[Senate Report 107-88]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 207
107th Congress Report
SENATE
1st Session 107-88
_______________________________________________________________________
OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT ETHICS AUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2001
__________
R E P O R T
of the
COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
UNITED STATES SENATE
to accompany
S. 1202
TO AMEND THE ETHICS IN GOVERNMENT ACT OF 1978 (5 U.S.C. APP.) TO EXTEND
THE AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT ETHICS
THROUGH FISCAL YEAR 2006
October 30, 2001.--Ordered to be printed
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
99-010 WASHINGTON : 2001
______________________________________________________________________
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents,
U.S. Government Printing Office
Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512-1800;
(202) 512�091800 Fax: (202) 512�092250
Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402�090001
COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, Connecticut, Chairman
CARL LEVIN, Michigan FRED THOMPSON, Tennessee
DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii TED STEVENS, Alaska
RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois SUSAN M. COLLINS, Maine
ROBERT G. TORRICELI, New Jersey GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, Ohio
MAX CLELAND, Georgia PETE V. DOMENICI, New Mexico
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware THAD COCHRAN, Mississippi
JEAN CARNAHAN, Missouri ROBERT F. BENNETT, Utah
MARK DAYTON, Minnesota JIM BUNNING, Kentucky
Joyce A. Rechtschaffen, Staff Director and Counsel
Lawrence B. Novey, Counsel
Hannah S. Sistare, Minority Staff Director and Counsel
Dan G. Blair, Minority Senior Counsel
Darla D. Cassell, Chief Clerk
Calendar No. 207
107th Congress Report
SENATE
1st Session 107-88
======================================================================
OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT ETHICS AUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2001
_______
October 30, 2001.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Lieberman, from the Committee on Governmental Affairs, submitted
the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 1202]
The Committee on Governmental Affairs, to whom was referred
the bill (S. 1202) to amend the Ethics in Government Act of
1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) to extend the authorization of
appropriations for the Office of Government Ethics through
fiscal year 2006, having considered the same, reports favorably
thereon and recommends that the bill do pass.
CONTENTS
Page
I. Purpose and Summary...............................................1
II. Background and Need for Legislation...............................1
III.Legislative History...............................................4
IV. Regulatory Impact Statement.......................................5
V. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate.........................5
VI. Changes to Existing Law...........................................6
I. Purpose and Summary
The purpose of S. 1202 is to continue programs that foster
high ethical standards for employees in the Executive Branch by
extending the authorization of appropriations for the Office of
Government Ethics (OGE) through the end of the 2006 fiscal
year.
II. Background and Need for Legislation
OGE was established by Title IV of the Ethics in Government
Act of 1978 (Ethics Act), 5 U.S.C. App., to provide ``overall
direction of executive branch policies related to preventing
conflicts of interest on the part of officers and employees of
any executive agency.'' OGE's role has subsequently expanded by
statute and executive order. In addition to its programs
relating to prevention of conflict of interest, OGE now
provides interpretive guidance, training, and administrative
support on a number of other requirements related to employee
conduct, such as potential misuse of one's official position
and the rules governing gifts between employees. More recently,
in light of the corrosive effect of corruption upon certain
foreign governments and economies, U.S. foreign-policy agencies
have called upon OGE to provide technical assistance to foreign
governments regarding methods for preventing conflict of
interest and other ethics violations as part of broader anti-
corruption efforts.
a. creation and past authorizations of the office of government ethics
In response to a 1976 General Accounting Office report to
Congress identifying a number of problems with the federal
government's ethics system, President Carter submitted draft
legislation in 1977 proposing the creation of OGE. The
following year, on October 26, 1978, the Ethics Act was signed
into law as Public Law 95-521. (For a more detailed history of
the creation and past authorizations of OGE, see Senate Report
No. 106-216, issued by this Committee on November 5, 1999,
regarding S. 1503, 106th Cong.)
OGE was originally established within the Office of
Personnel Management (OPM) and was authorized for five years,
through September 30, 1983. In 1983, OGE was reauthorized for
another five years pursuant to Public Law 98-150. This law
extended OGE's authorization through September 20, 1988, gave
OGE additional powers and responsibilities, and granted it
greater independence from the rest of OPM. OGE was again
reauthorized in 1988, this time for six years, through
September 30, 1994, by Public Law 100-598. The 1988 law made a
number of additional enhancements in OGE's authority and
established OGE as an independent agency, separate from OPM.
During the period of 1988 to 1994, the executive branch
ethics program and OGE's responsibilities increased as a result
adoption of the Ethics Reform Act of 1989 (Public Law 101-194),
which included extensive ethics reform provisions, and two
Executive Orders. Executive Order 12674 (April 12, 1989)
required the promulgation of comprehensive Standards of Ethical
Conduct for Executive Branch Employees and Executive Order
12834 (January 20, 1993) created new post-employment rules for
political appointees.
After a two-year lapse of authorization, in 1996 OGE was
reauthorized by Public Law 104-179 for three years, through
September 20, 1999. In the 106th Congress, the Committee
reported out S. 1503 on November 3, 1999, to reauthorize OGE
for four years, and the Senate passed S. 1503 on November 19,
1999. The House of Representatives also passed a four-year
reauthorization bill, H.R. 2904, on November 8, 1999. Neither
bill was enacted, however, so the authorization of
appropriations remains lapsed. During this period, funding for
OGE's activities has continued to be provided by appropriations
legislation enacted for FY 2000, Public Law 106-58, and for FY
2001, Public Law 106-554, and would be provided for FY 2002 by
the conference report on H.R. 2590, H. Rept. No. 107-253, which
was filed October 26, 2001.
B. DEVELOPMENTS SINCE OGE'S LAST REAUTHORIZATION
The statutes and the basic elements of the ethics program
administered by OGE have not changed dramatically since the
Office was last reauthorized in 1996, and OGE has focused on
improving how it provides its ethics services and on evaluating
the impact of the program.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ This description of developments since OGE's last
reauthorization is based largely on briefings and documents provided by
OGE to the Committee.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the last four years, OGE has expanded its desk officer
program, which assigns OGE staff to specific agencies to
provide more direct and consistent services to those agencies.
OGE has enhanced the employee training materials it produces
for use by agencies and has designed new courses for educating
agency ethics officials, including those located outside of the
Washington, D.C., area. It has recently redesigned its web site
(www.usoge.gov) to make ethics information more easily
accessible to ethics officials as well as to the public. And it
developed a CD-ROM containing all of the basic resource and
reference materials important to carrying out its program. It
also developed the software used in the completion of the
confidential financial disclosure forms filed by more than
250,000 employees in the Executive Branch.
In time for the transition of administrations following the
2000 election, OGE completed the development of software
necessary to complete, save the data on, and print the public
financial disclosure form, the SF 278. This form must be filed
by all senior officials in the Executive Branch, including
those individuals who are nominated by the President for
Senate-confirmed positions. OGE is required to review and
certify the financial disclosure forms of those nominees. From
January 1996 through September 2001, OGE has reviewed more than
1,600 of these nominee forms, including approximately 460
during the period from January 2001 through September 2001. OGE
also reviews certain of the financial disclosure forms that
senior employees file annually and upon termination, and, from
January 1996 through September 2001, OGE reviewed approximately
5,600 of these annual and termination reports. Furthermore, OGE
has continued to provide interpretive guidance on the criminal
conflict of interest statutes and to review and update its
regulations for the Standards of Ethical Conduct.
In 2000, OGE, working with an international consulting
firm, conducted its first survey of Executive Branch employees
in order to begin developing a way to measure the effectiveness
of the ethics program and assess employee perceptions of the
ethical culture of the agencies for which they worked. Key
survey findings and recommendations included: (1) employees are
generally aware of the ethics program and are familiar with and
use the ethics resources in their agencies; however, improved
communication to employees may help reduce the number whose
needs have not been met; (2) the frequency of ethics training
is related to the perception of a positive ethical culture;
therefore, providing additional ethics training may lead to
improved employee perception of the ethical culture and
increased employee awareness of an agency's ethics program; and
(3) supervisory and executive leadership attention to ethics
are important factors in creating and maintaining a positive
ethics culture; therefore, efforts to get supervisorsand agency
leadership to play a more active and visible role in the promotion of
an agency's ethics programs may be critical to program success. The
survey results also provide a benchmark against which future program
changes may be measured.
Finally, in response to a requirement proposed by this
Committee in the Presidential Transition Act of 2000, Public
Law 106-293, OGE conducted a study and issued a ``Report on
Improvements to the Financial Disclosure Process for
Presidential Nominees.'' That report led OGE to propose
amending the public financial disclosure requirements for
Executive Branch officials under the Ethics in Government Act.
OGE Director Amy Comstock testified before the Committee on
April 5, 2001 in support of these proposals. OGE's research
also identified potential overlap and redundant questions on
the various disclosure forms that must be completed by
Presidential nominees to Senate-confirmed positions, and OGE
shared these findings with the Senate committees that consider
nominations. OGE has also committed to undertaking a study of
the criminal conflict of interest laws.
Recently, as attention has focused on the important effects
of corruption on certain governments and economies outside of
the United States, OGE has been called upon by U.S. foreign
policy agencies to provide technical assistance to other
governments regarding the elements of a preventative program as
one part of any government's overall anti-corruption efforts.
C. OGE'S BUDGET AND STAFFING
Since OGE's last reauthorization in 1996, its budget and
staffing levels have been as follows:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Authorized
Fiscal year Funding staff
levels
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1997.......................................... $8,078,000 87
1998.......................................... 8,265,000 84
1999.......................................... 8,492,000 84
2000.......................................... 9,114,000 84
2001.......................................... 9,663,000 82
2002.......................................... \2\ 10,117, 82
000
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ This funding level for FY 2002 would be provided by the conference
report on H.R. 2590, H. Rept. No. 107-253, filed October 26, 2001.
D. DURATION OF THE REAUTHORIZATION
S. 1202 would reauthorize OGE's appropriations through the
end of the 2006 fiscal year. This time span accommodates OGE's
preference that a reauthorization process not occur during the
first or fourth year of Presidential term, when the agency's
resources are significantly devoted to matters arising from
election and transition activities.
III. Legislative History
S. 1202 was introduced by Senator Lieberman, for himself
and Senator Thompson, on July 19, 2001, and referred to the
Committee on Governmental Affairs. Senior staff of OGE made a
comprehensive presentation to Committee staff with regard to
OGE's recently completed and ongoing programs, its future
program plans, and its role in the current transition process.
No hearings were held on the legislation.
S. 1202 was considered by the Committee at its business
meeting on August 2, 2001, and was ordered reported favorably,
without amendment, by voice vote. Committee members present
were: Senators Levin, Akaka, Torricelli, Carper, Dayton,
Thompson, Collins, Cochran, and Lieberman.
IV. Regulatory Impact Statement
Paragraph 11(b)(1) of rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of
the Senate requires that each report accompanying a bill
evaluate the ``regulatory impact which would be incurred in
carrying out this bill.'' Carrying out S. 1202 would have no
regulatory impact.
V. Congressional Budget Cost Estimate
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, August 9, 2001.
Hon. Joseph I. Lieberman,
Chairman, Committee on Governmental Affairs,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 1202, the Office of
Government Ethics Authorization Act of 2001.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Mark
Grabowicz.
Sincerely,
Barry B. Anderson
(For Dan L. Crippen, Director).
Enclosure.
S. 1202--Office of Government Ethics Authorization Act of 2001
Summary: S. 1202 would reauthorize the Office of Government
Ethics (OGE) for fiscal years 2002 through 2006. Assuming
appropriation of the necessary amounts, CBO estimates that
implementing S. 1202 would cost $56 million over the 2002-2006
period. This estimate assumes adjustments for anticipated
inflation. Without such adjustments, we estimate that
implementation would cost $49 million over the 2002-2006
period.
Because the bill would not affect direct spending or
receipts, pay-as-you-go procedures would not apply. S. 1202
contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as
defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) and would
not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments.
Estimated cost to the Federal Government: The estimated
budgetary impact of S. 1202 is shown in the following table.
For this estimate, CBO assumes that the necessary amounts will
be appropriated by the start of each fiscal year and that
outlays will follow the historical spending pattern of the OGE.
Estimated authorization levels for 2002 through 2006 are based
on the 2001 appropriation for the OGE, and $10 million. The
costs of this legislation fall within budget function 800
(general government).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By fiscal year, in millions of dollars--
-----------------------------------------------
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION
OGE Spending Under Current Law
Budget Authority \1\........................................ 10 0 0 0 0 0
Estimated Outlays........................................... 10 1 0 0 0 0
Proposed Changes
Estimated Authorization Level............................... 0 11 11 11 12 12
Estimated Outlays........................................... 0 10 11 11 12 12
OGE Spending Under S. 1202
Estimated Authorization Level \1\........................... 10 11 11 11 12 12
Estimated Outlays........................................... 10 11 11 11 12 12
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ The 2001 level is the amount appropriated for that year.
Pay-as-you-go considerations: None.
Intergovernmental and private-sector impact: S. 1202
contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as
defined in UMRA and would not affect the budgets of state,
local, or tribal governments.
Estimate prepared by: Federal Costs: Mark Grabowicz. Impact
on State, Local, and Tribal Governments: Susan Sieg Tompkins.
Impact on the Private Sector: Patrice Gordon.
Estimate approved by: Robert A. Sunshine, Assistant
Director for Budget Analysis.
VI. Changes to Existing Law
In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by
S. 1202 as reported are shown as follows (existing law proposed
to be omitted is enclosed in brackets, new matter is printed in
italic, and existing law in which no change is proposed is
shown in roman):
UNITED STATES CODE
TITLE 5--GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION AND EMPLOYEES
* * * * * * *
APPENDIX
ETHICS IN GOVERNMENT ACT OF 1978
* * * * * * *
TITLE IV. OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT ETHICS
* * * * * * *
Sec. 405. Authorization of appropriations
There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this
title such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years
[1997 through 1999] 2002 through 2006.