[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 124 (Thursday, August 25, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: August 25, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                 REPRESENTATION BY SENATE LEGAL COUNSEL

  Mr. FORD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Senate proceed 
to the immediate consideration of Senate Resolution 254, a resolution 
relating to representation by the Senate legal counsel, submitted 
earlier today by the distinguished majority leader, Senator Mitchell, 
and the distinguished Republican leader; that the resolution be 
adopted; the preamble be agreed to; and that the statement of Senator 
Mitchell appear at the appropriate place in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  So the resolution (S. Res. 254) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, is as follows:

                              S. Res. 254

       Whereas, in the case of Kenneth Riggin, et al. v. Office of 
     Senate Fair Employment Practices, No. 94-6004, pending in the 
     United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the 
     Office of Senate Fair Employment Practices is the respondent 
     in a proceeding under section 309 of the Civil Rights Act of 
     1991, 2 U.S.C. Sec. 1209, to review a final decision 
     concerning allegations of discrimination in Senate 
     employment;
       Whereas, section 303(f) of the Civil Rights Act of 1991, 2 
     U.S.C. Sec. 1203(f), provides that for the purpose of 
     representation by the Senate Legal Counsel, the Office of 
     Senate Fair Employment Practices shall be deemed a committee 
     within the meaning of title VII of the Ethics in Government 
     Act of 1978, 2 U.S.C. Sec. 288, et. seq.;
       Whereas, pursuant to sections 703(a) and 704(a)(1) of the 
     Ethics in Government Act of 1978, 2 U.S.C. Sec. Sec. 288B(a), 
     288c(a)(1), the Senate may direct its Counsel to defend a 
     committee of the Senate in any civil action in which there is 
     placed in issue any action taken by such committee in its 
     official capacity;
       Whereas, in accordance with 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2348, as made 
     applicable by section 309(b) of the Civil Rights Act of 1991, 
     2 U.S.C. Sec. 1209(b), the Office of the Sergeant at Arms of 
     the United States Senate, as a party in interest in the 
     underlying proceeding within the Senate, may intervene on 
     judicial review of the final decision in that proceeding. 
     Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate Legal Counsel is directed to 
     represent the Office of Senate Fair Employment Practices in 
     the case of Kenneth Riggin, et al. v. Office of Senate Fair 
     Employment Practices.
       Sec. 2. The Office of the Sergeant at Arms of the United 
     States Senate may as a matter of statutory right intervene 
     and be represented by its counsel of choice in the case of 
     Kenneth Riggin, et al. v. Office of Senate Fair Employment 
     Practices.

  Mr. MITCHELL. Mr. President, the case of Kenneth Riggin, et al. 
versus Office of Senate Fair Employment Practices, pending in the 
United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, is the second 
case to reach the judicial review stage of the process for review of 
claims of discrimination in Senate employment that was created by title 
III of the Civil Rights Act of 1991.
  Petitioners are 10 former members of the Capitol Police who seek 
judicial review of a final decision, entered in the records of the 
Office of Senate Fair Employment Practices, rejecting their claim of 
age discrimination. The petitioners assert that the age discrimination 
prohibition of the 1991 Civil Rights Act supersedes the 1990 Capitol 
Police Retirement Act, sections 8335(d) of title 5, United States Code, 
which, until recently, mandated retirement at age 55. By virtue of the 
Legislative Branch Appropriations Act for the coming fiscal year the 
Capitol Police retirement age has been increased to 57.
  Under title III of the Civil Rights Act of 1991, cases are 
adjudicated in independent hearing bonds whose decisions are reviewed 
by the Ethics Committee. In this case both the hearing board and the 
Ethics Committee agreed that the Capitol Police Retirement Act had not 
been superseded by the 1991 Civil Rights Act. Under the statute, 
following the entry of a final decision in the records of the Office of 
Senate Fair Employment Practices, aggrieved parties may petition for 
review in the Federal circuit. In that proceeding, the Office of Senate 
Fair Employment Practices, where final decisions are entered, is 
required to be named the respondent.
  As petitions for review in the Federal circuit challenge final 
decisions of a Senate adjudicatory process, under title III the Senate 
may authorize the Senate Legal Counsel to defend those decisions 
through representation of the Office of Senate Fair Employment 
Practices in court. Accordingly, this resolution would authorize the 
Senate Legal Counsel to represent the Office of Senate Fair Employment 
Practices in defense of the final decision affirming dismissal of 
petitioners' claim.
  Under section 2348 of title 28, United States Code, which is made 
applicable by the 1991 Civil Rights Act to the judicial review of 
Senate employment decisions, a party in interest to administrative 
proceedings that are under review in court has a statutory right to 
intervene. To implement that authority, section 2 of the resolution 
provides that the Office of the Sergeant at Arms, the employing office 
in this matter, my intervene in this case.

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