{"database": "openregs", "table": "congressional_record", "rows": [["CREC-1996-10-21-pt1-PgE1931", "1996-10-21", 104, 2, null, null, "PRESIDENTIAL AND EXECUTIVE OFFICE ACCOUNTABILITY ACT", "HOUSE", "EXTENSIONS", "ALLOTHER", "E1931", "E1931", "[{\"name\": \"John L. Mica\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}]", null, "142 Cong. Rec. E1931", "Congressional Record, Volume 142 Issue 143 (Monday, October 21, 1996)\n\n[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 143 (Monday, October 21, 1996)]\n[Extensions of Remarks]\n[Page E1931]\nFrom the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]\n\n[[Page E1931]]\n\n          PRESIDENTIAL AND EXECUTIVE OFFICE ACCOUNTABILITY ACT\n\n                                 ______\n\n                           HON. JOHN L. MICA\n\n                               of florida\n\n                    in the house of representatives\n\n                        Monday, October 21, 1996\n\n  Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, it is appropriate that as one of its last\nactions this historic 104th Congress will pass the Presidential and\nExecutive Office Accountability Act. In one of its first legislative\nactions, this Congress took the unprecedented step of making itself\nsubject to the same laws that govern private citizens and businesses.\nNow, this legislation, which I introduced, will make the White House\nobey those laws, too.\n  When the President signs this bill, the last plantation where\nAmerican civilians toil beyond the reach of some of the basic labor and\nemployment laws imposed on private enterprise will have fallen. As a\nresult of the Congressional Accountability Act and this legislation,\nthe political branches of government will be required to wrestle with\nthe same knotty problems that private businesses face every day. They\nwill face compliance with the same laws and edicts imposed on all\nAmericans.\n  Make no mistake, Mr. Speaker, the bill we are passing today is not\nnearly as strong as the bill this House passed by a vote of 410 to 5 on\nSeptember 24, 1996. It has been watered down in a number of areas,\nmostly as a result of administration pressure. Unlike Congress and the\nprivate sector, the White House will have the option of following the\nFederal sector version of some of these employment laws. That is,\nrather than obey the same law as the legislative branch and American\nbusinesses, the President may take advantage of special variations of\nthose laws that apply to the executive branch.\n  Some very important provisions have been stripped altogether. One was\na long overdue revision of the definition of ``special government\nemployee.'' These special government employees--who often serve without\npay--are subject to conflict-of-interest statutes and financial\ndisclosure requirements. Such checks on the activities of volunteer\nadvisers to the President and White House employees are indispensable\nfor safeguarding the integrity of governmental processes and decisions.\nYet ambiguities in existing law were exploited by the Clinton White\nHouse and Justice Department to hold that Harry Thomason, whose\nquestionable activities have been documented in the Committee on\nGovernment Reform and Oversight's report on the Travelgate scandal, was\nnot a special government employee.\n  The President needs his personal and confidential advisors, but the\nAmerican people need to hold such people accountable. Harry Thomason\nand other political operatives used this White House like a personal\noffice annex. He should have been accountable to the ethics laws,\nconflict of interest, and other measures that ensure the integrity of\nthe highest offices in the land. These abuses must be stopped.\n  Mr. Speaker, the bill this House passed on the 24th would have made\nit clear that such people are to be considered special government\nemployees. Under that bill, they would have been subject to conflict-\nof-interest rules and financial disclosure requirements. It would\nhave prevented future abuses. But those provisions have been stripped\nfrom the bill we will pass today. When the next Congress convenes, I\nwill again introduce legislation to make future Harry Thomasons\naccountable to the American people.\n\n  Another key provision of the House-passed bill that is not found in\nthe version passed by the Senate required the President to appoint a\nchief financial officer for the Executive Office of the President. The\nchief financial officer, which is found in other agencies throughout\nthe Government, would review and audit the White House's financial\nsystems and records. The Travelgate, Filegate, and hearings related to\nother White House scandals highlighted the shortcomings in this White\nHouse's financial responsibility.\n  We will need to strengthen this law during the 105th Congress. During\nour hearings last year, we learned that the White House's financial\noperations lacked structure, so we could not achieve accountability.\nSometimes, the White House paid for equipment it no longer needed.\nOther times, it paid for items that were never delivered. These\nhearings also revealed other egregious examples of waste and abuse\nbecause accounting controls were so poor the White House Communications\nAgency recently had $14.5 million in unvalidated obligations. The\nDepartment of Defense's inspector general reported that the Agency paid\nonly 17 percent of its bills on time, so taxpayers got stuck for\npenalties and interest on the other 83 percent of its obligations.\n  The House-passed bill also included provisions, advanced by\nGovernment Management, Information, and Technology Subcommittee\nChairman Representative Stephen Horn and Representative Charles Bass,\nthat would have placed an inspector general in the White House. The\nWhite House opposed this provision, even though other Government\nagencies must comply.\n  If you can believe it, Mr. Speaker, the same people who put a bar\nbouncer and political trickster in charge of White House personnel\nsecurity insisted that they do not need to meet the same oversight\nstandards as the rest of the Government. With the gross mismanagement\nand lack of accountability that we have uncovered in this White House,\nI can assure you that I will pursue these matters vigorously in the\nnext Congress.\n\n                          ____________________"]], "columns": ["granule_id", "date", "congress", "session", "volume", "issue", "title", "chamber", "granule_class", "sub_granule_class", "page_start", "page_end", "speakers", "bills", "citation", "full_text"], "primary_keys": ["granule_id"], "primary_key_values": ["CREC-1996-10-21-pt1-PgE1931"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4039850793778896, "source": "Federal Register API & Regulations.gov API", "source_url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/developers/api/v1", "license": "Public Domain (U.S. Government data)", "license_url": "https://www.regulations.gov/faq"}