PRO BONO REPRESENTATION BY EMPLOYEES OF COURTS, CIVIL LIBERTIES, AND THE OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NINETY-NINTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION ON H.R. 4898 PRO BONO REPRESENTATION BY EMPLOYEES OF THE FEDERAL JULY 30, 1986 SERIAL NO. 68 Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary 64-090 O U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON 1986 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Congressional Sales Office JACK BROOKS, Texas COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY PETER W. RODINO, JR., New Jersey, Chairman ROBERT W. KASTENMEIER, Wisconsin BARNEY FRANK, Massachusetts HARLEY O. STAGGERS, JR., West Virginia HAMILTON FISH, JR., New York F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, JR., BILL MCCOLLUM, Florida WILLIAM E. DANNEMEYER, Califorina PATRICK L. SWINDALL, Georgia M. ELAINE MIELKE, General Counsel ALAN F. COFFEY, Jr., Associate Counsel SUBCOMMITTEE ON COURTS, CIVIL LIBERTIES, AND THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE Page 8 14 David H. Martin, Director, Office of Government Ethics, accompanied by Jane Thomas H. Bastow, chief, Legislation and Opinions Section, Legal Counsel Division, Office of the Corporation Counsel, the District of Columbia. Stanley M. Fisher, attorney, Arter & Hadden, Cleveland, OH, and president- elect, Federal Bar Association; and John H. Pickering, partner, Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, and State delegate for the District of Columbia and chairman, American Bar Association Commission on Legal Problems of the 1. Statement of Hon. Carlos J. Moorhead (ranking minority member, Subcom- mittee on Courts, Civil Liberties and the Administration of Justice)........ 2. Statement of Hon. Mervyn M. Dymally (chairman, House Committee on 3. Statement of James C. McKay, Jr. (co-chair, District of Columbia Affairs 4. Letter from L. Ralph Mecham (Director, Administrative Office of the 5. Judicial Conference of the District of Columbia Circuit, Resolution on 6. Letter from Hon. John R. Bolton (Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs, U.S. Department of Justice) to Hon. Robert W. Kastenmeier, dated July 30, 1986, with attachment... 7. Letter from Hon. David H. Martin (Director, U.S. Office of Government Ethics) to Hon. Robert W. Kastenmeier, dated August 8, 1986... 8. Letter from Thomas F. Bastow (chief, Legislation and Opinions Section, Legal Counsel Division, Office of the Corporation Counsel, District of Co- lumbia) to Hon. Robert W. Kastenmeier, dated August 13, 1986..... 9. Letter from John H. Pickering (state delegate for the District of Columbia, American Bar Association) to Hon. Robert W. Kastenmeier, dated August 6, 10. Letter from Stanley M. Fisher (president-elect, Federal Bar Association) to Hon. Robert W. Kastenmeier, dated August 7, 1986.... 11. Letter from Gerald E. Gilbert (president, Federal Bar Association) to Hon. Robert W. Kastenmeier, dated September 16, 1986 12. Letter from Gerald E. Gilbert to Hon. Thomas N. Kindness (a Representa- C. Letter from John R. Bolton (Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs, U.S. Department of Jus- tice) to Hon. Robert W. Kastenmeier, dated September 17, 1986 79 PRO BONO REPRESENTATION BY EMPLOYEES OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA WEDNESDAY, JULY 30, 1986 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON COURTS, CIVIL LIBERTIES, AND THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE, COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY, Washington, DC. The_subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 2:48 p.m., in room 2226, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Robert W. Kastenmeier (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Present: Representatives Kastenmeier, Moorhead, and Coble. Staff present: Gail Higgins Fogarty, counsel; Thomas E. Mooney, associate counsel; and Veronica Eligan, clerk. Mr. KASTENMEIER. The committee will come to order. I don't know whether there is any need, but in the event there may be, the subcommittee does permit the meeting, pursuant to rule 5 of the committee rules, to be covered by still photography or the broadcast media. Today, the Subcommittee on Courts, Civil Liberties, and the Administration of Justice will examine H.R. 4898, a bill to extend the permissible pro bono representation by employees and officers of the Federal Government and of the District of Columbia.1 The legislation is cosponsored by the gentlewoman from Colorado, Mrs. Schroeder, and the gentleman from California, Mr. Dymally, each of whom chairs a subcommittee relating to Federal or District of Columbia employees. This bill was introduced by me as a discussion vehicle for possible amendments to section 205 of Title 18, United States Code. During the 98th Congress, I introduced a broader bill (H.R. 6267), which was supported by the Federal Bar Association, the American Bar Association, and the Judicial Conference of the D.C. Circuit. The administration opposed the breadth of that bill but suggested it would not oppose a more narrowly drawn bill which would eliminate the District of Columbia from the proscriptions of the law. This bill, H.R. 4898, was drafted with the administration's concerns in mind. 1 Under current law an officer or employee of the Federal Government or of the District of Columbia government is prohibited from acting as an agent or attorney in a variety of matters, including prosecuting a claim against the United States or acting in a matter 1 See appendix 1. (1) |