[Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and the Rules of the House of Representatives, 112th Congress]
[112nd Congress]
[House Document 111-157]
[Rules of the House of Representatives]
[Pages 927-938]
[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 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.



[[Page 928]]





      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 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 account 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 929]]




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.
      (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 

      (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 age 930]]




mittee 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 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 com

      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 931]]




ployee in 
the activity described in paragraph (a) is necessary. A copy of each 
such waiver shall be filed with the Committee on Ethics.
      (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 em

      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 the 
signatories 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--


[[Page 932]]





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

          (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;



[[Page 933]]





          (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);

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

          (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 934]]




ference report on a bill or joint resolution (including an 
accompanying joint explanatory statement of managers) on any vote cast 
by 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 
con

      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;



[[Page 935]]





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

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

      (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 936]]




ness 
organization, the other members and employees of the firm, partnership, 
or other business organization shall be subject to the same 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 busi



[[Page 937]]




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 
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 13 was amended in the 112th Congress to 
clarify that it does not require the disclosure of actual signatures 
(sec. 2(f), H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 2011, p. _). 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); 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); and in the 112th Congress a technical 
change was made (sec. 2(f), H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 2011, p. _). Clauses 14 
through 17 were added in the 110th Congress (secs. 202, 207, H. Res. 6, 
Jan. 4, 2007, p. 19; sec. 404(b), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 2007, p. 19 
(adopted Jan. 5, 2007)). Clause 15 was amended in its entirety during 
the 110th Congress (H. Res. 363, May 2, 2007, p. 11119). Gender-based 
references were eliminated in the 111th Congress (sec. 2(l), H. Res. 5, 
Jan. 6, 2009, p. _). An amendment was effected in the 112th Congress to 
reflect a change in committee name (sec. 2(e)(8), H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 
2011, 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 (now Ethics) 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. 43). 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 



[[Page 938]]





  For an in-depth discussion of this rule prepared by the Committee on 
Standards of Official Conduct (now Ethics), 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. 7457). The Committee on 
Standards of Official Conduct 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).