[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 Printing 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