article: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Independent Counsel Reauthorization Act of 1993''. SEC. 2. FIVE-YEAR REAUTHORIZATION. Section 599 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by striking ``1987'' and inserting ``1993''. SEC. 3. ADDED CONTROLS. (a) Cost Controls and Administrative Support.--Section 594 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection: ``(l) Cost Controls and Administrative Support.-- ``(1) Cost controls.-- ``(A) In general.--An independent counsel shall-- ``(i) conduct all activities with due regard for expense; ``(ii) authorize only reasonable and lawful expenditures; and ``(iii) promptly, upon taking office, assign to a specific employee the duty of certifying that expenditures of the independent counsel are reasonable and made in accordance with law. ``(B) Department of justice policies.--An independent counsel shall comply with the established policies of the Department of Justice respecting expenditures of funds, except to the extent that compliance would be inconsistent with the purposes of this chapter. ``(2) Administrative support.--The Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts shall provide administrative support and guidance to each independent counsel. No officer or employee of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts shall disclose information related to an independent counsel's expenditures, personnel, or administrative acts or arrangements without the authorization of the independent counsel. ``(3) Office space.--The Administrator of General Services, in consultation with the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, shall promptly provide appropriate office space for each independent counsel. Such office space shall be within a Federal building unless the Administrator of General Services determines that other arrangements would cost less.''. (b) Independent Counsel Per Diem Expenses.-- Section 594(b) of title 28, United States Code, is amended-- (1) by striking ``An independent counsel'' and inserting ``(1) In general.--An independent counsel''; and (2) by adding at the end the following new paragraphs: ``(2) Travel expenses.--Except as provided in paragraph (3), an independent counsel and persons appointed under subsection (c) shall be entitled to the payment of travel expenses as provided by subchapter 1 of chapter 57 of title 5, including travel or transportation expenses in accordance with section 5703 of title 5. ``(3) Travel to primary office.--An independent counsel and any person appointed under subsection (c) shall not be entitled to the payment of travel and subsistence expenses under subchapter 1 of chapter 57 of title 5 with respect to duties performed in the city in which the primary office of that independent counsel or person is located after 1 year of service by that independent counsel or person (as the case may be) under this chapter unless the employee assigned duties under subsection (l)(1)(A)(iii) certifies that the payment is in the public interest to carry out the purposes of this chapter. Any such certification shall be effective for 6 months, but may be renewed for additional periods of 6-months each if, for each such renewal, the employee assigned duties under subsection (l)(1)(A)(iii) makes a recertification with respect to the public interest described in the preceding sentence. In making any certification or recertification under this paragraph with respect to travel and subsistence expenses of an independent counsel or person appointed under subsection (c), such employee shall consider, among other relevant factors-- ``(A) the cost to the Government of reimbursing such travel and subsistence expenses; ``(B) the period of time for which the independent counsel anticipates that the activities of the independent counsel or person, as the case may be, will continue; ``(C) the personal and financial burdens on the independent counsel or person, as the case may be, of relocating so that such travel and subsistence expenses would not be incurred; and ``(D) the burdens associated with appointing a new independent counsel, or appointing another person under subsection (c), to replace the individual involved who is unable or unwilling to so relocate. An employee making a certification or recertification under this paragraph shall be liable for an invalid certification or recertification to the same extent as a certifying official certifying a voucher is liable under section 3528 of title 31.''. (c) Independent Counsel Employee Pay Comparability.--Section 594(c) of title 28, United States Code, is amended by striking the last sentence and inserting the following: ``Such employees shall be compensated at levels not to exceed those payable for comparable positions in the Office of United States Attorney for the District of Columbia under sections 548 and 550, but in no event shall any such employee be compensated at a rate greater than the rate of basic pay payable for level IV of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5.''. (d) Ethics Enforcement.--Section 594(j) of title 28, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph: ``(5) Enforcement.--The Attorney General and the Director of the Office of Government Ethics have authority to enforce compliance with this subsection.''. (e) Compliance With Policies of the Department of Justice.--Section 594(f) of title 28, United States Code, is amended by striking ``shall, except where not possible, comply'' and inserting ``shall, except to the extent that to do so would be inconsistent with the purposes of this chapter, comply''. (f) Publication of Reports.--Section 594(h) of title 28, United States Code, is amended-- (1) by adding at the end the following new paragraph: ``(3) Publication of reports.--At the request of an independent counsel, the Public Printer shall cause to be printed any report previously released to the public under paragraph (2). The independent counsel shall certify the number of copies necessary for the public, and the Public Printer shall place the cost of the required number to the debit of such independent counsel. Additional copies shall be made available to the public through the Superintendent of Documents sales program under section 1702 of title 44 and the depository library program under section 1903 of such title.''; and (2) in the first sentence of paragraph (2), by striking ``appropriate'' the second place it appears and inserting ``in the public interest, consistent with maximizing public disclosure, ensuring a full explanation of independent counsel activities and decisionmaking, and facilitating the release of information and materials which the independent counsel has determined should be disclosed''. (g) Annual Reports to Congress.--Section 595(a)(2) of title 28, United States Code, is amended by striking ``such statements'' and all that follows through ``appropriate'' and inserting ``annually a report on the activities of the independent counsel, including a description of the progress of any investigation or prosecution conducted by the independent counsel. Such report may omit any matter that in the judgment of the independent counsel should be kept confidential, but shall provide information adequate to justify the expenditures that the office of the independent counsel has made''. (h) Periodic Reappointment of Independent Counsel.--Section 596(b)(2) of title 28, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new sentence: ``If the Attorney General has not made a request under this paragraph, the division of the court shall determine on its own motion whether termination is appropriate under this paragraph not later than 3 years after the appointment of an independent counsel and at the end of each succeeding 3-year period.''. (i) Audits by the Comptroller General.--Section 596(c) of title 28, United States Code, is amended to read as follows: ``(c) Audits.--By December 31 of each year, an independent counsel shall prepare a statement of expenditures for the fiscal year that ended on the immediately preceding September 30. An independent counsel whose office is terminated prior to the end of the fiscal year shall prepare a statement of expenditures by the date that is 90 days after the date on which the office is terminated. The Comptroller General shall audit each such statement and shall, not later than March 31 of the year following the submission of any such statement, report the results of each audit to the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Government Operations of the House of Representatives and to the Committee on Governmental Affairs and the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate.''. SEC. 4. MEMBERS OF CONGRESS. Section 591(c) of title 28, United States Code, is amended-- (1) by indenting paragraphs (1) and (2) two ems to the right and by redesignating such paragraphs as subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively; (2) by striking ``The Attorney'' and all that follows through ``if--'' and inserting the following: ``(1) In general.--The Attorney General may conduct a preliminary investigation in accordance with section 592 if-- ''; and (3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph: ``(2) Members of congress.--When the Attorney General determines that it would be in the public interest, the Attorney General may conduct a preliminary investigation in accordance with section 592 if the Attorney General receives information sufficient to constitute grounds to investigate whether a Member of Congress may have violated any Federal criminal law other than a violation classified as a Class B or C misdemeanor or an infraction.''. SEC. 5. GROUNDS FOR REMOVAL. Section 596(a)(1) of title 28, United States Code, is amended by striking ``physical disability, mental incapacity'' and inserting ``physical or mental disability (consistent with prohibitions on discrimination otherwise imposed by law)''. SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. The amendments made by this Act shall become effective on the date of the enactment of this Act.
summary: Independent Counsel Reauthorization Act of 1994 - Amends the Federal judicial code to reauthorize the independent counsel law for an additional five years. Requires an independent counsel to: (1) conduct all activities with due regard for expense, authorize only reasonable and lawful expenditures, and (promptly upon taking office) assign to a specific employee the duty of certifying that expenditures of the independent counsel are reasonable and made in accordance with law; and (2) comply with the established policies of the Department of Justice (DOJ) regarding expenditures of funds, except to the extent that compliance would be inconsistent with the purposes of the Act. Directs: (1) the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts to provide administrative support and guidance to each independent counsel; and (2) the Administrator of General Services to provide office space for each independent counsel. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) independent counsel per diem expenses; (2) independent counsel employee pay comparability; (3) ethics enforcement; (4) compliance with DOJ policies; (5) publication of reports; (6) annual reports to the Congress; (7) periodic reappointment of independent counsel; and (8) audits by the Comptroller General. Authorizes the Attorney General to conduct a preliminary investigation upon the receipt of information sufficient to constitute grounds to investigate whether a Member of Congress may have violated any Federal criminal law, other than a violation classified as a Class B or C misdemeanor or an infraction, when the Attorney General determines that it would be in the public interest. Includes as grounds for removal of an independent counsel physical or mental disability consistent with prohibitions on discrimination otherwise imposed by law (current law includes physical disability and mental incapacity). Requires an independent counsel to comply with guidelines and procedures used by DOJ in the handling and use of classified materials.