[Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and the Rules of the House of Representatives, 111th Congress]
[111st Congress]
[House Document 110-162]
[Rules of the House of Representatives]
[Pages 918-928]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 918]]
 
                               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 behave 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.

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

      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.


[[Page 919]]

      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 the campaign funds of such individual separate 
from the personal funds of such individual;

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

          (c) except as provided in clause 1(b) of rule XXIV, may not 
expend funds from a campaign accounts of such individual 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 
such employee receives.


[[Page 920]]

      (b) In the case of a committee employee who works under the direct 
supervision of a member of the committee other than a chair, the chair 
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 chair with this clause and with clause 9 of rule X.

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

          (A) a Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner may not 
retain the spouse of such individual in a paid position; and

          (B) an employee of the House may not accept compensation for 
work for a committee on which the spouse of such employee 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 921]]

state of the Union, unless or until judicial or executive proceedings 
result in reinstatement of the presumption of the innocence of such 
Member or until the Member 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' imprisonment may be imposed should 
refrain from participation in the business of each committee of which 
such individual 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

      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 922]]

      (b) Paragraph (a) does not apply if an employee first advises the 
employing authority of such employee of a significant financial interest 
described in paragraph (a) and obtains from such employing 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.

      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.

      14. A Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner may not, with the 
intent to influence on the basis of partisan political affiliation an 
employment decision or employment practice of any private entity--

          (a) take or withhold, or offer or threaten to take or 
withhold, an official act; or


[[Page 923]]

          (b) influence, or offer or threaten to influence, the official 
act of another.

      15. (a) Except as provided in paragraph (b), a Member, Delegate, 
or Resident Commissioner may not use personal funds, official funds, or 
campaign funds for a flight on an aircraft.

      (b) Paragraph (a) does not apply if--

          (1) the aircraft is operated by an air carrier or commercial 
operator certificated by the Federal Aviation Administration and the 
flight is required to be conducted under air carrier safety rules, or, 
in the case of travel which is abroad, by an air carrier or commercial 
operator certificated by an appropriate foreign civil aviation authority 
and the flight is required to be conducted under air carrier safety 
rules;

          (2) the aircraft is owned or leased by a Member, Delegate, 
Resident Commissioner or a family member of a Member, Delegate, or 
Resident Commissioner (including an aircraft owned by an entity that is 
not a public corporation in which the Member, Delegate, Resident 
Commissioner or a family member of a Member, Delegate, or Resident 
Commissioner has an ownership interest, provided that such Member, 
Delegate, or Resident Commissioner does not use the aircraft any more 
than the Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, or family member's 
proportionate share of ownership allows);


[[Page 924]]

an individual on the basis of personal friendship; or
          (3) the flight consists of the personal use of an aircraft by 
a Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner that is supplied by

          (4) the aircraft is operated by an entity of the Federal 
government or an entity of the government of any State.

      (c) In this clause--

          (1) the term ``campaign funds'' includes funds of any 
political committee under the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, 
without regard to whether the committee is an authorized committee of 
the Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner involved under such Act;

          (2) the term ``family member'' means an individual who is 
related to the Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner, as father, 
mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, husband, wife, father-in-law, or 
mother-in-law; and

          (3) the term ``on the basis of personal friendship'' has the 
same meaning as in clause 5 of rule XXV and shall be determined as under 
clause 5(a)(3)(D)(ii) of rule XXV.


[[Page 925]]

another Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner. For purposes of this 
clause and clause 17, the terms ``congressional earmark,'' ``limited tax 
benefit,'' and ``limited tariff benefit'' shall have the meanings given 
them in clause 9 of rule XXI.
      16. A Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner may not condition 
the inclusion of language to provide funding for a congressional 
earmark, a limited tax benefit, or a limited tariff benefit in any bill 
or joint resolution (or an accompanying report) or in any conference 
report on a bill or joint resolution (including an accompanying joint 
explanatory statement of managers) on any vote cast by

      17. (a) A Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner who requests 
a congressional earmark, a limited tax benefit, or a limited tariff 
benefit in any bill or joint resolution (or an accompanying report) or 
in any conference report on a bill or joint resolution (or an 
accompanying joint statement of managers) shall provide a written 
statement to the chair and ranking minority member of the committee of 
jurisdiction, including--

          (1) the name of the Member, Delegate, or Resident 
Commissioner;

          (2) in the case of a congressional earmark, the name and 
address of the intended recipient or, if there is no specifically 
intended recipient, the intended location of the activity;

          (3) in the case of a limited tax or tariff benefit, 
identification of the individual or entities reasonably anticipated to 
benefit, to the extent known to the Member, Delegate, or Resident 
Commissioner;

          (4) the purpose of such congressional earmark or limited tax 
or tariff benefit; and


[[Page 926]]

sional earmark or limited tax or tariff benefit.
          (5) a certification that the Member, Delegate, or Resident 
Commissioner or spouse has no financial interest in such congres

      (b) Each committee shall maintain the information transmitted 
under paragraph (a), and the written disclosures for any congressional 
earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits included in 
any measure reported by the committee or conference report filed by the 
chair of the committee or any subcommittee thereof shall be open for 
public inspection.

      18. (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.


[[Page 927]]

restrictions on lobbying that apply to the individual under this 
paragraph.

      (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. In the case of such an individual who is a 
member or employee of a firm, partnership, or other business 
organization, the other members and employees of the firm, partnership, 
or other business organization shall be subject to the same


[[Page 928]]

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)). 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. 24). Clause 18 (which was an undesignated paragraph at 
the end of the rule before being numbered as clause 14 when 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. 47) and in the 107th 
Congress to add the last two sentences of paragraph (b) (sec. 2(v), H. 
Res. 5, Jan. 3, 2001, p. 24). Paragraph (b) was amended during the 110th 
Congress with regard to firms, partnerships, and other business 
organizations (sec. 303, P.L. 110-81). 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. 
47); 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. 24) and a clerical correction to a cross reference in clause 8(b) was 
effected (sec. 2(x), H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 2001, p. 26). Clauses 14 through 
17 were added in the 110th Congress (secs. 202, 207, H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 
2007, p. _; sec. 404(b), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 2007, p. _ (adopted Jan. 5, 
2007)). Clause 15 was amended in its entirety during the 110th Congress 
(H. Res. 363, May 2, 2007, p. _). Gender-based references were 
eliminated in the 111th Congress (sec. 2(l), H. Res. 5, Jan. 6, 2009, 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. 
47). It was redesignated as rule XXIII in the 107th Congress (sec. 2(s), 
H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 2001, p. 24). 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). Before 
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) and was again 
amended in the 109th Congress to conform it to the change in clause 1 of 
rule XXIV to permit campaign funds to be used to defray certain official 
expenses (sec. 2(j), H. Res. 5, Jan. 4, 2005, p. _). Clause 6 was also 
amended by the Ethics Reform Act of 1989 (P.L. 101-194) to specify that 
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. 47). 
Clause 8(c) was added in the 107th Congress (sec. 2(t), H. Res. 5, Jan. 
3, 2001, p. 24). 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 in the 101st Congress to conform existing staff 
antidiscrimination rules to the Fair Employment

  For an in-depth discussion of this rule prepared by the Committee on 
Standards of Official Conduct, see the House Ethics Manual (110th 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, because it 
is for the House and not the Chair to judge the conduct of Members (Nov. 
17, 1987, p. 32153). In response to a parliamentary inquiry, the Chair 
advised that the operation of clause 16 was not affected by a special 
order of the House waiving various points of order against a measure and 
against its consideration (Mar. 23, 2007, p. _). The Committee on 
Standards of Official Conduct 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).