[Senate Report 107-152]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 378
107th Congress Report
SENATE
2d Session 107-152
_______________________________________________________________________
PRESIDENTIAL APPOINTMENTS
IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2002
__________
R E P O R T
of the
COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
UNITED STATES SENATE
together with
ADDITIONAL VIEWS
to accompany
S. 1811
TO AMEND THE ETHICS IN GOVERNMENT ACT OF 1978 (5 U.S.C. APP.) TO
STREAMLINE THE FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE PROCESS FOR EXECUTIVE BRANCH
EMPLOYEES
May 16 (legislative day, May 9), 2002.--Ordered to be printed
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
99-010 WASHINGTON : 2002
COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, Connecticut, Chairman
CARL LEVIN, Michigan FRED THOMPSON, Tennessee
DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii TED STEVENS, Alaska
RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois SUSAN M. COLLINS, Maine
ROBERT G. TORRICELLI, New Jersey GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, Ohio
MAX CLELAND, Georgia THAD COCHRAN, Mississippi
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware ROBERT F. BENNETT, Utah
JEAN CARNAHAN, Missouri JIM BUNNING, Kentucky
MARK DAYTON, Minnesota PETER G. FITZGERALD, Illinois
Joyce A. Rechtschaffen, Staff Director and Counsel
Susan E. Propper, Counsel
Richard A. Hertling, Minority Staff Director
Ellen B. Brown, Minority Senior Counsel
John T. Daggett, Minority Professional Staff Member
Darla D. Cassell, Chief Clerk
Calendar No. 378
107th Congress Report
SENATE
2d Session 107-152
======================================================================
PRESIDENTIAL APPOINTMENTS IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2002
_______
May 16 (legislative day, May 9), 2002.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Lieberman, from the Committee on Governmental Affairs, submitted
the following
R E P O R T
together with
ADDITIONAL VIEWS
[To accompany S. 1811]
The Committee on Governmental Affairs, to whom was referred
the bill (S. 1811) to amend the Ethics in Government Act of
1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) to streamline the financial disclosure
process for executive branch employees, reports favorably
thereon with amendments and recommends that the bill as amended
do pass.
CONTENTS
Page
I. Purpose and Summary..............................................1
II. Background.......................................................2
III. Discussion of Legislation........................................3
IV. Legislative History..............................................9
V. Section-by-Section Analysis.....................................10
VI. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact.................................18
VII. CBO Cost Estimate...............................................18
VIII.Additional Views................................................19
IX. Changes to Existing Law.........................................21
I. Purpose and Summary
S. 1811, the Presidential Appointments Improvement Act of
2002, is a bipartisan bill to improve the Presidential
appointment process without violating the spirit and letter of
the conflict of interest laws and to provide a newly elected
President the ability to submit nominations to the Senate for
Presidential appointments as expeditiously as possible after
the President takes office. As Senator Thompson, the bill's
chief sponsor, stated, ``The Presidential appointments process
is unnecessarily long, burdensome, and complex.'' The bill
streamlines the financial disclosure requirements for high
level executive branch nominees and employees. It also
strengthens existing disclosure requirements by: requiring
newly appointed officials who have not complied with an ethics
agreement within the original time specified to file a monthly
notification of the status of their steps to comply until all
terms of the agreement have been met; and requiring the Office
of Government Ethics (``OGE'') to post a monthly notice of any high
level employees who received waivers of certain conflict of interest
laws in the previous month. In addition, the legislation provides key
information regarding Presidentially appointed positions to the major
party Presidential candidates shortly after they are nominated, directs
agencies to recommend which positions requiring Senate confirmation
within the agency could be eliminated, and asks OGE, in conjunction
with the Attorney General, to conduct a comprehensive review of
conflict of interest laws relating to Federal employment.
II. Background
creation of public financial disclosure requirements
The Ethics in Government Act of 1978, as amended, 5 U.S.C.
App. Sec. 101 et seq., was enacted to require high level
officials and employees in the executive, legislative and
judicial branches of the Federal government to disclose in a
public report information about their income, assets and
liabilities. The purposes of this law included ``increas[ing]
public confidence in the government'' and ``demonstrat[ing] the
high level of integrity of the vast majority of public
officials.'' S. Rpt. 95-170, at 21. Consequently, a goal of
this disclosure is ``to identify potential conflicts of
interest or situations that might present the appearance of a
conflict of interest.'' S. Rpt. 95-170, at 117. Those required
to file reports under the current law include, among others,
the President and Vice President, high level White House staff,
all officers and employees in the executive branch in positions
classified above GS-15, high-ranking officials and employees of
the United States Postal Service, Members of Congress and top
legislative branch officers and employees, Supreme Court
Justices, Federal appellate and district court judges, judges
in other courts created by Congress, and high-ranking staff in
the judicial branch.
The 1978 law required the disclosure of holdings,
liabilities and transactions using categories of value rather
than an exact value of the property, liability or transaction
involved. ``[T]he use of categories of value fully meets the
legitimate public purpose of identifying potential conflicts
and the magnitude of those conflicts, while not requiring a
yearly appraisal of each holding and also minimizing the
invasion of privacy involved.'' S. Rpt. 95-170, at 117. The
original law had categories of value up to $100,000 or more for
income, and greater than $250,000 for assets, liabilities and
transactions. The Ethics Reform Act of 1989, P.L. 101-194,
added three new categories at the upper end for assets,
liabilities and transactions, covering values of greater than
$1,000,000, and two new categories of income, also requiring
disclosure of up to $1,000,000 or more. Additional increases in
these upper categories were made in 1995, in the Lobbying
Disclosure Act, P.L. 104-65. Two new categories were added for
income, requiring disclosure up to $5,000,000 or more, and four
new categories were created for assets, liabilities and
transactions, requiring disclosure of values up to $50,000,000
or more. These categories are in effect today.
the need for changes in executive branch financial disclosure
High level executive branch employees have been required
since 1978 to file financial disclosure reports in connection
with their entrance into government and thereafter on an annual
basis. P.L. 95-521. Those subject to this requirement include
individuals nominated by the President to serve in high level
executive branch positions.
The Constitution of the United States authorizes the
President to nominate and, by and with the advice and consent
of the Senate, appoint officers of the United States. In recent
years, various aspects of the process by which the President
selects nominees and the Senate confirms them have been
criticized as unnecessarily difficult and slow.
Since the mid-1980's, nearly a dozen major studies,
including several Presidential Commissions, have examined the
need for changes in the process a President uses to nominate
individuals who will serve in high-level executive branch
positions in his Administration. The Committee has compiled a
summary of the findings of these reports, which is reprinted in
the hearing record for its April 2001 hearings on the State of
the Presidential Appointment Process. S. Hrg. 107-118. A number
of these reports make the case that the myriad of paperwork
required by the different offices involved in vetting the
President's executive branch nominees needs to be condensed
into standardized forms. In addition, many of the commissions
come to the conclusion that the financial disclosure
requirements for these positions should be streamlined.
In the two years leading up to the Presidential election of
2000, a number of think tanks and academics, including the
Brookings Institute's Presidential Appointee Initiative, the
American Enterprise Institute's Transition to Governing
Project, and the White House 2001 project, began looking at the
issues surrounding the transition to a new Presidential
administration. Their studies identified a number of obstacles
that made it difficult for a new President to put his new
Administration in place in an expeditious fashion. They
expressed considerable concern over the increasing amount of
time needed in successive administrations since the Reagan
Administration to nominate and confirm new high level executive
branch appointees. These groups identified aspects of the
Presidential appointment process that they believed slowed this
process unnecessarily and imposed burdens on prospective
nominees. These groups expressed concern that, absent changes
to improve this process, future Presidents would find it
increasingly hard to encourage qualified individuals to serve
in the executive branch.
As a result of these efforts, the Committee received many
recommendations designed to speed up the appointment process. A
key recommendation from many sources was to streamline the
financial disclosure requirements for those executive branch
nominees who report under the provisions of the Ethics in
Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App. Sec. 101(b)). A survey
conducted by the Presidential Appointee Initiative of senior
level appointees from the Reagan, George H. W. Bush and Clinton
Administrations showed that in each successive administration,
appointees found the existing financial disclosure requirements
more burdensome and difficult to meet. Others agreed that the
current requirements seek more information than may be
necessary to determine whether conflicts exist for executive
branch employees. Scott Harshbarger ofCommon Cause stated, in
testimony before the Committee, ``The disclosure form needs to contain
all the information necessary to identify potential conflicts [of
interest.] It does not need to be a net worth statement.'' S. Hrg. 107-
118, at 30.
III. Discussion of Legislation
EXECUTIVE BRANCH FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE
S. 1811 simplifies financial disclosure reporting by high
level executive branch nominees and employees, including the
President and Vice President, high level White House staff, all
officers and employees in positions classified above GS-15, and
high-ranking officials and employees of the United States
Postal Service. It substantially reduces the amount of detail
these high level nominees and employees are required to provide
regarding their sources of income, assets and liabilities,
although it requires the reporting of sufficient information on
the forms to ensure that the existence of potential conflicts
of interest can be determined. In addition, while S. 1811
reduces the amount of detail a high level executive branch
nominee or employee must report regarding financial interests,
it is important to note that OGE, the relevant Department
Secretary, or designated agency ethics official retains the
ability under Section 206 to require the individual to provide
additional information needed to complete the form or perform a
conflict of interest analysis.
One of the significant areas of change is in the categories
of value used to report income, assets and liabilities. By
raising the minimum thresholds for reporting, lowering the top
valuation categories and reducing the number of categories
overall, S. 1811 simplifies the financial disclosure forms and
limits the privacy intrusion occasioned by making these forms
public. These reductions put the focus back on the use of the
forms for conflict of interest determinations rather than as
statements of net worth.
Under current law, sources of investment income must be
reported under one of ten categories, once the income from that
source exceeds $200 during the reporting period. The top
category of value is $5,000,000 or greater. In addition, filers
must report the exact amount of all other income, such as
earned income and honoraria, instead of using the categories of
value for these sources. S. 1811 requires that all income be
treated (other than honoraria received while in government
service) the same, the threshold for reporting income be raised
to $500 and the number of categories of value be reduced from
10 to 5, with a maximum category of ``over $2,500,000.''
The threshold for reporting assets is increased from $1001
to $5001, while the number of categories of value a filer must
use to report assets is reduced from 11 to 5. The maximum
category for reporting assets is also lowered, from the current
``over $50,000,000'' to ``greater than $2,500,000.''
Current law requires reporting of liabilities using 11
categories of value, ranging from a threshold of $10,001 to
``over $50,000,000.'' S. 1811 would raise the threshold for
reporting liabilities to those which exceed $20,000, although
if the aggregate amount owed by a nominee seeking Senate
confirmation on all revolving charge accounts held exceeds
$20,000 as of any date within 30 days of filing the report, the
nominee must report that total as a liability. The number of
categories of value that must be used for reporting liabilities
is reduced to 4, with a top category of ``over $1,000,000.''
S. 1811 also reduces the burden of reporting under current
law in several other respects. For example, it eliminates the
current requirement to report the itinerary of ``reimbursed''
trips paid for by non-government entities (while retaining
disclosure of information on dates and sources of
reimbursement), simplifies the reporting of transactions
involving real property or securities, reduces under certain
circumstances the amount of information a new filer must
provide about his or her private sector clients, and conforms
the requirements for reporting a spouse's investment and non-
investment income to those used by the filer. It also
substantially raises the threshold for reporting deposit
accounts in a financial institution and government securities
to $100,000. Under current law, deposit accounts over $5000
must be reported as assets, and government securities worth
more than $1000 must be disclosed as personal property.
Although these changes will under certain circumstances
result in less detailed information about the financial
interests of executive branch nominees and employees, OGE has
informed the Committee that the information to be reported
under these provisions will be more than sufficient to
determine whether conflicts of interest exist. The information
reported will still indicate whether the filer has income or
assets worth as much as $2,500,000 or more and liabilities of
$1,000,000 or more, amounts that will enable a reviewer to
determine whether any of these interests might present a
conflict with the filer's job responsibilities.
Once conflicts are identified, it is important to note that
current law already provides safeguards to ensure that high
level executive branch employees cannot take official action on
matters that would affect their personal financial interests.
If an incoming executive branch nominee or employee has
holdings or other financial interests that raise conflict
concerns, the OGE or the designated agency ethics official can
require the individual to take one of a number of different
actions to avoid conflicts while in office. (Those entering
Federal service can be required to sign an agreement with the
employing agency regarding what action they will take to
eliminate or avoid conflicts while in office; one Senate
committee asks nominees to agree to divest all holdings as a
condition of confirmation. 5 CFR Part 2634, Subpart H.) The
action required is determined on a case-by-case basis depending
on the duties of the position and the nature and extent of the
holdings. If the disqualification to act due to an individual's
financial interest is so basic to the responsibilities of the
position that it would impede the government's ability to get
the services it expects from that individual, the individual
can be required to divest that interest in order to hold that
position. 5 CFR Part 2635, Subpart D. Other actions that can be
required include recusal from any action that would present a
conflict or creating a blind trust. 18 U.S.C. Sec. 208; 5 CFR
2634.802. An individual can also seek a waiver of the ethics
rules undercertain circumstances. Id.
The combination of financial disclosure, as required by S.
1811, and the safeguards current law already has in place to
preclude executive branch officers and employees from acting on
matters that could affect their financial interests, will
continue to serve the purposes for which the Ethics in
Government Act was originally designed. These provisions will
maintain public confidence in the government and deter
conflicts of interest from arising.
LEGISLATIVE AND JUDICIAL BRANCH REPORTING
Under current law, financial disclosure by all three
branches of the Federal government is subject to the same set
of requirements. 5 U.S.C. App. Sec. 101 et seq. However,
because the record before the Committee focused exclusively on
the issues regarding financial disclosure by executive branch
nominees and employees, and the recommendations the Committee
received raised concerns solely regarding the impact of the
current requirements on executive branch nominees and
employees, S. 1811 does not make any changes in such reporting
for the legislative or judicial branches.
There are also differences in the actions that employees in
the legislative and judicial branches, in comparison to
employees in the executive branch, may be required to take
based on financial disclosure information. Executive branch
officers and employees are subject to an array of remedies,
such as divestiture and blind trusts, that ensure that these
individuals do not act on matters that could affect their
financial interests. In contrast, the Senate Ethics rules
provide for greater discretion. As the Senate Ethics Manual
explains, ``[f]inancial interests and investments of Members
and employees * * * may present conflicts of interest with
official duties. Members and employees * * * need not, however,
divest themselves of assets upon assuming their positions, nor
must Members disqualify themselves from voting on issues that
generally affect their personal financial interests [NB: except
in the unusual situation in which a bill is designed to affect
a limited class of people that would include the Member or the
Member's family.] Instead, public financial disclosure provides
the mechanism for monitoring and deterring conflicts.'' S. Pub.
106-40 (2000). Financial disclosure also continues to serve an
important function in deterring conflicts of interest for
Federal judges, who are not under any obligation to divest any
financial holdings while serving but must recuse themselves if
they determine that a matter before the court presents a
conflict with their financial or fiduciary interests. 28 U.S.C.
Sec. 455. While these differences may not rule out changes in
financial disclosure for the legislative or judicial branches,
the issues presented for those two branches warrant separate
study beyond the scope of the Committee's inquiry at this time.
PUBLIC NOTICE OF WAIVERS
Under the Federal criminal laws, an executive branch
employee is prohibited from participating in any official
matter in which the employee's financial interest could be
directly affected. 18 U.S.C. Sec. 208(a). An executive branch
employee may seek a waiver of this criminal conflict of
interest statute in cases in which there might be a potential
appearance of, but not actual, personal self-dealing. 18 U.S.C
Sec. 208(b). If a waiver is granted, the employee may
participate in the matter that otherwise appeared to present a
conflict. The statutory test for issuing a waiver requires a
determination by a third person, such as a designated agency
ethics official, before the employee takes any action on the
matter, that the employee's financial interest in the matter on
which he would act ``is not so substantial as to be deemed
likely to affect his services [in that matter].'' 18 U.S.C.
Sec. 208(b). Waivers are required by law to be publicly
available. 18 U.S.C. Sec. 208(d). However, obtaining access to
these waivers is not an easy process, as an interested person
must request a copy of the waiver granted to a specific
employee from the relevant agency. This requires the requestor
to know in advance that an individual has received a waiver and
which agency to approach; there is no index one can search to
obtain this information.
S. 1811 improves the public's ability to access waivers in
two ways. First, it requires agencies to provide OGE with a
monthly list of high level employees who have received waivers.
OGE will then post the list on the Internet along with a list
of any waivers granted by OGE itself. This will allow
interested parties to seek copies of waivers more easily. In
addition, the legislation requires filers to attach copies of
any waivers they have received in the previous year to the next
report they file.
It is important to understand that granting a waiver is an
acknowledgment by OGE or the employing agency that the
individual's financial interest is not a bar to acting on a
matter that could otherwise appear to be a conflict. Moreover,
waivers are only one mechanism used by the executive branch to
resolve potential and actual conflicts of interest; others
include divestiture, recusal and blind trusts. OGE can, and
perhaps should, provide an explanation of the significance of
waivers in the context of the larger financial disclosure
requirements when it provides the disclosure required by the
legislation on its website, so that its monthly Internet
posting is correctly understood and used by the public.
Notice of failure to satisfy ethics agreement
High level executive branch nominees subject to Senate
confirmation complete the public financial disclosure form as
part of the nomination process. Other high level executive
branch employees file a public financial disclosure form within
30 days of entering the covered position. If an employee's or
nominee's financial interests will create a conflict of
interest with the job responsibilities the individual is
expected to perform, the employing agency can require the
individual to sign an agreement to take action to remove the
conflicts. 5 CFR 2634 Subpart H. The actions specified in the
agreement, such as divestiture, must occur by the end of a
period stated in the agreement or, if no time is stated, within
90 days after the date of the agreement. 5 U.S.C. App.
Sec. 110. At the end of the time specified, the individual must
notify the entity with which the agreement is made of any
action taken by the individual pursuant to the agreement. Id.
If, however, all the terms of the agreement have not been
satisfied within the time provided, thereis no requirement that
the individual continue reporting and no routine way to ascertain if
the agreement has been fulfilled prior to the next due financial
disclosure report.
In short, current law leaves a gap in the ability of agency
ethics officers to monitor ethics agreements with the goal of
ensuring that an individual does not take official action on
matters that present a conflict with his financial interests.
To address this concern, and ensure that ethics agreements can
be properly monitored, S. 1811 requires individuals who have
not met all the terms of their agreements within the time
required to continue filing on a monthly basis notification of
their failure to comply until all of the terms of the agreement
have been met.
OTHER PROVISIONS
The Committee received many recommendations for changes to
the Presidential appointment process in addition to the
suggestions to streamline the executive branch financial
disclosure requirements. S. 1811 addresses a number of these
issues in addition to the financial disclosure provisions that
are the main focus of this legislation.
Several reports suggested that the number of Presidentially
appointed positions be reduced as one way to both streamline
the bureaucracy and speed the confirmation process. Although
the legislation does not establish a limit on the number of
such positions, it does require executive branch agencies to
report to the President and to Congress on the number and
layers of Presidentially appointed positions within that agency
that could be eliminated. Agencies have 180 days from the date
of enactment of the legislation to submit this plan.
In addition, S. 1811 requires the Executive Clerk of the
White House to provide information to the major party nominees
for President on all positions which are appointed by the
President, including the names of any incumbents in those
positions, whether any vacancies exist in any positions, and
when appointments to these positions will be necessary after
the date of the Presidential election to ensure the effective
operation of the government. This information, which the
Executive Clerk may also provide to any other candidate for
President, will help encourage a smooth and quick transition to
a new Administration. It puts essential information regarding
the positions that will need to be filled if the candidate is
elected in the hands of each Presidential candidate at an early
point, and therefore encourages the candidate to think during
the campaign about who should be selected for those positions.
Finally, S. 1811 directs OGE, in conjunction with the
Attorney General of the United States, to conduct a
comprehensive review of the conflict of interest laws relating
to executive branch employment. OGE must submit this report to
the President and the Congress within 180 days after the date
of enactment of this legislation. The review must cover the
criminal and civil conflict of interest laws, and any
regulations promulgated under the Ethics in Government Act, and
should make recommendations for legislative changes that would
provide for better coordination of these laws, and more
uniformity, efficiency and clarity in their application and
administration.
IV. Legislative History
On June 14, 2000, the Committee reported out S. 2705, the
Thompson-Lieberman Presidential Transition Act of 2000, which
sought to smooth the transition to a new Presidential
Administration by allowing the use of Presidential transition
funds to hold orientation sessions for new high-level
appointees and to prepare a transition directory to guide new
appointments. S. 2705 also directed OGE to conduct a study of
the financial disclosure requirements for executive branch
nominees and appointees. The provisions of S. 2705 were
incorporated into H.R. 4931, which was passed in the Senate by
unanimous consent on September 28, 2000 and signed into law by
the President on October 12, 2000 as P.L. 106-293.
On April 4 and 5, 2001, the Committee held two days of
hearings on the state of the Presidential appointment process.
In its testimony, OGE presented the report required by the
Presidential Transition Act, and offered its suggestions for
streamlining the financial disclosure process for executive
branch nominees and employees. The report identified instances
in which the information on the SF 278, the financial
disclosure form used by high level executive branch nominees
and employees, sought the same or similar information sought by
other forms used during the confirmation process, including
forms nominees are asked to complete for the White House, the
Federal Bureau of Investigation and Senate confirming
committees. In addition, the OGE report noted that:
Public financial disclosure by high-level Government
employees was introduced into law to provide a tool for
identifying and resolving potential conflicts of
interest and to increase public confidence in the
Government. It is fundamental to the executive branch
ethics program. The current public financial disclosure
system, however, requires reporting more information
than is useful or necessary to achieve its fundamental
goals. * * * [U]nnecessary detail could be eliminated
without ``lessening substantive compliance with any
conflict of interest requirement.''
OGE recommended streamlining executive branch financial
disclosure along the general principles ultimately included in
S. 1811: reducing the number of income, assets and liability
valuation categories, shortening some of the time periods the
reporting must cover, raising the dollar thresholds for
reporting financial holdings, and eliminating what OGE
considered redundant reporting. In OGE's view, the current
requirements exceed what is necessary to determine whether an
executive branch nominee's or employee's finances present
potential conflicts of interest, particularly in light of the
other safeguards in place to ensure the absence of such
conflicts for those in the executive branch, such as agreements
to divest holdings upon confirmation, recusal, and waivers. OGE
also recommended that the Senate confirming committees re-
evaluate their own financial disclosure forms to avoid some of
the duplication and overlap with other forms nominees must
complete.
Other witnesses at the April hearing, including Paul Light
and Franklin D. Raines, who testified on behalf of the
Presidential Appointee Initiative, and Norman J. Ornstein, who
appeared on behalf of the Transition to Governing Project,
supported reductions in financial disclosure requirements for
high level executive branch employees. Scott Harshbarger,
testifying on behalf of Common Cause, expressed the view that
while some changes were warranted, OGE's proposal was too
drastic in scope. In an April 30, 2001 letter to then-Chairman
Thompson following the hearing, Common Cause proposed finding a
middle ground between the current 11 categories of valuation
nominees must use to report their holdings, and the three new
categories suggested by OGE. Common Cause also urged the
Committee to use a higher maximum category of value for assets
and income than the ``over $100,000'' category proposed by OGE.
S. 1811 responds to the issues that have been raised
regarding executive branch financial disclosure by
substantially reducing the amount of detail high level nominees
and Federal employees are required to provide regarding their
sources of income, assets and liabilities, although retaining
sufficient information on the forms to ensure that the
existence of potential conflicts of interest can be determined.
In doing so, the legislation strikes a balance between the
extensive information that must be reported under current law
and the considerably more limited set of standards proposed by
OGE. S. 1811 is also responsive to some of the other issues
regarding the Presidential appointment process that were cited
in the hearing testimony, such as the growing number of
Presidentially-appointed positions requiring Senate
confirmation, and the need of Presidential candidates to have
accurate information regarding positions requiring Presidential
appointment as early as possible to help speed and smooth the
transition to a new Administration.
Senators Thompson and Lieberman introduced this legislation
on December 12, 2001, with Senators Akaka, Durbin, Voinovich
and Lugar as co-sponsors. At the Committee's March 21, 2002
markup, Senators Akaka and Voinovich offered an amendment
making several technical corrections in the bill, which the
Committee adopted by a voice vote with no nays. The Committee
reported S. 1811 as amended by voice vote, with no nays.
Members present were Levin, Akaka, Cleland, Thompson, Stevens,
Voinovich, Cochran, Bennett and Lieberman.
V. Section-by-Section Analysis
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the ``Presidential Appointments
Improvement Act of 2002.''
Section 2. Purposes
This section sets forth the purposes of the bill: to
improve the Presidential appointment process without violating
the spirit and letter of the conflict of interest laws and to
provide a newly elected President the ability to submit all
nominations to the Senate for all Presidential appointments as
expeditiously as possible after the President takes office.
Section 3. Public financial disclosure for judicial and legislative
personnel
The legislation separates financial disclosure reporting
requirements for the executive branch from those applying to
the legislative and judicial branches. Section 3 sets forth the
public financial disclosure requirements which apply to
employees in the judicial and legislative branches, but makes
no substantive change to current law with respect to these
employees. The primary change to current law made by section 3
is that Title I of the Ethics in Government Act no longer
applies to officers and employees of the Executive Branch.
Executive Branch employees are covered by a new Title II
(established in section 4 of this bill).
In addition, references to the Office of Technology
Assessment have been deleted from sections 103(b)(1)(A)(i)(II)
and 109(9)(H) of 5 U.S.C. App. because this Office no longer
exists. Section 109(9)(H) adds the Office of Compliance to the
list of legislative branch components covered by the Act.
Section 4. Public financial disclosure for the executive branch
This section sets forth the public financial disclosure
requirements for Executive Branch personnel by creating a new
Title II of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978. This title
streamlines financial disclosure for the executive branch,
while maintaining sufficient reporting to ensure that the
existence of conflicts of interest can be determined. While the
Act reduces the amount of detail a high level executive branch
nominee or employee must report regarding financial interests,
it is important to note that the Office of Government Ethics
(``OGE''), Department Secretary, or designated agency ethics
official retains the ability under Section 206 to require the
individual to provide additional information needed to complete
the form or perform a conflict of interest analysis. The
legislation restates current law except as specifically noted
below.
Title II--Section 201. Persons Required to File.--
Subsection 201(c)(2) requires that an individual who is sworn
in as President or Vice President and who did not hold either
of those two positions immediately before taking the oath of
office shall file a financial disclosure report within 30 days
of taking the oath. This section is intended to make clear that
a newly-elected President or Vice President or an individual
who takes the oath of office of either of those two positions
outside the normal election cycle shall file a report within 30
days of taking the oath to give the public timely information
regarding the financial interests of these two officials. An
individual who is re-elected as President or Vice President, or
a sitting Vice President who is elected President, would not be
affected by this provision and would continue to file annually
on May 15.
Subsection 201(e) makes clear that an individual who moves
from any position in the executive branch covered by these
reporting requirements to any elected position in either the
executive or legislative branches need not file a termination
report for the first position. The subsection retains its
current exemption from filing termination reports for
individuals who move from any covered position to any other
covered, non-elected position.
Subsection 201(f)(6) clarifies which officers or employees
of the Postal Service are required to file by referencing the
levels of the Postal Career Executive Service rather than an
amount of basic pay. Officers and employees of the Postal Rate
Commission who are required to file continue to be referenced
by amounts of basic pay.
Section 202. Contents of Reports.--Subsection 202(a)(1)(A)
simplifies the reporting of any income, such as earned income
and honoraria, that is not derived from investments. Instead of
reporting exact amounts for these sources, filers will use the
same categories of value used for the reporting of investment
income. However, filers are required to continue to report the
exact value and date of honoraria received during government
service. This subsection also changes current law by
eliminating the requirement for filers to list all payments
made to charitable organizations in lieu of honoraria as well
as the requirement to provide a confidential list of the
recipients of such payments. Finally, the subsection raises the
threshold on reporting income from ``$200 or more'' to ``more
than $500.''
Subsection 202(a)(1)(B) changes the current disclosure
requirement for investment income to allow all investment
income, rather than just dividends, rents, interest and capital
gains, to be reported by category of amount. Previously, any
other investment income, such as that derived from partnership
or trust distributions, was required to be reported by exact
amount. The subsection also raises the reporting threshold from
$200 to more than $500.
Subsection 202(a)(1)(C) reduces the number of categories
used for reporting the value of investment income from 10 to 5.
This subsection reflects OGE's advice to the Committee that
these reporting categories provide adequate information to
assess an executive branch filer's potential conflicts of
interest. These same categories apply to earned income.
Subsection 202(a)(2)(B) makes a slight change to current
law regarding the reporting of reimbursements by eliminating
the requirement to report the itinerary of a ``reimbursed''
trip paid for by a non-government entity. However, filers will
continue to report the dates of travel. The subsection also
retains all current requirements to provide the source and a
brief description of reimbursements aggregating more than the
minimal value established under section 7342(a)(5), Title 5,
United States Code, or $250, whichever is greater.
Subsection 202(a)(3) updates current requirements by
raising the general threshold of reportable assets to $5,000,
increasing the threshold reporting requirement for deposit
accounts in a financial institution from $5,000 to $100,000,
and by creating a new threshold of $100,000 for government
securities. Currently, government securities are treated like
other personal property with a $1,000 reporting threshold. The
changes made to the latter two reporting requirements reflect
OGE's advice to the Committee that these assets rarely present
conflicts of interest per se, although public disclosure is
still required at higher amounts. In the unusual case where a
conflict might exist, OGE has advised the Committee that the
bill requires sufficient disclosure to allow a conflict
determination to be made.
Subsection 202(a)(4) raises the disclosure threshold for
liabilities from $10,000 to $20,000. Additionally, the
subsection adds, for Senate-confirmed nominees only, the
requirement to report the aggregate balance of all revolving
accounts (i.e., credit cards) if the sum of those balances
exceeds the $20,000 threshold. This change is intended to
provide a more accurate picture of a nominee's credit card
debt. Currently, large amounts of credit card debt can remain
undisclosed as long as the amount due for each individual card
remains below the liability reporting threshold. This
information will be helpful to those reviewing a nominee's
finances and who need a clearer picture of the nominee's total
liabilities.
Subsection 202(a)(5) modifies transaction reporting
requirements, which currently mandate the description, date,
and category of value of any purchase, sale or exchange of real
property or a security which exceeds $1,000. The new subsection
simplifies the current provision by requiring only a
description of transactions above $5,000 that are not already
reported elsewhere. It will also continue to apply to annual
filers only. This subsection reflects OGE's advice to the
Committee that sufficient conflict of interest analysis
generally can be conducted without a precise transaction date
or category of value. The subsection also eliminates redundant
reporting by not requiring a transaction to be listed if it
already appears on the form as either an asset or income.
Subsection 202(a)(6)(A) shortens the reporting period (for
first-time filers) for major positions held in organizations
other than the Federal government. Currently, first-time filers
must report all major positions held in such organizations
during the previous two years plus the current year. This
subsection changes the reporting period to the previous year
plus the current year. Annual filers are unaffected and will
continue to report major positions held during the previous
year. The change for first-time filers reflects OGE's advice to
the Committee that there is rarely a conflict of interest
justification requiring public disclosure of outside positions
held prior to that time and that, in cases in which questions
may remain, reviewers have broad authority to request as much
additional information as they need.
Subsection 202(a)(6)(B) modifies current requirements by
raising the threshold for reporting information about a new
filer's major clients to include only those who paid the
reporting individual $25,000 or more during a calendar year; by
shortening the reporting period from the previous two years
plus the current year to the previous year plus the current
year; by allowing the filer to avoid listing such clients if
they already appear on the form as a source of earned income;
and by adding an additional exemption from reporting
information in cases in which the client had a reasonable
expectation of privacy. OGE has advised the Committee that,
while conflict of interest analysis should continue to consider
major clients, the current threshold of $5,000 for requiring
information on major clients is too low. OGE's advice is that
there hasbeen a rise in billing fees since 1978 that would make
a $5000 a year client no longer ``major'' in today's business
environment for conflict of interest purposes.
Subsection 202(a)(7) changes current law by eliminating the
requirement to list the dates of most agreements between the
filer and a prior employer, such as an agreement regarding the
filer's continuing participation in the employer's benefit
plans. The only date which is required by this subsection is
that of a formal agreement for future employment. Filers are
still required to describe the parties to and terms of all
agreements with a prior employer. This change is based on OGE's
advice to the Committee that most agreement dates are of
limited use in establishing the existence of a conflict of
interest.
Subsection 202(a)(8) does not change the current law's
requirement that the total cash value of a blind trust must be
reported by category of amount, but does delete a reference to
blind trusts executed prior to July 24, 1995 for which the
trust document prohibited the beneficiary from receiving this
information. According to OGE, such trusts no longer exist.
Subsection 202(b)(1) outlines the reporting periods for
Presidential candidates, nominees to Senate-confirmed
positions, and new filers who have not previously filed a
financial disclosure form (as the holder of a prior, covered
position). The subsection makes no change to current law except
to reiterate that, in accordance with the changes made by
subsections 202(a)(6)(A) and (B), positions held and client
information must be reported only for the preceding calendar
year plus the current calendar year.
Subsection 202(c)(1) authorizes OGE to define an additional
reporting period, by regulation, to fill a reporting gap that
can occur between a nominee's or new entrant's report and the
first annual report the individual is required to file.
Subsection 202(d)(1) reduces the current eleven asset
valuation categories to five. The Committee has been advised by
OGE that these 5 categories provide sufficient information to
determine whether or not a filer has a conflict of interest.
Subsection 202(d)(3) establishes new categories of value
for reporting liabilities and qualified blind trusts;
previously, both were reported using the same categories as
assets and transactions. The subsection provides for four
categories instead of the eleven in current law. The Committee
has been advised by OGE that these 4 categories give adequate
information to assess whether or not a filer has a conflict of
interest.
Subsection 202(e)(1)(A) simplifies the non-investment
income reporting requirements for spouses to conform those
outlined in sections 202 (a)(1)(A) and (a)(1)(C), allowing
spouses to report all such income in valuation categories
rather than by exact amount. Spouses, however, do not share the
filer's requirement to report exact amounts of honoraria earned
while in government service. The subsection also lowers the
current threshold for reportable spousal income from $1,000 to
$500. These changes are intended to harmonize the dollar
thresholds between filer and spouse and to ease the reporting
burden in general.
Subsection 202(e)(1)(B) modifies current law to conform to
the changes made to sections (a)(1)(B) and (a)(1)(C), by
allowing a spouse to report all investment income by valuation
category and to utilize a reduced number of these categories.
These changes are intended to harmonize the dollar thresholds
between filer and spouse and to mirror the filer's reduced
reporting burden.
Subsection 202(e)(1)(F) eliminates a separate value
category for assets, liabilities, and income greater than
$1,000,000 if held solely (as opposed to jointly with the
filer) by dependent children or a spouse. This change is
intended to help make the reporting categories for filer and
spouse identical.
Subsection 202(f)(3) generally retains the current
definition of ``qualified blind trust'' except that a reference
to trusts qualified prior to January 1, 1991 would be
eliminated. According to OGE, such trusts no longer exist.
Subsection 202(f)(5) changes current filing requirements
regarding qualified blind trusts by deleting a requirement that
the filer provide a public copy of a list of the trust assets
with OGE upon dissolution of the trust. This change reflects
OGE's advice to the Committee that current law, which prevents
the filer from knowing which assets the trustee has decided to
invest in, is sufficient to prevent any conflicts of interest.
In special cases in which the filer deliberately transfers
assets to a blind trust in order to preempt a conflict, current
law already requires that a list of those assets be made
public. Finally, the trustee of the trust provides public
notification as assets that the filer placed in the trust are
sold. Therefore, the deleted requirement has no useful purpose
in conflict of interest analysis; holdings that might present
potential conflicts are already a matter of public record.
Subsection 202(f)(9)(A) establishes the criteria that must
be met by a new filer or a nominee to a Senate-confirmed
position in order not to disclose the assets of certain trust
and investment funds that otherwise would be required on a
financial disclosure form. Under this subsection, a new filer
or nominee is not required to disclose these assets when all of
the following three conditions are met: reporting would result
in the disclosure of financial information of another not
otherwise required to report, disclosure of the information is
prohibited by contract or the information is not be otherwise
publicly available, and the reporting individual agrees to
divest the interest within 90 days of the date of the
agreement. This provision is included to address the reporting
requirements for investment vehicles such as limited
partnerships in which the filer may not have specific
information about the underlying holdings of the fund necessary
to complete a financial disclosure form; in which the
investment manager does not ordinarily disclose the
investments; or in which other investors do not want the
identity of their investments disclosed. In these cases, OGE
has advised the Committee that the filer's agreement to divest,
and interim recusals when necessary, adequately address
conflict of interest concerns. A copy of the agreement is
required to be attached to the financial disclosure report.
Subsection 202(f)(9)(B) makes the exemption in paragraph
(A) above applicable to annual and termination filers in
situations where the asset has been acquired involuntarily,
such as through marriage or inheritance. Annual filers must
execute the same written ethics agreement containing a
commitment to divest the asset no later than 90 days after the
date on which the report is due.
Subsection 202(j) requires that designated agency ethics
officials (DAEOs) submit, on a monthly basis, a list of
recently granted waivers of criminal conflict of interest laws
to OGE. The subsection then requires that OGE make publicly
available on the Internet notice of these waivers and of any
waivers OGE itself has granted. By law (18 U.S.C. 208(d)(1)),
these waivers are available to the public. In practice,
however, the granting of such waivers is not announced;
therefore, interested outside parties are rarely aware that
they are available for review. The subsection is intended to
address this access issue by creating a system of public
notification. Because waivers can be granted by both DAEOs and
OGE, the subsection requires DAEOs to report the granting of
waivers to OGE and then assigns to OGE the responsibility for
publishing all waiver notices.
Subsection 202(k) requires that waivers be included with
the financial disclosure form for the year in which they were
granted. By establishing a uniform policy for waiver filing,
the subsection is intended to improve public access to waivers
and to be complementary to subsection 202(j) above, which lays
out a uniform policy for waiver notification.
Subsection 202(l) requires OGE to provide upon request any
waiver which OGE itself has granted and notice of which has
been published in accordance with subsection (k) above. This
subsection is intended to reaffirm the public's ability to
access these waivers. It should be noted that all waivers,
whether on file with OGE or an employing agency, must be made
available to the public on request in accordance with 18 U.S.C.
Sec. 208(d).
Section 203. Filing of Reports.--Subsection 203(b) does not
change current requirements for the President and Vice
President to file reports with OGE, but does eliminate the
requirement for the Independent Counsels and their staffs to
file with OGE.
Section 204. Failure to File or Filing False Reports.--
Subsection 204(d)(1) raises the current late filing fee from
$200 to $500. Subsection 204(d)(2) modifies the current
standard for a waiver for a late filing fee from
``extraordinary circumstances'' to ``good cause shown.'' OGE
has reported to the Committee that its experience has
demonstrated that a ``good cause'' test is more appropriate in
cases in which OGE believes that the fee should be waived,
particularly when the failure to file on a timely basis has not
been the fault of the filer.
Section 206. Review of Reports.--Subsection 206(b)(2)(A)
clarifies that a reviewer may request additional information if
the reviewer believes it is necessary for the form to be
complete or for conflicts of interest analysis. The standard
set in current law is more general, allowing the reviewer to
request more information whenever the reviewer believes it is
necessary.
Section 208. Authority of the Comptroller General.--This
section eliminates the requirement that the Comptroller General
conduct regular studies of the financial disclosure system. The
elimination of this requirement is consistent with efforts to
eliminate unnecessary periodic government reports, but does not
in any way affect the Comptroller General's authority to
conduct such studies on an as needed or requested basis. Under
31 U.S.C. Sec. 716, agencies must make all agency records
available to the Comptroller General on request.
Section 209. Definitions.--Current definitions remain the
same except: (1) ``gift'' no longer includes an exception for
consumable products provided by home-State businesses because
of its primary relevance for Members of Congress (who are now
covered by Title I); (2) ``gift'' includes an exception for
gifts accepted or reported pursuant to the Foreign Gifts Act;
(3) ``honoraria'' no longer references a section of law that
has been ruled unconstitutional for the executive branch and,
instead, is defined as a thing of value for a speech, article
or appearance; and (4) ``income'' includes prizes and awards as
a part of the items that are considered income.
Section 210. Notice of Actions Taken to Comply with Ethics
Agreements.--Subsection 210(a) adds a continuing monthly
reporting requirement regarding the status of steps taken to
comply with an ethics agreement until all terms of the
agreement have been met. Under current law, an individual who
has agreed to take certain actions in order to avoid conflicts
of interest is required to file only one notification of the
actions that have been taken under the agreement, which must be
filed by the end of the period stated in the agreement or, if
no period is stated, within 90 days after the date of the
agreement, even if the terms of the agreement have not yet been
met.
Section 5. Transmittal of record relating to presidentially appointed
positions to presidential candidates
This section requires the Executive Clerk of the White
House to transmit a list of all presidentially-appointed
positions to the major party presidential candidates after
their respective nominating conventions. After this is
complete, the Clerk may then transmit the list to any other
presidential candidates. Under current law, such a list can
only be provided to the President-elect after the November
election. This provision is intended to speed the
identification and vetting of major Presidential appointees,
which the Committee hopes will in turn accelerate the
announcing, nominating, and possibly confirming phases of the
process.
Section 6. Reduction of appointed positions requiring senate
confirmation
This section requires each agency to prepare a plan to
reduce both the number and layers of Senate-confirmed
presidential appointees within the agency. It is intended that
the preparation of the plan will give agencies the opportunity
to recommend to the President and Congress whether any Senate-
confirmed presidential positions in each agency should be
eliminated.
Sec. 7. Attorney general review of conflict of interest law
This section requires OGE, in consultation with the
Attorney General, to conduct a comprehensive review of conflict
of interest laws relating to Federal employment. Such a review,
which will consider the coordination and uniformity of both
civil and criminal statutes, has not been done for a number of
years.
Sec. 8. Effective date
This section provides that the amendments made by sections
3 and 4 take effect on January 1 of the year following the date
of enactment of the Act, as long as the enactment takes place
before July 1. If the Act is enacted on or after July 1,
sections 3 and 4 take effect on July 1 of the following year.
Sections 1, 2, 5, 6, 7 take effect on the date of enactment.
VI. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact
Paragraph 11(b)(1) of the Standing Rules of the Senate
requires that each report accompanying a bill evaluate ``the
regulatory impact which would be incurred in carrying out this
bill.''
The enactment of this legislation will not have significant
regulatory impact.
VII. CBO Cost Estimate
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, April 10, 2002.
Hon. Joseph I. Lieberman,
Chairman, Committee on Governmental Affairs,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 1811, the
Presidential Appointments Improvement Act of 2002.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Matthew
Pickford.
Sincerely,
Barry B. Anderson
(For Dan L. Crippen, Director).
Enclosure.
S. 1811--Presidential Appointments Improvement Act of 2002
S. 1811 would amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to
simplify and streamline the financial disclosure requirements
for executive branch personnel. The bill would direct the
Office of Government Ethics and the Attorney General to conduct
a study of conflict of interest laws relating to federal
employment. S. 1811 also would require all executive agencies
to submit a plan to the President and the Congress to reduce
the number of Presidential appointments requiring Senate
confirmation. Finally, the bill would increase the penalty for
late filing of financial disclosure reports from $200 to $500.
CBO estimates that implementing S. 1811 would cost less
than $500,000 for the new disclosure form and studies, subject
to the appropriation of the necessary funds. Enacting the bill
could also increase the collection of governmental receipts
(revenues) through late filing fees, but CBO estimates that any
increase would not be significant. Because the bill could
affect receipts, pay-as-you-go procedures would apply. The bill
contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as
defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would not
affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Matthew
Pickford. This estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine,
Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.
VIII. Additional Views
ADDITIONAL VIEWS OF SENATOR LEVIN
As the Committee report notes, the financial disclosure
requirements for federal employees are currently the same for
all three branches of the federal government. S. 1811, however,
would disturb that equanimity by amending the financial
disclosure requirements for just the executive branch. While I
support the effort to simplify our financial disclosure
requirements, I believe any changes that are made to such
requirements should be uniform for all three branches of
government. If streamlining the financial disclosure
requirements is a good idea for the executive branch, it should
be a good idea for the legislative and judicial branches as
well.
The current financial disclosure requirements were spawned
in a series of Congressional scandals in the late 1980's that
led us to tighten the ethics rules. In the 101st Congress,
Senator Rudman and I introduced the Ethics Reform Act of 1989.
This legislation was the product of months of review conducted
by a Democratic Ethics Task Force, which I chaired, and a
Republican Ethics Task Force, which was chaired by Senator
Rudman. The bill was the first comprehensive reform of ethics
laws in more than a decade.
Prior to 1989, there were separate financial disclosure
requirements for each of the three branches. One of the major
provisions in the Levin-Rudman legislation was strengthening
the financial disclosure provisions and making them uniform for
all three branches. The Levin-Rudman bill became Title II of
the Ethics Reform Act, P.L. 101-184.
The Committee contends in its report that ``because the
record before the Committee focused exclusively on the issues
regarding financial disclosure by executive branch nominees and
employees, and the recommendations the Committee received
raised concerns solely regarding the impact of the current
requirements on executive branch nominees and employees, S.
1811 does not make any changes in such reporting for the
legislative or judicial branches.'' While the focus of the
Committee's work may have been executive branch nominees and
employees, I am certain that the Committee could compile the
same record to support the same changes to the financial
disclosure requirements in S. 1811 for legislative and judicial
nominees and employees as well.
The Committee also notes that there are differences in
``actions that employees in the legislative and judicial
branches, in comparison to employees in the executive branch,
may be required to take based on financial disclosure
information.'' For example, the Committee notes that executive
branch officers and employees are subject to remedies such as
divestiture and blind trusts that ensure that these individuals
do not act on matters that could affect their financial
interests. In contrast, the Committee notes that according to
the Senate Ethics Manual, financial interests and investments
of Members and employees may present conflicts of interest but
the Members and employees do not have to divest themselves of
assets. This difference in remedial action does not mean that
the financial disclosure requirements of the executive branch
should be uniquely different.
The Committee also goes on to differentiate the judicial
branch from the executive branch by stating that ``financial
disclosure also continues to serve an important function in
deterring conflicts of interest for federal judges who are not
under any obligation to divest any financial holdings while
serving but must recuse themselves if they determine that a
matter before the court presents a conflict with their
financial or fiduciary interests.'' This is not the point--S.
1811 does not abandon the financial disclosure requirements, it
just streamlines them.
The Committee notes that the above reasons may not rule out
changes in financial disclosure for the legislative or judicial
branches, and that the issues presented for these two branches
warrant separate study beyond the scope of the Committee's
inquiry at this time. Having worked on these issues in 1989 and
studied the need for uniformity in financial disclosure among
the three branches, I believe we have a sufficient
understanding of the issues to determine that the same changes
to the financial disclosure requirements of the executive
branch should be made for the legislative and judicial branches
as well. And, while I voted to report this bill to the full
Senate, I hope to offer an amendment when the bill reaches the
Senate floor to keep the disclosure requirements uniform and to
expand the changes made by the bill to the executive branch to
all three branches of the federal governments. With the Ethics
Reform Act of 1989, we made a conscious effort to make the
financial disclosure requirements for the three branches
uniform. Nothing has occurred since that time to justify
separate consideration at this time. I hope we will be able to
expand the changes in this bill to all three branches before we
vote on final passage.
Carl Levin.
IX. Changes to Existing Law
In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by
S. 1811 as reported are shown as follows (existing law proposed
to be omitted is enclosed in brackets, new matter is printed in
italic, and existing law in which no change is proposed is
shown in roman):
UNITED STATES CODE
TITLE 5--GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION AND EMPLOYEES
* * * * * * *
APPENDIX--ETHICS IN GOVERNMENT ACT OF 1978
TITLE I--[FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS OF FEDERAL PERSONNEL]
JUDICIAL AND LEGISLATIVE PERSONNEL FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS
SEC. 101. PERSONS REQUIRED TO FILE.
(a) Within [thirty] 30 days of assuming the position of an
officer or employee described in subsection (f), an individual
shall file a report containing the information described in
section 102(b) unless the individual has left another position
described in subsection (f) or section 201(f) within [thirty]
30 days prior to assuming such new position or has already
filed a report under this title with respect to nomination for
the new position or as a candidate for the position.
(b)(1) Within [five] 5 days of the transmittal by the
President to the Senate of the nomination of an individual
[(other than an individual nominated for appointment to a
position as a Foreign Service Officer or a grade or rank in the
uniformed services for which the pay grade prescribed by
section 201 of title 37, United States Code, is O-6 or below)]
to a position in the legislative or judicial branch,
appointment to which requires the advice and consent of the
Senate, such individual shall file a report containing the
information described in section 102(b). Such individual shall,
not later than the date of the first hearing to consider the
nomination of such individual, make current the report filed
pursuant to this paragraph by filing the information required
by section 102(a)(1)(A) with respect to income and honoraria
received as of the date which occurs [five] 5 days before the
date of such hearing. Nothing in this Act shall prevent any
[Congressional] congressional committee from requesting, as a
condition of confirmation, any additional financial information
from any Presidential nominee whose nomination has been
referred to that committee.
(2) * * *
(c) Within [thirty] 30 days of becoming a candidate as
defined in section 301 of the Federal Campaign Act of 1971, in
a calendar year for nomination or election to the office of
[President, Vice President, or] Member of Congress, or on or
before May 15 of that calendar year, whichever is later, but in
no event later than 30 days before the election, and on or
before May 15 of each successive year an individual continues
to be a candidate, an individual other than an incumbent
[President, Vice President, or] Member of Congress shall file a
report containing the information described in section 102(b).
Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, in any calendar year in
which an individual continues to be a candidate for any office
but all elections for such office relating to such candidacy
were held in prior calendar years, such individual need not
file a report unless he becomes a candidate for another vacancy
in that office or another office during that year.
(d) Any individual who is an officer or employee described
in subsection (f) during any calendar year and performs the
duties of his position or office for a period in excess of
[sixty] 60 days in that calendar year shall file on or before
May 15 of the succeeding year a report containing the
information described in section 102(a).
(e) Any individual who occupies a position described in
subsection (f) shall, on or before the thirtieth day after
termination of employment in such position, file a report
containing the information described in section 102(a) covering
the preceding calendar year if the report required by
subsection (d) has not been filed and covering the portion of
the calendar year in which such termination occurs up to the
date the individual left such office or position, unlesssuch
individual has accepted employment in another position described in
subsection (f) or subsection 201(f).
(f) The officers and employees referred to in subsections
(a), (d), and (e) are--
(1) [the President;] a Member of Congress as defined
under section 109(10);
(2) [the Vice President] an officer or employee of
the Congress as defined under section 109(11);
(3) [each officer or employee in the executive
branch, including a special Government employee as
defined in section 202 of title 18, United States Code,
who occupies a position classified above GS-15 of the
General Schedule or, in the case of positions not under
the General Schedule, for which the rate of basic pay
is equal to or greater than 120 percent of the minimum
rate of basic pay payable for GS-15 of the General
Schedule; each member of a uniformed service whose pay
grade is at or in excess of O-7 under section 201 of
title 37, United States Code; and each officer or
employee in any other position determined by the
Director of the Office of Government Ethics to be of
equal classification;] a judicial officer as defined
under section 109(8); and
(4) [each employee appointed pursuant to section 3105
of title 5, United States Code;] a judicial employee as
defined under section 109(6).
[(5) any employee not described in paragraph (3) who
is in a position in the executive branch which is
excepted from the competitive service by reason of
being of a confidential or policymaking character,
except that the Director of the Office of Government
Ethics may, by regulation, exclude from the application
of this paragraph any individual, or group of
individuals, who are in such positions, but only in
cases in which the Director determines such exclusion
would not affect adversely the integrity of the
Government or the public's confidence in the integrity
of the Government;
[(6) the Postmaster General, the Deputy Postmaster
General, each Governor of the Board of Governors of the
United States Postal Service and each officer or
employee of the United States Postal Service or Postal
Rate Commission who occupies a position for which the
rate of basic pay is equal to or greater than 120
percent of the minimum rate of basic pay payable for
GS-15 of the General Schedule;
[(7) the Director of the Office of Government Ethics
and each designated agency ethics official;
[(8) any civilian employee not described in paragraph
(3), employed in the Executive Office of the President
(other than a special government employee) who holds a
commission of appointment from the President;
[(9) a Member of Congress as defined under section
109(12);
[(10) an officer or employee of the Congress as
defined under section 109(13);
[(11) a judicial officer as defined under section
109(10); and
[(12) a judicial employee as defined under section
109(8).]
(g)[(1)] Reasonable extensions of time for filing any
report may be granted under procedures prescribed by the
supervising ethics office for each branch, but the total of
such extensions shall not exceed [ninety] 90 days.
[(2)(A) In the case of an individual who is serving in the
Armed Forces, or serving in support of the Armed Forces, in an
area while that area is designated by the President by
Executive order as a combat zone for purposes of section 112 of
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, the date for the filing of
any report shall be extended so that the date is 180 days after
the later of--
[(i) the last day of the individual's service in such
area during such designated period; or
[(ii) the last day of the individual's
hospitalization as a result of injury received or
disease contracted while serving in such area.
[(B) The Office of Government Ethics, in consultation with
the Secretary of Defense, may prescribe procedures under this
paragraph.]
(h) The provisions of subsections (a), (b), and (e) shall
not apply to an individual who, as determined by [the
designated agency ethics official or Secretary concerned (or in
the case of a Presidential appointee under subsection (b), the
Director of the Office of Government Ethics),] the
congressional ethics committees[,] or the Judicial Conference,
is not reasonably expected to perform the duties of his office
or position for more than [sixty] 60 days in a calendar year,
except that if such individual performs the duties of his
office or position for more than [sixty] 60 days in a calendar
year--
(1) the report required by subsections (a) and (b)
shall be filed within [fifteen] 15 days of the sixtieth
day, and
(2) * * *
(i) The supervising ethics office for each branch may grant
a publicly available request for a waiver of any reporting
requirement under this section for an individual who is
expected to perform or has performed the duties of his office
or position less than [one hundred and thirty] 130 days in a
calendar year, but only if the supervising ethics office
determines that--
(1) * * *
(2) * * *
(3) * * *
(4) * * *
SEC. 102. CONTENTS OF REPORTS.
(a) Each report filed pursuant to section 101(d) and (e)
shall include a full and complete statement with respect to the
following:
(1)(A) The source, type, and amount or value of
income (other than income referred to in subparagraph
(B)) from any source (other than from current
employment by the United States Government), and the
source, date, and amount of honoraria from any source,
received during the preceding calendar year,
aggregating $200 or more in value and[, effective
January 1, 1991,] the source, date, and amount of
payments made to charitable organizations in lieu of
honoraria, and the reporting individual shall
simultaneously file with the applicable supervising
ethics office, on a confidential basis, a corresponding
list of recipients of all such payments, together with
the dates and amounts of such payments.
(B) The source and type of income which consists of
dividends, rents, interest, and capital gains, received
during the preceding calendar year which exceeds $200
in amount or value, and an indication of which of the
following categories the amount or value of such item
ofincome is within:
(i) [not] Not more than $1,000[,].
(ii) [greater] Greater than $1,000 but not
more than $2,500[,].
(iii) [greater] Greater than $2,500 but not
more than $5,000[,].
(iv) [greater] Greater than $5,000 but not
more than $15,000[,].
(v) [greater] Greater than $15,000 but not
more than $50,000[,].
(vi) [greater] Greater than $50,000 but not
more than $100,000[,].
(vii) [greater] Greater than $100,000 but not
more than $1,000,000[,].
(viii) [greater] Greater than $1,000,000 but
not more than $5,000,000[,].
(ix) [greater] Greater than $5,000,000.
(2)(A) * * *
(B) * * *
(C) * * *
(3) The identity and category of value of any
interest in property held during the preceding calendar
year in a trade or business, or for investment or the
production of income, which has a fair market value
which exceeds $1,000 as of the close of the preceding
calendar year, excluding any personal liability owed to
the reporting individual by a spouse,[,] or by a
parent, brother, sister, or child of the reporting
individual or of the reporting individual's spouse, or
any deposits aggregating $5,000 or less in a personal
savings account. For purposes of this paragraph, a
personal savings account shall include any certificate
of deposit or any other form of deposit in a bank,
savings and loan association, credit union, or similar
financial institution.
(4) * * *
(5) * * *
(6)(A) The identity of all positions held on or
before the date of filing during the current calendar
year (and, for the first report filed by an individual,
during the [two-year] 2-year period preceding such
calendar year) as an officer, director, trustee,
partner, proprietor, representative, employee, or
consultant of any corporation, company, firm,
partnership, or other business enterprise, any
nonprofit organization, any labor organization, or any
educational or other institution other than the United
States. This subparagraph shall not require the
reporting of positions held in any religious, social,
fraternal, or political entity and positions solely of
an honorary nature.
(B) If any person, other than the United States
Government, paid a nonelected reporting individual
compensation in excess of $5,000 in any of the [2] two
calendar years prior to the calendar year during which
the individual files his first report under this title,
the individual shall include in the report--
(i) * * *
(ii) * * *
(Undesignated sentence at the end of
subparagraph (B)) * * *
(7) A description of the date, parties to, and terms
of any agreement or arrangement with respect to--
(A) * * *
(B) * * *
(C) * * *
(D) * * *
(8) The category of the total cash value of any
interest of the reporting individual in a qualified
blind trust, unless the trust instrument was executed
prior to July 24, 1995, and precludes the beneficiary
from receiving information on the total cash value of
any interest in the qualified blind trust.
(b)(1) Each report filed pursuant to subsections (a), (b),
and (c) of section 101 shall include a full and complete
statement with respect to the information required by--
(A) * * *
(B) paragraphs (3) and (4) of subsection (a) as of
the date specified in the report but which is less than
[thirty-one] 31 days before the filing date, and
(C) * * *
(2)(A) In lieu of filling out [one] 1 or more schedules of
a financial disclosure form, an individual may supply the
required information in an alternative format, pursuant to
either rules adopted by the supervising ethics office for the
branch in which such individual serves or pursuant to a
specific written determination by such office for a reporting
individual.
(B) * * *
(c) * * *
(d)(1) The categories for reporting the amount or value of
the items covered in paragraphs (3), (4), (5), and (8) of
subsection (a) are [as follows:]--
(A) * * *
(B) * * *
(C) * * *
(D) * * *
(E) * * *
(F) * * *
(G) * * *
(H) * * *
(I) * * *
(J) * * *
(2) * * *
(e)(1) Except as provided in the last sentence of this
paragraph, each report required by section 101 shall also
contain information listed in paragraphs (1) through (5) of
subsection (a) of this section respecting the spouse or
dependent child of the reporting individual as follows:
(A) * * *
(B) * * *
(C) * * *
(D) * * *
(E) * * *
(F) For the purposes of this section, categories with
amounts or values greater than $1,000,000 set forth in
sections 102(a)(1)(B) and [102] (d)(1) shall apply to
the income, assets, or liabilities of spouses and
dependent children only if the income, assets, or
liabilities are held jointly with the reporting
individual. All other income, assets, or liabilities of
the spouse ordependent children required to be reported
under this section in an amount or value greater than $1,000,000 shall
be categorized only as an amount or value greater than $1,000,000.
(The undesignated sentence at the end of paragraph (1)) * *
*
(2) * * *
(f)(1) * * *
(2) * * *
(3) For purposes of this subsection, the term
[``]`qualified blind trust'[''] includes any trust in which a
reporting individual, his spouse, or any minor or dependent
child has a beneficial interest in the principal or income, and
which meets the following requirements:
(A)(i) The trustee of the trust and any other entity
designated in the trust instrument to perform fiduciary
duties is a financial institution, an attorney, a
certified public accountant, a broker, or an investment
advisor who--
(I) is independent of and not associated with
any interested party so that the trustee or
other person cannot be controlled or influenced
in the administration of the trust by any
interested party; [and]
(II) * * *
(III) * * *
(ii) Any officer or employee of a trustee or other
entity who is involved in the management or control of
the trust--
(I) * * *
(II) * * *
(III) * * *
(B) * * *
(C) The trust instrument which establishes the trust
provides that--
(i) * * *
(ii) * * *
(iii) * * *
(iv) * * *
(v) * * *
(vi) * * *
(vii) * * *
(D) * * *
(E) For purposes of this subsection, [``]`interested
party'[''] means a reporting individual, his spouse,
and any minor or dependent child; [``]`broker'[''] has
the meaning set forth in section 3(a)(4) of the
Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C.
78c(a)(4)); and [``]`investment adviser'[''] includes
any investment adviser who, as determined under
regulations prescribed by the supervising ethics
office, is generally involved in his role as such an
adviser in the management or control of trusts.
(F) Any trust qualified by a supervising ethics
office before [the effective date of title II of the
Ethics Reform Act of 1989] January 1, 1991, shall
continue to be governed by the law and regulations in
effect immediately before such effective date.
(4)(A) * * *
(B)(i) The provisions of subparagraph (A) shall not apply
with respect to a trust created for the benefit of a reporting
individual, or the spouse, dependent child, or minor child of
such a person, if the supervising ethics office for such
reporting individual finds that--
(I) * * *
(II) * * *
(III) * * *
(IV) * * *
(V) except as otherwise provided in this paragraph,
the trust instrument provides (or in the case of a
trust established prior to [the effective date of this
Act] January 1, 1991, which by its terms does not
permit amendment, the trustee, the reporting
individual, and any other interested party agree in
writing) that the trust shall be administered in
accordance with the requirements of this subsection and
the trustee of such trust meets the requirements of
paragraph (3)(A).
(ii) * * *
(5)(A) The reporting individual shall, within [thirty] 30
days after a qualified blind trust is approved by his
supervising ethics office, file with such office a copy of--
(i) * * *
(ii) * * *
(The undesignated sentence at the end of subparagraph
(A)) * * *
(B) The reporting individual shall, within [thirty] 30 days
of transferring an asset (other than cash) to a previously
established qualified blind trust, notify his supervising
ethics office of the identity of each such asset and the
category of value of each asset as determined under subsection
(d) of this section.
(C) Within [thirty] 30 days of the dissolution of a
qualified blind trust, a reporting individual shall--
(i) * * *
(ii) * * *
(D) * * *
(E) A copy of each written communication with respect to
the trust under paragraph (3)(C)(vi) shall be filed by the
person initiating the communication with the reporting
individual's supervising ethics office within [five] 5 days of
the date of the communication.
(6) * * *
(7) * * *
(8) A reporting individual shall not be required to report
the financial interests held by a widely held investment fund
(whether such fund is a mutual fund, regulated investment
company, pension or deferred compensation plan, or other
investment fund), if--
(A) * * *
(B) * * *
(g) * * *
(h) * * *
(i) A reporting individual shall not be required under this
title to report--
(1) financial interests in or income derived from--
(A) * * *
(B) * * *
(2) * * *
SEC. 103. FILING OF REPORTS.
(a) [Except as otherwise provided in this section, the
reports required under this title shall be filed by the
reporting individual with the designated agency ethics official
at the agency by which he is employed (or in the case of an
individual described in section 101(e), was employed) or in
which he will serve. The date any report is received (and the
date of receipt of any supplemental report) shall be noted on
such report by such official.] Each supervising ethics office
shall develop and make available forms for reporting the
information required by this title.
(b) [The President, the Vice President, and independent
counsel and persons appointed by independent counsel under
chapter 40 of title 28, United States Code, shall file reports
required under this title with the Director of the Office of
Government Ethics.]
(1) The reports required under this title shall be
filed by a reporting individual with--
(A)(i)(I) the Clerk of the House of
Representatives, in the case of a
Representative in Congress, a Delegate to
Congress, the Resident Commissioner from Puerto
Rico, an officer or employee of the Congress
whose compensation is disbursed by the Chief
Administrative Officer of the House of
Representatives, an officer or employee of the
Architect of the Capitol, the United States
Botanic Garden, the Congressional Budget
Office, the Government Printing Office, the
Library of Congress, or the Copyright Royalty
Tribunal (including any individual terminating
service, under section 101(e), in any office or
position referred to in this subclause), or an
individual described in section 101(c) who is a
candidate for nomination or election as a
Representative in Congress, a Delegate to
Congress, or the Resident Commissioner from
Puerto Rico; and
(II) the Secretary of the Senate, in the case
of a Senator, an officer or employee of the
Congress whose compensation is disbursed by the
Secretary of the Senate, an officer or employee
of the General Accounting Office, [the Office
of Technology Assessment,]or the Office of the
Attending Physician (including any individual
terminating service, under section 101(e), in
any office or position referred to in this
subclause), or an individual described in
section 101(c) who is a candidate for
nomination or election as a Senator; and
(ii) in the case of an officer or employee of
the Congress as described under section
101(f)(2) who is employed by an agency or
commission established in the legislative
branch after November 30, 1989--
(I) the Secretary of the Senate or
the Clerk of the House of
Representatives, as the case may be, as
designated in the statute establishing
such agency or commission; or
(II) if such statute does not
designate such committee, the Secretary
of the Senate for agencies and
commissions established in even
numbered calendar years, and the Clerk
of the House of Representatives for
agencies and commissions established in
odd numbered calendar years; and
(B) the Judicial Conference with regard to a
judicial officer or employee described under
paragraphs (3) and (4) of section 101(f)
(including individuals terminating service in
such office or position under section 101(e) or
immediately preceding service in such office or
position).
(2) The date any report is received (and the date of
receipt of any supplemental report) shall be noted on
such report by such committee.
(c) [Copies of the reports required to be filed under this
title by the Postmaster General, the Deputy Postmaster General,
the Governors of the Board of Governors of the United States
Postal Service, designated agency ethics officials, employees
described in section 105(a)(2)(A) or (B), 106(a)(1)(A) or (B),
or 107(a)(1)(A) or (b)(1)(A)(i), of title 3, United States
Code, candidates for the office of President or Vice President
and officers and employees in (and nominees to) offices or
positions which require confirmation by the Senate or by both
Houses of Congress other than individuals nominated to be
judicial officers and those referred to in subsection (f) shall
be transmitted to the Director of the Office of Government
Ethics. The Director shall forward a copy of the report of each
nominee to the congressional committee considering the
nomination.] A copy of each report filed under this title by a
Member or an individual who is a candidate for the office of
Member shall be sent by the Clerk of the House of
Representatives or Secretary of the Senate, as the case may be,
to the appropriate State officer designated under section
312(a) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 of the
State represented by the Member or in which the individual is a
candidate, as the case may be, within the 30-day period
beginning on the day the report is filed with the Clerk or
Secretary.
(d) [Reports required to be filed under this title by the
Director of the Office of Government Ethics shall be filed in
the Office of Government Ethics and, immediately after being
filed, shall be made available to the public in accordance with
this title.] (1) A copy of each report filed under this title
with the Clerk of the House of Representatives shall be sent by
the Clerk to the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct of
the House of Representatives within the 7-day period beginning
on the day the report is filed.
(2) A copy of each report filed under this title with the
Secretary of the Senate shall be sent by the Secretary to the
Select Committee on Ethics of the Senate within the 7-day
period beginning on the day the report is filed.
(e) [Each individual identified in section 101(c) who is a
candidate for nomination or election to the Office of President
or Vice President shall file the reports required by this title
with the Federal Election Commission.] In carrying out their
responsibilities under this title with respect to candidates
for office, the Clerk of the House of Representatives and the
Secretary of the Senate shall avail themselves of the
assistance of the Federal Election Commission. The Commission
shall make available to the Clerk and the Secretary on a
regular basis a complete list of names and addresses of all
candidates registered with the Commission, and shall cooperate
and coordinate its candidate information and notification
program with the Clerk and the Secretary to the greatest extent
possible.
[(f) Reports required of members of the uniformed services
shall be filed with the Secretary concerned.
[(g) Each supervising ethics office shall develop and make
available forms for reporting the information required by this
title.
[(h)(1) The reports required under this title shall be
filed by a reporting individual with--
(A)(i)(I) the Clerk of the House of Representatives,
in the case of a Representative in Congress, a Delegate
to Congress, the Resident Commissioner from Puerto
Rico, an officer or employee of the Congress whose
compensation is disbursed by the Chief Administrative
Officer of the House of Representatives, an officer or
employee of the Architect of the Capitol, the United States
Botanic Garden, the Congressional Budget Office, the
Government Printing Office, the Library of Congress, or the
Copyright Royalty Tribunal (including any individual
terminating service, under section 101(e), in any office or
position referred to in this subclause), or an individual
described in section 101(c) who is a candidate for nomination
or election as a Representative in Congress, a Delegate to
Congress, or the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico; and
(II) the Secretary of the Senate, in the case of a
Senator, an officer or employee of the Congress whose
compensation is disbursed by the Secretary of the
Senate, an officer or employee of the General
Accounting Office, the Office of Technology Assessment,
or the Office of the Attending Physician (including any
individual terminating service, under section 101(e),
in any office or position referred to in this
subclause), or an individual described in section
101(c) who is a candidate for nomination or election as
a Senator; and
(ii) in the case of an officer or employee of the
Congress as described under section 101(f)(10) who is
employed by an agency or commission established in the
legislative branch after the date of the enactment of
the Ethics Reform Act of 1989--
(I) the Secretary of the Senate or the Clerk
of the House of Representatives, as the case
may be, as designated in the statute
establishing such agency or commission; or
(II) if such statute does not designate such
committee, the Secretary of the Senate for
agencies and commissions established in even
numbered calendar years, and the Clerk of the
House of Representatives for agencies and
commissions established in odd numbered
calendar years; and
(B) the Judicial Conference with regard to a judicial
officer or employee described under paragraphs (11) and
(12) of section 101(f) (including individuals
terminating service in such office or position under
section 101(e) or immediately preceding service in such
office or position).
(2) The date any report is received (and the date of
receipt of any supplemental report) shall be noted on such
report by such committee.
[(i) A copy of each report filed under this title by a
Member or an individual who is a candidate for the office of
Member shall be sent by the Clerk of the House of
Representatives or Secretary of the Senate, as the case may be,
to the appropriate State officer designated under section
316(a) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 of the
State represented by the Member or in which the individual is a
candidate, as the case may be, within the 30-day period
beginning on the day the report is filed with the Clerk or
Secretary.
[(j)(1) A copy of each report filed under this title with
the Clerk of the House of Representatives shall be sent by the
Clerk to the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct of the
House of Representatives within the 7-day period beginning on
the day the report is filed.
[(2) A copy of each report filed under this title with the
Secretary of the Senate shall be sent by the Secretary to the
Select Committee on Ethics of the Senate within the 7-day
period beginning on the day the report is filed.
[(k) In carrying out their responsibilities under this
title with respect to candidates for office, the Clerk of the
House of Representatives and the Secretary of the Senate shall
avail themselves of the assistance of the Federal Election
Commission. The Commission shall make available to the Clerk
and the Secretary on a regular basis a complete list of names
and addresses of all candidates registered with the Commission,
and shall cooperate and coordinate its candidate information
and notification program with the Clerk and the Secretary to
the greatest extent possible.]
SEC. 104. FAILURE TO FILE OR FILING FALSE REPORTS.
(a) * * *
(b) [The head of each agency, each Secretary concerned, the
Director of the Office of Government Ethics, each] Each
congressional ethics committee[,] or the Judicial Conference,
as the case may be, shall refer to the Attorney General the
name of any individual which such official or committee has
reasonable cause to believe has willfully failed to file a
report or has willfully falsified or willfully failed to file
information required to be reported. Whenever the Judicial
Conference refers a name to the Attorney General under this
subsection, the Judicial Conference also shall notify the
judicial council of the circuit in which the named individual
serves of the referral.
(c) [The President, the Vice President, the Secretary
concerned, the head of each agency, the Office of Personnel
Management, a] A congressional ethics committee[,] and the
Judicial Conference, may take any appropriate personnel or
other action in accordance with applicable law or regulation
against any individual failing to file a report or falsifying
or failing to report information required to be reported.
(d)(1) Any individual who files a report required to be
filed under this title more than 30 days after the later of--
(A) the date such report is required to be filed
pursuant to the provisions of this title and the rules
and regulations promulgated thereunder; or
(B) if a filing extension is granted to such
individual under section 101(g), the last day of the
filing extension period, shall, at the direction of and
pursuant to regulations issued by the supervising
ethics office, pay a filing fee of $200. All such fees
shall be deposited in the miscellaneous receipts of the
Treasury. [The authority under this paragraph to direct
the payment of a filing fee may be delegated by the
supervising ethics office in the executive branch to
other agencies in the executive branch..]
(2) The supervising ethics office may waive the filing fee
under this subsection in extraordinary circumstances.
SEC. 105. CUSTODY OF AND PUBLIC ACCESS TO REPORTS.
(a) [Each agency, each] The supervising ethics office [in]
of the [executive or] judicial branch, the Clerk of the House
of Representatives, and the Secretary of the Senate shall make
available to the public, in accordance with subsection (b),
each report filed under this title with such [agency or] office
or with the Clerk or the Secretary of the Senate[, except
that--].
[(1) this section does not require public
availability of a report filed by any individual in the
Central Intelligence Agency, the Defense Intelligence
Agency, the National Imagery and Mapping Agency, or the
National Security Agency, or any individual engaged in
intelligence activities in any agency of the United
States, if the President finds or has found that, due to
the nature of the office or position occupied by such
individual, public disclosure of such report would, be
revealing the identity of the individual or other sensitive
information, compromise the national interest of the United
States; and such individuals may be authorized, notwithstanding
section 104(a), to file such additional reports as are
necessary to protect their identity from public disclosure
if the President first finds or has found that such filing
is necessary in the national interest; and
[(2) any report filed by an independent counsel whose
identity has not been disclosed by the division of the
court under chapter 40 of title 28, United States Code,
and any report filed by any person appointed by that
independent counsel under such chapter, shall not be
made available to the public under this title.]
(b)(1) Except as provided in the second sentence of this
subsection, [each agency, each] the supervising ethics office
in the [executive or] judicial branch, the Clerk of the House
of Representatives, and the Secretary of the Senate shall,
within [thirty] 30 days after any report is received under this
title by such [agency or] office or by the Clerk or the
Secretary of the Senate, as the case may be,[,] permit
inspection of such report by or furnish a copy of such report
to any person requesting such inspection or copy. With respect
to any report required to be filed by May 15 of any year, such
report shall be made available for public inspection within 30
calendar days after May 15 of such year or within 30 days of
the date of filing of such a report for which an extension is
granted pursuant to section 101(g). The [agency,] office,
Clerk, or Secretary of the Senate, as the case may be, may
require a reasonable fee to be paid in any amount which is
found necessary to recover the cost of reproduction or mailing
of such report excluding any salary of any employee involved in
such reproduction or mailing. A copy of such report may be
furnished without charge or at a reduced charge if it is
determined that waiver or reduction of the fee is in the public
interest.
(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a report may not be made
available under this section to any person nor may any copy
thereof be provided under this section to any person except
upon a written application by such person stating--
(A) * * *
(B) * * *
(C) * * *
(Undesignated sentence at the end of paragraph (2)) *
* *
(3)(A) This section does not require the immediate and
unconditional availability of reports filed by an individual
described in section [109(8) or 109(10)] 109(6) or (8) of this
Act if a finding is made by the Judicial Conference, in
consultation with United States [Marshall] Marshal Service,
that revealing personal and sensitive information could
endanger that individual.
(B) A report may be redacted pursuant to this paragraph
only--
(i) to the extent necessary to protect the individual
who filed the report; and
(ii) for as long as the danger to such individual
exists.
(C) The Administrative Office of the United States Courts
shall submit to the Committees on the Judiciary of the House of
Representatives and of the Senate an annual report with respect
to the operation of this paragraph including--
(i) the total number of reports redacted pursuant to
this paragraph;
(ii) the total number of individuals whose reports
have been redacted pursuant to this paragraph; and
(iii) the types of threats against individuals whose
reports are redacted, if appropriate.
(D) The Judicial Conference, in consultation with the
Department of Justice, shall issue regulations setting forth
the circumstances under which redaction is appropriate under
this paragraph and the procedures for redaction.
(E) This paragraph shall expire on December 31, 2005, and
apply to filings through calendar year 2005.
(c)(1) It shall be unlawful for any person to obtain or use
a report--
(A) for any unlawful purpose;
(B) for any commercial purpose, other than by news
and communications media for dissemination to the
general public;
(C) for determining or establishing the credit rating
of any individual; or
(D) for use, directly or indirectly, in the
solicitation of money for any political, charitable, or
other purpose.
(2) * * *
(d) Any report filed with or transmitted to [an agency or]
a supervising ethics office or to the Clerk of the House of
Representatives or the Secretary of the Senate pursuant to this
title shall be retained by such [agency or] office or by the
Clerk or the Secretary of the Senate, as the case may be. Such
report shall be made available to the public for a period of
[six] 6 years after receipt of the report. After such [six] 6-
year period the report shall be destroyed unless needed in an
ongoing investigation, except that in the case of an individual
who filed the report pursuant to section 101(b) and was not
subsequently confirmed by the Senate, or who filed the report
pursuant to section 101(c) and was not subsequently elected,
such reports shall be destroyed [one] 1 year after the
individual either is no longer under consideration by the
Senate or is no longer a candidate for nomination or election
to the Office of President, Vice President, or as a Member of
Congress, unless needed in an ongoing investigation.
SEC. 106. REVIEW OF REPORTS.
(a)[(1) Each designated agency ethics official or Secretary
concerned shall make provisions to ensure that each report
filed with him under this title is reviewed within sixty days
after the date of such filing, except that the Director of the
Office of Government Ethics shall review only those reports
required to be transmitted to him under this title within sixty
days after the date of transmittal.] Each congressional ethics
committee and the Judicial Conference shall make provisions to
ensure that each report filed under this title is reviewed
within 60 days after the date of such filing.
[(2) Each congressional ethics committee and the Judicial
Conference shall make provisions to ensure that each report
filed under this title is reviewed within sixty days after the
date of such filing.]
(b)(1) If after reviewing any report under subsection (a),
[the Director of the Office ofGovernment Ethics, the Secretary
concerned, the designated agency ethics official,] a person designated
by the congressional ethics committee[,] or a person designated by the
Judicial Conference, as the case may be, is of the opinion that on the
basis of information contained in such report the individual submitting
such report is in compliance with applicable laws and regulations, he
shall state such opinion on the report, and shall sign such report.
(2) If [the Director of the Office of Government Ethics,
the Secretary concerned, the designated agency ethics
official,] a person designated by the congressional ethics
committee, or a person designated by the Judicial Conference,
after reviewing any report under subsection (a)--
(A) * * *
(B) * * *
(3) If [the Director of the Office of Government Ethics,
the Secretary concerned, the designated agency ethics
official,] a person designated by a congressional ethics
committee[,] or a person designated by the Judicial Conference,
reaches an opinion under paragraph (2)(B) that an individual is
not in compliance with applicable laws and regulations, the
official or committee shall notify the individual of that
opinion and, after an opportunity for personal consultation (if
practicable), determine and notify the individual of which
steps, if any, would in the opinion of such official or
committee be appropriate for assuring compliance with such laws
and regulations and the date by which such steps should be
taken. Such steps may include, as appropriate--
(A) * * *
(B) * * *
(C) * * *
(D) * * *
(E) * * *
(The undesignated sentence at the end of paragraph
(3)) * * *
(4) If steps for assuring compliance with applicable laws
and regulations are not taken by the date set under paragraph
(3) by an individual in a position [in the executive branch
(other than in the Foreign Service or the uniformed services),]
appointment to which requires the advice and consent of the
Senate but removal authority resides in the President, the
matter shall be referred to the President for appropriate
action.
(5) If steps for assuring compliance with applicable laws
and regulations are not taken by the date set under paragraph
(3) [by a member of the Foreign Service or the uniformed
services, the Secretary concerned shall take appropriate
action.] by any other officer or employee, the matter shall be
referred to the congressional ethics committee or the Judicial
Conference, for appropriate action.
(6) [If steps for assuring compliance with applicable laws
and regulations are not taken by the date set under paragraph
(3) by any other officer or employee, the matter shall be
referred to the head of the appropriate agency, the
congressional ethics committee, or the Judicial Conference, for
appropriate action; except that in the case of the Postmaster
General or Deputy Postmaster General, the Director of the
Office of Government Ethics shall recommend to the Governors of
the Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service the
action to be taken.] Each supervising ethics office may render
advisory opinions interpreting this title within its respective
jurisdiction. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
individual to whom a public advisory opinion is rendered in
accordance with this paragraph, and any other individual
covered by this title who is involved in a fact situation which
is indistinguishable in all material aspects, and who acts in
good faith in accordance with the provisions and findings of
such advisory opinion shall not, as a result of such act, be
subject to any penalty or sanction provided by this title.
[(7) Each supervising ethics office may render advisory
opinions interpreting this title within its respective
jurisdiction. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
individual to whom a public advisory opinion is rendered in
accordance with this paragraph, and any other individual
covered by this title who is involved in a fact situation which
is indistinguishable in all material aspects, and who acts in
good faith in accordance with the provisions and findings of
such advisory opinion shall not, as a result of such act, be
subject to any penalty or sanction provided by this title.]
SEC. 107. CONFIDENTIAL REPORTS AND OTHER ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.
(a)(1) Each supervising ethics office may require officers
and employees under its jurisdiction (including special
Government employees as defined in section 202 of title 18,
United States Code) to file confidential financial disclosure
reports, in such form as the supervising ethics office may
prescribe. The information required to be reported under this
subsection by the officers and employees of [any department or
agency] the legislative or judicial branch shall be set forth
in rules or regulations prescribed by the supervising ethics
office, and may be less extensive than otherwise required by
this title, or more extensive when determined by the
supervising ethics office to be necessary and appropriate in
light of sections 202 through 209 of title 18, United States
Code, regulations promulgated thereunder, official codes of
conduct or the authorized activities of such officers or
employees. Any individual required to file a report pursuant to
section 101 shall not be required to file a confidential report
pursuant to this subsection, except with respect to information
which is more extensive than information otherwise required by
this title. Subsections (a), (b), and (d) of section 105 shall
not apply with respect to any such report.
(2) * * *
(3) * * *
(b) * * *
(c) Nothing in this Act requiring reporting of information
shall be deemed to authorize--(1) the receipt of income, gifts,
or reimbursements; (2) the holding of assets, liabilities, or
positions; or (3) the participation in transactions that are
prohibited by law, [Executive order,] rule, or regulation.
SEC. 108. AUTHORITY OF COMPTROLLER GENERAL.
(a) * * *
(b) [No] Not later than December 31, 1992, and regularly
thereafter, the Comptroller General shall conduct a study to
determine whether the provisions of this title are being
carried out effectively.
SEC. 109. DEFINITIONS.
For the purposes of this title, the term--
(1) [``]`congressional ethics committees'[''] means
the Select Committee on Ethics of the Senate and the
Committee on Standards of Official Conduct of the House
of Representatives;
(2) [``]`dependent child'[''] means, when used with
respect to any reporting individual, any individual who
is a son, daughter, stepson, or stepdaughter and who--
(A) * * *
(B) * * *
(3) [``designated agency ethics official'' means an
officer or employee who is designated to administer the
provisions of this title within an agency;] `gift'
means a payment, advance, forbearance, rendering, or
deposit of money, or any thing of value, unless
consideration of equal or greater value is received by
the donor, but does not include--
(A) bequest and other forms of inheritance;
(B) suitable mementos of a function honoring
the reporting individual;
(C) food, lodging, transportation, and
entertainment provided by a foreign government
within a foreign country or by the United
States Government, the District of Columbia, or
a State or local government or political
subdivision thereof;
(D) food and beverages which are not consumed
in connection with a gift of overnight lodging;
(E) communications to the offices of a
reporting individual, including subscriptions
to newspapers and periodicals; or
(F) consumable products provided by home-
State businesses to the offices of a reporting
individual who is an elected official, if those
products are intended for consumption by
persons other than such reporting individual;
(4) [``executive branch'' includes each Executive
agency (as defined in section 105 of title 5, United
States Code), other than the General Accounting Office,
and any other entity or administrative unit in the
executive branch;] `honoraria' has the meaning given
such term in section 505 of this Act;
(5) [``gift'' means a payment, advance, forbearance,
rendering, or deposit of money, or any thing of value,
unless consideration of equal or greater value is
received by the donor, but does not include--
[(A) bequest and other forms of inheritance;
[(B) suitable mementos of a function honoring
the reporting individual;
[(C) food, lodging, transportation, and
entertainment provided by a foreign government
within a foreign country or by the United
States Government, the District of Columbia, or
a State or local government or political
subdivision thereof;
[(D) food and beverages which are not
consumed in connection with a gift of overnight
lodging;
[(E) communications to the offices of a
reporting individual, including subscriptions
to newspapers and periodicals; or
[(F) consumable products provided by home-
State businesses to the offices of a reporting
individual who is an elected official, if those
products are intended for consumption by
persons other than such reporting individual;]
`income' means all income from whatever source
derived, including but not limited to the
following items: compensation for services,
including fees, commissions, and similar items;
gross income derived from business (and net
income if the individual elects to include it);
gains derived from dealings in property;
interest; rents; royalties; dividends;
annuities; income from life insurance and
endowment contracts; pensions; income from
discharge of indebtedness; distributive share
of partnership income; and income from an
interest in an estate or trust;
(6) [``honoraria'' has the meaning given such term in
section 505 of this Act;] `judicial employee' means any
employee of the judicial branch of the Government, of
the United States Sentencing Commission, of the Tax
Court, of the Court of Federal Claims, of the Court of
Appeals for Veterans Claims, or of the United States
Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, who is not a
judicial officer and who is authorized to perform
adjudicatory functions with respect to proceedings in
the judicial branch, or who occupies a position for
which the rate of basic pay is equal to or greater than
120 percent of the minimum rate of basic pay payable
for GS-15 of the General Schedule;
(7) [``income'' means all income from whatever source
derived, including but not limited to the following
items: compensation for services, including fees,
commissions, and similar items; gross income derived
from business (and net income if the individual elects
to include it); gains derived from dealings in
property; interest; rents; royalties; dividends;
annuities; income from life insurance and endowment
contracts; pensions; income from discharge of
indebtedness; distributive share of partnership income;
and income from an interest in an estate or trust;]
`Judicial Conference' means the Judicial Conference of
the United States;
(8) [``judicial employee'' means any employee of the
judicial branch of the Government, of the United States
Sentencing Commission, of the Tax Court, of the Court
of Federal Claims, of the Court of Appeals for Veterans
Claims, or of the United States Court of Appeals for
the Armed Forces, who is not a judicial officer and who
is authorized to perform adjudicatory functions with
respect to proceedings in the judicial branch, or who
occupies a position for which the rate of basic pay is
equal to or greater than 120 percent of the minimum
rate of basic pay payable for GS-15 of the General
Schedule;] `judicial officer' means the Chief Justice
of the United States, the Associate Justices of the
Supreme Court, and the judges of the United States
courts of appeals, United States district courts,
including the district courts in Guam, the Northern
Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands, Court of
Appeals for the Federal Circuit, Court of International
Trade, Tax Court, Court of Federal Claims, Court of
Appeals for Veterans Claims, United States Court of
Appeals for the Armed Forces, and any court created by
Act of Congress, the judges of which are entitled to
hold office during good behavior;
(9) [``Judicial Conference'' means the Judicial
Conference of the United States;] `legislative branch'
includes--
(A) the Architect of the Capitol;
(B) the Botanic Gardens;
(C) the Congressional Budget Office;
(D) the General Accounting Office;
(E) the Government Printing Office;
(F) the Library of Congress;
(G) the United States Capitol Police;
(H) [the Office of Technology Assessment;
and] the Office of Compliance; and
(I) any other agency, entity, office, or
commission established in the legislative
branch;
(10) [``judicial officer'' means the Chief Justice of
the United States, the Associate Justices of the
Supreme Court, and the judges of the United States
courts of appeals, United States district courts,
including the district courts in Guam, the Northern
Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands, Court of
Appeals for the Federal Circuit, Court of International
Trade, Tax Court, Court of Federal Claims, Court of
Appeals for Veterans Claims, United States Court of
Appeals for the Armed Forces, and any court created by
Act of Congress, the judges of which are entitled to
hold office during good behavior;] `Member of Congress'
means a United States Senator, a Representative in
Congress, a Delegate to Congress, or the Resident
Commissioner from Puerto Rico;
(11) [``legislative branch'' includes--
[(A) the Architect of the Capitol;
[(B) the Botanic Gardens;
[(C) the Congressional Budget Office;
[(D) the General Accounting Office;
[(E) the Government Printing Office;
[(F) the Library of Congress;
[(G) the United States Capitol Police;
[(H) the Office of Technology Assessment; and
[(I) any other agency, entity, office, or
commission established in the legislative
branch;] `officer or employee of the Congress'
means--
(A) any individual described under
subparagraph (B), other than a Member of
Congress or the Vice President, whose
compensation is disbursed by the Secretary of
the Senate or the Chief Administrative Officer
of the House of Representatives;
(B)(i) each officer or employee of the
legislative branch who, for at least 60 days,
occupies a position for which the rate of basic
pay is equal to or greater than 120 percent of
the minimum rate of basic pay payable for GS-15
of the General Schedule; and
(ii) at least 1 principal assistant
designated for purposes of this paragraph by
each Member who does not have an employee who
occupies a position for which the rate of basic
pay is equal to or greater than 120 percent of
the minimum rate of basic pay payable for GS-15
of the General Schedule;
(12) [``Member of Congress'' means a United States
Senator, a Representative in Congress, a Delegate to
Congress, or the Resident Commissioner from Puerto
Rico;] `personal hospitality of any individual' means
hospitality extended for a nonbusiness purpose by an
individual, not a corporation or organization, at the
personal residence of that individual or his family or
on property or facilities owned by that individual or
his family;
(13) [``officer or employee of the Congress'' means--
[(A) any individual described under
subparagraph (B), other than a Member of
Congress or the Vice President, whose
compensation is disbursed by the Secretary of
the Senate or the Chief Administrative Officer
of the House of Representatives;
[(B)(i) each officer or employee of the
legislative branch who, for at least 60 days,
occupies a position for which the rate of basic
pay is equal to or greater than 120 percent of
the minimum rate of basic pay payable for GS-15
of the General Schedule; and
[(ii) at least one principal assistant
designated for purposes of this paragraph by
each Member who does not have an employee who
occupies a position for which the rate of basic
pay is equal to or greater than 120 percent of
the minimum rate of basic pay payable for GS-15
of the General Schedule;] `reimbursement' means
any payment or other thing of value received by
the reporting individual, other than gifts, to
cover travel-related expenses of such
individual other than those which are--
(A) provided by the United States Government,
the District of Columbia, or a State or local
government or political subdivision thereof;
(B) required to be reported by the reporting
individual under section 7342 of title 5,
United States Code; or
(C) required to be reported under section 304
of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2
U.S.C. 434);
(14) [``personal hospitality of any individual''
means hospitality extended for a nonbusiness purpose by
an individual, not a corporation or organization, at
the personal residence of that individual or his family
or on property or facilities owned by that individual
or his family;] `relative' means an individual who is
related to the reporting individual, as father, mother,
son, daughter, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, great
aunt, great uncle, first cousin, nephew, niece,
husband, wife, grandfather, grandmother, grandson,
granddaughter, father-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-
law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law,
stepfather, stepmother, stepson, stepdaughter,
stepbrother, stepsister, half brother, half sister, or
who is the grandfather or grandmother of the spouse of
the reporting individual, and shall be deemed to
include the fiance or fiancee of the reporting
individual;
(15) [``reimbursement'' means any payment or other
thing of value received by the reporting individual,
other than gifts, to cover travel-related expenses of
such individual other than those which are--
[(A) provided by the United States
Government, the District of Columbia, or a
State or local government or political
subdivision thereof;
[(B) required to be reported by the reporting
individual under section 7342 of title 5,
United States Code; or
[(C) required to be reported under section
304 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of
1971 (2 U.S.C. 434);] `supervising ethics
office' means--
(A) the Select Committee on Ethics of the
Senate, for Senators, officers and employees of
the Senate, and other officers, or employees of
the legislative branch required to file
financial disclosure reports with the Secretary
of the Senate pursuant to section 103(h) of
this title;
(B) the Committee on Standards of Official
Conduct of the House of Representatives, for
Members, officers, and employees of the House
of Representatives and other officers or
employees of the legislative branch required to
file financial disclosure reports with the
Clerk of the House of Representatives pursuant
to section 103(h) of this title; and
(C) the Judicial Conference for judicial
officers and judicial employees; and
(16) [``relative'' means an individual who is related
to the reporting individual, as father, mother, son,
daughter, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, great aunt,
great uncle, first cousin, nephew, niece, husband,
wife, grandfather, grandmother, grandson,
granddaughter, father-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-
law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law,
stepfather, stepmother, stepson, stepdaughter,
stepbrother, stepsister, half brother, half sister, or
who is the grandfather or grandmother of the spouse of
the reporting individual, and shall be deemed to
include the fiance or fiancee of the reporting
individual;] `value' means a good faith estimate of the
dollar value if the exact value is neither known nor
easily obtainable by the reporting individual.
[(17) ``Secretary concerned'' has the meaning set
forth in section 101(a)(9) of title 10, United States
Code, and, in addition, means--
[(A) the Secretary of Commerce, with respect
to matters concerning the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration;
[(B) the Secretary of Health and Human
Services, with respect to matters concerning
the Public Health Service; and
[(C) the Secretary of State, with respect to
matters concerning the Foreign Service;
[(18) ``supervising ethics office'' means--
[(A) the Select Committee on Ethics of the
Senate, for Senators, officers and employees of
the Senate, and other officers or employees of
the legislative branch required to file
financial disclosure reports with the Secretary
of the Senate pursuant to section 103(h) of
this title;
[(B) the Committee on Standards of Official
Conduct of the House of Representatives, for
Members, officers and employees of the House of
Representatives and other officers or employees
of the legislative branch required to file
financial disclosure reports with the Clerk of
the House of Representatives pursuant to
section 103(h) of this title;
[(C) the Judicial Conference for judicial
officers and judicial employees; and
[(D) the Office of Government Ethics for all
executive branch officers and employees; and
[(19) ``value'' means a good faith estimate of the
dollar value if the exact value is neither known nor
easily obtainable by the reporting individual.]
SEC. 110. NOTICE OF ACTIONS TAKEN TO COMPLY WITH ETHICS AGREEMENTS.
(a) In any case in which an individual agrees with [that
individual's designated agency ethics official, the Office of
Government Ethics,] a Senate confirmation committee, a
congressional ethics committee, or the Judicial Conference, to
take any action to comply with this Act or any other law or
regulation governing conflicts of interest of, or establishing
standards of conduct applicable with respect to, officers or
employees of the Government, that individual shall notify in
writing [the designated agency ethics official, the Office of
Government Ethics,] the appropriate committee of the Senate,
the congressional ethics committee, or the Judicial Conference,
as the case may be, of any action taken by the individual
pursuant to that agreement. Such notification shall be made not
later than the date specified in the agreement by which action
by the individual must be taken, or not later than [three] 3
months after the date of the agreement, if no date for action
is so specified.
(b) If an agreement described in subsection (a) requires
that the individual recuse himself or herself from particular
categories of agency or other official action, the individual
shall reduce to writing those subjects regarding which the
recusal agreement will apply and the process by which it will
be determined whether the individual must recuse himself or
herself in a specific instance. An individual shall be
considered to have complied with the requirements of subsection
(a) with respect to such recusal agreement if such individual
files a copy of the document setting forth the information
described in the preceding sentence with [such individual's
designated agency ethics official or] the appropriate
supervising ethics office within the time prescribed in the
last sentence of subsection (a).
SEC. 111. ADMINISTRATION OF PROVISIONS.
The provisions of this title shall be administered by--
(1)[the Director of the Office of Government Ethics,
the designated agency ethics official, or the Secretary
concerned, as appropriate, with regard to officers and
employees described in paragraphs (1) through (8) of
section 101(f);] the Select Committee on Ethics of the
Senate and the Committee on Standards of Official
Conduct of the House of Representatives, as
appropriate, with regard to officers and employees
described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 101(f);
and
(2) [the Select Committee on Ethics of the Senate and
the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct of the
House of Representatives, as appropriate, with regard
to officers and employees described in paragraphs (9)
and (10) of section 101(f); and] the Judicial
Conference in the case of an officer or employee
described in paragraphs (3) and (4) of section 101(f).
The Judicial Conference may delegate any authority it
has under this title to an ethics committee established
by the Judicial Conference.
[(3) the Judicial Conference in the case of an
officer or employee described in paragraphs (11) and
(12) of section 101(f). The Judicial Conference may
delegate any authority it has under this title to an
ethics committee established by the Judicial
Conference.]
TITLE II--EXECUTIVE PERSONNEL FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS
SEC. 201. PERSONS REQUIRED TO FILE.
(a) Within 30 days of assuming the position of an officer
or employee described in subsection (f), an individual shall
file a report containing the information described in section
202(b) unless the individual has left another position
described in subsection (f) of this section or section 101(f)
of this Act within 30 days prior to assuming such new position
or has already filed a report under this title with respect to
nomination for the new position or as a candidate for the
position.
(b)(1) Within 5 days of the transmittal by the President to
the Senate of the nomination of an individual (other than an
individual nominated for appointment to a position as a Foreign
Service Officer or a grade or rank in the uniformed services
for which the pay grade prescribed by section 201 of title 37,
United States Code, is O-6 or below) to a position in the
executive branch, appointment to which requires the advice and
consent of the Senate, such individualshall file a report
containing the information described in section 202(b). Such individual
shall, not later than the date of the first hearing to consider the
nomination of such individual, make current the report filed pursuant
to this paragraph by filing the information required by section
202(a)(1)(A) with respect to income and honoraria received as of the
date which occurs 5 days before the date of such hearing. Nothing in
this Act shall prevent any congressional committee from requesting, as
a condition of confirmation, any additional financial information from
any Presidential nominee whose nomination has been referred to that
committee.
(2) An individual whom the President or the President-elect
has publicly announced he intends to nominate to a position may
file the report required by paragraph (1) at any time after
that public announcement, but not later than is required the
first sentence of such paragraph.
(c)(1) Within 30 days of becoming a candidate as defined in
section 301 of the Federal Campaign Act of 1971, in a calendar
year for nomination or election to the office of President or
Vice President or on or before May 15 of that calendar year,
whichever is later, but in no event later than 30 days before
the election, and on or before May 15 of each successive year
an individual continues to be a candidate, an individual other
than an incumbent President or Vice President shall file a
report containing the information described in section 202(b).
Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, in any calendar year in
which an individual continues to be a candidate for any office
but all elections for such office relating to such candidacy
were held in prior calendar years, such individual need not
file a report unless he becomes a candidate for another vacancy
in that office or another office during that year.
(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), within 30 days of taking
the oath of office of President or Vice President, an
individual shall file a report containing the information
described in section 202(b) unless such individual served as
President or Vice President immediately prior to taking that
oath.
(d) Any individual who is an officer or employee described
in subsection (f) during any calendar year and performs the
duties of his position or office for a period in excess of 60
days in that calendar year shall file on or before May 15 of
the succeeding year a report containing the information
described in section 202(a).
(e) Any individual who occupies a position described in
subsection (f) shall, on or before the thirtieth day after
termination of employment in such position, file a report
containing the information described in section 202(a) covering
the preceding calendar year if the report required by
subsection (d) has not been filed and covering the portion of
the calendar year in which such termination occurs up to the
date the individual left such office or position, unless such
individual has accepted employment in or takes the oath of
office for another position described in subsection (f) or
section 101(f).
(f) The officers and employees referred to in subsections
(a), (d), and (e) are--
(1) the President;
(2) the Vice President;
(3) each officer or employee in the executive branch,
including a special Government employee as defined in
section 202 of title 18, United States Code, who
occupies a position classified above GS-15 of the
General Schedule or, in the case of positions not under
the General Schedule, for which the rate of basic pay
is equal to or greater than 120 percent of the minimum
rate of basic pay payable for GS-15 of the General
Schedule; each member of a uniformed service whose pay
grade is at or in excess of O-7 under section 201 of
title 37, United States Code; and each officer or
employee in any other position determined by the
Director of the Office of Government Ethics to be of
equal classification;
(4) each employee appointed pursuant to section 3105
of title 5, United States Code;
(5) any employee not described in paragraph (3) who
is in a position in the executive branch which is
excepted from the competitive service by reason of
being of a confidential or policymaking character,
except that the Director of the Office of Government
Ethics may, by regulation, exclude from the application
of this paragraph any individual, or group of
individuals, who are in such positions, but only in
cases in which the Director determines such exclusion
would not affect adversely the integrity of the
Government or the public's confidence in the integrity
of the Government;
(6) the Postmaster General, the Deputy Postmaster
General, each Governor of the Board of Governors of the
United States Postal Service, each officer or employee
of the United States Postal Service who is designated
as a member of the Postal Career Executive Service
(PCES I or II), and each officer or employee of the
Postal Rate Commission who occupies a position for
which the rate of basic pay is equal to or greater than
120 percent of the minimum rate of basic pay payable
for GS-15 of the General Schedule;
(7) the Director of the Office of Government Ethics
and each designated agency ethics official; and
(8) any civilian employee not described in paragraph
(3), employed in the Executive Office of the President
(other than a special Government employee) who holds a
commission of appointment from the President.
(g)(1) Reasonable extensions of time for filing any report
may be granted under procedures prescribed by the Office of
Government Ethics, but the total of such extensions shall not
exceed 90 days.
(2)(A) In the case of an individual who is serving in the
Armed Forces, or serving in support of the Armed Forces, in an
area while that area is designated by the President by
Executive order as a combat zone for purposes of section 112 of
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, the date for the filing of
any report shall be extended so that the date is 180 days after
the later of--
(i) the last day of the individual's service in such
area during such designated period; or
(ii) the last day of the individual's hospitalization
as a result of injury received or disease contracted
while serving in such area.
(B) The Office of Government Ethics, in consultation with
the Secretary of Defense, may prescribe procedures under this
paragraph.
(h) The provisions of subsections (a), (b), and (e) shall
not apply to an individual who, as determined by the designated
agency ethics official or Secretary concerned (or in the case
of a Presidential appointee under subsection (b), the Director
of the Office of Government Ethics), is not reasonably expected
to perform the duties of his office or position for more than
60 days in a calendar year, except that if such individual
performs the duties of his office or position for more than 60
days in a calendar year--
(1) the report required by subsections (a) and (b)
shall be filed within 15 days of the sixtieth day, and
(2) the report required by subsection (e) shall be
filed as provided in such subsection.
(i) The Director of the Office of Government Ethics may
grant a publicly available request for a waiver of any
reporting requirement under this section for an individual who
is expected to perform or has performed the duties of his
office or position less than 130 days in a calendar year, but
only if the Director determines that--
(1) such individual is not a full-time employee of
the Government,
(2) such individual is able to provide services
specially needed by the Government,
(3) it is unlikely that the individual's outside
employment or financial interests will create a
conflict of interest, and
(4) public financial disclosure by such individual is
not necessary in the circumstances.
SEC. 202. CONTENTS OF REPORTS.
(a) Each report filed pursuant to section 201 (d) and (e)
shall include a full and complete statement with respect to the
following:
(1)(A) The source, description, and category of value
of income (other than income referred to in
subparagraph (B)) from any source (other than from
current employment by the United States Government),
received during the preceding calendar year,
aggregating more than $500 in value, except that
honoraria received during Government service by an
officer or employee shall include, in addition to the
source, the exact amount and the date it was received.
(B) The source and description of investment income
which may include but is not limited to dividends,
rents, interest, and capital gains, received during the
preceding calendar year which exceeds $500 in amount or
value.
(C) The categories for reporting the amount for
income covered in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of this
paragraph are--
(i) greater than $500 but not more than
$20,000;
(ii) greater than $20,000 but not more than
$100,000;
(iii) greater than $100,000 but not more than
$1,000,000;
(iv) greater than $1,000,000 but not more
than $2,500,000; and
(v) greater than $2,500,000.
(2)(A) The identity of the source, a brief
description, and the value of all gifts aggregating
more than the minimal value as established by section
7342(a)(5) of title 5, United States Code, or $250,
whichever is greater, received from any source other
than a relative of the reporting individual during the
preceding calendar year, except that any food, lodging,
or entertainment received as personal hospitality of an
individual need not be reported, and any gift with a
fair market value of $100 or less, as adjusted at the
same time and by the same percentage as the minimal
value is adjusted, need not be aggregated for purposes
of this subparagraph.
(B) The identity of the source and a brief
description (including dates of travel and nature of
expenses provided) of reimbursements received from any
source aggregating more than the minimal value as
established by section 7342(a)(5) of title 5, United
States Code, or $250, whichever is greater and received
during the preceding calendar year.
(C) In an unusual case, a gift need not be aggregated
under subparagraph (A) if a publicly available request
for a waiver is granted.
(3) The identity and category of value of any
interest in property held during the preceding calendar
year in a trade or business, or for investment or the
production of income, which has a fair market value
which exceeds $5,000 as of the close of the preceding
calendar year, excluding any personal liability owed to
the reporting individual by a spouse, or by a parent,
brother, sister, or child of the reporting individual
or of the reporting individual's spouse, or any deposit
accounts aggregating $100,000 or less in a financial
institution, or any Federal Government securities
aggregating $100,000 or less.
(4) The identity and category of value of the total
liabilities owed to any creditor other than a spouse,
or a parent, brother, sister, or child of the reporting
individual or of the reporting individual's spouse
which exceed $20,000 at any time during the preceding
calendar year, excluding--
(A) any mortgage secured by real property
which is a personal residence of the reporting
individual or his spouse; and
(B) any loan secured by a personal motor
vehicle, household furniture, or appliances,
which loan does not exceed the purchase price
of the item which secures it. With respect to
revolving charge accounts, only those with an
outstanding liability which exceeds $20,000 as
of the close of the preceding calendar year
need be reported under this paragraph.
Notwithstanding the preceding sentence,
individuals required to file pursuant to
section 201(b), shall also report the aggregate
sum of the outstanding balances of all
revolving charge accounts as of any date that
is within 30 days of the date of filing if the
aggregate sum of those balances exceeds
$20,000.
(5) Except as provided in this paragraph, a brief
description of any real property, other than property
used solely as a personal residence of the reporting
individual or his spouse, or stocks, bonds, commodities
futures, and other forms of securities, if--
(A) purchased, sold, or exchanged during the
preceding calendar year;
(B) the value of the transaction exceeded
$5,000; and
(C) the property or security is not already
required to be reported as a source of income
pursuant to paragraph (1)(B) or as an asset
pursuant to paragraph (3) of this section.
(6)(A) The identity of all positions held on or
before the date of filing during the current calendar
year (and, for the first report filed by an individual,
during the 1-year period preceding such calendar year)
as an officer, director, trustee, partner, proprietor,
representative, employee, or consultant of any
corporation, company, firm, partnership, or other
business enterprise, any nonprofit organization, any
labor organization, or any educational or other
institution other than the United States. This
subparagraph shall not require the reporting of
positions held in any religious, social, fraternal, or
political entity and positions solely of an honorary
nature.
(B) If any person, other than a person reported as a
source of income under paragraph (1)(A) or the United
States Government, paid a nonelected reporting
individual compensation in excess of $25,000 in the
calendar year prior to or the calendar year in which
the individual files his first report under this title,
the individual shall include in the report--
(i) the identity of each source of such
compensation; and
(ii) a brief description of the nature of the
duties performed or services rendered by the
reporting individual for each such source.
The preceding sentence shall not require any individual
to include in such report any information which is
considered confidential as a result of a privileged
relationship, established by law, between such
individual and any person or any information which the
person for whom the services are provided has a reasonable
expectation of privacy, nor shall it require an individual
to report any information with respect to any person for whom
services were provided by any firm or association of which
such individual was a member, partner, or employee unless
such individual was directly involved in the provision of
such services.
(7) A description of parties to and terms of any
agreement or arrangement with respect to (A) future
employment; (B) a leave of absence during the period of
the reporting individual's Government service; (C)
continuation of payments by a former employer other
than the United States Government; and (D) continuing
participation in an employee welfare or benefit plan
maintained by a former employer. The description of any
formal agreement for future employment shall include
the date on which that agreement was entered into.
(8) The category of the total cash value of any
interest of the reporting individual in a qualified
blind trust.
(b)(1) Each report filed pursuant to subsections (a), (b),
and (c) of section 201 shall include a full and complete
statement with respect to the information required by--
(A) paragraphs (1) and (6) of subsection (a) for the
year of filing and the preceding calendar year,
(B) paragraphs (3) and (4) of subsection (a) as of
the date specified in the report but which is less than
31 days before the filing date, and
(C) paragraph (7) of subsection (a) as of the filing
date but for periods described in such paragraph.
(2)(A) In lieu of filling out 1 or more schedules of a
financial disclosure form, an individual may supply the
required information in an alternative format, pursuant to
either rules adopted by the Office of Government Ethics or
pursuant to a specific written determination by the Director
for a reporting individual.
(B) In lieu of indicating the category of amount or value
of any item contained in any report filed under this title, a
reporting individual may indicate the exact dollar amount of
such item.
(c)(1) In the case of any individual referred to in section
201(d), the Office of Government Ethics may by regulation a
reporting period to include any period in which the individual
served as an officer or employee described in 201(f) and the
period would not otherwise be covered by any public report
filed pursuant to this title.
(2) In the case of any individual referred to in section
201(e), any reference to the preceding calendar year shall be
considered also to include that part of the calendar year of
filing up to the date of the termination of employment.
(d)(1) The categories for reporting the amount or value of
the items covered in paragraph (3) of subsection (a) are--
(A) greater than $5,000 but not more than $15,000;
(B) greater than $15,000 but not more than $100,000;
(C) greater than $100,000 but not more than
$1,000,000;
(D) greater than $1,000,000 but not more than
$2,500,000; and
(E) greater than $2,500,000.
(2) For the purposes of paragraph (3) of subsection (a) if
the current value of an interest in real property (or an
interest in a real estate partnership) is not ascertainable
without an appraisal, an individual may list (A) the date of
purchase and the purchase price of the interest in the real
property, or (B) the assessed value of the real property for
tax purposes, adjusted to reflect the market value of the
property used for the assessment if the assessed value is
computed at less than 100 percent of such market value, but
such individual shall include in his report a full and complete
description of the method used to determine such assessed
value, instead of specifying a category of value pursuant to
paragraph (1) of this subsection. If the current value of any
other item required to be reported under paragraph (3) of
subsection (a) is not ascertainable without an appraisal, such
individual may list the book value of a corporation whose stock
is not publicly traded, the net worth of a business
partnership, the equity value of an individually owned
business, or with respect to other holdings, any recognized
indication of value, but such individual shall include in his
report a full and complete description of the method used in
determining such value. In lieu of any value referred to in the
preceding sentence, an individual may list the assessed value
of the item for tax purposes, adjusted to reflect the market
value of the item used for the assessment if the assessed value
is computed at less than 100 percent of such market value, but
a full and complete description of the method used in
determining such assessed value shall be included in the
report.
(3) The categories for reporting the amount or value of the
items covered in paragraphs (4) and (8) of subsection (a) are--
(A) greater than $20,000 but not more than $100,000;
(B) greater than $100,000 but not more than $500,000;
(C) greater than $500,000 but not more than
$1,000,000; and
(D) greater than $1,000,000.
(e)(1) Except as provided in the last sentence of this
paragraph, each report required by section 201 shall also
contain information listed in paragraphs (1) through (5) of
subsection (a) of this section respecting the spouse or
dependent child of the reporting individual as follows:
(A) The sources of earned income earned by a spouse
including honoraria which exceed $500 except that, with
respect to earned income if the spouse is self-employed
in business or a profession, only the nature of such
business or profession need be reported.
(B) All information required to be reported in
subsection (a)(1)(B) with respect to investment income
derived by a spouse or dependent child.
(C) In the case of any gifts received by a spouse or
dependent child which are not received totally
independent of the relationship of the spouse or
dependent child to the reporting individual, the
identity of the source and a brief description of gifts
of transportation, lodging, food, or entertainment and
a brief description and the value of other gifts.
(D) In the case of any reimbursements received by a
spouse or dependent child which are not received
totally independent of the relationship of the spouse
or dependent child to the reporting individual, the
identity of the source and a brief description of each
such reimbursement.
(E) In the case of items described in paragraphs (3)
through (5) of subsection (a), all information required
to be reported under these paragraphs other than items
which the reporting individual certifies (i) represent
the spouse's or dependent child's sole financial
interest or responsibility and which the reporting
individual has no knowledge of, (ii) are not in any
way, past or present, derived from the income, assets,
or activities of the reporting individual, and (iii)
that he neither derives, nor expects to derive, any
financial or economic benefit.
(F) Reports required by subsections (a), (b), and (c)
of section 201 shall, with respect to the spouse and
dependent child of the reporting individual, only
contain information listed in paragraphs (1), (3), and
(4) of subsection (a), as specified in this paragraph.
(2) No report shall be required with respect to a spouse
living separate and apart from the reporting individual with
the intention of terminating the marriage or providing for
permanent separation; or with respect to any income or
obligations of an individual arising from the dissolution of
his marriage or the permanent separation from his spouse.
(f)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), each reporting
individual shall report the information required to be reported
pursuant to subsections (a), (b), and (c) of this section with
respect to the holdings of and the income from a trust or other
financial arrangement from which income is received by, or with
respect to which a beneficial interest in principal or income
is held by, such individual, his spouse, or any dependent
child.
(2) A reporting individual need not report the holdings of
or the source of income from any of the holdings of--
(A) any qualified blind trust (as defined in
paragraph (3));
(B) a trust--
(i) which was not created directly by such
individual, his spouse, or any dependent child,
and (ii) the holdings or sources of income of
which such individual, his spouse, and any
dependent child have no knowledge of; or (C) an
entity described under the provisions of
paragraph (8), but such individual shall report
the category of the amount of income received
by him, his spouse, or any dependent child from
the entity under subsection (a)(1)(B) of this
section.
(3) For purposes of this subsection, the term `qualified
blind trust' includes any trust in which a reporting
individual, his spouse, or any minor or dependent child has a
beneficial interest in the principal or income, and which meets
the following requirements:
(A)(i) The trustee of the trust and any other entity
designated in the trust instrument to perform fiduciary
duties is financial institution, an attorney, a
certified public accountant, a broker, or an investment
advisor who--
(I) is independent of and not associated with
any interested party so that the trustee or
other person cannot be controlled or influenced
in the administration of the trust by any
interested party;
(II) is not and has not been an employee of
or affiliated with any interested party and is
not a partner of, or involved in any joint
venture or other investment with, any
interested party; and
(III) is not a relative of any interested
party.
(ii) Any officer or employee of a trustee or other
entity who is involved in the management or control of
the trust--
(I) is independent of and not associated with
any interested party so that such officer or
employee cannot be controlled or influenced in
the administration of the trust by any
interested party;
(II) is not a partner of, or involved in any
joint venture or other investment with, any
interested party; and
(III) is not a relative of any interested
party.
(B) Any asset transferred to the trust by an
interested party is free of any restriction with
respect to its transfer or sale unless such restriction
is expressly approved by the Office of Government
Ethics.
(C) The trust instrument which establishes the trust
provides that--
(i) except to the extent provided in
subparagraph (B) of this paragraph, the trustee
in the exercise of his authority and discretion
to manage and control the assets of the trust
shall not consult or notify any interested
party;
(ii) the trust shall not contain any asset
the holding of which by an interested party is
prohibited by any law or regulation;
(iii) the trustee shall promptly notify the
reporting individual and the Office of
Government Ethics when the holdings of any
particular asset transferred to the trust by
any interested party are disposed of or when
the value of such holding is less than $1,000;
(iv) the trust tax return shall be prepared
by the trustee or his designee, and such return
and any information relating thereto (other
than the trust income summarized in appropriate
categories necessary to complete an interested
party's tax return), shall not be disclosed to
any interested party;
(v) an interested party shall not receive any
report on the holdings and sources of income of
the trust, except a report at the end of each
calendar quarter with respect to the total cash
value of the interest of the interested party
in the trust or the net income or loss of the
trust or any reports necessary to enable the
interested party to complete an individual tax
return required by law or to provide the
information required by subsection (a)(1) of
this section, but such report shall not
identify any asset or holding;
(vi) except for communications which solely
consist of requests for distributions of cash
or other unspecified assets of the trust, there
shall be no direct or indirect communication
between the trustee and an interested party
with respect to the trust unless such
communication is in writing and unless it
relates only
(I) to the general financial interest
and needs of the interested party
(including, but not limited to, an
interest in maximizing income or long-
term capital gain), (II) to the
notification of the trustee of a law or
regulation subsequently applicable to
the reporting individual which
prohibits the interested party from
holding an asset, which notification
directs that the asset not be held by
the trust, or (III) to directions to
the trustee to sell all of an asset
initially placed in the trust by an
interested party which in the
determination of the reporting
individual creates a conflict of
interest or the appearance thereof due
to the subsequent assumption of duties
by the reporting individual (but
nothing herein shall require any such
direction); and
(vii) the interested parties shall make no
effort to obtain information with respect to
the holdings of the trust, including obtaining
a copy of any trust tax return filed or any
information relating thereto except as
otherwise provided in this subsection.
(D) The proposed trust instrument and the proposed
trustee is approved by the Office of Government Ethics.
(E) For purposes of this subsection, `interested
party' means a reporting individual, his spouse, and
any minor or dependent child; `broker' has the meaning
set forth in section 3(a)(4) of the Securities and
Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78c(a)(4));
and`investment adviser' includes any investment adviser who, as
determined under regulations prescribed by the supervising ethics
office, is generally involved in his role as such an adviser in the
management or control of trusts.
(4)(A) An asset placed in a trust by an interested party
shall be considered a financial interest of the reporting
individual, for the purposes of any applicable conflict of
interest statutes, regulations, or rules of the Federal
Government (including section 208 of title 18, United States
Code), until such time as the reporting individual is notified
by the trustee that such asset has been disposed of, or has a
value of less than $1,000.
(B)(i) The provisions of subparagraph (A) shall not apply
with respect to a trust created for the benefit of a reporting
individual, or the spouse, dependent child, or minor child of
such a person, if the Office of Government Ethics finds that--
(I) the assets placed in the trust consist of a well-
diversified portfolio of readily marketable securities;
(II) none of the assets consist of securities of
entities having substantial activities in the area of
the reporting individual's primary area of
responsibility;
(III) the trust instrument prohibits the trustee,
notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (3)(C)
(iii) and (iv) of this subsection, from making public
or informing any interested party of the sale of any
securities;
(IV) the trustee is given power of attorney,
notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (3)(C)(v)
of this subsection, to prepare on behalf of any
interested party the personal income tax returns and
similar returns which may contain information relating
to the trust; and
(V) except as otherwise provided in this paragraph,
the trust instrument provides (or in the case of a
trust which by its terms does not permit amendment, the
trustee, the reporting individual, and any other
interested party agree in writing) that the trust shall
be administered in accordance with the requirements of
this subsection and the trustee of such trust meets the
requirements of paragraph (3)(A).
(ii) In any instance covered by subparagraph (B) in which
the reporting individual is an individual whose nomination is
being considered by a congressional committee, the reporting
individual shall inform the congressional committee considering
his nomination before or during the period of such individual's
confirmation hearing of his intention to comply with this
paragraph.
(5)(A) The reporting individual shall, within 30 days after
a qualified blind trust is approved by the Office of Government
Ethics, file with such office a copy of--
(i) the executed trust instrument of such trust
(other than those provisions which relate to the
testamentary disposition of the trust assets), and
(ii) a list of the assets which were transferred to
such trust, including the category of value of each
asset as determined under subsection (d) of this
section.
This subparagraph shall not apply with respect to a trust
meeting the requirements for being considered a qualified blind
trust under paragraph (7) of this subsection.
(B) The reporting individual shall, within 30 days of
transferring an asset (other than cash) to a previously
established qualified blind trust, notify the Office of
Government Ethics of the identity of each such asset and the
category of value of each asset as determined under subsection
(d) of this section.
(C) Within 30 days of the dissolution of a qualified blind
trust, a reporting individual shall notify the Office of
Government Ethics of such dissolution.
(D) Documents filed under subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C)
of this paragraph and the lists provided by the trustee of
assets placed in the trust by an interested party which have
been sold shall be made available to the public in the same
manner as a report is made available under section 205 and the
provisions of that section shall apply with respect to such
documents and lists.
(E) A copy of each written communication with respect to
the trust under paragraph (3)(C)(vi) shall be filed by the
person initiating the communication with the Office of
Government Ethics within 5 days of the date of the
communication.
(6)(A) A trustee of a qualified blind trust shall not
knowingly and willfully, or negligently,
(i) disclose any information to an interested party
with respect to such trust that may not be disclosed
under paragraph (3) of this subsection;
(ii) acquire any holding the ownership of which is
prohibited by the trust instrument;
(iii) solicit advice from any interested party with
respect to such trust, which solicitation is prohibited
by paragraph (3) of this subsection or the trust
agreement; or
(iv) fail to file any document required by this
subsection.
(B) A reporting individual shall not knowingly and
willfully, or negligently, (i) solicit or receive any
information with respect to a qualified blind trust of which he
is an interested party that may not be disclosed under
paragraph (3)(C) of this subsection or (ii) fail to file any
document required by this subsection.
(C)(i) The Attorney General may bring a civil action in any
appropriate United States district court against any individual
who knowingly and willfully violates the provisions of
subparagraph (A) or (B) of this paragraph. The court in which
such action is brought may assess against such individual a
civil penalty in any amount not to exceed $10,000.
(ii) The Attorney General may bring a civil action in any
appropriate United States district court against any individual
who negligently violates the provisions of subparagraph (A) or
(B) of this paragraph. The court in which such action is
brought may assess against such individual a civil penalty in
any amount not to exceed $5,000.
(7) Any trust may be considered to be a qualified blind
trust if--
(A) the trust instrument is amended to comply with
the requirements of paragraph (3) or, in the case of a
trust instrument which does not by its terms permit
amendment, the trustee, the reporting individual, and
any other interested party agree in writing that the
trust shall be administered in accordance with the
requirements of this subsection and the trustee of such
trust meets the requirements of paragraph (3)(A);
except that in the case of any interested party who is
a dependent child, a parent or guardian of such child
may execute the agreement referred to in this
subparagraph;
(B) a copy of the trust instrument (except
testamentary provisions) and a copy of the agreement
referred to in subparagraph (A), and a list of the
assets held by the trust at the time of approval by the
Office of Government Ethics, including the category of
value of each asset as determined under subsection (d)
of this section, are filed with such office and made
available to the public as provided under paragraph
(5)(D) of this subsection; and
(C) the Director of the Office of Government Ethics
determines that approval of the trust arrangement as a
qualified blind trust is in the particular case appropriate
to assure compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
(8) A reporting individual shall not be required to report
the financial interests held by a widely held investment fund
(whether such fund is a mutual fund, regulated investment
company, pension or deferred compensation plan, or other
investment fund), if--
(A)(i) the fund is publicly traded; or
(ii) the assets of the fund are widely diversified;
and
(B) the reporting individual neither exercises
control over nor has the ability to exercise control
over the financial interests held by the fund.
(9)(A)(i) A reporting individual described in subsection
(a) or (b) of section 201 shall not be required to report the
holdings or sources of income of any trust or investment fund
where--
(I) reporting would result in the disclosure of
assets or sources of income of another person whose
interests are not required to be reported by the
reporting individual under this title;
(II) the disclosure of such assets and sources of
income is prohibited by contract or the assets and
sources of income are not otherwise publicly available;
and
(III) the reporting individual has executed a written
ethics agreement which contains a general description
of the trust or investment fund and a commitment to
divest the interest in the trust or investment fund not
later than 90 days after the date of the agreement.
(ii) An agreement described under clause (i)(III) shall be
attached to the public financial disclosure which would
otherwise include a listing of the holdings or sources of
income from this trust or investment fund.
(B)(i) The provisions of subparagraph (A) shall apply to an
individual described in subsection (d) or (e) of section 201
if--
(I) the interest in the trust or investment fund is
acquired involuntarily during the period to be covered
by the report, such as through marriage or inheritance,
and
(II) for an individual described in subsection (d),
the individual executes a written ethics agreement
containing a commitment to divest the interest no later
than 90 days after the date on which the report is due.
(ii) An agreement described under clause (i)(II) shall be
attached to the public financial disclosure which would
otherwise include a listing of the holdings or sources of
income from this trust or investment fund.
(iii) Failure to divest within the time specified or after
an extension granted by the Director of the Office of
Government Ethics for good cause shown shall result in an
immediate requirement to report as specified in paragraph (1)
of this subsection.
(g) Political campaign funds, including campaign receipts
and expenditures, need not be included in any report filed
pursuant to this title.
(h) A report filed pursuant to subsection (a), (d), or (e)
of section 201 need not contain the information described in
subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) of subsection (a)(2) with
respect to gifts and reimbursements received in a period when
the reporting individual was not an officer or employee of the
Federal Government.
(i) A reporting individual shall not be required under this
title to report--
(1) financial interests in or income derived from--
(A) any retirement system under title 5,
United States Code (including the Thrift
Savings Plan under subchapter III of chapter 84
of such title); or
(B) any other retirement system maintained by
the United States for officers or employees of
the United States, including the President, or
for members of the uniformed services; or
(2) benefits received under the Social Security Act
(42 U.S.C. 301 et seq.).
(j)(1) Every month each designated agency ethics officer
shall submit to the Office of Government Ethics notification of
any waiver of criminal conflict of interest laws granted to any
individual in the preceding month with respect to a filing
under this title that is not confidential.
(2) Every month the Office of Government Ethics shall make
publicly available on the Internet--
(A) all notifications of waivers submitted under
paragraph (1) in the preceding month; and
(B) notification of all waivers granted by the Office
of Government Ethics in the preceding month.
(k) A full copy of any waiver of criminal conflict of
interest laws granted shall be included with any filing
required under this title with respect to the year in which the
waiver is granted.
(l) The Office of Government Ethics shall provide upon
request any waiver on file for which notice has been published.
SEC. 203. FILING OF REPORTS.
(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the
reports required under this title shall be filed by the
reporting individual with the designated agency ethics official
at the agency by which he is employed (or in the case of an
individual described in section 201(e), was employed) or in
which he will serve. The date any report is received (and the
date of receipt of any supplemental report) shall be noted on
such report by such official.
(b) The President and the Vice President shall file reports
required under this title with the Director of the Office of
Government Ethics.
(c) Copies of the reports required to be filed under this
title by the Postmaster General, the Deputy Postmaster General,
the Governors of the Board of Governors of the United States
Postal Service, designated agency ethics officials, employees
described in section 105(a)(2) (A) or (B), 106(a)(1) (A) or
(B), or 107 (a)(1)(A) or (b)(1)(A)(i), of title 3, United
States Code, candidates for the office of President or Vice
President and officers and employees in (and nominees to)
offices or positions within the executive branch which require
confirmation by the Senate shall be transmitted to the Director
of the Office of Government Ethics. The Director shall forward
a copy of the report of each nominee to the congressional
committee considering the nomination.
(d) Reports required to be filed under this title by the
Director of the Office of Government Ethics shall be filed in
the Office of Government Ethics and, immediately after being
filed, shall be made available to the public in accordance with
this title.
(e) Each individual identified in section 201(c) who is a
candidate for nomination or election to the Office of President
or Vice President shall file the reports required by this
titlewith the Federal Election Commission.
(f) Reports required of members of the uniformed services
shall be filed with the Secretary concerned.
(g) The Office of Government Ethics shall develop and make
available forms for reporting the information required by this
title.
SEC. 204. FAILURE TO FILE OR FILING FALSE REPORTS.
(a) The Attorney General may bring a civil action in any
appropriate United States district court against any individual
who knowingly and willfully falsifies or who knowingly and
willfully fails to file or report any information that such
individual is required to report pursuant to section 202. The
court in which such action is brought may assess against such
individual a civil penalty in any amount, not to exceed
$10,000.
(b) The head of each agency, each Secretary concerned, or
the Director of the Office of Government Ethics, as the may be,
shall refer to the Attorney General the name of any individual
which such official has reasonable cause to believe has
willfully failed to file a report or has willfully falsified or
willfully failed to file information required to be reported.
(c) The President, the Vice President, the Secretary
concerned, or the head of each agency may take any appropriate
personnel or other action in accordance with applicable law or
regulation against any individual failing to file a report or
falsifying or failing to report information required to be
reported.
(d)(1) Any individual who files a report required to be
filed under this title more than 30 days after the later of--
(A) the date such report is required to be filed
pursuant to the provisions of this title and the rules
and regulations promulgated thereunder; or
(B) if a filing extension is granted to such
individual under section 201(g), the last day of the
filing extension period, shall, at the direction of and
pursuant to regulations issued by the Office of
Government Ethics, pay a filing fee of $500. All such
fees shall be deposited in the miscellaneous receipts
of the Treasury. The authority under this paragraph to
direct the payment of a filing fee may be delegated by
the Office of Government Ethics to other agencies in
the executive branch.
(2) The Office of Government Ethics may waive the filing
fee under this subsection for good cause shown.
SEC. 205. CUSTODY OF AND PUBLIC ACCESS TO REPORTS.
(a) Each agency and the Office of Government Ethics shall
make available to the public, in accordance with subsection
(b), each report filed under this title with such agency or
Office except that this section does not require public
availability of a report filed by any individual in the Central
Intelligence Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the
National Imagery and Mapping Agency, or the National Security
Agency, or any individual engaged in intelligence activities in
any agency of the United States, if the President finds or has
found that, due to the nature of the office or position
occupied by such individual, public disclosure of such report
would, by revealing the identity of the individual or other
sensitive information, compromise the national interest of the
United States; and such individuals may be authorized,
notwithstanding section 204(a), to file such additional reports
as are necessary to protect their identity from public
disclosure if the President first finds or has found that such
filing is necessary in the national interest.
(b)(1) Except as provided in the second sentence of this
subsection, each agency and the Office of Government Ethics
shall, within 30 days after any report is received under this
title by such agency or Office, as the case may be, permit
inspection of such report by or furnish a copy of such report
to any person requesting such inspection or copy. With respect
to any report required to be filed by May 15 of any year, such
report shall be made available for public inspection within 30
calendar days after May 15 of such year or within 30 days of
the date of filing of such a report for which an extension is
granted pursuant to section 201(g). The agency or the Office of
Government Ethics may require a reasonable fee to be paid in
any amount which is found necessary to recover the cost of
reproduction or mailing of such report excluding any salary of
any employee involved in such reproduction or mailing. A copy
of such report may be furnished without charge or at a reduced
charge if it is determined that waiver or reduction of the fee
is in the public interest.
(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a report may not be made
available under this section to any person nor may any copy
thereof be provided under this section to any person except
upon a written application by such person stating--
(A) that person's name, occupation, and address;
(B) the name and address of any other person or
organization on whose behalf the inspection or copy is
requested; and
(C) that such person is aware of the prohibitions on
the obtaining or use of the report.
Any such application shall be made available to the public
throughout the period during which the report is made available
to the public.
(c)(1) It shall be unlawful for any person to obtain or use
a report--
(A) for any unlawful purpose;
(B) for any commercial purpose, other than by news
and communications media for dissemination to the
general public;
(C) for determining or establishing the credit rating
of any individual; or
(D) for use, directly or indirectly, in the
solicitation of money for any political, charitable, or
other purpose.
(2) The Attorney General may bring a civil action against
any person who obtains or uses a report for any purpose
prohibited in paragraph (1) of this subsection. The court in
which such action is brought may assess against such person a
penalty in any amount not to exceed $10,000. Such remedy shall
be in addition to any other remedy available under statutory or
common law.
(d) Any report filed with or transmitted to an agency or
the Office of Government Ethics pursuant to this title shall be
retained by such agency or Office, as the case may be. Such
report shall be made available to the public for a period of 6
years after receipt of the report. After such 6-year period the
report shall be destroyed unless needed in an ongoing
investigation, except that in the case of an individual who
filed the report pursuant to section 201(b) and was not
subsequently confirmed by the Senate, or who filed the report
pursuant to section 201(c) and wasnot subsequently elected,
such reports shall be destroyed 1 year after the individual either is
no longer under consideration by the Senate or is no longer a candidate
for nomination or election to the Office of President or Vice President
unless needed in an ongoing investigation.
SEC. 206. REVIEW OF REPORTS.
(a) Each designated agency ethics official or Secretary
concerned shall make provisions to ensure that each report
filed with him under this title is reviewed within 60 days
after the date of such filing, except that the Director of the
Office of Government Ethics shall review only those reports
required to be transmitted to him under this title within 60
days after the date of transmittal.
(b)(1) If after reviewing any report under subsection (a),
the Director of the Office of Government Ethics, the Secretary
concerned, or the designated agency ethics official, as the
case may be, is of the opinion that on the basis of information
contained in such report the individual submitting such report
is in compliance with applicable laws and regulations, he shall
state such opinion on the report, and shall sign such report.
(2) If the Director of the Office of Government Ethics, the
Secretary concerned, or the designated agency ethics official
after reviewing any report under subsection (a)--
(A) believes additional information is required to be
submitted to complete the form or to perform a conflict
of interest analysis, he shall notify the individual
submitting such report what additional information is
required and the time by which it must be submitted, or
(B) is of the opinion, on the basis of information
submitted, that the individual is not in compliance
with applicable laws and regulations, he shall notify
the individual, afford a reasonable opportunity for a
written or oral response, and after consideration of
such response, reach an opinion as to whether or not,
on the basis of information submitted, the individual
is in compliance with such laws and regulations.
(3) If the Director of the Office of Government Ethics, the
Secretary concerned, or the designated agency ethics official
reaches an opinion under paragraph (2)(B) that an individual is
not in compliance with applicable laws and regulations, the
official shall notify the individual of that opinion and, after
an opportunity for personal consultation (if practicable),
determine and notify the individual of which steps, if any,
would in the opinion of such official be appropriate for
assuring compliance with such laws and regulations and the date
by which such steps should be taken. Such steps may include, as
appropriate--
(A) divestiture,
(B) restitution,
(C) the establishment of a blind trust,
(D) request for an exemption under section 208(b) of
title 18, United States Code, or
(E) voluntary request for transfer, reassignment,
limitation of duties, or resignation.
The use of any such steps shall be in accordance with such
rules or regulations as the Office of Government Ethics may
prescribe.
(4) If steps for assuring compliance with applicable laws
and regulations are not taken by the date set under paragraph
(3) by an individual in a position in the executive branch
(other than in the Foreign Service or the uniformed services),
appointment to which requires the advice and consent of the
Senate, the matter shall be referred to the President for
appropriate action.
(5) If steps for assuring compliance with applicable laws
and regulations are not taken by the date set under paragraph
(3) by a member of the Foreign Service or the uniformed
services, the Secretary concerned shall take appropriate
action.
(6) If steps for assuring compliance with applicable laws
and regulations are not taken by the date set under paragraph
(3) by any other officer or employee, the matter shall be
referred to the head of the appropriate agency for appropriate
action; except that in the case of the Postmaster General or
Deputy Postmaster General, the Director of the Office of
Government Ethics shall recommend to the Governors of the Board
of Governors of the United States Postal Service the action to
be taken.
(7) The Office of Government Ethics may render advisory
opinions interpreting this title. Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, the individual to whom a public advisory
opinion is rendered in accordance with this paragraph, and any
other individual covered by this title who is involved in a
fact situation which is indistinguishable in all material
aspects, and who acts in good faith in accordance with the
provisions and findings of such advisory opinion shall not, as
a result of such act, be subject to any penalty or sanction
provided by this title.
SEC. 207. CONFIDENTIAL REPORTS AND OTHER ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.
(a)(1) The Office of Government Ethics may require officers
and employees of the executive branch (including special
Government employees as defined in section 202 of title 18,
United States Code) to file confidential financial disclosure
reports, in such form as it may prescribe. The information
required to be reported under this subsection by the officers
and employees of any department or agency shall be set forth in
rules or regulations prescribed by the Office of Government
Ethics, and may be less extensive than otherwise required by
this title, or more extensive when determined by the Office of
Government Ethics to be necessary and appropriate in light of
sections 202 through 209 of title 18, United States Code,
regulations promulgated thereunder, or the authorized
activities of such officers or employees. Any individual
required to file a report pursuant to section 201 shall not be
required to file a confidential report pursuant to this
subsection, except with respect to information which is more
extensive than information otherwise required by this title.
Subsections (a), (b), and (d) of section 205 shall not apply
with respect to any such report.
(2) Any information required to be provided by an
individual under this subsection shall be confidential and
shall not be disclosed to the public.
(3) Nothing in this subsection exempts any individual
otherwise covered by the requirement to file a public financial
disclosure report under this title from such requirement.
(b) The provisions of this title requiring the reporting of
information shall supersede any general requirement under any
other provision of law or regulation with respect to the
reporting of information required for purposes of preventing
conflicts of interest or apparent conflicts of interest. Such
provisions of this title shall not supersede the requirements
of section 7342 of title 5, United States Code.
(c) Nothing in this Act requiring reporting of information
shall be deemed to authorize the receipt of income, gifts, or
reimbursements; the holding of assets, liabilities, or
positions; orthe participation in transactions that are
prohibited by law, Executive order, rule, or regulation.
SEC. 208. AUTHORITY OF COMPTROLLER GENERAL.
The Comptroller General shall have access to financial
disclosure reports filed under this title for the purposes of
carrying out his statutory responsibilities.
SEC. 209. DEFINITIONS.
For the purposes of this title, the term--
(1) `dependent child' means, when used with respect
to any reporting individual, any individual who is a
son, daughter, stepson, or stepdaughter and who--
(A) is unmarried and under age 21 and is
living in the household of such reporting
individual; or
(B) is a dependent of such reporting
individual within the meaning of section 152 of
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C.
152);
(2) `designated agency ethics official' means an
officer or employee who is designated to administer the
provisions of this title within an agency;
(3) `executive branch' includes each Executive agency
(as defined in section 105 of title 5, United States
Code), other than the General Accounting Office, and
any other entity or administrative unit in the
executive branch;
(4) `gift' means a payment, advance, forbearance,
rendering, or deposit of money, or any thing of value,
unless consideration of equal or greater value is
received by the donor, but does not include--
(A) bequest and other forms of inheritance;
(B) suitable mementos of a function honoring
the reporting individual;
(C) food, lodging, transportation, and
entertainment provided by a foreign government
within a foreign country or by the United
States Government, the District of Columbia, or
a State or local government or political
subdivision thereof;
(D) food and beverages which are not consumed
in connection with a gift of overnight lodging;
(E) communications to the offices of a
reporting individual, including subscriptions
to newspapers and periodicals; or
(F) items that are accepted pursuant to or
are required to be reported by the reporting
individual under section 7342 of title 5,
United States Code.
(5) `honoraria' means a payment of money or anything
of value for an appearance, speech, or article;
(6) `income' means all income from whatever source
derived, including but not limited to the following
items: compensation for services, including fees,
commissions, and similar items; gross income derived
from business (and net income if the individual elects
to include it); gains derived from dealings in
property; interest; rents; royalties; prizes and
awards; dividends; annuities; income from life
insurance and endowment contracts; pensions; income
from discharge of indebtedness; distributive share of
partnership income; and income from an interest in an
estate or trust;
(7) `personal hospitality of any individual' means
hospitality extended for a nonbusiness purpose by an
individual, not a corporation or organization, at the
personal residence of that individual or his family or
on property or facilities owned by that individual or
his family;
(8) `reimbursement' means any payment or other thing
of value received by the reporting individual, other
than gifts, to cover travel-related expenses of such
individual other than those which are--
(A) provided by the United States Government,
the District of Columbia, or a State or local
government or political subdivision thereof;
(B) required to be reported by the reporting
individual under section 7342 of title 5,
United States Code; or (C) required to be
reported under section 304 of the Federal
Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434);
(9) `relative' means an individual who is related to
the reporting individual, as father, mother, son,
daughter, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, great aunt,
great uncle, first cousin, nephew, niece, husband,
wife, grandfather, grandmother, grandson,
granddaughter, father-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-
law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law,
stepfather, stepmother, stepson, stepdaughter,
stepbrother, stepsister, half brother, half sister, or
who is the grandfather or grandmother of the spouse of
the reporting individual, and shall be deemed to
include the fiance or fiancee of the reporting
individual;
(10) `Secretary concerned' has the meaning set forth
in section 101(a)(9) of title 10, United States Code,
and, in addition, means--
(A) the Secretary of Commerce, with respect
to matters concerning the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration;
(B) the Secretary of Health and Human
Services, with respect to matters concerning
the Public Health Service; and
(C) the Secretary of State, with respect to
matters concerning the Foreign Service; and
(11) `value' means a good faith estimate of the
dollar value if the exact value is neither known nor
easily obtainable by the reporting individual.
SEC. 210. NOTICE OF ACTIONS TAKEN TO COMPLY WITH ETHICS AGREEMENTS.
(a) In any case in which an individual agrees with that
individual's designated agency ethics official, the Office of
Government Ethics, or a Senate confirmation committee, to take
any action to comply with this Act or any other law or
regulation governing conflicts of interest of, or establishing
standards of conduct applicable with respect to, officers or
employees of the Government, that individual shall notify in
writing the designated agency ethics official, the Office of
Government Ethics, or the appropriate committee of the Senate,
as the case may be, of any action taken by the individual
pursuant to that agreement. Such notification shall be made not
later than the date specified in the agreement by which action
by the individual must be taken, or not later than 3 months
after the date of the agreement, if no date for action is so
specified. If all actions agreed to have not been completed by
the date of this notification, such notification shall continue
on a monthly basis thereafter until the individual has met the
terms of the agreement.
(b) If an agreement described in subsection (a) requires
that the individual recuse himself or herself from particular
categories of agency or other official action, the individual
shall reduce to writing those subjects regarding which the
recusal agreement will apply and the process by which it will
be determined whether the individual must recuse himself or
herself in a specific instance. An individual shall be
considered to have complied with the requirements of subsection
(a) with respect to such recusal agreement if such individual
files a copy of the document setting forth the information
described in the preceding sentence with such individual's
designated agency ethics official or the Office of Government
Ethics within the time prescribed in the penultimate sentence
of subsection (a).
SEC. 211. ADMINISTRATION OF PROVISIONS.
The Office of Government Ethics shall issue regulations,
develop forms, and provide such guidance as is necessary to
implement and interpret this title.