Short title

This Act may be cited as the

Independent Ethics Commission Act of 2007

Establishment of Independent Ethics Commission

(a)

Establishment

There is established an independent ethics commission within the House of Representatives to be known as the Independent Ethics Committee (in this Act referred to as the Commission). (b)

Membership and terms of office

(1)The Commission shall consist of 9 commissioners, 4 appointed by the Speaker and 4 by the minority leader of the House, and one selected by the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the 8 appointed commissioners for a term of 5 years. No commissioner may serve for more than 5 years. (2)Commissioners shall be appointed for terms of 5 years, except that of the commissioners first appointed, 2 appointed by the Speaker and 2 by the minority leader shall be for 3-year terms and 2 appointed by the Speaker and 2 by the minority leader shall be for 4-year terms as designated by the Speaker and the minority leader at the time of appointment. (c)

Qualifications

Only former Federal judges 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 a Member of the House of Representatives or Senator. (2)

Vacancies

A vacancy on the Commission shall be filled in the manner in which the original appointment was made. (d)

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. (e)

Quorum

A majority of the members of the Commission shall constitute a quorum. (f)

Meetings

The Commission shall meet at the call a majority of its members.

Duties of Commission

(a)

Duties

The Commission is authorized— (1)to receive, monitor, and oversee financial disclosure and other reports filed by Members of the House and officers and employees of the House under the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, and reports filed by registered lobbyists under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995; (2)to investigate any alleged violation, by a Member, officer, or employee of the House of Representatives, of any rule or other standard of conduct applicable to the conduct of such Member, officer, or employee under House rules in the performance of his duties or the discharge of his responsibilities; (3)to present a case of probable ethics violations to the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct of the House of Representatives; (4)to make recommendations to the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct of the House of Representatives that it 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 an investigation by the Office; (5)to provide information and informal guidance to Members, officers and employees of the House of Representatives regarding any rules and other standards of conduct applicable to such individuals in their official capacities, and develop and carry out periodic educational briefings for Members, officers, and employees of the House of Representatives on those laws, rules, regulations, or other standards; and (6)to give consideration to the request of any Member, officer, or employee of the House of Representatives for a formal advisory opinion or other formal ruling, subject to the review of the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct of the House of Representatives, as applicable, with respect to the general propriety of any current or proposed conduct of such Member, officer, or employee and, with appropriate deletions to assure the privacy of the individual concerned, to publish such opinion for the guidance of other Members, officers, and employees of the House of Representatives.

Powers of Commission

(a)

Hearings and evidence

The Commission 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 may determine advisable. (b)

Subpoenas

A subpoena may be issued only with a majority of the Commission. (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 Commission to enable it to carry out its duties. (d)

Referrals to the department of justice

Whenever the Commission has reason to believe that a violation of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 may have occurred, that matter may be referred to the Department of Justice for it to investigate. (e)

General audits

The Commission shall have the authority to conduct general audits of filings under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995.

Investigations and interaction with the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct

(a)

Notification

Whenever the Commission determines that there are sufficient grounds to conduct an investigation— (1)the Commission shall notify the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct of this determination; (2)the applicable committee may overrule the determination of the Commission if, within 10 legislative days— (A)the committee by an affirmative, roll-call vote of two-thirds of the full committee votes to overrule the determination of the Commission; (B)the committee issues a public report detailing its reasoning for overruling the Commission; (C)the vote of each member of the committee on such roll-call vote is included in the report; (D)dissenting members are allowed to issue their own report detailing their reasons for disagreeing with the majority vote; and (E)if the committee votes to overrule the determination of the Commission pursuant to subparagraph (B), the Commission may publish and make available to the general public a report detailing the reasons that the Commission concluded there were sufficient grounds to conduct an investigation. (b)

Conducting investigations

(1)If the Commission determines that there are sufficient grounds to conduct an investigation and his determination is not overruled under subsection (a)(5), the Commission shall conduct an investigation to determine if probable cause exists that a violation occurred. (2)As part of an investigation, the Commission may— (A)administer oaths; (B)issue subpoenas; (C)compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of papers, books, accounts, documents, and testimony; and (D)take the deposition of witnesses. (3)If a person disobeys or refuses to comply with a subpoena, or if a witness refuses to testify to a matter, he may be held in contempt of Congress. (c)

Presentation of case to house committee on standards of official conduct

(1)If the Commission determines, upon conclusion of an investigation, that probable cause exists that an ethics violation has occurred, the Commission shall notify the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct of the House of Representatives of this determination. (2)The committee may overrule the determination of the Commission if, within 10 legislative days— (A)the committee by an affirmative, roll-call vote of two-thirds of the full committee votes to overrule the determination of the Commission; (B)the committee issues a public report detailing its reasoning for overruling the Commission; (C)the vote of each member of the committee on such roll-call vote is included in the report; and (D)dissenting members are allowed to issue their own report detailing their reasons for disagreeing with the majority vote. (3)If the committee votes to overrule the determination of the Commission pursuant to paragraph (2), the Commission may publish and make available to the general public a report detailing the reasons that he concluded there were sufficient grounds to present such case to the committee. (4)(A)If the Commission determines there is probable cause that an ethics violation has occurred and the Commission’s determination is not overruled, the Commission shall present the case and evidence to the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct of the House of Representatives to hear and make a determination pursuant to its rules. (B)The committee shall vote upon whether the individual who is the subject of the investigation has violated any rules or other standards of conduct applicable to that individual in his official capacity. Such votes shall be a roll-call vote of the full committee, a quorum being present. The committee shall issue a public report which shall include the vote of each member of the committee on such roll-call vote. Dissenting members may issue their own report detailing their own reasons for disagreeing with the majority vote. (d)

Sanctions

Whenever the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct of the House of Representatives finds that an ethics violation has occurred the Commission shall recommend appropriate sanctions to the committee and whether a matter should be referred to the Department of Justice for investigation.

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.

Staff of Commission

The Commission may appoint and fix the compensation of such staff as the Commission considers necessary to perform its duties. The Commission 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.

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).

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.

10.

Effective date

This Act shall take effect upon the date of its enactment, except that sections 3, 4, and 8 shall not take effect immediately prior to noon January 3, 2009.