Congressional Accountability Act Enhancement Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 5464 To amend the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 to require Members of Congress to reimburse the Treasury for amounts paid as settlements and awards under such Act in all cases of employment discrimination acts committed personally by Members, to require the General Counsel of the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights to conduct an investiga- tion of all workplace discrimination claims filed by covered employees under such Act, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DECEMBER 17, 2019 Ms. SPEIER (for herself, Mr. BYRNE, Ms. UNDERWOOD, Mr. FITZPATRICK, and Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration A BILL To amend the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 to require Members of Congress to reimburse the Treasury for amounts paid as settlements and awards under such Act in all cases of employment discrimination acts com- mitted personally by Members, to require the General Counsel of the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights to conduct an investigation of all workplace discrimina- tion claims filed by covered employees under such Act, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:57 Dec 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5464.IH H5464 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5464 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Congressional Ac- 2 countability Act Enhancement Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. REQUIRING MEMBERS OF CONGRESS TO REIM- 4 BURSE TREASURY FOR AMOUNTS PAID AS 5 SETTLEMENTS AND AWARDS UNDER CON- 6 GRESSIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY ACT OF 1995 7 IN ALL CASES OF EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINA- 8 TION ACTS BY MEMBERS. 9 (a) REQUIRING REIMBURSEMENT.—Clause (i) of sec- 10 tion 415(d)(1)(C) of the Congressional Accountability Act 11 of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1415(d)(1)(C)), as amended by section 12 111(a) of the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 13 Reform Act (Public Law 115–397; 132 Stat. 5306) is 14 amended to read as follows: 15 ‘‘(i) a violation of section 201(a) or 16 section 206(a); or’’. 17 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO NOTI- 18 FICATION OF POSSIBILITY OF REIMBURSEMENT.—Clause 19 (i) of section 402(b)(2)(B) of the Congressional Account- 20 ability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1402(b)(2)(B)), as amended 21 by section 102(a) of the Congressional Accountability Act 22 of 1995 Reform Act (Public Law 115–397; 132 Stat. 23 5301), is amended to read as follows: 24 ‘‘(i) a violation of section 201(a) or 25 section 206(a); or’’. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:57 Dec 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5464.IH H5464 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5464 IH (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 1 this section shall apply with respect to claims under the 2 Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 which are made 3 on or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 4 SEC. 3. REQUIRING INVESTIGATION BY GENERAL COUNSEL 5 OF OFFICE OF CONGRESSIONAL WORKPLACE 6 RIGHTS OF ALL CLAIMS FILED BY COVERED 7 EMPLOYEES UNDER CONGRESSIONAL AC- 8 COUNTABILITY ACT OF 1995. 9 (a) REQUIRING INVESTIGATION OF CLAIMS.—Section 10 403 of the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 (2 11 U.S.C. 1403), as amended by section 103(a) of the Con- 12 gressional Accountability Act of 1995 Reform Act (Public 13 Law 115–397; 132 Stat. 5303), is amended to read as 14 follows: 15 ‘‘SEC. 403. INVESTIGATION OF CLAIMS. 16 ‘‘(a) INVESTIGATION.—Upon the completion of the 17 initial processing of a claim under section 402(b), the Gen- 18 eral Counsel shall conduct an investigation of the claim 19 involved. 20 ‘‘(b) SUBPOENAS.—To carry out an investigation 21 under this section, the General Counsel may issue sub- 22 poenas in the same manner, and subject to the same terms 23 and conditions, as a hearing officer may issue subpoenas 24 to carry out discovery with respect to a hearing under sec- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:57 Dec 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5464.IH H5464 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 5464 IH tion 405, except that the General Counsel may issue such 1 a subpoena on the General Counsel’s own initiative, with- 2 out regard to whether or not a party requests that the 3 General Counsel issue the subpoena. It is the sense of 4 Congress that the General Counsel should issue subpoenas 5 under this subsection only to the extent that other meth- 6 ods of obtaining information with respect to an investiga- 7 tion are insufficient to enable the General Counsel to con- 8 clude the investigation within the deadline described in 9 subsection (e). 10 ‘‘(c) REPORT; FINDINGS.— 11 ‘‘(1) REPORT.—Upon concluding an investiga- 12 tion of a claim under this section, the General Coun- 13 sel shall transmit a written report on the results of 14 the investigation to the covered employee and the 15 employing office involved. 16 ‘‘(2) INCLUSION OF FINDINGS.—The General 17 Counsel shall include in the report transmitted 18 under paragraph (1) one of the following findings: 19 ‘‘(A) A finding that there is reasonable 20 cause to believe that the employing office com- 21 mitted a violation of part A of title II, as al- 22 leged in the covered employee’s claim. 23 ‘‘(B) A finding that there is no reasonable 24 cause to believe that the employing office com- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:57 Dec 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5464.IH H5464 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 5464 IH mitted a violation of part A of title II, as al- 1 leged in the covered employee’s claim. 2 ‘‘(C) A finding that the General Counsel 3 cannot determine whether or not there is rea- 4 sonable cause to believe that the employing of- 5 fice committed a violation of part A of title II, 6 as alleged in the covered employee’s claim. 7 ‘‘(3) NOTICE OF RIGHT TO FILE CIVIL AC- 8 TION.—If the General Counsel transmits a finding 9 under subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2), the Gen- 10 eral Counsel shall also transmit to the covered em- 11 ployee a written notice that the employee has the 12 right to file a civil action with respect to the claim 13 under section 408. 14 ‘‘(4) TRANSMISSION TO EXECUTIVE DIREC- 15 TOR.—If the General Counsel transmits a finding 16 under subparagraph (A) or subparagraph (C) of 17 paragraph (2), the General Counsel shall also trans- 18 mit the report to the Executive Director. 19 ‘‘(5) TRANSMISSION OF REPORT ON INVESTIGA- 20 TION OF CERTAIN CLAIMS TO CONGRESSIONAL ETH- 21 ICS COMMITTEES.—In the case of a report trans- 22 mitted by the General Counsel under paragraph (1) 23 on the results of an investigation of a claim alleging 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:57 Dec 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5464.IH H5464 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 5464 IH a violation described in section 415(d)(1)(A), the 1 General Counsel shall transmit the report to— 2 ‘‘(A) the Committee on Ethics of the 3 House of Representatives, in the case of a viola- 4 tion involving a Member of the House (includ- 5 ing a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to the 6 Congress); or 7 ‘‘(B) the Select Committee on Ethics of 8 the Senate, in the case of a violation involving 9 a Senator. 10 ‘‘(d) RECOMMENDATION OF MEDIATION.—At any 11 time during the investigation of a claim under this section, 12 the General Counsel may make a recommendation that the 13 covered employee and the employing office pursue medi- 14 ation under section 404 with respect to the claim. 15 ‘‘(e) DEADLINE FOR CONCLUDING INVESTIGATION.— 16 The General Counsel shall conclude the investigation of 17 a claim under this subsection, and transmit the report on 18 the results of the investigation, not later than 90 days 19 after the claim is filed under section 402, except that the 20 General Counsel may (upon notice to the parties to the 21 investigation) use an additional period of not to exceed 22 30 days to conclude the investigation.’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:17 Dec 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5464.IH H5464 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 5464 IH (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS RELATING TO DE- 1 SCRIPTION OF PROCEDURES AVAILABLE FOR CONSIDER- 2 ATION OF ALLEGED VIOLATIONS.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 401(a)(2) of such 4 Act (2 U.S.C. 1401(a)(2)), as amended by section 5 101(a) of the Congressional Accountability Act of 6 1995 Reform Act (Public Law 115–397; 132 Stat. 7 5298), is amended to read as follows: 8 ‘‘(2) an investigation of the claim, to be con- 9 ducted by the General Counsel as provided in section 10 403; and’’. 11 (2) CONDITIONS FOR AVAILABILITY OF FORMAL 12 HEARING.—Section 401(a)(4) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 13 1401(a)(4)), as amended by section 101(a) of the 14 Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 Reform 15 Act (Public Law 115–397; 132 Stat. 5298), is 16 amended to read as follows: 17 ‘‘(4) a formal hearing as provided in section 18 405, subject to Board review as provided in section 19 406, and judicial review in the United States Court 20 of Appeals for the Federal Circuit as provided in 21 section 407, but only if, pursuant to an investigation 22 conducted by the General Counsel as provided in 23 section 403, the General Counsel finds either— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:57 Dec 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5464.IH H5464 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 5464 IH ‘‘(A) that there is reasonable cause to be- 1 lieve that the employing office involved com- 2 mitted a violation of part A of title II as alleged 3 in the covered employee’s claim; or 4 ‘‘(B) that the General Counsel cannot de- 5 termine whether or not there is reasonable 6 cause to believe that the employing office com- 7 mitted a violation of part A of title II as alleged 8 in the covered employee’s claim.’’. 9 (3) RIGHT OF EMPLOYEE TO FILE CIVIL AC- 10 TION.—Section 401(b) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 11 1401(b)), as amended by section 101(a) of the Con- 12 gressional Accountability Act of 1995 Reform Act 13 (Public Law 115–397; 132 Stat. 5298), is amended 14 to read as follows: 15 ‘‘(b) RIGHT OF EMPLOYEE TO FILE CIVIL AC- 16 TION.— 17 ‘‘(1) CIVIL ACTION.—A covered employee who 18 has filed a timely claim as provided in section 402 19 may, during the period described in paragraph (3), 20 file a civil action in a District Court of the United 21 States with respect to the violation alleged in the 22 claim, as provided in section 408. 23 ‘‘(2) EFFECT OF FILING CIVIL ACTION.—Not- 24 withstanding paragraph (2) or paragraph (4) of sub- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:57 Dec 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5464.IH H5464 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 5464 IH section (a), if the covered employee files such a civil 1 action— 2 ‘‘(A) the investigation of the claim by the 3 General Counsel as provided in section 403, or 4 any subsequent formal hearing as provided in 5 section 405, shall terminate upon the filing of 6 the action by the covered employee; and 7 ‘‘(B) the procedure for consideration of the 8 alleged violation shall not include any further 9 investigation of the claim by the General Coun- 10 sel as provided in section 403 or any subse- 11 quent formal hearing as provided in section 12 405. 13 ‘‘(3) PERIOD FOR FILING CIVIL ACTION.—The 14 period described in this paragraph with respect to a 15 claim is the 70-day period which begins on the date 16 the covered employee files the claim under section 17 402. 18 ‘‘(4) SPECIAL RULE FOR EMPLOYEES RECEIV- 19 ING FINDING OF NO REASONABLE CAUSE UNDER IN- 20 VESTIGATION BY GENERAL COUNSEL.—Notwith- 21 standing paragraph (3), if a covered employee re- 22 ceives a written notice from the General Counsel 23 under section 403(c)(3) that the employee has the 24 right to file a civil action with respect to the claim 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:57 Dec 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5464.IH H5464 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 5464 IH in accordance with section 408, the covered employee 1 may file the civil action not later than 90 days after 2 receiving such written notice.’’. 3 (4) SPECIAL RULES FOR LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 4 CLAIMANTS.—Section 401(d)(2) of such Act (2 5 U.S.C. 1401(d)(2)), as amended by section 101(a) 6 of the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 Re- 7 form Act (Public Law 115–397; 132 Stat. 5298), is 8 amended by striking ‘‘at any time before the date 9 that is 10 days after a hearing officer submits the 10 report on the preliminary review of the claim under 11 section 403(c),’’ and inserting ‘‘at any time prior to 12 the expiration of the 10-day period which begins on 13 the date the General Counsel transmits the written 14 report on the results of the investigation of the claim 15 under section 403(c),’’. 16 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS RELATING TO 17 HEARINGS CONDUCTED AFTER INVESTIGATION.— 18 (1) AVAILABILITY OF HEARING CONDUCTED BY 19 OFFICE OF CONGRESSIONAL WORKPLACE RIGHTS.— 20 Section 405(a) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 1405(a)), as 21 amended by section 103(a) of the Congressional Ac- 22 countability Act of 1995 Reform Act (Public Law 23 115–397; 132 Stat. 5303), is amended to read as 24 follows: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:57 Dec 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5464.IH H5464 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 5464 IH ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT FOR HEARINGS CONDUCTED BY 1 OFFICE.— 2 ‘‘(1) RESULT OF CERTAIN FINDINGS BY GEN- 3 ERAL COUNSEL.— 4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If the General Coun- 5 sel transmits a written report on the investiga- 6 tion of a covered employee’s claim under section 7 403 which includes a finding described in sub- 8 paragraph (B), and if the covered employee 9 submits a request for a hearing to the Execu- 10 tive Director prior to the expiration of the 10- 11 day period which begins on the date the Gen- 12 eral Counsel transmits such a written report, 13 the Office shall conduct a hearing to consider 14 the claim and render a decision. 15 ‘‘(B) FINDINGS DESCRIBED.—A finding 16 described in this subparagraph is— 17 ‘‘(i) a finding under section 18 403(c)(2)(A) that there is reasonable cause 19 to believe that an employing office com- 20 mitted a violation of part A of title II, as 21 alleged in a claim filed by a covered em- 22 ployee; or 23 ‘‘(ii) a finding under section 24 403(c)(2)(C) that the General Counsel 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:57 Dec 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5464.IH H5464 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 5464 IH cannot determine whether or [Text truncated for display. 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