[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 149 (Thursday, November 10, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12711-S12712]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


             AMENDING THE ETHICS IN GOVERNMENT ACT OF 1978

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee 
on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs be discharged from 
further consideration of S. 1558, and the Senate proceed to its 
immediate consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk 
will report the bill by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 1558) to amend the Ethics in Government Act of 
     1978 to protect family members of filers from disclosing 
     sensitive information in a public filing and extend the 
     public filing requirement for 5 years.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, Senator Specter and I have introduced a 
comprehensive court security measure, S. 1968, the Court Security 
Improvement Act of 2005, CSIA. Our bill responds to requests by the 
judiciary for a greater voice in working with the United States 
Marshals Service to determine their security needs. It enacts new 
criminal penalties for the misuse of restricted personal information to 
harm or threaten to seriously harm judges, their families or other 
individuals performing official duties. It also enacts criminal 
penalties for threatening judges and Federal law enforcement officials 
by the malicious filing of false liens, provides increased protections 
for witnesses, and makes available new resources for State courts to 
improve security for State and local court systems. Finally, it extends 
life insurance benefits to bankruptcy, magistrate and territorial 
judges, and health insurance to surviving spouses and families of 
Federal judges.
  One of the provisions of CSIA extends the ``sunset'' of a provision 
first enacted in the ``Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act of 
1998'' that grants the Judicial Conference of the United States the 
authority to redact information from a judge's mandatory financial 
disclosure in circumstances in which it is determined that the release 
of the information could endanger the filer or the filer's family. The 
Specter-Leahy bill also extends the protections of this provision to 
the family members of filers.
  The misuse of this redaction authority has been a matter of some 
concern to me. I appreciate that the Judicial Conference is seeking to 
improve its practices. I offer this amendment to S. 1558, which is 
drawn from CSIA, because none of us wants to see judges or their 
families endangered. The redaction authority need not expire if there 
is agreement that it should be continued by reauthorization for another 
4-year period before another sunset. Instead, if the Senate adopts our 
amendment and the House accepts the Senate

[[Page S12712]]

bill, the authority will be extended without interruption. I hope that 
the House will join us without delay both in extending the redaction 
authority and in expanding the scope of its protections to include 
family members.
  I also hope that we will move quickly to pass the other important 
provisions of CSIA so that we can better protect the dedicated women 
and men throughout the judiciary in this country who do a tremendous 
job under challenging circumstances.
  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the amendment 
that is at the desk be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be read a third 
time and passed, the title amendment be agreed to, the motion to 
reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or 
debate, and that any statement relating to the bill be printed in the 
Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment (No. 2521) was agreed to, as follows:


                           AMENDMENT NO. 2521

       Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
     following:

     SECTION 1. PROTECTION OF FAMILY MEMBERS.

       Section 105(b)(3) of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 
     (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended--
       (1) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ``or a family member 
     of that individual'' after ``that individual''; and
       (2) in subparagraph (B)(i), by inserting ``or a family 
     member of that individual'' after ``the report''.

     SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF PUBLIC FILING REQUIREMENT.

       Section 105(b)(3)(E) of the Ethics in Government Act of 
     1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by striking ``2005'' each 
     place it appears and inserting ``2009''.

  The amendment (No. 2522) was agreed to, as follows:


                           AMENDMENT NO. 2522

               (Purpose: To amend the title of the bill.)

       At the appropriate place, insert the following:
Amend the title so as to read: ``To amend the Ethics in Government Act 
    of 1978 to protect family members of filers from disclosing 
    sensitive information in a public filing and to extend for 4 years 
    the authority to redact financial disclosure statements of judicial 
    employees and judicial officers.''.

  The bill (S. 1558), as amended, was read the third time and passed, 
as follows:

                                S. 1558

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. PROTECTION OF FAMILY MEMBERS.

       Section 105(b)(3) of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 
     (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended--
       (1) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ``or a family member 
     of that individual'' after ``that individual''; and
       (2) in subparagraph (B)(i), by inserting ``or a family 
     member of that individual'' after ``the report''.

     SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF PUBLIC FILING REQUIREMENT.

       Section 105(b)(3)(E) of the Ethics in Government Act of 
     1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by striking ``2005'' each 
     place it appears and inserting ``2009''.

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