    [Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and the Rules of the House of Representatives, 105th Congress]
    [105th Congress]
    [House Document 104-272]
    [Rules of the House of Representatives]
    [Pages 353-355]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

                                    Rule VI.

                          office of inspector general.

    Sec. 654. Inspector General.

      1.  There is established an
    Office of Inspector General.

      2. The Inspector General shall be appointed for a Congress by the
    Speaker, the Majority Leader, and the Minority Leader, acting jointly.

      3. Subject to the policy direction and oversight of the Committee on
    House Oversight, the Inspector General shall be responsible only for--

              (a) conducting periodic audits of the financial and
    administrative functions of the House and joint entities;

    [[Page 354]]

    sults of that audit and suggesting
    appropriate curative actions;
              (b) informing the Officers or other officials who are the
    subject of an audit of the re-

              (c) simultaneously notifying the Speaker, the Majority Leader,
    the Minority Leader, and the chairman and ranking minority party member
    of the Committee on House Oversight in the case of any financial
    irregularity discovered in the course of carrying out responsibilities
    under this rule;

              (d) simultaneously submitting to the Speaker, the Majority
    Leader, the Minority Leader, and the chairman and ranking minority party
    member of the Committee on House Oversight a report of each audit
    conducted under this rule; and

              (e) reporting to the Committee on Standards of Official
    Conduct information involving possible violations by any Member,
    officer, or employee of the House of any rule of the House or of any law
    applicable to the performance of official duties or the discharge of
    official responsibilities which may require referral to the appropriate
    Federal or State authorities pursuant to clause 4(e)(1)(C) of rule X.

      This form of rule VI was adopted at the beginning of the 104th
    Congress (sec. 201(c), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----). Later in the
    104th Congress it was amended to effect a technical correction (H. Res.
    254, Nov. 30, 1995, p. ----). Its predecessor form was composed in the
    103d Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 1993, p. ----) by combining two rules
    adopted in the House Administrative Reform Resolution of 1992 (H. Res.
    423, 102d Cong., Apr. 9, 1992, p. ----). For the history of rule VI
    before 1992, see Sec. 654a, infra.

    [[Page 355]]

    Sec. Sec. 651a-e, supra), and clause 2 corresponded to an erstwhile rule
    LIII of the 102d Congress (relating to the Inspector General). In
    converting clause 2 of the former rule VI into the present rule VI, the
    104th Congress: broadened the auditing responsibilities beyond the
    offices of the elected officers (paragraph (a), formerly clause
    2(c)(1)); added requirements for simultaneous reporting (paragraphs (c)
    and (d), formerly clauses 2(c)(3) and (4)); deleted a provision relating
    to classification of employees (formerly clause 2(d)); and added the
    responsibility to report certain information to the Committee on
    Standards of Official Conduct (paragraph (e)) (sec. 201, H. Res. 6,
    104th Congress, p. ----). The 104th Congress also mandated that the
    Inspector General, in consultation with the Speaker and the Committee on
    House Oversight, procure an independent and comprehensive audit of House
    financial records and administrative operations and report the results
    thereof in accord with this rule (sec. 107, H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p.
    ----).
      In the form of the rule adopted in the 103d Congress, clause 1
    corresponded to an erstwhile rule LII of the 102d Congress (relating to
    the Director of Non-legislative and Financial Services, who in the 104th
    Congress was supplanted by the Chief Administrative Officer; see rule V,

      Pursuant to clause 2(b) of the form of the rule adopted in the 103d
    Congress, the Speaker, the Majority Leader, and the Minority Leader
    jointly appointed the first Inspector General of the House of
    Representatives (Nov. 10, 1993, p. ----).

    Sec. 654a. Former Office of the Postmaster.

      Until  the 102d
    Congress, rule VI provided for an Office of the Postmaster, who
    superintended the post offices of the House and the delivery of its
    mail. The earlier form of the rule was adopted in 1838 and amended in
    1880 (I, 270), 1911 (VI, 34), 1971 (H. Res. 5, 92d Cong., p. 144), and
    1972 (H. Res. 1153, 92d Cong., pp. 36013-15). The Office of the
    Postmaster was abolished during the 102d Congress by sections 2 and 5 of
    the House Administrative Reform Resolution of 1992 (H. Res. 423, Apr. 9,
    1992, p. ----).