OFFICIAL ACCOUNTABILITY ACT WEDNESDAY, JUNE 15, 1988 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON CRIMINAL JUSTICE, COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10 a.m., in room 2237, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. John Conyers, Jr. (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Present: Representatives Conyers, Edwards, and Gekas. Staff present: Thomas W. Hutchison, counsel; Ronald A. Stroman, assistant counsel; Bennie Williams, clerk; and Raymond V. Smietanka, associate counsel. OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN CONYERS Mr. CONYERS. The Subcommittee on Criminal Justice will come to order. Today, we begin hearings on H.R. 3665, to reassert the rule of law. [A copy of H.R. 3665 follows:] (1) I 100TH CONGRESS 18T SESSION H. R. 3665 To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide for criminal penalties for Government officials who commit national security offenses. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NOVEMBER 20, 1987 Mr. CONYERS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide for criminal penalties for Government officials who commit national security offenses. 1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 4 This Act may be cited as the "Official Accountability 5 Act of 1987". 6 SEC. 2. PUNISHMENT OF NATIONAL SECURITY OFFENSES. 7 Part I of title 18, United States Code, is amended by 8 adding at the end the following new chapter: 2 1 "CHAPTER 123—NATIONAL SECURITY OFFENSES "Sec. "2901. Persons subject to this chapter. "2902. Prohibitions. "2903. Defense of superior orders or action as responsible Government official. "2904. Sanctions. "2905. Investigation and prosecution. 2 "8 2901. Persons subject to this chapter 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "The following persons are subject to this chapter: “(1) Any officer or employee of the United States, including any member of the Armed Forces. "(2) Any other person who receives, directly or indirectly, any compensation or remuneration from the United States in any form (whether pursuant to contract, subcontract, or otherwise) for the commission of any act which is, or results in, a violation of section 2902 of this title. 12 "§ 2902. Prohibitions 13 "No person subject to this chapter shall order or engage 14 in the planning of, preparation for, initiation or conduct of 15 any intelligence activity which violates any statute or Execu16 tive Order in force or international agreements to which the 17 United States is a party. 18 "§ 2903. Defense of superior orders or actions as responsible Government official 19 20 "(a) No person who commits any act in violation of sec 21 tion 2902 of this title pursuant to an order of his Government 22 or superior shall be relieved of criminal liability for such vio ●HR 3665 IH 3 1 lation unless he did not know and could not reasonably have 2 been expected to know that the act ordered was unlawful. 3 "(b) No person who commits any act in violation of sec 4 tion 2902 of this title shall be relieved of criminal liability for 5 such act by reason of the fact that he was acting as a respon6 sible Government official. 7 "8 2904. Sanctions 8 "(a) Notwithstanding chapter 75 of title 5, upon a deter9 mination, after preliminary hearing pursuant to the Federal 10 Rules of Criminal Procedure, that there is probable cause to 11 believe that any person described in section 2901(1) of this 12 title has committed a violation of section 2902 of this title, 13 such person shall be given a leave of absence without pay 14 from employment by the United States for the duration of the 15 proceedings against him. 16 17 title 18 19 "(b) Any person who violates section 2902 of this "(1) commits a class D felony and, as an alternative to imprisonment, may be sentenced to an equiva 20 lent period of civilian work contributing to the mainte 21 222 223 nance of national health and welfare; and "(2) shall be ineligible for employment by the United States for such period of not less than fifteen 24 years from the date on which sentence is imposed as |