[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 331 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 331

   Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to provide for 
mandatory drug testing of Members, officers, and employees of the House 
                          of Representatives.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 14, 1999

 Mr. Barton of Texas (for himself, Mr. Weldon of Florida, Mr. Stearns, 
   Mrs. Myrick, Mr. Coburn, Mr. Mica, Mr. Burton of Indiana, and Mr. 
Peterson of Pennsylvania) submitted the following resolution; which was 
                   referred to the Committee on Rules

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
   Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to provide for 
mandatory drug testing of Members, officers, and employees of the House 
                          of Representatives.

    Resolved, 

SECTION 1. MANDATORY DRUG TESTING OF MEMBERS, OFFICERS, AND EMPLOYEES 
              OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

    (a) In General.--The Rules of the House of Representatives are 
amended by adding at the end the following new Rule:

                              ``RULE XXIX.

                            ``drug testing.

    ``1. Each Member, officer, and employee of the House of 
Representatives shall participate in accordance with this rule in a 
program for testing for illegal use of controlled substances, and 
participation in the program shall be considered a condition of new and 
continuing employment for officers and employees of the House of 
Representatives.
    ``2. Not later than 3 months after the date on which the resolution 
enacting this rule is agreed to, the Clerk of the House of 
Representatives shall contract with a private, nongovernmental entity 
to carry out the drug testing program under this rule.
    ``3. The drug testing program under this rule shall include the 
following features:
            ``(a) The program shall be mandatory for each Member, 
        officer, and employee of the House of Representatives.
            ``(b) Except as otherwise provided in this rule, the 
        program shall be conducted in accordance with the Mandatory 
        Guidelines for Federal Workplace Drug Testing Programs, as 
        prescribed pursuant to section 503 of the Supplemental 
        Appropriations Act, 1987 (5 U.S.C. 7301 note).
            ``(c) Members, officers, and employees of the House of 
        Representatives shall be assigned to a pool, with one pool 
        consisting of all Members and a second pool consisting of all 
        officers and employees. All individuals in a pool shall be 
        subject to random drug testing on a neutral selection basis, in 
        an appropriate testing frequency and ratio (as described in 
        clause 9).
            ``(d) In addition to any methods prescribed under the 
        Guidelines referred to in paragraph (b), the program shall 
        provide for testing using urinalysis, hair testing, and other 
        appropriate methods of testing for illegal use of controlled 
        substances.
            ``(e) Each confirmed positive result (as described in 
        clause 9) under the program shall be provided as follows:
                    ``(1) To the Member, officer, or employee involved.
                    ``(2) In the case of a Member, to the Committee on 
                Standards of Official Conduct, which shall take such 
                action as may be necessary under the Rules of the House 
                of Representatives.
                    ``(3) In the case of an employee of a Member, to 
                the Member involved.
                    ``(4) In the case of an employee of a committee, to 
                the Chair and ranking minority member of the committee 
                involved.
                    ``(5) In the case of an officer or employee not 
                described in subparagraph (3) or (4), to the Speaker, 
                Majority Leader, Majority Whip, Minority Leader, and 
                Minority Whip.
            ``(f) The final results of each test of Members shall be 
        included in a biennial report of the Clerk of the House of 
        Representatives and printed as a House document in October of 
        each even-numbered year.
    ``4. (a) At the request of the supervising Member of an officer or 
employee of the House of Representatives, such officer or employee of 
the House shall be subject to a drug test under any of the following 
conditions:
            ``(1) Evidence exists that supports a reasonable suspicion 
        that the officer or employee may be engaging in or has engaged 
        in the illegal use of controlled substances, or is otherwise in 
        violation of a policy of the supervising Member regarding the 
        illegal use of controlled substances.
            ``(2) The officer or employee is participating in or has 
        participated in a substance abuse treatment program under an 
        employee assistance program, or is otherwise receiving 
        treatment or counseling for substance abuse.
            ``(3) The officer or employee has been involved in an 
        incident which may have involved human error and which caused 
        or may have caused a fatality, an injury, or significant 
        property damage in an estimated amount of not less than $200.
            ``(4) The supervising Member proposes to promote the 
        officer or employee.
            ``(5) The officer or employee is returning to employment 
        with the House of Representatives after a period of absence of 
        not less than 6 months.
    ``(b) In paragraph (a), the term `supervising Member' means--
            ``(1) in the case of an employee of a Member, the Member 
        involved;
            ``(2) in the case of an employee of a committee, the chair 
        of the committee involved (or, in the case of an employee 
        designated as a member of the committee minority staff, the 
        ranking minority member of the committee involved); and
            ``(3) in the case of an officer or employee not described 
        in subparagraph (1) or (2), the Speaker of the House of 
        Representatives.
    ``5. The Committee on Standards of Official Conduct shall publicly 
disclose the identity of any Member of the House of Representatives who 
refuses to provide a sample for testing under the program, and shall 
take such other action as it considers appropriate against such a 
Member.
    ``6. (a) No individual who is an officer or employee of the House 
of Representatives as of November 1, 1999, may continue serving as an 
officer or employee of the House after the expiration of the 180-day 
period which begins on the date of the adoption of this resolution 
unless during such period the individual executes a witnessed statement 
agreeing to participate in random employee drug testing pursuant to 
this rule.
    ``(b) No individual who is first given an offer of employment by 
the House of Representatives on or after November 1, 1999, may be hired 
as an officer or employee of the House unless--
            ``(1) the individual executes a witnessed statement 
        agreeing to participate in random employee drug testing 
        pursuant to this rule if hired;
            ``(2) the individual provides a sample for drug testing 
        pursuant to this rule; and
            ``(3) the individual's sample does not produce a confirmed 
        positive result.
    ``7. The Committee on House Administration shall issue such 
regulations as may be necessary to fully implement the purposes of this 
rule.
    ``8. No officer or employee may carry out any duties with respect 
to the fields of national defense, foreign policy, intelligence, law 
enforcement, or any other field involving national security or public 
safety (as determined in accordance with regulations issued by the 
Committee on House Administration) unless the officer or employee 
participates in the drug testing program established pursuant to this 
rule.
    ``9. In this rule, the following definitions shall apply:
            ``(a) The term `appropriate testing frequency and ratio' 
        means a frequency and ratio of random drug tests such that--
                    ``(1) the total number of random drug tests 
                administered in any calendar year with respect to each 
                pool described in clause 3(c) shall be equal to 25 
                percent of the number of individuals in the pool;
                    ``(2) random drug tests shall be conducted on not 
                less than 4 and not more than 6 occasions during any 
                calendar year; and
                    ``(3) any individual who is selected for a random 
                drug test during a calendar year shall be placed in a 
                pool for further random drug testing with a selection 
                frequency rate of 50 percent of the rate applicable to 
                individuals who have not been selected for a test 
                during the year and shall remain in this pool for the 
                remainder of the calendar year without regard of the 
                number of times that such an individual is selected for 
                a test during the calendar year.
            ``(b) The term `confirmed positive result' means a drug 
        screen--
                    ``(1) which has initially tested as positive for 
                the presence of an illegal controlled substance;
                    ``(2) for which the initially positive test has 
                been confirmed by a second test using a different 
                chemical process than the process used for the initial 
                test; and
                    ``(3) which has been reviewed and certified as 
                positive by a medical review officer with whom the 
                House of Representatives has entered into a contract to 
                perform such reviews,
        except that such term shall not include a drug screen which 
        shows the presence of only a legal over-the-counter drug or 
        drug which has been legally prescribed for the individual 
        involved.
            ``(c) The term `controlled substance' has the meaning given 
        that term in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 
        U.S.C. 802).
            ``(d) A `Member' of the House of Representatives includes a 
        Delegate or Resident Commissioner to the Congress.
            ``(e) The term `neutral selection basis' means a method 
        under which individuals are selected for random drug testing 
        through a neutral, computer-based random number generation 
        program that ensures that every individual in a pool described 
        in clause 3(c) has the same chance of being selected for an 
        initial random drug test as every other individual in that 
        pool.
            ``(f) The term `random drug test' means a test conducted 
        for the purpose of detecting the illegal use of a controlled 
        substance which is conducted on a periodic basis, without 
        advance notice, and without individualized suspicion.''.
    (b) Participation in Program as Condition of Access to House 
Chamber.--Rule IV of the Rules of the House of Representatives is 
amended by adding at the end the following new clause:
    ``8. No officer or employee of the House of Representatives may be 
entitled to admission to the Hall of the House or rooms leading thereto 
during a session of Congress unless such individual participates in the 
program established pursuant to rule XXIX for testing for the illegal 
use of controlled substances.''.
    (c) Conforming Amendment.--Rule I of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives is amended by striking clause 13.
    (d) Severability of Provisions.--If any provision of rule XXIX of 
the Rules of the House of Representatives (as added by subsection (a)) 
or clause 8 of rule IV of the Rules of the House of Representatives (as 
added by subsection (b)), or the application of such a provision to any 
person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder 
of rule XXIX or clause 6 of rule IV (as the case may be), and the 
application of the provision to any person or circumstance, shall not 
be affected by the holding, and the balance of such rules shall remain 
in full force and effect.
                                 <all>