[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 811 Introduced in House (IH)]
103d CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 811
To reauthorize the independent counsel law for an additional 5 years,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 4, 1993
Mr. Brooks (for himself, Mr. Bryant, and Mr. Frank of Massachusetts)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To reauthorize the independent counsel law for an additional 5 years,
and for other purposes.
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 ``Independent Counsel Reauthorization
Act of 1993''.
SEC. 2. FIVE-YEAR REAUTHORIZATION.
Section 599 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by striking
``1987'' and inserting ``1993''.
SEC. 3. ADDED CONTROLS.
(a) Cost Controls and Administrative Support.--Section 594 of title
28, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following
new subsection:
``(l) Cost Controls and Administrative Support.--
``(1) Cost controls.--
``(A) In general.--An independent counsel shall--
``(i) conduct all activities with due
regard for expense;
``(ii) authorize only reasonable and lawful
expenditures; and
``(iii) promptly, upon taking office,
assign to a specific employee the duty of
certifying that expenditures of the independent
counsel are reasonable and made in accordance
with law.
``(B) Department of justice policies.--An
independent counsel shall comply with the established
policies of the Department of Justice respecting
expenditures of funds, except to the extent that
compliance would be inconsistent with the purposes of
this chapter.
``(2) Administrative support.--The Director of the
Administrative Office of the United States Courts shall provide
administrative support and guidance to each independent
counsel. No officer or employee of the Administrative Office of
the United States Courts shall disclose information related to
an independent counsel's expenditures, personnel, or
administrative acts or arrangements without the authorization
of the independent counsel.
``(3) Office space.--The Administrator of General Services,
in consultation with the Director of the Administrative Office
of the United States Courts, shall promptly provide appropriate
office space for each independent counsel. Such office space
shall be within a Federal building unless the Administrator of
General Services determines that other arrangements would cost
less.''.
(b) Independent Counsel Per Diem Expenses.-- Section 594(b) of
title 28, United States Code, is amended--
(1) by striking ``An independent counsel'' and inserting
``(1) In general.--An independent counsel''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new paragraphs:
``(2) Travel expenses.--Except as provided in paragraph
(3), an independent counsel and persons appointed under
subsection (c) shall be entitled to the payment of travel
expenses as provided by subchapter 1 of chapter 57 of title 5,
including travel or transportation expenses in accordance with
section 5703 of title 5.
``(3) Travel to primary office.--An independent counsel and
any person appointed under subsection (c) shall not be entitled
to the payment of travel and subsistence expenses under
subchapter 1 of chapter 57 of title 5 with respect to duties
performed in the city in which the primary office of that
independent counsel or person is located after 1 year of
service by that independent counsel or person (as the case may
be) under this chapter unless the employee assigned duties
under subsection (l)(1)(A)(iii) certifies that the payment is
in the public interest to carry out the purposes of this
chapter. Any such certification shall be effective for 6
months, but may be renewed for additional periods of 6-months
each if, for each such renewal, the employee assigned duties
under subsection (l)(1)(A)(iii) makes a recertification with
respect to the public interest described in the preceding
sentence. In making any certification or recertification under
this paragraph with respect to travel and subsistence expenses
of an independent counsel or person appointed under subsection
(c), such employee shall consider, among other relevant
factors--
``(A) the cost to the Government of reimbursing
such travel and subsistence expenses;
``(B) the period of time for which the independent
counsel anticipates that the activities of the
independent counsel or person, as the case may be, will
continue;
``(C) the personal and financial burdens on the
independent counsel or person, as the case may be, of
relocating so that such travel and subsistence expenses
would not be incurred; and
``(D) the burdens associated with appointing a new
independent counsel, or appointing another person under
subsection (c), to replace the individual involved who
is unable or unwilling to so relocate.''.
(c) Independent Counsel Employee Pay Comparability.--Section 594(c)
of title 28, United States Code, is amended by striking the last
sentence and inserting the following: ``Such employees shall be
compensated at levels not to exceed those payable for comparable
positions in the Office of United States Attorney for the District of
Columbia under sections 548 and 550, but in no event shall any such
employee be compensated at a rate greater than the rate of basic pay
payable for level IV of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 of
title 5.''.
(d) Ethics Enforcement.--Section 594(j) of title 28, United States
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(5) Enforcement.--The Attorney General and the Director
of the Office of Government Ethics have authority to enforce
compliance with this subsection.''.
(e) Compliance With Policies of the Department of Justice.--Section
594(f) is amended by striking ``shall, except where not possible,
comply'' and inserting ``shall, except to the extent that to do so
would be inconsistent with the purposes of this chapter, comply''.
(f) Publication of Reports.--Section 594(h) of title 28, United
States Code, is amended--
(1) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(3) Publication of reports.--At the request of an
independent counsel, the Public Printer shall cause to be
printed any report previously released to the public under
paragraph (2). The independent counsel shall certify the number
of copies necessary for the public, and the Public Printer
shall place the cost of the required number to the debit of
such independent counsel. Additional copies shall be made
available to the public through the Superintendent of Documents
sales program under section 1702 of title 44 and the depository
library program under section 1903 of such title.''; and
(2) in the first sentence of paragraph (2), by striking
``appropriate'' the second place it appears and inserting ``in
the public interest, consistent with maximizing public
disclosure, ensuring a full explanation of independent counsel
activities and decisionmaking, and facilitating the release of
information and materials which the independent counsel has
determined should be disclosed''.
(g) Annual Reports to Congress.--Section 595(a)(2) of title 28,
United States Code, is amended by striking ``such statements'' and all
that follows through ``appropriate'' and inserting ``annually a report
on the activities of the independent counsel, including a description
of the progress of any investigation or prosecution conducted by the
independent counsel. Such report may omit any matter that in the
judgment of the independent counsel should be kept confidential, but
shall provide information adequate to justify the expenditures that the
office of the independent counsel has made''.
(h) Periodic Reappointment of Independent Counsel.--Section
596(b)(2) of title 28, United States Code, is amended by adding at the
end the following new sentence: ``If the Attorney General has not made
a request under this paragraph, the division of the court shall
determine on its own motion whether termination is appropriate under
this paragraph not later than 3 years after the appointment of an
independent counsel and at the end of each succeeding 3-year period.''.
(i) Audits by the Comptroller General.--Section 596(c) of title 28,
United States Code, is amended to read as follows:
``(c) Audits.--By December 31 of each year, an independent counsel
shall prepare a statement of expenditures for the fiscal year that
ended on the immediately preceding September 30. An independent counsel
whose office is terminated prior to the end of the fiscal year shall
prepare a statement of expenditures by the date that is 90 days after
the date on which the office is terminated. The Comptroller General
shall audit each such statement and shall, not later than March 31 of
the year following the submission of any such statement, report the
results of each audit to the Committee on the Judiciary and the
Committee on Government Operations of the House of Representatives and
to the Committee on Governmental Affairs and the Committee on the
Judiciary of the Senate.''.
SEC. 4. MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.
Section 591(c) of title 28, United States Code, is amended--
(1) by indenting paragraphs (1) and (2) two ems to the
right and by redesignating such paragraphs as subparagraphs (A)
and (B), respectively;
(2) by striking ``The Attorney'' and all that follows
through ``if--'' and inserting the following:
``(1) In general.--The Attorney General may conduct a
preliminary investigation in accordance with section 592 if--
''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(2) Members of congress.--When the Attorney General
determines that it would be in the public interest, the
Attorney General may conduct a preliminary investigation in
accordance with section 592 if the Attorney General receives
information sufficient to constitute grounds to investigate
whether a Member of Congress may have violated any Federal
criminal law other than a violation classified as a Class B or
C misdemeanor or an infraction.''.
SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.
The amendments made by this Act shall become effective on the date
of the enactment of this Act.
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