[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 24 (Wednesday, February 5, 2020)]
[House]
[Pages H825-H827]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2019
Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend
the rules and pass the bill (S. 394) to amend the Presidential
Transition Act of 1963 to improve the orderly transfer of the executive
power during Presidential transitions.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
S. 394
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Presidential Transition
Enhancement Act of 2019''.
SEC. 2. PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION ENHANCEMENTS.
(a) In General.--Section 3 of the Presidential Transition
Act of 1963 (3 U.S.C. 102 note) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)--
(A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking
``upon request,'' and all that follows through ``including''
and inserting ``upon request, to each President-elect, each
Vice-President-elect, and, for up to 60 days after the date
of the inauguration of the President-elect and Vice-
President-elect, each President and Vice President, for use
in connection with the preparations for the assumption of
official duties as President or Vice President necessary
services and facilities, including''; and
(B) in paragraph (2)--
(i) by inserting ``, or an employee of a committee of
either House of Congress, a joint committee of the Congress,
or an individual
[[Page H826]]
Member of Congress,'' after ``any branch of the Government'';
and
(ii) by inserting ``, or in the case of an employee in a
position in the legislative branch, with the consent of the
supervising Member of Congress'' after ``with the consent of
the head of the agency'';
(2) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the following:
``(b) The Administrator shall expend funds for the
provision of services and facilities under this section--
``(1) in connection with any obligation incurred by the
President-elect or Vice-President-elect, or after the
inauguration of the President-elect as President and the
inauguration of the Vice-President-elect as Vice President
incurred by the President or Vice President, during the
period--
``(A) beginning on the day after the date of the general
elections held to determine the electors of the President and
Vice President under section 1 or 2 of title 3, United States
Code; and
``(B) ending on the date that is 60 days after the date of
such inauguration; and
``(2) without regard to whether the President-elect, Vice-
President-elect, President, or Vice President submits to the
Administrator a request for payment regarding services or
facilities before the end of such period.'';
(3) in subsection (h)(2)(B)(ii), by striking ``computers''
and inserting ``information technology''; and
(4) By adding at the end the following:
``(i) Memorandums of Understanding.--
``(1) In general.--Not later than September 1 of a year
during which a Presidential election occurs, the
Administrator shall, to the maximum extent practicable, enter
into a memorandum of understanding with each eligible
candidate, which shall include, at a minimum, the conditions
for the administrative support services and facilities
described in subsection (a).
``(2) Existing resources.--To the maximum extent
practicable, a memorandum of understanding entered into under
paragraph (1) shall be based on memorandums of understanding
relating to previous Presidential transitions.
``(3) Transition representative.--
``(A) Designation of representative for inquiries.--Each
memorandum of understanding entered into under this
subsection shall designate a representative of the eligible
candidate to whom the Administrator shall direct any
inquiries or legal instruments regarding the records of the
eligible candidate that are in the custody of the
Administrator.
``(B) Change in transition representative.--The designation
of a new individual as the transition representative of an
eligible candidate shall not require the execution of a new
memorandum of understanding under this subsection.
``(C) Termination of designation.--The designation of a
transition representative under a memorandum of understanding
shall terminate--
``(i) not later than September 30 of the year during which
the inauguration of the President-elect as President and the
inauguration of the Vice-President-elect as Vice President
occurs; or
``(ii) before the date described in clause (i), upon
request of the President-elect or the Vice-President-elect
or, after such inauguration, upon request of the President or
the Vice President.
``(4) Amendments.--Any amendment to a memorandum of
understanding entered into under this subsection shall be
agreed to in writing.
``(5) Prior notification of deviation.--Each party to a
memorandum of understanding entered into under this
subsection shall provide written notice, except to the extent
prohibited under another provision of law, not later than 3
days before taking any action that deviates from the terms
and conditions agreed to in the memorandum of understanding.
``(6) Definition.--In this subsection, the term `eligible
candidate' has the meaning given that term in subsection
(h)(4).''.
(b) Agency Transitions.--Section 4 of the Presidential
Transition Act of 1963 (3 U.S.C. 102 note) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)--
(A) in paragraph (3), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(B) by redesignating paragraph (4) as paragraph (5); and
(C) by inserting after paragraph (3) the following:
``(4) the term `nonpublic information'--
``(A) means information from the Federal Government that a
member of a transition team obtains as part of the employment
of the member that such member knows or reasonably should
know has not been made available to the general public; and
``(B) includes information that a member of the transition
team knows or reasonably should know--
``(i) is exempt from disclosure under section 552 of title
5, United States Code, or otherwise protected from disclosure
by law; and
``(ii) is not authorized by the appropriate government
agency or officials to be released to the public; and'';
(2) in subparagraphs (C) and (D) of subsection (e)(3), by
inserting ``serving in a career position'' after ``senior
representative'';
(3) by striking subsection (f)(2) and inserting the
following:
``(2) Acting officers.--Not later than September 15 of a
year during which a Presidential election occurs, and in
accordance with subchapter III of chapter 33 of title 5,
United States Code, the head of each agency shall ensure that
a succession plan is in place for each senior noncareer
position in the agency.''; and
(4) in subsection (g)--
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``November 1'' and
inserting ``October 1''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
``(3) Ethics plan.--
``(A) In general.--Each memorandum of understanding under
paragraph (1) shall include an agreement that the eligible
candidate will implement and enforce an ethics plan to guide
the conduct of the transition beginning on the date on which
the eligible candidate becomes the President-elect.
``(B) Contents.--The ethics plan shall include, at a
minimum--
``(i) a description of the ethics requirements that will
apply to all members of the transition team, including any
specific requirement for transition team members who will
have access to nonpublic or classified information;
``(ii) a description of how the transition team will--
``(I) address the role on the transition team of--
``(aa) lobbyists registered under the Lobbying Disclosure
Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) and individuals who were
former lobbyists registered under that Act; and
``(bb) persons registered under the Foreign Agents
Registration Act of 1938 (22 U.S.C. 611 et seq.), foreign
nationals, and other foreign agents;
``(II) prohibit a transition team member with conflicts of
interest similar to those applicable to Federal employees
under section 2635.402(a) and section 2635.502(a) of title 5,
Code of Federal Regulations, related to current or former
employment, affiliations, clients, or investments, from
working on particular matters involving specific parties that
affect the interests of such member; and
``(III) address how the covered eligible candidate will
address his or her own conflicts of interest during a
Presidential term if the covered eligible candidate becomes
the President-elect;
``(iii) a Code of Ethical Conduct, which each member of the
transition team will sign and be subject to, that reflects
the content of the ethics plans under this paragraph and at a
minimum requires transition team members to--
``(I) seek authorization from transition team leaders or
their designees before seeking, on behalf of the transition,
access to any nonpublic information;
``(II) keep confidential any nonpublic information provided
in the course of the duties of the member with the transition
and exclusively use such information for the purposes of the
transition; and
``(III) not use any nonpublic information provided in the
course of transition duties, in any manner, for personal or
private gain for the member or any other party at any time
during or after the transition; and
``(iv) a description of how the transition team will
enforce the Code of Ethical Conduct, including the names of
the members of the transition team responsible for
enforcement, oversight, and compliance.
``(C) Publicly available.--The transition team shall make
the ethics plan described in this paragraph publicly
available on the internet website of the General Services
Administration the earlier of--
``(i) the day on which the memorandum of understanding is
completed; or
``(ii) October 1.''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from
New York (Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney) and the gentleman from North
Carolina (Mr. Meadows) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from New York.
General Leave
Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous
consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to
revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the
measure before us.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from New York?
There was no objection.
Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as
much time as I may consume.
The Presidential Transition Enhancement Act would make a number of
important changes to the transition process when a new President is
elected.
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Senators Johnson and Carper for their
hard work on this issue.
Many of the provisions in the bill before us today were introduced in
the House by our late chairman, Elijah Cummings, in the Transition Team
Ethics Improvement Act.
Most importantly, the bill would strengthen the ethics requirements
for transition team members.
The Government Accountability Office issued a report in 2017 about
President Trump's Presidential transition.
[[Page H827]]
GAO reported that the Trump transition team required team members to
sign an ethics code of conduct but failed to designate a transition
team member responsible for enforcing it.
Ethics plans are important for Presidential transitions because
Presidents-elect often hire transition team members who work in the
private sector, but unlike Federal employees, private-sector employees
are not subject to Federal ethics laws.
This bill would require eligible Presidential candidates to agree to
enforce ethics plans during the transition period. The bill includes
core elements of what those ethics plans should include, such as a
description of how the transition team will address participation by
lobbyists and individuals working for foreign governments.
The bill would also require that transition teams make the ethics
plans they adopt publicly available. It also includes provisions to
ensure that nonpublic information remains confidential and is not used
in any way for personal gain.
The bill would clarify the responsibility of the General Services
Administration during a transition by requiring a memorandum of
understanding between the agency and the Presidential transition team.
Finally, the bill would allow GSA to provide transition services for up
to 60 days after an inauguration.
These provisions would help ensure smoother transitions than we have
had in the past.
I am very glad this is a bipartisan bill. The Senate approved this
bill without any opposition.
The peaceful transition of power from one party to another is a
cornerstone of our democratic system. We must do all we can to ensure
the integrity of that process.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this
important legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. MEADOWS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I rise in support of S. 394, the Presidential Transition Enhancement
Act of 2019.
First, Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank Chairman Johnson for taking
a serious look at the needed ethics reform. The Senate has developed
this legislative package in a bipartisan manner, something that we
would be well served in this House to do.
At the beginning of Congress, I think the Democrats introduced H.R.
1, which was a grab bag of unrelated Democrat messaging bills. One
section of H.R. 1 was really directed at the President of the United
States and his administration without really addressing serious ethics
reforms.
S. 394, on the other hand, is an honest ethics reform package. The
bipartisan support in the Senate shows that ethics reform does not need
to be a partisan exercise.
I would suggest Senator Johnson's bill addresses a number of
ambiguities about how agencies work with Presidential transition teams
that were identified by the Trump transition team. For example,
agencies and the Presidential transition team should come to an
agreement about the use and disclosure of transition team records.
The bill also establishes a requirement for a transition team's
ethics plan. The plan would include consideration of how conflicts of
interest would be addressed by members of the transition team and the
President-elect.
I hope that we can use this for our future benefit as we work
together in a bipartisan manner to make sure that ethics are addressed
and stop politicizing ethics reforms.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve
the balance of my time.
Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of
this bill, S. 394, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. MEADOWS. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney) that the House
suspend the rules and pass the bill, S. 394.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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