1 (4) all transactions in commodities by him, or by

2 him and his spouse jointly, or by any person acting on

3 his behalf or pursuant to his direction during the pre

4 ceding calendar year if the aggregate amount involved in

5 such transaction exceeds $1,000; and

6 (5) any purchase or sale of real property or any

7 interest therein by him, or by him and his spouse jointly,

8 or by any person acting on his behalf or pursuant to his

9 direction, during the preceding calendar year if the value

10 of property involved in such purchase or sale exceeds

11 $1,000.

12 (b) Reports required by this section (other than re

13 ports so required by candidates for nomination for or election

14 to Federal office) shall be filed not later than May 15 of

15 each year. A person who ceases, prior to such date in any

16 year, to occupy the office or position the occupancy of which

17 imposes upon him the reporting requirements contained in

18 subsection (a) shall file such report on the last day he oc

19 cupies such office or position, or on such later date, not more

20 than three months after such last day, as the Comptroller

21 General may prescribe.

22 (c) Reports required by this section shall be in such

23 form and detail as the Comptroller General may prescribe. '24 The Comptroller General may provide for the grouping of 25 items of income, sources of income, assets, liabilities, dealings 5

1 in securities or commodities, and purchases and sales of real

2 property, when separate itemization is not feasible or is not - 3 necessary for an accurate disclosure of the income, net worth,

4 dealing in securities and'commodities, or purchases and sales

5 'of real property of any individual.

6 (d) Any person who willfully fails to file a report re

7 quired by this section or who knowingly and willfully files a

8 false report under this section, shall he fined not more than

9 $2,000, or imprisoned for not more than five years, or both.

10 (e) All reports filed under this section shall be main

11 tained by the Comptroller General as public records, which,

12 under such reasonable rules as he shall prescribe, shall be

13 available for inspection by members of the public.

14 (f) For the purposes of any report required by this

15 section, an individual is considered to be President, Vice

16 President, a Member of Congress, an officer or employee of

17 the United States, or a member of a uniformed service, dur

18 ing any calendar year if he serves in any such position for

19 more than six months during such calendar year.

20 '(g) The first report required under this section shall

21 be due thirty days after the date of the enactment of this

22 Act.

23 DEFINITIONS

24 Sec. 3. For purposes' of this Act—

25 (1) the term "income" means gross income as de6

1 fined by section 61 of.the Internal Revenue Code of

2 1954;

3 (2) the term "security" means security as defined

4 in section 2 of the Securities Act of 1933 (15 U.S.C.

5 77b);

G (3) the term "commodity" means commodity as

7 defined in section 2 of the Commodity Exchange Act

8 (7 U.S.C. 2);

9 (4) the term "transactions in securities or com

10 moditics" means any acquisition, holding, withholding,

11 use, transfer, or other disposition involving any security

12 or commodity; .- ..

13 (5) the term "Member of Congress" means a Sen

14 ator, a Representative, a- Resident Commissioner, or

15 a Delegate;

16 (6) the term "officer" has the same meaning as

17 in section 2104 of title 5, United States Code;

18 (7) the term "employee" has the same meaning as

19 in section 2105 of such title;

20 (8) the term "uniformed service" means any of the

21 Armed Forces, the commissioned corps of the Public

22 Health Service, or the commissioned corps of the Na

23 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration;

24 (9) the term "immediate family" means the child, 7

1 parent, grandparent, brother, sister of an individual, and

2 the spouses of such persons;

3 (10) the term "candidate" has the meaning given

4 it by section 301 (b) of the Federal Election Campaign

5 Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(b));

6 (11) the term "Federal office" has the meaning

7 given it by section 301 (c) of the Federal Election

8 Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431 (c)) ; and

9 (12) the term "Comptroller General" means the 10 Comptroller General of the United States.

Mr. Flowers. This subcommittee plans to hold at least 2 days of hearings—today and tomorrow—so we can receive a wide range of opinion about financial disclosures. Then we will study the issue carefully, evaluating existing rules and considering what improvements might or ought to be made. We will work diligently to develop legislation that strikes a balance between the public's right to know and the citizens' right to privacy.

I yield to the gentleman from California for any comments he might have at this time.

Mr. Moorhead. Well, these are important hearings that we are conducting. Many people throughout the country feel it is very important that we get some kind of legislation adopted in this area to bring back more confidence of the people in the legislative process and their Government generally. We have the problem over the next few days and weeks of working out a bill that would be able to meet the needs of the country, so I hope these hearings will produce some construchave at this time.

Mr. Flowers. The gentleman from Kentucky.

Mr. Mazzoli. Thank you very much.

Mr. Chairman, let me simply add to what you have so adequately said this morning—that I commend you on having these hearings. We have received a vote of confidence from the members of the Democratic caucus. I think we have received that because the people see a need for disclosure legislation on the books. I think that the vehicles which we have before us give us an opportunity for a very wide ranging approach to this difficult subject. And, I think that the fact that we are having hearings today and tomorrow and getting about our job, a formidable task indeed, is some evidence of the kind of interest we show in this.

And, I would like to thank the chairman for his work and commit myself to helping him produce a bill as quickly as it is feasible to do.

Mr. Flowers. Thank you very much. The gentleman from Ohio.

Mr. Kindness. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I would only raise the point, in addition to what has been said, that it does appear that the subject matter is such as to require perhaps more testimony than can be collected in 2 days of hearings.

The subject matter before us is, I think, of great importance. And, perhaps we will find, by the time that these 2 days of hearings have expired, that there is yet more that should, and must, be heard.

I just mention that, at this point, due to the extensive witness list this morning and realizing that it is going to be difficult to hear everyone. And, tomorrow we will have another set of witnesses that I have not seen yet. And, I am sure that there are many sides to the issue that may need to be explored.

Mr. Flowers. Thank you. The gentleman from New York.

Mr. Pattison. Mr. Chairman, so as not to further add to the sins of redundancy, which I think we will probably get plenty of today, I will pass.

Mr. Flowers. I did not know that was a sin, but I thank the gentleman.

Mr. Pattison. In this body, it is not a sin.

Mr. Flowers. Thank you.

One of our colleagues on the Judiciary Committee, the gentleman from Missouri, Mr. Hungate, said that at one key point in some hearing that was going on that originality was plagiarism undetected.

[General laughter.]

Air. Flowers. We have as our first witnesses on this legislation, the two primary sponsors on the House side. It is my great pleasure to present our distinguished colleague on the Judiciary Committee and the chairman of another subcommittee, the gentleman from Wisconsin, Mr. Kastenmeier who is joined by the distinguished gentleman from Texas and my old neighbor on the Cannon Building floor, Mr. Steelman.

We are delighted to have both of you with us this morning. Bob and Alan, proceed as you see fit.

[The prepared statement of Hon. Robert W. Kastenmeier follows:]

Statement Of Hon. Robert W. Kastenmeier, A Representative In Congress From The State Op Wisconsin

Mr. Chairman, I appreciate this opportunity to appear before this Subcommittee this morning to urge the passage of H.R. 3249, The Financial Disclosure Act, which requires public financial disclosure by the President and Vice President, Members of Congress and other high government officials.

We face a crisis today—a crisis of confidence. The scandals of the past several years have soured the American people and they have little or no faith in their political leaders and in their governmental institutions. This is a very unhealthy condition in which a democracy must function. Trust has been replaced by distrust, cynicism and disgust. A short 10 years ago, an opinion poll showed that the public's favorable views of Members of Congress outweighed unfavorable opinions by a margin of 9 to 1. Last year, the opinion polls indicated that the public agrees with the observation that too many political leaders are "just out for their own personal financial gain." Clearly, we have lost the faith of those who once had faith in us.