ML20006F448
| ML20006F448 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 02/13/1990 |
| From: | Carr K NRC COMMISSION (OCM) |
| To: | Campbell D OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT ETHICS |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 9002280040 | |
| Download: ML20006F448 (2) | |
Text
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UNITED STATE 8 :
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NyCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION -
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February 13, 1990-
, CHAIRMAN t
The= Honorable Donald F. Campbell Acting Director Office'of; Government Ethics 7'
Suite 500'
.1201 New' York Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D. C. 20005-
Dear Mr. Campbell:
Many Nuci e Regulatory Commission (NRC) employees have called our Office of the General Counsel to express their deep concerns-about--
the honorariaL prohibition" contained in the recently enacted-Ethics Reform'Act:of 1989 (Public Law-101-194).
The; purpose of this' letter is to inform you of these concerns, which undoubtedly-are not unique to our agency, and to urge that appropriate and timely remedial.a.ction be taken.
We understand that this prohibition was added to the Act only shortly before its passage and that little time was available to evaluate its impact.
Title VI of the Act amended-section 501(b) of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978' to provide ~ that, effective
' January 1,1991, an individua'! "may not r'eceive any honorarium while that. individual is a Member, officer or employee."
This-prohibition has;a much further reach than-is apparent on its face-
'because the term " honorarium" is defined to mean a payment of.
money-or any-thing of.value for an appearance, speech, orcarticle (excluding-actual and necessary travel expenses).
In your December 18', 1989 memorandum'to Federal ethics o.fficials, you indicated that this applies to all writings.- Further, unlike-the
- outside earned income limitation of section 501(a), it applies to all regular employees of the Government regardless'of grade.
Given the' broad definition of the term " honorarium," the prohibi-tion represents a significant departure from current law, which contains such a blanket restriction only with respect to speeches or writings produced as part of-the employee's official activities.
It is our view that this provision is unduly restrictive.
We cannot, for example, think of a conflict of interest rationale that would justify prohibiting any Government employee from being paid for writing a novel on his or her own time,_or an NRC employee
'from being paid for giving a speech about the nee'ds of the home-less during off-duty hours.
Unfortunately, the provision in question would appear to prevent Federal employees froth receiving recompense for such purely private efforts on their own time just because they are Government employees.
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There' may be some ' possibility of ameliorating the impact of the prohibition by regulation -(for example, the term " article" could be defined as narrowly as possible), but that approach also has its shortcomings, and we do not believe that it will provide an adequbte solution to the problem.
The basic difficulty is that, without any justification, the statutory prohibition penalizes Government employees for their personal work not related'to their official duties and performed on their own time as a. citizen in a free society.
Thus, this provision can only have the effect of i
demoralizing Government employees and discouraging individuals I
from applying for Government,emp1_oyment.
This is already being-suggested by the comments we have received to date from many of our employees..As an agency that relies heavily on the skills of highly-trained professionals who are also in demand outside of the Government. the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is very sensitive to the impact of any provision that could serve as a disincentive to seeking Government employment.
Anything that your office can do to bring about an amendment of the provision in question would be much appreciated.
If you should: require any further information regarding our position, please contact the Commission's General Counsel, William C.
Parler.
Mr. Parler can be reached at 492-1743.
i Sincerely, 4
na W.
Kenneth M. Carr cc:
The Honorable C. Boyden Gray i
The Honorable Constance B. Newman 1
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