as in effect before January 1, 1991, shall, notwithstanding such 
prohibitions, be permitted to make communications and appearances 
solely on behalf of a candidate, in his or her capacity as candidate, 
an authorized committee, a national committee, a national Federal 
campaign committee, a State committee, or a political party, as though 
the provisions of section 207 of title 18, United States Code, in 
effect on or after January 1, 1991, as amended by this section, were 
applicable to such former officer or employee.
SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    (a) In General.--Subject to subsection (b), the amendments made by 
this Act shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.
    (b) Section 2.--The amendments made by section 2 shall be effective 
as of January 1, 1991.
                                 <all>