Directing the Committee on Ethics to preserve and publicly release records of the Committee's review of violations or alleged violations of clause 9 (as it pertains to acts of sexual harassment) and clause 18 of rule XXIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives.

Plain-English Summary

This bill would require the House Committee on Ethics — the body responsible for investigating potential misconduct by members of Congress — to preserve and publicly release its records related to two specific types of rule violations. The first involves sexual harassment allegations against House members, and the second involves violations of another House conduct rule. In other words, the bill is aimed at making information about how Congress has handled misconduct cases more transparent and accessible to the public.

Currently, records from Ethics Committee investigations are often kept confidential, meaning the public may have little or no knowledge of how complaints were handled, what findings were made, or what consequences (if any) followed. This bill would change that by requiring those records to be preserved — so they cannot be destroyed or lost — and then released publicly, so ordinary citizens can see how their elected representatives were investigated and held accountable.

This bill most directly affects Members of the House of Representatives who have been the subject of Ethics Committee reviews related to sexual harassment or the other conduct rule referenced. It also affects anyone who reported misconduct or participated in those investigations. More broadly, it affects all American citizens who have an interest in knowing whether Congress is properly policing its own members' behavior. The bill has been referred to the House Committee on Ethics, which is the standard first step in the legislative process.