    [Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and the Rules of the House of Representatives, 108th Congress]
    [108th Congress]
    [House Document 107-284]
    [Rules of the House of Representatives]
    [Pages 882-889]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

                                   Rule XXIII

                            code of official conduct

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

    Sec. 1095. Official conduct of Members, officers, or
    employees of the House.

          1.  A Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner,
    officer, or employee of the House shall conduct himself at all times in
    a manner that shall reflect creditably on the House.

          2. A Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, officer, or employee
    of the House shall adhere to the spirit and the letter of the Rules of
    the House and to the rules of duly constituted committees thereof.

    [[Page 883]]

    would occur by virtue of influence improperly exerted from his position
    in Congress.
          3. A Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, officer, or employee
    of the House may not receive compensation and may not permit
    compensation to accrue to his beneficial interest from any source, the
    receipt of which

          4. A Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, officer, or employee
    of the House may not accept gifts except as provided by clause 5 of rule
    XXV.

          5. A Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, officer, or employee
    of the House may not accept an honorarium for a speech, a writing for
    publication, or other similar activity, except as otherwise provided
    under rule XXV.

          6. A Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner--

              (a) shall keep his campaign funds separate from his personal
    funds;

              (b) may not convert campaign funds to personal use in excess
    of an amount representing reimbursement for legitimate and verifiable
    campaign expenditures; and

              (c) may not expend funds from his campaign account that are
    not attributable to bona fide campaign or political purposes.

          7. A Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner shall treat as
    campaign contributions all proceeds from testimonial dinners or other
    fund-raising events.

          8. (a) A Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, or officer of
    the House may not retain an employee who does not perform duties for the
    offices of the employing authority commensurate with the compensation he
    receives.

    [[Page 884]]

    ber of the committee other than a chairman, the chairman may require
    that such member affirm in writing that the employee has complied with
    clause 8(a) (subject to clause 9 of rule X) as evidence of compliance by
    the chairman with this clause and with clause 9 of rule X.
          (b) In the case of a committee employee who works under the direct
    supervision of a mem

          (c)(1) Except as specified in subparagraph (2)--

              (A) a Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner may not
    retain his spouse in a paid position; and

              (B) an employee of the House may not accept compensation for
    work for a committee on which his spouse serves as a member.

          (2) Subparagraph (1) shall not apply in the case of a spouse whose
    pertinent employment predates the One Hundred Seventh Congress.

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

    [[Page 885]]

    onment may be imposed should refrain from participation in the business
    of each committee of which he is a member, and a Member should refrain
    from voting on any question at a meeting of the House or of the
    Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union, 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, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner who has been
    convicted by a court of record for the commission of a crime for which a
    sentence of two or more years' impris

          11. A Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner may not authorize
    or otherwise allow an individual, group, or organization not under the
    direction and control of the House 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 in paragraph (b), an employee of the
    House who is required to file a report under rule XXVI may not
    participate personally and substantially as an employee of the House in
    a contact with an agency of the executive or judicial branches of
    Government with respect to nonlegislative matters affecting any
    nongovernmental person in which the employee has a significant financial
    interest.

    [[Page 886]]

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

          13. Before a Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, officer, or
    employee of the House 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 the House of
    Representatives or in accordance with its Rules.''

        Copies of the executed oath (or affirmation) shall be retained by
    the Clerk as part of the records of the House. The Clerk shall make
    signatures a matter of public record, causing the names of each Member,
    Delegate, or Resident Commissioner who has signed the oath during a week
    (if any) to be published in a portion of the Congressional Record
    designated for that purpose on the last legislative day of the week and
    making cumulative lists of such names available each day for public
    inspection in an appropriate office of the House.

    [[Page 887]]

          14. (a) In this Code of Official Conduct, the term ``officer or
    employee of the House'' means an individual whose compensation is
    disbursed by the Chief Administrative Officer.

          (b) An individual whose services are compensated by the House
    pursuant to a consultant contract shall be considered an employee of the
    House for purposes of clauses 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, and 13 of this rule. An
    individual whose services are compensated by the House pursuant to a
    consultant contract may not lobby the contracting committee or the
    members or staff of the contracting committee on any matter. Such an
    individual may lobby other Members, Delegates, or the Resident
    Commissioner or staff of the House on matters outside the jurisdiction
    of the contracting committee.

    [[Page 888]]

    campaign funds be used only for bona fide campaign or political
    purposes. Clause 7 was amended in the 95th Congress to eliminate an
    exception permitting sponsors to give notice of purpose (H. Res. 5, Jan.
    4, 1975, p. 20). The Ethics Reform Act of 1989 (P.L. 101-194) amended
    clause 8 to broaden Members' accountability for the pay and performance
    of staff. Clause 8 was again amended in the 106th Congress to permit
    telecommuting by House employees (H. Res. 5, Jan. 6, 1999, p. ----).
    Clause 8(c) was added in the 107th Congress (sec. 2(t), H. Res. 5, Jan.
    3, 2001, p. ----). Clause 9 was added in the 94th Congress (H. Res. 5,
    Jan. 14, 1975, p. 20). Clause 9 was amended in the 100th Congress to
    prohibit discrimination in employment based upon age (H. Res. 5, Jan. 6,
    1987, p. 6) and again the 101st Congress to conform existing staff
    antidiscrimination rules to the Fair Employment Practices resolution
    adopted in the 100th Congress (now contained in the Congressional
    Accountability Act of 1995 (P.L. 104-1; 2 U.S.C. 1301; see Sec. 1101,
    infra)) (P.L. 101-194). Clause 10 was added in the 94th Congress (H.
    Res. 46, Apr. 16, 1975, p. 10340). Clause 11 was added in the 96th
    Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 15, 1979, pp. 7-16). Clause 12 was added by
    the Ethics Reform Act of 1989 (P.L. 101-194) to proscribe certain
    contacts as involving conflicts of interest. Clause 13 was added in the
    104th Congress (sec. 220, H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. 468), except the
    last sentence, which was added in the 107th Congress (sec. 2(t), H. Res.
    5, Jan. 3, 2001, p. ----). Clause 14 (which was an undesignated
    paragraph at the end of the rule before the rules were recodified in the
    106th Congress) was amended in the 92d Congress to bring the Delegates
    and Resident Commissioner within the definition of ``Member'' (H. Res.
    5, Jan. 22, 1971, p. 144; H. Res. 1153, Oct. 13, 1972, pp. 36021-23). It
    was again amended in the 106th Congress to include consultants among
    employees covered by certain provisions of the code of conduct (H. Res.
    5, Jan. 6, 1999, p. ----) in the 107th Congress to add the last two
    sentences of clause 14(b) (sec. 2(v), H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 2001, p. ----).
    In the 105th Congress the rule was amended to effect three clerical
    corrections (H. Res. 5, Jan. 7, 1997, p. 121); in the
    106th Congress clerical and stylistic changes were effected when the
    rules were recodified (H. Res. 5, Jan. 6, 1999, p. ----); and in the
    107th Congress conforming changes were made to reflect the redesignation
    of several rules (sec. 2(s), H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 2001, p. ----) and a
    clerical correction to a cross reference in clause 8(b) was effected
    (sec. 2(x), H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 2001, p. ----).
      This rule was transferred from rule XLIII to rule XXIV when the House
    recodified its rules in the 106th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 6, 1999, p.
    ----). It was again redesignated as rule XXIII in the 107th Congress
    (sec. 2(s), H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 2001, p. ----). The rule was originally
    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. Clause 4 was entirely rewritten (and
    definitions for the purpose of clause 4 were deleted) in the 104th
    Congress to reflect the adoption of a Gift Rule (H. Res. 254, Nov. 30,
    1995, p. 35077). Prior to the 104th Congress, clause 4 had been amended
    in the 95th Congress to change the prohibition against acceptance of
    gifts of ``substantial value'' (H. Res. 5, Jan. 4, 1975, p. 20) and
    definitions for purposes of clause 4 were added in the 96th Congress (H.
    Res. 287, Mar. 2, 1977, pp. 5933-53). Those definitions were amended in
    the Ethics Reform Act of 1989 to make conforming changes in the
    definition of ``relative'' (P.L. 101-194). Clause 4 was also amended:
    (1) 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 (H. Res. 5,
    Jan. 6, 1987, p. 6); and (2) in the Ethics Reform Act of 1989 to revise
    the rules governing the acceptance of gifts, including value thresholds
    and waivers (P.L. 101-194). Those threshold and aggregate values were
    again adjusted by section 314(d) of the Legislative Branch
    Appropriations Act for fiscal year 1992 (P.L. 102-90). The Ethics Reform
    Act of 1989 (P.L. 101-194) amended clause 5 to prohibit the acceptance
    of honoraria. Clause 6 was amended in the 95th Congress 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). Clause 6 was also amended by the Ethics Reform Act of 1989
    (P.L. 101-194) to specify that

      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.). The committee has also compiled a complete statement of the
    rules on gifts and travel, which supersedes Chapter 2 of the 1992 House
    Ethics Manual (Gifts and Travel, 106th Cong., 2d Sess.).

    [[Page 889]]

    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).

      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 on Standards of Official Conduct has