[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 71 (Wednesday, June 7, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5607-S5608]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   TO AMEND SECTION 105(b)(3) OF THE ETHICS IN GOVERNMENT ACT OF 1978

  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs be discharged 
from further consideration of H.R. 4311, 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 assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 4311) to amend section 105(b)(3) of the Ethics 
     in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App).

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, today by amending and passing H.R. 4311, we 
make another attempt to extend critical protections needed to keep the 
Nation's Federal judges and their families safe. Last November, the 
Senate passed S. 1558, which extended for 4 years the ``sunset'' of a 
provision granting 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. This 
provision was first enacted in the ``Identity Theft and Assumption 
Deterrence Act of 1998'' and extended for 4 years in 2001. Chairman 
Specter and I worked with Senators Collins and Lieberman to amend S. 
1558 to again include a 4-year ``sunset'' and also to extend its 
protections to the family members of filers.
  Like the more comprehensive court security measure Chairman Specter 
and I have introduced, S. 1968, the ``Court Security Improvement Act of 
2005, CSIA, from which it is drawn, S. 1558 provides judges and their 
families with needed security by extending the judges' redaction 
authority without interruption and expanding it to their families. It 
also strikes the right balance with the need for continuing 
congressional oversight to prevent the

[[Page S5608]]

misuse of this redaction authority, which has been a matter of some 
concern to me. I appreciate that the Judicial Conference is seeking to 
improve its practices and the Senate passed S. 1558 because none of us 
wants to see judges or their families endangered.
  However, the House failed to take up and pass S. 1558 before the end 
of the session. As I said last December, I was disappointed at this 
failure, which allowed redaction authority to lapse at the end of last 
year. Instead, the House passed a separate bill, H.R. 4311, which would 
make redaction authority permanent and which fails to extend it to 
cover family members of filers. As passed by the House, H.R. 4311 would 
remove Congress' critical role providing oversight over the use of this 
extraordinary authority to redact financial disclosure forms. As 
amended and passed today, H.R. 4311 restores the proper balance while 
extending the redaction authority, retroactive to its expiration last 
December, until December 31, 2007. It also makes protection of judges' 
family members explicit.
  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, so that we can continue to protect the 
dedicated women and men throughout the Judiciary in this country who do 
a tremendous job under challenging circumstances.
  Mr. SESSIONS. I ask unanimous consent that the amendment at the desk 
be agreed to, the bill as amended be read a third time and passed, the 
motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and any statement relating 
to the measure be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment (No. 4193) was agreed to, as follows:

  (Purpose: 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 the authority to redact financial 
   disclosure statements of judicial employees and judicial officers)

       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.

       (a) In General.--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 ``2007''.
       (b) Effective Date and Application.--The amendments made by 
     subsection (a) shall take effect as though enacted on 
     December 31, 2005.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on the engrossment of the 
amendment and third reading of the bill.
  The amendment was ordered to be engrossed, and the bill to be read a 
third time.
  The bill (H.R. 4311), as amended, was read the third time, and 
passed.

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