[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 135 (Thursday, October 2, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H8316-H8317]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING

                                                    U.S. Congress,
                                             Office of Compliance,
                               Washington, DC, September 30, 1997.
     Hon. Newt Gringrich,
     Speaker of the House, U.S. House of Representatives, 
         Washington, DC
       Dear Mr. Speaker: Pursuant to Section 303 of the 
     Congressional Accountability Act of 1995, 2 U.S.C. Sec. 1383, 
     I am transmitting the enclosed notice of proposed rulemaking 
     (proposing amendments to procedural rules previously adopted) 
     for publication in the Congressional Record.
       The Congressional Accountability Act specifies that the 
     enclosed notice be published on the first day on which both 
     Houses are in session following this transmittal.
           Sincerely,
                                                  Ricky Silberman,
                                               Executive Director.


                          office of compliance

       The Congressional Accountability Act of 1995: Amendments to 
     Procedural Rules.


                     NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING

       Summary: The Executive Director of the Office of Compliance 
     is proposing to amend the Procedural Rules of the Office of 
     Compliance to cover the General Accounting Office (``GAO'') 
     and the Library of Congress (``Library'') and their 
     employees. The Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 
     (``CAA''), 2

[[Page H8317]]

     U.S.C. Sec. Sec. 1301-1438, applies the rights and 
     protections of eleven labor and employment and public access 
     laws to covered employees and employing offices within the 
     Legislative Branch. Five sections of the CAA, which apply 
     rights and protections of the Employee Polygraph Protection 
     Act of 1988 (``EPPA''), the Worker Adjustment and Retraining 
     Notification Act (``WARN Act''), the Uniformed Services 
     Employment and Reemployment Act of 1994 (``USERRA''), and the 
     Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (``OSHAct''), and 
     which prohibit intimidation or reprisal for the exercise of 
     rights under the CAA, become effective with respect to GAO 
     and the Library on December 30, 1997. This Notice of Proposed 
     Rulemaking (``NPRM'') proposes to extend the coverage of the 
     Procedural Rules to include GAO and the Library and their 
     employees for purposes of proceedings relating to these five 
     sections of the CAA and the general provisions of the rules 
     relating to ex parte communications. These proposed 
     amendments to the Procedural Rules have been approved by the 
     Board of Directors of the Office of Compliance.
       Dates: Comments are due within 30 days after the date of 
     publication of this NPRM in the Congressional Record.
       Addresses: Submit comments in writing (an original and 10 
     copies) to the Executive Director, Office of Compliance, Room 
     LA 200, John Adams Building, 110 Second Street, S.E., 
     Washington, D.C. 20540-1999. Those wishing to receive 
     notification of receipt of comments are requested to include 
     a self-addressed, stamped post card. Comments may also be 
     transmitted by facsimile (``FAX'') machine to (202) 426-1913. 
     This is not a toll-free call. Copies of comments submitted by 
     the public will be available for review at the Law Library 
     Reading Room, Room LM-201, Law Library of Congress, James 
     Madison Memorial Building, Washington, D.C., Monday through 
     Friday, between the hours of 9:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.
       For further information contact: Executive Director, Office 
     of Compliance, at (202) 724-9250 (voice), (202) 426-1912 
     (TTY). This notice will also be made available in large print 
     or braille or on computer disk, upon request to the Office of 
     Compliance.


                       SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

     1. Background and Purpose of this Rulemaking
       The Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 (``CAA'' or 
     the ``Act''), Pub. L. 104-1, 109 Stat. 3, 2 U.S.C. 
     Sec. Sec. 1301-1438, applies the rights and protections of 
     eleven labor and employment and public access laws to covered 
     employees and employing offices within the Legislative 
     Branch. With respect to GAO and the Library, five sections of 
     the CAA will become effective as of December 30, 1997: (a) 
     section 204, applying rights and protections of the Employee 
     Polygraph Protection Act of 1988 (``EPPA''), restricts the 
     use of lie detector tests by employing offices; (b) section 
     205, applying rights and protections of the Worker Adjustment 
     and Retraining Notification Act (``WARN Act''), assures 
     covered employees of notice before office closings and mass 
     layoffs; (c) section 206, applying rights and protections of 
     the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Act of 
     1994 (``USERRA''), protects job rights of covered employees 
     who serve in the military and other uniformed services; (d) 
     section 215, applying rights and protections of the 
     Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (``OSHAct''), 
     protects the safety and health of covered employees from 
     hazards in their places of employment; and (e) section 207 
     forbids intimidation or reprisal against covered employees 
     for exercising rights under other sections of the CAA.
       The Procedural Rules of the Office of Compliance establish 
     procedures for considering matters that involve employing 
     offices and covered employees other than GAO and the Library 
     and their employees. The purpose of this rulemaking is to 
     extend the rules to cover GAO and the Library and their 
     employees for purposes of any proceedings in which GAO or the 
     Library or their employees may be involved as employing 
     offices or covered employees.
       The Board of Directors has also proposed to extend its 
     substantive regulations implementing sections 204, 205, and 
     215 of the CAA to cover GAO and the Library and their 
     employees. The NPRM was published in the September 9, 1997 
     issue of the Congressional Record, at 143 Cong. Rec. S9014.
     2. Record of earlier rulemakings
       To avoid duplication of effort, the Executive Director 
     plans to rely generally on the record of earlier rulemakings. 
     The current Procedural Rules of the Office of Compliance were 
     proposed, adopted, and amended in three phases during the 
     past two years. See 141 Cong. Rec. S17012 (daily ed. Nov. 14, 
     1995) (NPRM); 141 Cong. Rec. S19239 (daily ed. Dec. 22, 1995) 
     (final rules); 142 Cong. Rec. H7450 (daily ed. July 11, 1996) 
     (NPRM); 142 Cong. Rec. S10980 (daily ed. Sept. 19, 1996) 
     (final rules); 143 Cong. Rec. S25 (daily ed. Jan. 7, 1997) 
     (NPRM); 143 Cong. Rec. H1879 (daily ed. Apr. 24, 1997) (final 
     rules). A copy of the Procedural Rules of the Office of 
     Compliance is available for inspection at the Law Library 
     Reading Room, at the address and times stated at the 
     beginning of this Notice, and may also be viewed or 
     downloaded from the Office of Compliance's internet Website 
     at http://www.compliance.gov/proful3.html, or http://
www.access.gpo.gov/compliance/proful3.html.
     3. Proposed amendments
       The Executive Director is presently aware of no reason why 
     the procedural rules to cover GAO and the Library and their 
     employees should be separate or substantively different from 
     the rules already adopted for other employing offices and 
     their employees. The Executive Director therefore proposes in 
     this NPRM to extend the coverage of the rules already adopted 
     to include GAO and the Library and their employees, and to 
     make no other substantive change to the rules. Specifically, 
     the NPRM proposes to amend the definitions established in 
     section 1.02 of the Procedural Rules of the Office of 
     Compliance: (a) by including the employees of GAO and the 
     Library in the definition of ``covered employee,'' (b) by 
     including GAO and the Library in the definition of 
     ``employing office,'' and (c) by adding a new paragraph (q) 
     to section 1.02 specifying that GAO and the Library and their 
     employees are included in these definitions only for the 
     purposes of proceedings involving sections 204, 205, 206, 
     207, or 215 of the CAA or for purposes of the rules regarding 
     ex parte communications. A technical correction is also 
     necessary in the language being amended.1
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \1\  In section 1.02(b) of the Procedural Rules of the Office 
     of Compliance, reference to the Office of Technology 
     Assessment is being removed, as that Office no longer exists.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     4. Request for comment
       The Executive Director invites comment on these proposed 
     amendments generally and invites comment specifically on 
     whether there is any reason why the rules for GAO and the 
     Library and their employees should be separate or different 
     from the rules already adopted for other employing offices 
     and their employees.
       Signed at Washington, D.C., this 30th day of September, 
     1997.

                                               Ricky Silberman

                                               Executive Director,
                                             Office of Compliance.
       Accordingly, the Executive Director of the Office of 
     Compliance hereby proposes the following amendments to the 
     Procedural Rules of the Office of Compliance:
       It is proposed that section 1.02 of the Procedural Rules of 
     the Office of Compliance be amended by revising paragraphs 
     (b) and (h) and by adding at the end of the section a new 
     paragraph (q) to read as follows:
     ``Sec. 1.02 Definitions.
       ``Except as otherwise specifically provided in these rules, 
     for purposes of this Part:

                           *   *   *   *   *

       ``(b) Covered employee. The term ``covered employee'' means 
     any employee of
       ``(1) the House of Representatives;
       ``(2) the Senate;
       ``(3) the Capitol Guide Service;
       ``(4) the Capitol Police;
       ``(5) the Congressional Budget Office;
       ``(6) the Office of the Architect of the Capitol;
       ``(7) the Office of the Attending Physician;
       ``(8) the Office of Compliance; or
       ``(9) for the purposes stated in paragraph (q) of this 
     section, the General Accounting Office or the Library of 
     Congress.

                           *   *   *   *   *

       ``(h) Employing Office. The term ``employing office'' 
     means:
       ``(1) the personal office of a Member of the House of 
     Representatives or a Senator;
       ``(2) a committee of the House of Representatives or the 
     Senate or a joint committee;
       ``(3) any other office headed by a person with the final 
     authority to appoint, hire, discharge, and set the terms, 
     conditions, or privileges of the employment of an employee of 
     the House of Representatives or the Senate;
       ``(4) the Capitol Guide Board, the Capitol Police Board, 
     the Congressional Budget Office, the Office of the Architect 
     of the Capitol, the Office of the Attending Physician, and 
     the Office of Compliance; or
       ``(5) for the purposes stated in paragraph (q) of this 
     section, the General Accounting Office and the Library of 
     Congress.

                           *   *   *   *   *

       ``(q) Coverage of the General Accounting Office and the 
     Library of Congress and their Employees. The term ``employing 
     office'' shall include the General Accounting Office and the 
     Library of Congress, and the term ``covered employee'' shall 
     include employees of the General Accounting Office and the 
     Library of Congress, for purposes of the proceedings and 
     rulemakings described in subparagraphs (1), (2), and (3):
       ``(1) The processing of any allegation that section 204, 
     205, or 206 of the Act has been violated, and any allegation 
     of intimidation or reprisal prohibited under section 207 of 
     the Act. Sections 204, 205, and 206 of the Act apply to 
     covered employees and employing offices certain rights and 
     protections of the following laws:
       ``(i) the Employee Polygraph Protection Act of 1988,
       ``(ii) the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification 
     Act, and
       ``(iii) the Chapter 43 (relating to veterans' employment 
     and reemployment) of title 38, United States Code.
       ``(2) The enforcement of the inspection and citation 
     provisions of section 215(c)(1), (2), (3) of the Act, and 
     proceedings to grant variances under section 215(c)(4) of the 
     Act. Section 215 of the Act applies to covered employees and 
     employing offices certain rights and protections of the 
     Williams-Steiger Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970.
       ``(3) Any proceeding or rulemaking, for purposes of section 
     9.04 of these rules.''




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