[Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and the Rules of the House of Representatives, 104th Congress]
[104th Congress]
[House Document 103-342]
[Rules of the House of Representatives]
[Pages 768-774]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



 

                               Rule XLIII.


                        CODE OF OFFICIAL CONDUCT.

  There is hereby established by and for the House of Representatives 
the following code of conduct, to be known as the ``Code of Official 
Conduct'':



Sec. 939. Official conduct of Members, officers, 
or employees of the House.

  1. A Member,  officer, or employee of the House of 
Representatives shall conduct himself at all times in a manner which 
shall reflect creditably on the House of Representatives.



[[Page 769]]
the letter of the Rules of the House of Representatives and to the 
rules of duly constituted committees thereof.
  2. A Member, officer, or employee of the House of Representatives 
shall adhere to the spirit and 

  3. A Member, officer, or employee of the House of Representatives 
shall receive no compensation nor shall he permit any compensation to 
accrue to his beneficial interest from any source, the receipt of which 
would occur by virtue of influence improperly exerted from his position 
in the Congress.

  4. A Member, officer, or employee of the House of Representatives 
shall not accept gifts (other than the personal hospitality of an 
individual or with a fair market value of $100 or less, as adjusted 
under section 102(a)(2)(A) of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978) in 
any calendar year aggregating more than the minimal value as established 
by section 7342(a)(5) of title 5, United States Code, or $250, whichever 
is greater, directly or indirectly from any person (other than from a 
relative), except to the extent permitted by written waiver granted in 
exceptional circumstances by the Committee on Standards of Official 
Conduct pursuant to clause 4(e)(1)(E) of rule X.

  5. A Member, officer, or employee of the House of Representatives 
shall accept no honorarium for a speech, writing for publication, or 
other similar activity.


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bursement for legitimate and verifiable campaign expenditures and shall 
expend no funds from his campaign account not attributable to bona fide 
campaign or political purposes.
  6. A Member of the House of Representatives shall keep his campaign 
funds separate from his personal funds. A Member shall convert no 
campaign funds to personal use in excess of reim

  7. A Member of the House of Representatives shall treat as campaign 
contributions all proceeds from testimonial dinners or other fund 
raising events.

  8. A Member or officer of the House of Representatives shall retain no 
one under his payroll authority who does not perform official duties 
commensurate with the compensation received in the offices of the 
employing authority. In the case of committee employees who work under 
the direct supervision of a Member other than a chairman, the chairman 
may require that such Member affirm in writing that the employees have 
complied with the preceding sentence (subject to clause 6 of rule XI) as 
evidence of the chairman's compliance with this clause and with clause 6 
of rule XI.

  9. A Member, officer, or employee of the House of Representatives 
shall not discharge or refuse to hire any individual, or otherwise 
discriminate against any individual with respect to compensation, terms, 
conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual's 
race, color, religion, sex (including marital or parental status), 
handicap, age, or national origin, but may take into consideration the 
domicile or political affiliation of such individual.


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the commission of a crime for which a sentence of two or more years' 
imprisonment may be imposed should refrain from participation in the 
business of each committee of which he is a member and should refrain 
from voting on any question at a meeting of the House, or of the 
Committee of the Whole House, unless or until judicial or executive 
proceedings result in reinstatement of the presumption of his innocence 
or until he is reelected to the House after the date of such conviction.
  10. A Member of the House of Representatives who has been convicted by 
a court of record for 

  11. A Member of the House of Representatives shall not authorize or 
otherwise allow a non-House individual, group, or organization to use 
the words ``Congress of the United States,'' ``House of 
Representatives,'' or ``Official Business,'' or any combination of words 
thereof, on any letterhead or envelope.

  12. (a) Except as provided by paragraph (b), any employee of the House 
of Representatives who is required to file a report pursuant to rule 
XLIV shall refrain from participating personally and substantially as an 
employee of the House of Representatives in any contact with any agency 
of the executive or judicial branch of Government with respect to 
nonlegislative matters affecting any nongovernmental person in which the 
employee has a significant financial interest.


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necessary. A copy of each such waiver shall be filed with the Committee 
on Standards of Official Conduct.
  (b) Paragraph (a) shall not apply if an employee first advises his 
employing authority of his significant financial interest and obtains 
from his employing authority a written waiver stating that the 
participation of the employee is 

  13. Before any Member, officer, or employee of the House of 
Representatives may have access to classified information, the following 
oath (or affirmation) shall be executed:

        ``I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will not disclose any 
classified information received in the course of my service with the 
House of Representatives, except as authorized by House of 
Representatives or in accordance with its Rules.''
Copies of the executed oath shall be retained by the Clerk of the House 
as part of the records of the House.

  As used in this Code of Official Conduct of the House of 
Representatives--(a) the terms ``Member'' and ``Member of the House of 
Representatives'' include the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico and 
each Delegate to the House; and (b) the term ``officer or employee of 
the House of Representatives'' means any individual whose compensation 
is disbursed by the Clerk of the House of Representatives.


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in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, 
stepfather, stepmother, stepson, stepdaughter, stepbrother, stepsister, 
half brother, half sister, or who is the grandfather or grandmother of 
the spouse of such Member, officer, or employee, and shall be deemed to 
include the fiance or fiancee of the Member, officer, or employee.

  For the purposes of clause 4 of this Code of Official Conduct, the 
term ``relative'' means, with respect to any Member, officer, or 
employee of the House of Representatives, an individual who is related 
as father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, first 
cousin, nephew, niece, husband, wife, grandfather, grandmother, 
grandson, granddaughter, father-in-law, mother-


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314(d) of the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act for fiscal year 
1992 (P.L. 102-90, Aug. 14, 1991). Clause 13 was added in the 104th 
Congress (sec. 220, H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----).
  This rule was adopted in the 90th Congress (H. Res. 1099, Apr. 3, 
1968, p. 8803). The jurisdiction of the Committee on Standards of 
Official Conduct was redefined in the same resolution. The rule was 
amended in the 92d Congress to bring the Delegates from the District of 
Columbia, Guam and the Virgin Islands within the definition of 
``Member'' (H. Res. 5, Jan. 22, 1971, p. 144; H. Res. 1153, Oct. 13, 
1972, pp. 36021-23). The rule was further amended in the 94th Congress 
by adding clause 9 (H. Res. 5, Jan. 14, 1975, p. 20). Clause 10 was 
adopted in the 94th Congress (H. Res. 46, Apr. 16, 1975, p. 10340). In 
the 95th Congress: (1) clause 4 was amended to change the prohibition 
against acceptance of gifts of ``substantial value''; (2) clause 6 was 
amended to delete from the second sentence the exception ``unless 
specifically provided by law,'' which had been added in the 94th 
Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 4, 1975, p. 20); (3) clause 7 was amended to 
eliminate an exception permitting sponsors to give notice of purpose; 
and (4) definitions for purposes of clause 4 were added (H. Res. 287, 
Mar. 2, 1977, pp. 5933-53). Clause 11 was adopted in the 96th Congress 
(H. Res. 5, Jan. 15, 1979, pp. 7-16). In the 100th Congress clause 4 was 
again amended in the 100th Congress to increase from $35 to $50 the 
value of personal hospitality of an individual that is not to be counted 
when computing the aggregate amount of gifts per calendar year, and 
clause 9 was amended to prohibit discrimination in employment based upon 
age (H. Res. 5, Jan. 6, 1987, p. 6). In the Ethics Reform Act of 1989: 
(1) clause 4 was again amended to revise the rules governing the 
acceptance of gifts, including value thresholds, waivers, and defined 
``relatives''; (2) clause 5 was amended to prohibit the acceptance of 
honoraria effective January 1, 1991; (3) clause 6 was amended to specify 
that campaign funds be used only for bona fide campaign or political 
purposes; (4) clause 8 was amended to broaden Members' accountability 
for the pay and performance of staff; (5) clause 9 was amended to 
conform existing staff anti-discrimination rules to the Fair Employment 
Practices resolution adopted in the 100th Congress (now rule LI; see 
Sec. 946a, infra); (6) clause 12 was added to proscribe certain contacts 
as involving conflicts of interest; and (7) the last undesignated 
paragraph was amended to make conforming changes in the definition of 
``relative'' (P.L. 101-194, Nov. 30, 1989). The threshold and aggregate 
values in clause 4 were again adjusted by section 

  For an in depth discussion of this rule prepared by the Committee on 
Standards of Official Conduct, see the House Ethics Manual (102d Cong., 
2d Sess.).




  It is not a proper parliamentary inquiry to ask the Chair to interpret 
the application of a criminal statute to a Member's conduct, as it is 
for the House and not the Chair to judge the conduct of Members (Nov. 
17, 1987, p. 32153). The committee has opined that ``conviction'' in 
clause 10 includes a plea of guilty or a certified finding of guilty 
even though sentencing may occur later (H. Rept. 94-76).