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Division H — Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2015

H.R. 83 · 113th Congress · Dec 16, 2014 · Lineage

H Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2015

I

Section 1

(a)
Sections 65, 66, 67, and 68 of the Revised Statutes (2 U.S.C. 6569, 6570, 6571) are repealed.
(b)
The fifth paragraph after the paragraph under the side heading “For contingent expenses, namely”: under the subheading “Senate”, under the heading “Legislative” of the Act of March 3, 1887 (24 Stat. 596, chapter 392; 2 U.S.C. 6572), is amended by striking “sections, sixty-five, sixty six, sixty-seven, sixty-eight, and sixty-nine,” and inserting “section 69”.

Sec. 2

Section 7(e) of the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2003 (2 U.S.C. 6115 note) is amended by striking “and the 110th Congress” and inserting “the 110th Congress, and the 114th Congress”.

Sec. 101

(a)
Requiring Amounts Remaining in Members' Representational Allowances To Be Used for Deficit Reduction or To Reduce the Federal Debt— Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any amounts appropriated under this Act for “HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES—Salaries and Expenses—Members’ Representational Allowances” shall be available only for fiscal year 2015. Any amount remaining after all payments are made under such allowances for fiscal year 2015 shall be deposited in the Treasury and used for deficit reduction (or, if there is no Federal budget deficit after all such payments have been made, for reducing the Federal debt, in such manner as the Secretary of the Treasury considers appropriate).
(b)
Regulations— The Committee on House Administration of the House of Representatives shall have authority to prescribe regulations to carry out this section.
(c)
Definition— As used in this section, the term “Member of the House of Representatives” means a Representative in, or a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress.

Sec. 102

None of the funds made available in this Act may be used to deliver a printed copy of a bill, joint resolution, or resolution to the office of a Member of the House of Representatives (including a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to the Congress) unless the Member requests a copy.

Sec. 103

None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to deliver a printed copy of any version of the Congressional Record to the office of a Member of the House of Representatives (including a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to the Congress).

Sec. 104

None of the funds made available in this Act may be used by the Chief Administrative Officer of the House of Representatives to make any payments from any Members' Representational Allowance for the leasing of a vehicle, excluding mobile district offices, in an aggregate amount that exceeds $1,000 for the vehicle in any month.

Sec. 105

None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to provide an aggregate number of more than 50 printed copies of any edition of the United States Code to all offices of the House of Representatives.

Sec. 106

None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to deliver a printed copy of the report of disbursements for the operations of the House of Representatives under section 106 of the House of Representatives Administrative Reform Technical Corrections Act (2 U.S.C. 5535) to the office of a Member of the House of Representatives (including a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to the Congress).

Sec. 107

None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to deliver to the office of a Member of the House of Representatives (including a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to the Congress) a printed copy of the Daily Calendar of the House of Representatives which is prepared by the Clerk of the House of Representatives.

Sec. 1001

Section 301(h)(2) of the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1381(h)(2)) is amended by striking ‘‘the residences of covered employees’’ and inserting ‘‘covered employees by the end of each fiscal year’’.

Sec. 1101 No bonuses for contractors behind schedule or over budget

None of the funds made available in this Act for the Architect of the Capitol may be used to make incentive or award payments to contractors for work on contracts or programs for which the contractor is behind schedule or over budget, unless the Architect of the Capitol, or agency-employed designee, determines that any such deviations are due to unforeseeable events, government-driven scope changes, or are not significant within the overall scope of the project and/or program.

Sec. 1102

(a)
The Architect of the Capitol, subject to the direction of the Joint Committee of Congress on the Library, may enter into cooperative agreements with entities under such terms as the Architect determines advisable, in order to support the United States Botanic Garden in carrying out its duties, authorities, and mission.
(b)
(1)
The Architect of the Capitol may, subject to the direction of the Joint Committee of Congress on the Library, enter into a no-cost agreement, through a contract, cooperative agreement, or memorandum of understanding, with a qualified entity to conduct, or provide support for, an educational exhibit, program, class, or outreach that benefits the educational mission of the United States Botanic Garden.
(2)
Any agreement under paragraph (1) may—
(A)
allow the qualified entity to accept fees for any program or class described in paragraph (1) in order to cover all or a portion of the entity's costs of any supplies, honoraria, or associated expenses for the program or class; and
(B)
subject to such terms as the Architect considers appropriate and necessary, grant temporary concessions to the qualified entity, or allow the qualified entity to grant temporary concessions to another person, in connection with an educational exhibit, program, class, or outreach described in paragraph (1), including concessions for food and merchandise sales that are specifically related to the educational mission involved.
(3)
Section 5104(c) of title 40, United States Code, shall not apply to any activity carried out under this subsection.
(4)
In this subsection, the term qualified entity means—
(A)
the National Fund for the United States Botanic Garden; and
(B)
any other organization described in section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from tax under section 501(a) of such Code that the Architect of the Capitol determines shares interests complementary to the educational mission of the United States Botanic Garden.
(c)
Any authority under subsection (a) or (b) shall not apply to any agreement providing for the construction or improvement of real property.
(d)
This section shall apply with respect to fiscal year 2015 and each succeeding fiscal year.

Sec. 1103

None of the funds made available by this Act may be used for scrims containing photographs of building facades during restoration or construction projects performed by the Architect of the Capitol.

Sec. 1201

(a)
In General— For fiscal year 2015, the obligational authority of the Library of Congress for the activities described in subsection (b) may not exceed $203,058,000.
(b)
Activities— The activities referred to in subsection (a) are reimbursable and revolving fund activities that are funded from sources other than appropriations to the Library in appropriations Acts for the legislative branch.

Sec. 1301 Redesignation of Government Printing Office to Government Publishing Office

(a)
In general— The Government Printing Office is hereby redesignated the Government Publishing Office.
(b)
References— Any reference to the Government Printing Office in any law, rule, regulation, certificate, directive, instruction, or other official paper in force on the date of enactment of this Act shall be considered to refer and apply to the Government Publishing Office.
(c)
Title 44, United States Code— Title 44, United States Code, is amended—
(1)
by striking “Public Printer” each place that term appears and inserting “Director of the Government Publishing Office”; and
(2)
in the heading for each of sections 301, 302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 307, 502, 710, 1102, 1111, 1115, 1340, 1701, 1712, and 1914, by striking “Public Printer” and inserting “Director of the Government Publishing Office”.
(d)
Other references— Any reference in any law other than in title 44, United States Code, or in any rule, regulation, certificate, directive, instruction, or other official paper in force on the date of enactment of this Act to the Public Printer shall be considered to refer and apply to the Director of the Government Publishing Office.
(e)
Title 44, United States Code— Title 44, United States Code, is amended—
(1)
by striking “Deputy Public Printer” each place that term appears and inserting “Deputy Director of the Government Publishing Office”; and
(2)
in the heading for each of sections 302 and 303, by striking “Deputy Public Printer” and inserting “Deputy Director of the Government Publishing Office”.
(f)
Other references— Any reference in any law other than in title 44, United States Code, or in any rule, regulation, certificate, directive, instruction, or other official paper in force on the date of enactment of this Act to the Deputy Public Printer shall be considered to refer and apply to the Deputy Director of the Government Publishing Office.
(g)
Section 301 of title 44, United States Code, is amended—
(1)
in the first sentence, by striking “, who must be a practical printer and versed in the art of bookbinding,”; and
(2)
in the second sentence, by striking “His” and inserting “The”.
(h)
Section 302 of title 44, United States Code, is amended—
(1)
in the first sentence, by striking “, who must be a practical printer and versed in the art of bookbinding,”; and
(2)
in the second sentence—
(A)
by striking “He” and inserting “The Deputy Director of the Government Publishing Office”;
(B)
by striking “perform the duties formerly required of the chief clerk,”;
(C)
by striking “, and perform” and inserting “and perform”; and
(D)
by striking “of him”.
(i)
Chapter 3 of title 44, United States Code is amended—
(1)
in the first sentence of section 304, by striking “or his” and inserting “or the Director's”;
(2)
in section 305(a)—
(A)
by striking “he considers” and inserting “the Director considers”; and
(B)
by striking “He may not” and inserting “The Director of the Government Publishing Office may not”;
(3)
in section 306, by striking “his direction” and inserting “the direction of the Director”;
(4)
in section 308—
(A)
in subsection (b)(1)—
(i)
by striking “his accounts” and inserting “the accounts of the disbursing officer”; and
(ii)
by striking “his name” and inserting “the name of the disbursing officer”;
(B)
in subsection (b)(2)—
(i)
by striking “his estate” and inserting “the estate of the disbursing officer”;
(ii)
by striking “to him” and inserting “to the deputy disbursing officer”; and
(iii)
by striking “his service” and inserting “the service of the deputy disbursing officer”; and
(C)
in subsection (c)(1)—
(i)
by striking “by him” and inserting “by such officer or employee”;
(ii)
by striking “his discretion” and inserting “the discretion of the Comptroller General”; and
(iii)
by striking “whenever he” each place that terms appears and inserting “whenever the Comptroller General”;
(5)
in section 309—
(A)
in the second sentence of subsection (a), by striking “by him” and inserting “by the Director”; and
(B)
in subsection (f), by striking “his or her discretion” and inserting “the discretion of the Comptroller General”;
(6)
in section 310, by striking “his written request” and inserting “the written request of the Director”;
(7)
in section 311(b), by striking “he justifies” and inserting “the Director justifies”;
(8)
in section 312, by striking “his service” and inserting “the service of such officer”; and
(9)
in section 317, by striking “his delegate” and inserting “a delegate of the Director”.

Sec. 1401

(a)
Center for audit excellence—
(1)
Establishment— Chapter 7 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new subchapter:

“VII Center for audit excellence

“791. Center for audit excellence

“(a) Establishment—The Comptroller General shall establish, maintain, and operate a center within the Government Accountability Office to be known as the “Center for Audit Excellence” (hereafter in this subchapter referred to as the “Center”).

“(b) Purpose and activities

“(1) In general—The Center shall build institutional auditing capacity and promote good governance by providing affordable, relevant, and high-quality training, technical assistance, and products and services to qualified personnel and entities of governments (including the Federal Government, State and local governments, tribal governments, and governments of foreign nations), international organizations, and other private organizations.

“(2) Determination of qualified personnel and entities—Personnel and entities shall be considered qualified for purposes of receiving training, technical assistance, and products or services from the Center under paragraph (1) in accordance with such criteria as the Comptroller General may establish and publish.

“(c) Fees

“(1) Permitting charging of fees—The Comptroller General may establish, charge, and collect fees (on a reimbursable or advance basis) for the training, technical assistance, and products and services provided by the Center under this subchapter.

“(2) Deposit into separate account—The Comptroller General shall deposit all fees collected under paragraph (1) into the Center for Audit Excellence Account established under section 792.

“(d) Gifts of property and services—The Comptroller General may accept and use conditional or non-conditional gifts of property (both real and personal) and services (including services of guest lecturers) to support the operation of the Center, except that the Comptroller General may not accept or use such a gift if the Comptroller General determines that the acceptance or use of the gift would compromise or appear to compromise the integrity of the Government Accountability Office.

“(e) Sense of congress regarding personnel—It is the sense of Congress that the Center should be staffed primarily by personnel of the Government Accountability Office who are not otherwise engaged in carrying out other duties of the Office under this chapter, so as to ensure that the operation of the Center will not detract from or impact the oversight and audit work of the Office.

“792. Account

“(a) Establishment of separate account—There is established in the Treasury as a separate account for the Government Accountability Office the “Center for Audit Excellence Account”, which shall consist of the fees deposited by the Comptroller General under section 791(c) and such other amounts as may be appropriated under law.

“(b) Use of account—Amounts in the Center for Audit Excellence Account shall be available to the Comptroller General, in amounts specified in appropriations Acts and without fiscal year limitation, to carry out this subchapter.

“793. Authorization of appropriations

“There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this subchapter.”

(2)
Clerical amendment— The table of sections for chapter 7 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
(b)
Approval of business plan— The Comptroller General may not begin operating the Center for Audit Excellence under subchapter VII of chapter 7 of title 31, United States Code (as added by subsection (a)) until—
(1)
the Comptroller General submits a business plan for the Center to the Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and Senate; and
(2)
each such Committee approves the plan.

II

Sec. 201

No part of the funds appropriated in this Act shall be used for the maintenance or care of private vehicles, except for emergency assistance and cleaning as may be provided under regulations relating to parking facilities for the House of Representatives issued by the Committee on House Administration and for the Senate issued by the Committee on Rules and Administration.

Sec. 202

No part of the funds appropriated in this Act shall remain available for obligation beyond fiscal year 2015 unless expressly so provided in this Act.

Sec. 203

Whenever in this Act any office or position not specifically established by the Legislative Pay Act of 1929 (46 Stat. 32 et seq.) is appropriated for or the rate of compensation or designation of any office or position appropriated for is different from that specifically established by such Act, the rate of compensation and the designation in this Act shall be the permanent law with respect thereto: Provided, That the provisions in this Act for the various items of official expenses of Members, officers, and committees of the Senate and House of Representatives, and clerk hire for Senators and Members of the House of Representatives shall be the permanent law with respect thereto.

Sec. 204

The expenditure of any appropriation under this Act for any consulting service through procurement contract, under section 3109 of title 5, United States Code, shall be limited to those contracts where such expenditures are a matter of public record and available for public inspection, except where otherwise provided under existing law, or under existing Executive order issued under existing law.

Sec. 205

Amounts available for administrative expenses of any legislative branch entity which participates in the Legislative Branch Financial Managers Council (LBFMC) established by charter on March 26, 1996, shall be available to finance an appropriate share of LBFMC costs as determined by the LBFMC, except that the total LBFMC costs to be shared among all participating legislative branch entities (in such allocations among the entities as the entities may determine) may not exceed $2,000.

Sec. 206

For fiscal year 2015 and each fiscal year thereafter, the Architect of the Capitol, in consultation with the District of Columbia, is authorized to maintain and improve the landscape features, excluding streets, in Square 580 up to the beginning of I–395.

Sec. 207

None of the funds made available in this Act may be transferred to any department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States Government, except pursuant to a transfer made by, or transfer authority provided in, this Act or any other appropriation Act.

Sec. 208

(a)
Except as provided in subsection (b), none of the funds made available to the Architect of the Capitol in this Act may be used to eliminate or restrict guided tours of the United States Capitol which are led by employees and interns of offices of Members of Congress and other offices of the House of Representatives and Senate.
(b)
At the direction of the Capitol Police Board, or at the direction of the Architect of the Capitol with the approval of the Capitol Police Board, guided tours of the United States Capitol which are led by employees and interns described in subsection (a) may be suspended temporarily or otherwise subject to restriction for security or related reasons to the same extent as guided tours of the United States Capitol which are led by the Architect of the Capitol.
This division may be cited as the “Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2015”.