[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 138 (Thursday, October 2, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12363-S12364]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        CHANGE IN INTERNET SERVICES USAGE RULES AND REGULATIONS

  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I wish to announce that in accordance with 
title V of the Rules of Procedure, the Committee on Rules and 
Administration intends to update the ``U.S. Senate Internet Services 
Usage Rules and Regulations.''
  Based on the committee's review of the 1996 regulations, the 
following changes to these policies have been adopted effective October 
8, 2003.
  The following changes have been made:

       A. SCOPE AND RESPONSIBILITY:
       Senate Internet Services (World Wide Web and Electronic 
     mail) may only be used for official purposes. The use of 
     Senate Internet Services for personal, promotional, 
     commercial, or partisan political/campaign purposes is 
     prohibited.
       Members of the Senate, as well as Committee Chairmen and 
     Officers of the Senate may post to the Internet Servers 
     information files which contain matter relating to their 
     official business, activities, and duties. All other offices 
     must request approval from the Committee on Rules and 
     Administration before posting material on the Internet 
     Information Servers.
       Websites covered by this policy must be located in the 
     SENATE.GOV host-domain.
       It is the responsibility of each Senator, Committee 
     Chairman (on behalf of the committee), Officer of the Senate, 
     or office head to oversee the use of the Internet Services by 
     his or her office and to ensure that the use of the services 
     is consistent with the requirements established by this 
     policy and applicable laws and regulations.
       Official records may not be placed on the Internet Servers 
     unless otherwise approved by the Secretary of the Senate and 
     prepared in accordance with Section 501 of Title 44 of the 
     United States Code. Such records include, but are not limited 
     to: bills, public laws, committee reports, and other 
     legislative materials.
       B. POSTING OR LINKING TO THE FOLLOWING MATTER IS 
     PROHIBITED:
       Political Matter.
       a. Matter which specifically solicits political support for 
     the sender or any other person or political party, or a vote 
     or financial assistance for any candidate for any political 
     office is prohibited.
       b. Matter which mentions a Senator or an employee of a 
     Senator as a candidate for political office, or which 
     constitutes electioneering, or which advocates the election 
     or defeat of any individuals, or a political party is 
     prohibited.
       Personal Matter.
       a. Matter which by its nature is purely personal and is 
     unrelated to the official business activities and duties of 
     the sender is prohibited.
       b. Matter which constitutes or includes any article, 
     account, sketch, narration, or other text laudatory and 
     complimentary of any Senator on a purely personal or 
     political basis rather than on the basis of performance of 
     official duties as a Senator is prohibited.
       c. Reports of how or when a Senator, the Senator's spouse, 
     or any other member of the Senator's family spends time other 
     than in the performance of, or in connection with, the 
     legislative, representative, and other official functions of 
     such Senator is prohibited.
       d. Any transmission expressing holiday greetings from a 
     Senator is prohibited. This prohibition does not preclude an 
     expression of holiday greetings at the commencement or 
     conclusion of an otherwise proper transmission.
       Promotional Matter.
       a. The solicitation of funds for any purpose is prohibited.
       b. The placement of logos or links used for personal, 
     promotional, commercial, or partisan political/campaign 
     purposes is prohibited.
       C. RESTRICTIONS ON THE USE OF INTERNET SERVICES:
       During the 60 day period immediately preceding the date of 
     any primary or general election (whether regular, special, or 
     runoff)

[[Page S12364]]

     for any national, state, or local office in which the Senator 
     is a candidate, no Member may place, update or transmit 
     information using Senate Internet Services, unless the 
     candidacy of the Senator in such election is uncontested. 
     Exceptions to this moratorium include the following; posting 
     of press releases, posting of official statements of the 
     member appearing in the Congressional Record, and technical 
     corrections to the website.
       Electronic mail may not be transmitted by a Member during 
     the 60 day period before the date of the Member's primary or 
     general election unless it is in response to a direct 
     inquiry. Exceptions to this moratorium include the following; 
     press release distribution to press organizations, and email 
     to perform administrative communication.
       During the 60 day period immediately before the date of a 
     biennial general Federal election, no Member may place or 
     update on the Internet Server any matter on behalf of a 
     Senator who is a candidate for election, unless the candidacy 
     of the Senator in such election is uncontested.
       An uncontested candidacy is established when the Rules 
     Committee receives written certification from the appropriate 
     state official that the Senator's candidacy may not be 
     contested under state law. Since the candidacy of a Senator 
     who is running for re-election from a state which permits 
     write-in votes on election day without prior registration or 
     other advance qualification by the candidate may be 
     contested, such a Member is subject to the above 
     restrictions.
       If a Member is under the restrictions as defined in 
     subtitle C, paragraph (1), above, the following statement 
     must appear on the homepage: ("Pursuant to Senate policy this 
     homepage may not be updated for the 60 day period immediately 
     before the date of a primary or general election"). The words 
     ``Senate Policy'' must be hypertext linked to the Internet 
     services policy on the Senate Home Page.
       A Senator's homepage may not refer or be hypertext linked 
     to another Member's site or electronic mail address without 
     authorization from that Member.
       Any Links to Information not located on a senate.gov domain 
     must be identified as a link to a non-Senate entity.
       D. MISCELLANEOUS:
       Domains and Names (URL)--Senate entities shall reside on 
     SENATE.GOV domains. The URL name for an official Web site 
     located in the SENATE.GOV domain must:
       Member sites--contain the Senator's last name.
       Committee sites--contain the name of the committee.
       Office sites--contain the name of the office.

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