[House Report 113-323]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
113th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session 113-323
_______________________________________________________________________
Union Calendar No. 240
ANNUAL REPORT ON THE ACTIVITIES
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON ETHICS
FOR THE
ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS
(First Session)
__________
R E P O R T
of the
COMMITTEE ON ETHICS
January 2, 2014.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
COMMITTEE ON ETHICS
K. MICHAEL CONAWAY, Texas LINDA T. SANCHEZ, California
Chairman Ranking Member
CHARLES W. DENT, Pennsylvania PEDRO R. PIERLUISI, Puerto Rico
PATRICK MEEHAN, Pennsylvania MICHAEL E. CAPUANO, Massachusetts
TREY GOWDY, South Carolina YVETTE D. CLARKE, New York
SUSAN W. BROOKS, Indiana TED DEUTCH, Florida
Report Staff
Thomas A. Rust, Interim Chief Counsel/Staff Director
Jackie M. Barber, Counsel to the Chairman
Daniel J. Taylor, Counsel to the Ranking Member
Brittany M. Bohren, Investigative Clerk
LETTER OF SUBMITTAL
----------
House of Representatives,
Committee on Ethics,
Washington, DC, January 2, 2014.
Hon. Karen L. Haas,
Clerk, House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Dear Ms. Haas: Pursuant to clause 1(d) of Rule XI of the
Rules of the House of Representatives, we hereby submit to the
House an Annual Report on the Activities of the Committee on
Ethics for the First Session of the 113th Congress.
Sincerely,
K. Michael Conaway,
Chairman.
Linda T. Sanchez,
Ranking Member.
Union Calendar No. 240
113th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session 113-323
======================================================================
ANNUAL REPORT ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE COMMITTEE ON ETHICS FOR THE ONE
HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS (FIRST SESSION)
_______
January 2, 2014.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Conaway and Ms. Sanchez, from the Committee on Ethics, submitted
the following
R E P O R T
The Committee on Ethics is tasked with interpreting and
enforcing the House ethics rules. The Committee has sole
jurisdiction over the interpretation of the Code of Official
Conduct, which governs the actions of Members and staff. The
Committee is the only standing House committee with equal
numbers of Democratic and Republican members. The Committee's
operative staff is required by rule to be--and it is--
professional and nonpartisan. Every Committee vote during the
1st Session of the 113th Congress was unanimous. In these and
other ways, the Committee is unique and distinct from other
committees and plays a different role in the House than any
other House entity. This report provides a brief summary of the
Committee's notable activities, followed by a table summarizing
the activities.
Most of the Committee's work is conducted confidentially.
Members and staff are prohibited, by Committee rule, from
publicly discussing the Committee's work. Confidentiality
promotes compliance with the rules and, in the investigative
context, permits the Committee to independently investigate
matters fully without interference or undue influence.
Confidentiality is also a component of fairness to those whose
conduct may be reviewed by the Committee.
However, at appropriate times and in the interest of
transparency and accountability, the Committee may make certain
activities and information public. Therefore, to the extent
Committee rules, obligations, and integrity permit, the
Committee submits this report on its activities.
I. THE COMMITTEE'S RESPONSIBILITIES
The Committee manages five critical responsibilities:
1. Training. The Committee provides mandatory annual ethics
training to approximately 10,000 employees of the House. In
addition, the Committee provides additional, mandatory training
for senior staff. Trainings take the form of in-person
briefings and computer-based interactive presentations. The
Committee regularly updates its online training materials and
has systems for monitoring and enforcing compliance with the
House's training requirements.
2. Advice and Education. The Committee provides both formal
and informal guidance to Members and employees of the House.
Through published guidance, the Committee updates the House on
the ethical standards regulating the conduct of Members and
staff. It also provides confidential written guidance to
Members and staff on specific questions. In addition, the
Committee staff gives informal, confidential advice to Members,
staff, and the public every day.
3. Travel. The Committee is responsible for reviewing and
approving all privately-sponsored travel related to official
duties offered to Members and staff. At the end of the 112th
Congress, the Committee adopted revised travel regulations,
which were made effective for travel beginning on April 1,
2013.
4. Financial Disclosure. The Committee reviews and
certifies all annual financial disclosure statements that
Members, candidates, and senior staff are required to file, as
well as all periodic transaction reports that Members and
senior staff file. These are time-intensive reviews, which
require the dedication of substantial staff resources to
complete. In addition, the Committee's financial disclosure
experts speak and meet regularly with individual Members and
staff to pre-screen their reports to prevent and avoid the
necessity of filing amendments, or to provide assistance in
completing the reports.
5. Investigations. The Committee investigates and
adjudicates allegations of impropriety and violations of House
ethics rules by Members and staff. The Committee actively
investigates allegations against Members and staff, using a mix
of informal and formal investigative techniques to determine
the validity of factual allegations, explore potential rules
violations and recommend appropriate sanctions and corrective
actions. Where appropriate, the Committee refers matters to
federal and state law enforcement authorities.
In addition, the Committee performs other critical
functions to ensure compliance with House ethics rules. Several
of these functions are noted in the table below, which
summarizes the Committee's activities for 2013.
II. SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS
A. ORGANIZATION IN THE 113TH CONGRESS
On January 3, 2013, Representative K. Michael Conaway was
appointed the new Chairman of the Committee, Representative
Linda T. Sanchez was reappointed Ranking Member of the
Committee, and three new Republican Members joined the
Committee. On January 23, 2013, the Committee gained three new
Democratic Members. The first Committee meeting of the 113th
Congress was held on February 5, 2013. At this meeting, the
Committee adopted its rules and oversight plan and voted to re-
hire its non-partisan, professional staff for the new Congress.
B. ADVICE TO NEW AND EXISTING MEMBERS AND STAFF
From the beginning of the 113th Congress to December 31,
2013, 76 new Members joined the House, as did 3,208 new
employees. The Committee has worked diligently to advise and
educate these new House Members and employees on the ethics
rules that now apply to them. Since the beginning of 2013,
Committee staff has offered nonpartisan informal guidance to
Members, officers, and employees in over 14,000 phone calls and
over 4,500 emails. The Committee encourages all Members and
staff to call with any ethics questions they may have. In
addition, the Committee offers frequent opportunities for
Members and staff to participate in live and online training.
In 2013, the Committee offered 48 live training seminars and
over 700 in-person private meetings, many of which involved
assisting financial disclosure filers.
In addition, the Committee is continually striving to
expand the scope of its efforts to educate and assist Members,
officers, and employees of the House. To that end, the
Committee issued twelve Pink Sheets or General Advisories to
the entire House Community, including Ethics Guidance Related
to Sequestration, Reminder about the Limitation on
Participating in Initial Public Offerings, and Holiday Guidance
on the Gift Rule. All twelve of these Pink Sheets, along with
other guidance issued by the Committee, are available to the
House community on the Committee's Web site,
www.ethics.house.gov.
C. INVESTIGATIVE MATTERS
The Committee actively investigates allegations against
House Members, officers, and employees, using a mix of informal
and formal investigative techniques to determine the validity
of factual allegations, explore potential rules violations, and
recommend appropriate sanctions and corrective actions. The
Committee's options for investigating a matter include fact-
gathering under Committee Rule 18(a), which may or may not be
publicly disclosed, the empanelment of investigative
subcommittees, and the review of transmittals from the Office
of Congressional Ethics (OCE). The fact that a House Member,
officer, or employee is referenced in an investigative matter
should not be construed as a finding or suggestion that the
Member, officer, or employee has committed any violation of the
rules, law, or other standard of conduct.
In 2013, the Committee commenced 23 new investigative
matters. In addition, the Committee carried over 35 matters
from the 112th Congress and empaneled 3 new investigative
subcommittees, in the matters of Representative Robert Andrews,
Representative Don Young, and Representative Trey Radel. In
2013, the Committee received eleven referrals from the OCE,
recommending further review or dismissal. By the end of 2013,
the Committee completed 27 investigations. Resolutions in five
of those matters were publicly disclosed, and numerous public
statements were issued regarding the Committee's investigative
work. The Committee has publicly released four Committee
reports, totaling over 1,000 pages, which collectively resolved
matters involving 11 Members of the House and 3 employees.
D. REVIEW OF COMMITTEE GUIDANCE ON CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
In 2013, the Committee formed a bipartisan working group
led by Representative Susan W. Brooks and Representative Ted
Deutch to study matters related to the disclosure of and
handling of personal financial interests in the House of
Representatives. The working group met formally nine times
primarily focusing on the Committee's financial disclosure
guidance regarding modern complex investment vehicles. The
working group sought input from the House community, as well as
ethics experts from the government and private sector, during
its review. In 2014, the working group will continue its work,
which will focus on a review of the Committee's guidance on the
various requirements of conflicts of interest rules for
Members, officers, and employees of the House of
Representatives
E. GREATER TRANSPARENCY
In 2013 the Committee released nineteen public statements
regarding various matters. Where appropriate, the Committee
issued investigative reports for matters, ranging from 1 page
to more than 400 pages (including attachments). Several of
these statements announced the resolution of significant
investigative matters.
F. FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE
For calendar year 2013, the Legislative Resource Center of
the Clerk's office referred a total of 2,651 Financial
Disclosure Statements to the Committee for review under the
Title I of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (EIGA), as
amended (5 U.S.C. app. 4 Sec. Sec. 101-111). Of those, 1,988
were Statements filed by current or new House Members or
employees, 392 were filed by departing House Members or
employees, and 246 were Statements filed by candidates for the
House. Where the Committee's review indicated that a filed
Statement had a deficiency, such as a failure to include
required information, the Committee requested an amendment from
the filer. Such amendments are routine and, without evidence of
a knowing or willful violation, the Committee will usually take
no further action. Where the Committee found that a Member or
staff person had violated a provision of the EIGA, the
Committee determined the appropriate remedy for the violation.
For calendar year 2013, the Legislative Resource Center of
the Clerk's office referred a total of 1,637 PTRs to the
Committee for review under the statute. Of those, 705 were PTRs
filed by Members and 932 were PTRs filed by House employees.
Like FD Statements, where the Committee's review indicated that
a filed PTR had a deficiency, such as a failure to include
required information, the Committee requested an amendment from
the filer. The Committee also followed up with filers whose
PTRs indicated noncompliance with applicable law, such as
impermissible participation in an Initial Public Offering or
late filing of the PTR. Where the Committee found that a Member
or staff person had violated a provision of the STOCK Act, the
Committee determined the appropriate remedy for the violation.
G. IMPLEMENTATION OF NEW PRIVATELY-SPONSORED TRAVEL REGULATIONS
House Rule XXV, clause 5(d)(2), which was enacted at the
start of the 110th Congress, charged each House Member or
employee with obtaining approval of the Committee prior to
undertaking any travel paid for by a private source on matters
connected to the individual's House duties.
House Rule XXV, clause 5(i), charges the Committee with
undertaking an annual review of its guidelines and regulations
regarding privately-funded, officially-connected travel. In the
112th Congress, the Committee carried over a bipartisan travel
working group to assess and make recommendations regarding its
process for the review and approval of such travel. Committee
Members Representatives Charles Dent and Donna F. Edwards
comprised the working group. As a result of the efforts of the
working group, the Committee adopted comprehensive revised
travel regulations for privately-sponsored, officially
connected travel which were released as a general advisory on
December 27, 2012. The regulations were made effective for
travel beginning on April 1, 2013.
Under the travel approval process established by the
Committee, the Committee reviewed more than 2,400 requests, and
issued letters approving nearly 2,200 requests for travel in
2013. The Committee also reviewed the post-travel disclosure
forms filed by the traveler on each approved trip pursuant to
House Rule XXV, clause 5(b)(1)(A)(ii), requesting amendments or
other remedial action by the traveler when deemed necessary.
The Committee also produces the following table summarizing
its activities in the 113th Congress through December 31, 2013.
COMMITTEE REPORT FROM JANUARY 1-DECEMBER 31, 2013
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Formal Advice and Approval:
Advisory Opinion Requests Received......................... 465
Advisory Opinions Mailed................................... 416
Percentage of Opinions Mailed within 2 weeks............... 69%
Percentage of Opinions Mailed within 4 weeks............... 80%
Travel Requests Received................................... 2,452
Travel Opinions Mailed..................................... 2,193
Percentage of Travel Opinions Mailed within 2 weeks........ 43%
Percentage of Travel Opinions Mailed within 4 weeks........ 82%
Informal Advice (including Financial Disclosure):
Phone Calls (approximate).................................. 14,492
Emails (approximate)....................................... 4,581
Training:
Total # of House Employees (as of 12/31/2013).............. 9,313
Employees having completed training (approximate).......... 9,132
Training briefings (scheduled training sessions)........... 48
Personal Advisory Meetings with Members and Staff 710
(approximate).............................................
Investigations:
Investigative Matters carried over from the 112th Congress. 35
Investigative Matters commenced in 2013.................... 23
Investigative Subcommittees carried over from the 112th 0
Congress..................................................
Investigative Subcommittees commenced in 2013.............. 3
Publicly Disclosed Resolutions............................. 5
Confidential Resolutions................................... 22
Referrals received from the Office of Congressional Ethics. 11
Financial Disclosures:
FD Reports filed by Members and Staff...................... 1,988
FD Reports filed by Candidates............................. 246
FD Reports and amendments reviewed by Committee staff...... 2,982
Committee Publications:
Pink Sheets/General Advisories............................. 12
Public Statements.......................................... 19
Investigative Reports...................................... 4
Miscellaneous Oversight:
Recusals................................................... 46
Negotiations............................................... 93
Qualified Blind Trusts..................................... 2
Legal Expense Funds........................................ 8
Foreign Gifts and Travel Reports........................... 4
Meetings:
Full Committee Meetings.................................... 13
Subcommittee Meetings...................................... 16
Working Group Meetings..................................... 9
Personnel:
Lowest Total Staff Level in 2013........................... 23
Highest Total Staff Level in 2013.......................... 26
------------------------------------------------------------------------