VI. Committee on Standards of Official Conduct Advisory Opinion No. 5[1]

SUBJECT

General interpretation of House Rule 23, Clause 11.

BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION

House Rule 23, clause 11 [originally adopted on January 15, 1979] provides as follows:

A Member . . . may not authorize or otherwise allow an individual, group, or organization not under the direction and control of the House to use the words “Congress of the United States,” “House of Representatives,” or “official business,” or any combination of words thereof, on any letterhead or envelope.

This addition to the Code of Official Conduct took effect upon adoption. The primary purpose of clause 11 is to prohibit Members from authorizing private organizations to use a facsimile of their congressional stationery to solicit contributions or political support in a direct mail appeal. Such use of congressional letterhead by non-House groups is clearly intended to convey the impression that the solicitation is endorsed by the Congress or is related to the official business of the Member who signs the letter. In adopting clause 11, the House has determined that the use of congressional letterhead facsimiles by private organizations is a deliberate misrepresentation which reflects discredit upon the House of Representatives.

Rule 23, clause 11, generally would prohibit a Member from authorizing a non- House individual or group to use that Member’s congressional stationery, or any letterhead that purports to be an official communication from the Congress, in any mailing paid for with non-appropriated funds. This prohibition would apply to any letterhead designed in such a manner as to convey the impression that the letter is an official communication. The Committee emphasizes that Rule 23, clause 2, directs Members to “adhere to the spirit and the letter of the Rules of the House . . . ” Therefore, since clause 11 is intended to prohibit solicitations by private interest groups on facsimiles of congressional stationery, it would appear to be a violation of the spirit of that rule if a Member authorized a non-House group to use letterhead that did not contain the words prohibited by clause 11, but which was designed to convey the impression that it is an official communication from the Congress. For example, letterhead which purports to be an official communication by containing a Member’s committee assignments, office address, and the “congressional seal” would be contrary to the spirit of clause 11. The Committee notes in this regard that title 18 of the United States Code, section 713, specifically prohibits use of the United States seal for the purpose of conveying a false impression of sponsorship by the United States Government.

The clause 11 prohibition is not intended in any way to restrict a Member’s communication with the public or his right to lend his name to any organization or interest group. The rule imposes no restriction on a Member’s freedom to sign a fund-raising appeal or other solicitation of political support on a non-House group’s own letterhead, and be identified as a Member of Congress. Similarly, a Member’s name and title may appear in the letterhead of a non-House organization (e.g., if the Member serves in an official capacity or honorary position with that organization), provided that the letterhead does not purport to be an official communication from the Congress.

The terms “non-House individual, group, or organization” as used in the rule would not extend to a Member’s principal campaign committee. The Committee understands that the clause 11 prohibition on lending congressional letterhead to private groups was not intended to prohibit a Member from using a facsimile of official stationery in fund-raising activities for his own campaign.[2] This interpretation is based on the debate in the Democratic Caucus which recommended adoption of clause 11 on December 6, 1978, and on the legislative history of a similar amendment that was offered to the Ethics in Government Act during the 95th Congress (see CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, September 20, 1978, page H10212). It should also be noted that the Senate Select Committee on Ethics issued an advisory opinion imposing comparable prohibitions on use of official stationery by non-Senate groups, and did not apply those prohibitions to a Senator’s campaign committee.

The Committee emphasizes again in this regard that the clear intent of clause 11 is to prohibit special interest groups and other private organizations from using congressional letterhead for political solicitations. Such use of congressional stationery facsimiles conveys the false impression that the private group is sponsored or endorsed by the House of Representatives. This is not the case when a Member, strictly on his behalf rather than for a third party, uses a facsimile of his personalized stationery for campaign fund raising appeals or other political mailings. With respect to campaign solicitations, the Committee notes that such letters must include a notice regarding the availability of campaign reports filed with the Federal Election Commission, as required by title 2 of the United States Code, section 435.[3]

Moreover, with respect to other political mailings, the Committee does not believe that it is improper for a Member to use his congressional letterhead to send, for example, thank you notes to contributors or other politically-related letters which may not be mailed under the frank. The Committee is confident that use of a Member’s personalized congressional letterhead for political mailings on his own behalf would not be misinterpreted as an official communication from the House of Representatives or an endorsement by the Congress. In sum, the abuse of congressional stationery that clause 11 is designed to correct is not present in the case of a Member’s campaign committee, nor was the rule intended to prohibit a Member’s use of his congressional letterhead for political mailings.

The prohibitions of clause 11 also would not apply to the Democratic and Republican Congressional Campaign Committees, nor would it apply to the various informal Member organizations or caucuses composed solely of Members of Congress. The ad hoc Member groups, which are quasi-official in nature, and the party campaign committees would not be considered “non-House” organizations for purpose of Rule 23, clause 11.