[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 79 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 79

   Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to discourage 
                      frivolous ethics complaints.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 26, 1997

  Mr. Burton of Indiana submitted the following resolution; which was 
                   referred to the Committee on Rules

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
   Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to discourage 
                      frivolous ethics complaints.

    Resolved,

SECTION 1. FRIVOLOUS ETHICS COMPLAINTS.

    (a) Clause 4(e)(2) of rule X is amended by adding at the end the 
following:
    ``(G)(i) At any time, the committee may, by an affirmative vote of 
a majority of its total membership, determine that a complaint filed 
against a member is frivolous and baseless.
    ``(ii) The committee may make such a determination if it deems that 
the complaint filed against a member has no basis in fact, the alleged 
violation is of such a minor and technical nature that it does not 
reflect discredit upon the House or its Members, the complaint was 
filed for purely partisan reasons and not out of concern for 
maintaining the ethical standards of the House, or the complaint is 
part of a pattern of abuse and misuse of the Committee on Standards of 
Official Conduct.
    ``(iii) In the case of any complaint deemed frivolous and baseless, 
the committee shall determine the costs of its inquiry and report such 
costs to the Committee on House Oversight, the Clerk of the House, and 
the public.
    ``(iv) If a complaint deemed frivolous and baseless by the 
committee is filed by a Member of Congress, that member's `Member's 
Representational Account' (MRA), shall be charged for the costs of the 
committee's inquiry. If such complaint is filed by more than one 
member, each member's MRA shall be charged proportionately.
    ``(v) At its discretion, and by a vote of a majority of its total 
membership, the committee may rule that a member or members who have 
filed a frivolous and baseless complaint may repay the costs of the 
inquiry over a period of greater than 1 year.
    ``(vi) Alternatively, the committee may, by an affirmative vote of 
a majority of its total membership, recommend to the House that the 
Member or Members responsible for filing a frivolous and baseless 
complaint be fined an appropriate amount.''.
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