[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3718 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3718

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require 
the Secretary of Education to address conflicts of interest associated 
 with use of advisory committees and technical assistance providers in 
                    the administration of such Act.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 2, 2007

Mr. Altmire (for himself, Mr. George Miller of California, Mr. Yarmuth, 
Mr. Holt, and Mr. Van Hollen) introduced the following bill; which was 
            referred to the Committee on Education and Labor

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require 
the Secretary of Education to address conflicts of interest associated 
 with use of advisory committees and technical assistance providers in 
                    the administration of such Act.

    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 ``Educational Advisor and Contractor 
Integrity Act''.

SEC. 2. PREVENTING CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.

    Subpart 2 of part E of title IX of the Elementary and Secondary 
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7901 et seq.) is amended by adding at 
the end the following:

``SEC. 9537. PREVENTING CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.

    ``(a) Service on Advisory Committees.--
            ``(1) Screening process for advisory committee 
        candidates.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretary shall establish a 
                screening process to address conflicts of interest on 
                the part of an individual who is being considered for 
                service on an advisory committee established or used by 
                the Secretary in the administration of this Act or any 
                part of this Act.
                    ``(B) Factors.--In addition to the disclosure 
                requirements of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 
                U.S.C. App. 38), the screening process shall consider 
                whether an individual has--
                            ``(i) a past (withing the preceding 3 
                        years) or present professional affiliation with 
                        an organization that promotes a pedagogical 
                        approach that is linked to specific products or 
                        services;
                            ``(ii) a past (within the preceding 3 
                        years) or present involvement with a State 
                        educational agency or a local educational 
                        agency that may receive funds under this Act; 
                        or
                            ``(iii) a past (within the preceding 3 
                        years) or present direct or an indirect 
                        financial interest in a product or service that 
                        may, in fact or appearance, compromise the 
                        integrity of the advice or recommendations of 
                        the individual.
                    ``(C) Waivers.--
                            ``(i) In general.--Where an individual 
                        being considered for service on an advisory 
                        committee described in paragraph (1) has a 
                        conflict of interest, the Secretary may, in 
                        consultation with the Office of General 
                        Counsel, grant an exemption pursuant to section 
                        208(b)(3) of title 18, United States Code, if, 
                        considering the additional requirements of this 
                        subsection--
                                    ``(I) the Secretary can demonstrate 
                                that the conflict does not compromise 
                                the integrity, in fact or in 
                                appearance, of the efforts of the 
                                advisory committee;
                                    ``(II) the conflict can be 
                                sufficiently mitigated; and
                                    ``(III) the Secretary can 
                                demonstrate that reasonable efforts 
                                were made to identify alternate 
                                individuals not having a conflict.
                            ``(ii) Reporting.--The Secretary shall 
                        provide to the Congress an annual report 
                        containing information on any exemption granted 
                        under clause (i) to an advisory committee 
                        member, which shall include--
                                    ``(I) the identity of each exempted 
                                individual;
                                    ``(II) a detailed description of 
                                the conflict of interest;
                                    ``(III) a detailed description of 
                                the efforts made to identify alternate 
                                individuals; and
                                    ``(IV) a detailed description of 
                                the conflict mitigation efforts.
            ``(2) Advisory committee members.--
                    ``(A) Policies and procedures.--The Secretary shall 
                work with the Office of Government Ethics pursuant to 
                the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App. 38) 
                to develop policies and procedures to address conflicts 
                of interest on the part of an individual who is serving 
                on an advisory committee described in paragraph (1), 
                including, at a minimum, the adoption of an alternative 
                confidential financial disclosure form for such 
                individual.
                    ``(B) Special government employees.--An individual 
                who is serving on an advisory committee described in 
                paragraph (1) shall be considered a special Government 
                employee, as defined in section 202(a) of title 18, 
                United States Code, for purposes of chapter 11 of part 
                I of such title.
            ``(3) Secretariat.--Prior to the convening of any group of 
        individuals who will serve in a capacity to render advice or 
        recommendations to the Secretary, the Secretary shall consult 
        with the Committee Management Secretariat within the General 
        Services Administration to obtain advice as to the 
        applicability of Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App. 
        1).
            ``(4) Definition.--For purposes of this subsection, the 
        term `advisory committee' has the meaning given such term in 
        section 3(2) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. 
        App. 1).
    ``(b) Technical Assistance.--
            ``(1) Screening process for technical assistance provider 
        candidates.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretary shall establish a 
                screening process to address conflicts of interest on 
                the part of individuals who, and entities that, are 
                being considered for service as a technical assistance 
                provider in the administration of this Act or any part 
                of this Act.
                    ``(B) Elements.--The screening process shall 
                consider, among other factors, whether an individual or 
                entity has--
                            ``(i) a past (withing the preceding 3 
                        years) or present professional affiliation with 
                        an organization that promotes a pedagogical 
                        approach that is linked to specific products or 
                        services;
                            ``(ii) a past (within the preceding 3 
                        years) or present involvement with a State 
                        educational agency or a local educational 
                        agency that may receive funds under this Act; 
                        or
                            ``(iii) a past (within the preceding 3 
                        years) or present direct or an indirect 
                        financial interest in a product or service that 
                        may, in fact or in appearance, compromise the 
                        integrity of the technical assistance being 
                        provided.
            ``(2) Requirements for contracting.--
                    ``(A) Prior to award.--The Secretary shall require 
                that, prior to awarding a technical assistance 
                contract, potential technical assistance providers--
                            ``(i) provide documentary evidence that the 
                        technical assistance provider will adopt and 
                        effectively implement policies and procedures 
                        to address conflicts of interest; and
                            ``(ii) disclose any conflicts of interest.
                    ``(B) Contract terms.--All technical assistance 
                contracts shall require the technical assistance 
                provider--
                            ``(i) to implement fully the conflicts of 
                        interest policies and procedures provided to 
                        the Secretary prior to awarding of the 
                        contract;
                            ``(ii) to ensure that any subcontracted 
                        individuals or entities, at any tier, adopt and 
                        implement the same policies and procedures as 
                        the primary technical assistance provider; and
                            ``(iii) to report to the Secretary any 
                        previously unidentified conflicts and the 
                        measures taken to avoid or mitigate such 
                        conflicts not later than 10 days after becoming 
                        aware of such a conflict.
            ``(3) Monitoring.--The Secretary shall develop and 
        implement a process to continually monitor whether technical 
        assistance providers are appropriately implementing their 
        conflict of interest policies and procedures.
            ``(4) Definition.--For the purposes of this subsection, the 
        term `technical assistance provider' means any entity or 
        individual providing technical assistance in the administration 
        of this Act, or any part of this Act, directly or indirectly, 
        to the Secretary, or on behalf of the Secretary, including--
                    ``(A) a contractor; and
                    ``(B) a contractor's subsidiaries, subcontractors, 
                employees, and other agents and affiliates.
    ``(c) Deadline.--The Secretary shall carry out the duties described 
in this section not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment 
of this section.''.
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