1 9 (F) in which an individual is assigned on a per 2 manent basis in the government plant representative 3 office. 4 (3) Regulations under paragraph (1) shall be revised 5 not less often than once each year. Any revision of such regu 6 lations shall be published in the Federal Register. 7 (4)(A) When a vacancy occurs in a position identified 8 under paragraph (1) and the Secretary of Defense determines 9 that the duties inherent in that position involve significant 10 responsibilities for procurement functions with so many con11 tractors that implementation of subsection (a) with respect to 12 individuals serving in that position would seriously hamper 13 the ability of the Department of Defense to obtain the services 14 of a highly qualified individual to fill that vacancy, the Sec15 retary, with the concurrence of the Director of the Office of 16 Government Ethics, may exempt the individual appointed to 17 fill that vacancy from the provisions of that subsection by 18 reason of service in such position. 19 (B) Whenever the Secretary grants an exemption under 20 this paragraph, the Secretary shall promptly submit to the 21 Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and House of 22 Representatives a report describing the exemption and setting 23 forth the specific reasons for the exemption. 24 (h) EXCLUSION.-This section does not apply HR 2554 RH 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 10 (1) to a contract for an amount less than $100,000; or (2) to compensation of an individual by an entity that did not have a Department of Defense contract in excess of $100,000 at the time the individual had sig nificant responsibilities for a procurement function with respect to a contract with that entity. (i) ADVISORY OPINIONS FROM OFFICE OF GOVERN9 MENT ETHICS.—(1) An individual who is considering the 10 propriety of accepting compensation that might place the in11 dividual in violation of subsection (a) may, before acceptance 12 of such compensation, apply to the Director of the Office of 13 Government Ethics for advice on the applicability of this sec14 tion to the acceptance of such compensation. 15 (2) An application under paragraph (1) shall contain 16 such information as the Director requires. 17 (j) WAIVER OF OTHERWISE APPLICABLE FINES 18 UNDER TITLE 18.—The provisions of section 3623 of title 19 18, United States Code, shall not apply to maximum fines 20 applicable under subsections (a)(2), (a)(3), and (e)(3). 21 (k) DEFINITIONS.-For purposes of this section: 24 (1) The term "compensation" includes any payment, gift, benefit, reward, favor, gratuity, or employment valued in excess of $100 at prevailing market HR 2554 RH 11 1 price, provided directly, indirectly, or through a third 3 party. (2) The term "contractor" means any person, 4 partnership, corporation, or agency (other than the Federal Government or the independent agencies there 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 of) that contracts to supply the Department of Defense with goods or services. Such term includes any parent, subsidiary, or affiliate thereof. (3) The term "procurement function", with respect to a contract, means any acquisition action relating to the contract, including negotiating, awarding, administering, approving contract changes, costs analysis, quality assurance, operational and developmental testing, technical advice or recommendation, approval of payment, contractor selection, budgeting, auditing under the contract, or management of the procurement program. (4) The term "Armed Forces" means the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps and includes the Coast Guard when the Coast Guard is operating as a 17 18 19 20 21 service in the Navy. SEPARATION OF MEMBERS OF ARMED 23 FORCES.-For the purposes of this section, a member or 24 former member of the Armed Forces shall be considered to 25 have been separated from service in the Department of De HR 2554 RH 12 1 fense upon such member's discharge or release from active 2 duty. 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 (m) TRANSITION.-(1) This section (A) does not preclude the continuation of employment that began before the effective date of this section or the acceptance of compensation for such employment; and (B) does not, except as provided in paragraph (2), apply to an individual whose service with the Department of Defense terminates before April 1, 1986. (2) Paragraph (1)(B) does not preclude the application 12 of this section to an individual with respect to service in the 13 Department of Defense by such individual on or after 14 April 1, 1986. 15 (n) EFFECTIVE DATE.-This section shall take effect 16 on January 1, 1986. HR 2554 RH Mr. BROWN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I applaud your willingness to bring this bill before the committee and to hold hearings on this immportant subject. I think it is vitally important that we set a standard here that is clear, so that people in defense procurement understand what is wrong, and what is acceptable. There are many people who, in good faith, obviously have to find a job when they leave Government service. We need to make the rules clear so that people who do operate in good faith can be exonerated just as those who try and abuse the system should be disciplined. I hope the bottom line of this bill and the legislation that I suspect Congress will enact in this area is to come up with clear, clean rules that are understandable. That is a characteristic sadly lacking from many of our ethics rules both in the defense area or in Congress. Many of the rules are simply fuzzy and unclear and they have led to a great deal of misunderstanding. So I hope that we will come up with something that is clean and clear and understandable. And I hope as we examine this area we will see if there isn't a way we can minimize the amount of useless paper work that we impose on the people who serve our country as well as the departments that have to operate under it. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. GLICKMAN. Thank you, Mr. Brown. I think your words echo my feelings that the issue here is one of balance, striking that right balance. I worked for a Federal agency before I went into law practice. Sometimes I felt, at least in that case, that unnecessary adherence to what I call puritanical revolving door standards was unproductive for the country. But on the other hand, I do know that in the Defense Department area some of the anecdotal evidence is not particularly attractive to folks back home either. So the question is to try to strike a balance. Our first witness is the Hon. Charles Bennett, a very distinguished Member of Congress, and a member of the Armed Services Committee, and a former leader in the Ethics Committee. We are delighted to have you here. Is Barbara Boxer coming today with you or do you know? Mr. GLICKMAN. I am now informed that she is not coming. Her statement was submitted. Without objection, the statement of Mrs. Boxer will be included in the record at this point. [The statement of Mrs. Boxer follows:] |