[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1754 Introduced in House (IH)]

110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1754

   To establish the House Ethics Commission, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 29, 2007

Mr. Hill (for himself, Mr. Patrick J. Murphy of Pennsylvania, Mr. Moore 
    of Kansas, Mr. Mahoney of Florida, Mr. McNerney, Mr. Cohen, Mr. 
Visclosky, Mr. Ellsworth, Ms. Castor, Mr. Braley of Iowa, and Mr. Walz 
of Minnesota) 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 establish the House Ethics Commission, 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 ``House Ethics Commission 
Establishment Act of 2007''.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF HOUSE ETHICS COMMISSION.

    (a) Establishment.--There is established an independent ethics 
commission within the legislative branch of the Government to be known 
as the House Ethics Commission (in this Act referred to as the 
``Commission'').
    (b) Membership and Terms of Office.--(1) The Commission shall 
consist of 12 individuals. Six former Democratic Members shall be 
appointed by the Republican leader and 6 former Republican Members by 
the Democratic leader of the House of Representatives. Except as 
provided by paragraph (2), the terms of all members of the Commission 
shall be 2 years and no member may serve for more than 6 years.
    (2) Of the members first appointed--
            (A) 2 appointed by each leader shall be for a term of 2 
        years;
            (B) 2 appointed by each leader shall be for a term of 4 
        years; and
            (C) 2 appointed by each leader shall be for a term of 6 
        years;
as designated by each such leader at the time of appointment.
    (c) Chairman and Vice Chairman.--The chairman and the vice chairman 
of the Commission shall be selected by the members of the Commission at 
its first meeting. No member may serve for more than one 2-year term as 
chairman and no member may serve for more than one 2-year term as vice 
chairman.
    (d) Qualifications.--Only former Members of the House of 
Representatives shall be eligible for appointment to the Commission.
            (1) Disqualifications for appointments.--
                    (A) Lobbying.--No individual who has been a 
                lobbyist registered under the Lobbying Disclosure Act 
                of 1995 or engages in, or is otherwise employed in, 
                lobbying of the Congress or who is an agent of a 
                foreign principal registered under the Foreign Agents 
                Registration Act within the 4-year period immediately 
                preceding appointment shall be eligible for appointment 
                to, or service on, the Commission.
                    (B) Incompatible office.--No member of the 
                Commission appointed under subsection (b) may be an 
                elected public official or an officer or employee of 
                the Government.
            (2) Vacancies.--A vacancy on the Commission shall be filled 
        in the manner in which the original appointment was made.
    (e) Compensation.--Members shall each be entitled to receive the 
daily equivalent of the maximum annual rate of basic pay in effect for 
Level III of the Executive Schedule for each day (including travel 
time) during which they are engaged in the actual performance of duties 
vested in the Commission.
    (f) Quorum.--A majority of the members of the Commission shall 
constitute a quorum.
    (g) Meetings.--The Commission shall meet at the call of the 
chairman or a majority of its members.

SEC. 3. DUTIES OF COMMISSION.

    The Commission is authorized--
            (1) to investigate any alleged violation, by a Member, 
        officer, or employee of the House of Representatives, of any 
        law, rule, regulation, or other standard of conduct applicable 
        to the conduct of such Member, officer, or employee in the 
        performance of his duties or the discharge of his 
        responsibilities, and after notice and hearing (unless the 
        right to a hearing is waived by the Member, officer, or 
        employee), shall report to the House of Representatives its 
        findings of fact and recommendations, if any, upon the final 
        disposition of any such investigation, and such action as the 
        Commission may deem appropriate in the circumstances;
            (2) to issue any letter of reproval or admonishment with 
        respect to such an alleged violation;
            (3) to report to the appropriate Federal or State 
        authorities any substantial evidence of a violation, by a 
        Member, officer, or employee of the House of Representatives, 
        of any law applicable to the performance of his duties or the 
        discharge of his responsibilities, which may have been 
        disclosed in a Commission investigation; and
            (4) to adopt rules governing its procedures to provide 
        protections to respondents comparable to those that were 
        provided by clause 3 of rule XI of the Rules of the House of 
        Representatives in effect immediately before the amendments to 
        such rule made by section 8.

SEC. 4. POWERS OF COMMISSION.

    (a) Hearings and Evidence.--The Commission or, on the authority of 
the Commission, the chairman or vice chairman, may, for the purpose of 
carrying out this Act--
            (1) hold such hearings and sit and act at such times and 
        places, take such testimony, receive such evidence, administer 
        such oaths; and
            (2) subject to subsection (b), require, by subpoena or 
        otherwise, the attendance and testimony of such witnesses and 
        the production of such books, records, correspondence, 
        memoranda, papers, and documents, as the Commission or the 
        chairman or vice chairman may determine advisable.
    (b) Subpoenas.--
            (1) In general.--A subpoena may be issued only under the 
        signature of the chairman or the vice chairman, and may be 
        served by any person designated by the chairman or the vice 
        chairman.
    (c) Obtaining Information.--Upon request of the Commission, the 
head of any agency or instrumentality of the Government shall furnish 
information deemed necessary by the panel to enable it to carry out its 
duties.

SEC. 5. PROCEDURAL RULES.

    (a) Majority Approval.--No report or recommendation relating to the 
official conduct of a Member, officer, or employee of the House of 
Representatives shall be made by the Commission, and no investigation 
of such conduct shall be undertaken by the Commission, unless approved 
by the affirmative vote of a majority of the members of the Commission.
    (b) Investigations.--Except in the case of an investigation 
undertaken by the Commission on its own initiative, the Commission may 
undertake an investigation relating to the official conduct of an 
individual Member, officer, or employee of the House of Representatives 
only--
            (1) upon receipt of a complaint, in writing and under oath, 
        made by or submitted to a Member of the House of 
        Representatives and transmitted to the Commission by such 
        Member, or
            (2) upon receipt of a complaint from the chairman of the 
        Committee on Standards of Official Conduct of the House of 
        Representatives, in writing and under oath, made by that 
        committee.
    (c) Prohibition of Certain Investigations.--No investigation shall 
be undertaken by the Commission of any alleged violation of a law, 
rule, regulation, or standard of conduct not in effect at the time of 
the alleged violation.
    (d) Disclosure.--No information or testimony received, or the 
contents of a complaint or the fact of its filing, shall be publicly 
disclosed by any member of the Commission or staff of the Commission 
unless specifically authorized in each instance by a vote of the 
Commission.

SEC. 6. STAFF OF COMMISSION.

    The Commission may appoint and fix the compensation of such staff 
as the Commission considers necessary to perform its duties. The 
director shall be appointed jointly by the Speaker and minority leader 
and shall be paid at a rate not to exceed the rate of basic pay payable 
for Level III of the Executive Schedule.

SEC. 7. ACTION ON COMMISSION RECOMMENDATIONS.

    (a) Printing of Reports in Congressional Record.--Upon receipt by 
the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct of the House of 
Representatives of any report of the Commission, the Speaker of the 
House of Representatives shall have the report printed in the 
Congressional Record.
    (b) House Consideration of Independent Ethics Commission 
Recommendations.--Within 14 calendar days after a report referred to in 
subsection (a) is printed in the Congressional Record, that portion of 
the report recommending action by the House of Representatives 
respecting any alleged violation, by a Member, officer, or employee of 
the House of Representatives, of any law, rule, regulation, or other 
standard of conduct applicable to the conduct of such Member, officer, 
or employee in the performance of his duties or the discharge of his 
responsibilities shall be introduced (by request) in the House by the 
Speaker of the House, for himself and the minority leader of the House 
in the form of a resolution. This resolution shall constitute a 
question of privilege under rule IX of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives. Any Member favoring the resolution may call it up as a 
question of privilege but only on the third day after the calendar date 
upon which such Member announces to the House his intention to do so.

SEC. 8. AMENDMENTS TO THE RULES OF THE HOUSE TO CHANGE THE DUTIES OF 
              THE COMMITTEE ON STANDARDS OF OFFICIAL CONDUCT.

    (a) House Rules Amendments.--Clause 3 of rule XI of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives is amended as follows:
            (1) In paragraph (a), strike subparagraphs (1), (2), and 
        (3), and redesignate subparagraphs (4), (5), and (6), as 
        subparagraphs (1), (2), and (3), respectively.
            (2)(A) Paragraph (b)(1) is amended by striking ``(A)'', by 
        striking ``a resolution, report, recommendation, or'' and 
        inserting ``an'', and by striking ``, or, except as provided in 
        subparagraph (2), undertake an investigation'', and by striking 
        subdivision (B).
            (B) Paragraph (b) is further amended by striking 
        subparagraphs (2), (3), (4), and (5) and by redesignating 
        subparagraphs (6) and (7) as subparagraphs (2) and (3), 
        respectively.
            (3) Strike paragraphs (j) (k), (l), (m), (n), (o), (p), and 
        (q).
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--Section 803 of the Ethics Reform Act of 
1989 (2 U.S.C. 29d) is amended by striking subsections (c) and (d).

SEC. 9. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    This Act shall take effect upon the date of its enactment, except 
that sections 3, 4, and 8 shall not take effect until the later of 6 
months after such date of enactment or immediately prior to noon 
January 3, 2009.
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