Rules & Regulations

Please accept these comments on behalf of the United States Capitol Police regarding the proposed amendments to the Office of Compliance Procedural Rules. We appreciate the time and effort that went into reviewing the prior rules and look forward to utilizing rules that create efficiencies in process, save government resources, and, at the same time, afford all parties the rights and obligations under the Congressional Accountability Act (“CAA”)

One major concern continues to be the Office of Compliance procedural rules precluding employing offices from learning about the claims of its employees. We encourage the Board of Directors to revisit the current proposals withholding of the Request for Counseling from employing offices once the matter is presented for mediation because our experiences reflect that sharing such a document is extremely helpful in addressing concerns raised. Specific issues are addressed below. We incorporate by reference each of the comments raised under the Americans with Disability Act (“ADA”) substantive regulations as it relates to statutory conflicts with provisions suggested for adoption under Sections 3.01 through 3.18 of the amended procedural rules.

We recommend that the amended procedural rules not be adopted at this time given the areas of concern. We welcome the opportunity to work with the Office of Compliance to address each of the concerns raised below.

Procedural Regulations vs. Substantive Regulations

Section 303 does not allow the Office of Compliance to accomplish through procedural rules what it could not do through substantive rulemaking provisions. Several of the proposed procedural rules address substantive rights that should be addressed in substantive regulations. There is no authority provided in the CAA that permits the Board of Directors of the Office of Compliance to accomplish through procedural regulations what it should be pursuing through substantive regulations as is required under Section 304(a)(2) of the CAA. See, e.g., §§3.02 through 3.09; 7.02.