[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1003 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1003

Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to provide increased 
   accountability and transparency in the Committee on Standards of 
                           Official Conduct.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 27, 2008

 Mr. Smith of Texas (for himself, Mr. Boehner, Mr. Blunt, Mr. Putnam, 
   Mr. McCotter, Ms. Granger, Mr. Carter, Mr. Cole of Oklahoma, Mr. 
 Dreier, Mr. Cantor, Mr. Camp of Michigan, Mr. Hobson, and Mr. Tiahrt) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                                on Rules

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to provide increased 
   accountability and transparency in the Committee on Standards of 
                           Official Conduct.

    Resolved,

SECTION 1. MEMBERSHIP OF THE COMMITTEE ON STANDARDS OF OFFICIAL 
              CONDUCT.

    (a) In General.--Clause 5(a)(3)(A) of rule X of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives is amended to read as follows:
    ``(A) The Committee on Standards of Official Conduct shall be 
composed of ten members appointed jointly by the Speaker and the 
minority leader, three from the majority party and three from the 
minority party and four former Members who have not been registered 
lobbyists for a period of at least two years. The four former Members 
shall possess in such committee the same powers and privileges as the 
other members of the committee, except that only a current Member may 
serve as chairman.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
apply with respect to the One Hundred Eleventh Congress and each 
succeeding Congress.

SEC. 2. ROTATING CHAIRMANSHIP OF COMMITTEE OF STANDARDS OF OFFICIAL 
              CONDUCT.

    Clause 5(a)(3) of rule X of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives is amended by adding at the end the following new 
subdivision:
    ``(D) In the One Hundred Eleventh Congress, the chairmanship of the 
Committee on Standards of Official Conduct shall be held by a member of 
the political party that is the majority party at the beginning of that 
Congress. The chairmanship in the next Congress shall be held by a 
member of the opposite political party and, with respect to succeeding 
Congresses, the chairmanship shall continue to alternate, Congress by 
Congress, between the two parties.''.

SEC. 3. RECEIPT BY THE INSPECTOR GENERAL OF CERTAIN ALLEGATIONS OF 
              MISCONDUCT BY MEMBERS, DELEGATES, THE RESIDENT 
              COMMISSIONER, OFFICERS, OR EMPLOYEES OF THE HOUSE.

    Clause 6 of rule II of the Rules of the House of Representatives is 
amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
    ``(d) The Inspector General shall receive and promptly transmit 
(without any change) to the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct 
any written information submitted by any outside individual or 
organization of an alleged violation by a Member, Delegate, Resident 
Commissioner, officer, or employee of the House of the House of the 
Code of Official Conduct or a law, rule, regulation, or other standard 
of conduct applicable to the conduct of such Member, Delegate, Resident 
Commissioner, office, or employee in the performance of his duties or 
the discharge of his responsibilities.''.

SEC. 4. MONTHLY PUBLIC REPORTS ON INVESTIGATIVE ACTIVITIES OF THE 
              COMMITTEE ON STANDARDS OF OFFICIAL CONDUCT.

    Clause 3(q) of rule XI of the rules of the House of Representatives 
is amended by striking ``and'' at the end of subparagraph (2), by 
striking the period and inserting ``; and'' at the end of subparagraph 
(3), and by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
            ``(4) each month the committee shall publish a public 
        report on its investigative activities, including a list of 
        each new allegation received since the preceding report, but 
        without disclosing the name of any individual who is the 
        subject of any allegation or its particulars, and each such 
        report shall also include status updates on all pending matters 
        not previously reported as resolved, using notations such as: 
        awaiting investigation, under active investigation, dismissed--
        frivolous, dismissed--allegations determined to lack merit, 
        subject of an active investigative subcommittee, action 
        suspended--deferral to Justice Department, action suspended--
        internal committee disagreement, matter resolved publicly--see 
        attached report, matters resolved privately (requires 
        concurrence by at least 8 out of 10 members, referred to the 
        Department of Justice (with or without recommendation).''.

SEC. 5. RESOLUTION OF PARTISAN IMPASSES IN THE COMMITTEE OF STANDARDS 
              OF OFFICIAL CONDUCT.

    Clause 3(b) of rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives 
is amended by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
    ``(8) Notwithstanding any other provision of this clause, not later 
than 30 calendar days after the chairman and the ranking minority 
member, an investigative subcommittee, an adjudicatory subcommittee, or 
the committee is unable to reach a consensus at any stage of an 
investigation respecting any alleged violation described in 
subparagraph (a)(2), the committee shall publicly disclose its 
inability to reach a resolution of the alleged violation. Not later 
than 60 calendar days after the end of any applicable 30-calendar day 
period, the committee shall forward the compliant and all accompanying 
documentation to the Department of Justice for its consideration if 
such impasse persists.''.

SEC. 6. PUBLIC DISCLOSURE OF WHETHER A MEMBER, DELEGATE, RESIDENT 
              COMMISSIONER, OFFICER OR EMPLOYEE IS UNDER INVESTIGATION 
              BY THE COMMITTEE OF STANDARDS OF OFFICIAL CONDUCT.

    Clause 3(b) of rule XI of the Rules of the House or Representatives 
(as amended by section 5) is amended by adding at the end the following 
new subparagraph:
    ``(9) Notwithstanding any other provision of this clause, not more 
than 30 calendar days after receipt of a written request from any 
Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, officer, or employee of the 
House inquiring whether he is under investigation by the committee, the 
committee shall publicly disclose whether that individual is or is not 
under investigation and, if such individual is under investigation, the 
current status of the investigation using the terminology set forth in 
its monthly reports on investigative activities.''.

SEC. 7. PRESERVATION OF COMMITTEE SUBPOENA POWER.

     Nothing in this resolution or in any amendment made by it shall be 
construed to alter the authority of the Committee on Standards of 
Official Conduct to authorize or issue a subpoena pursuant to rule XI 
of the Rules of the House of Representatives.
                                 <all>