The Conference Report concerning the 1978 Act submitted by Representative Dante B. Fascell of the International Relations Committee of the House of Representatives described section 515 as providing the following:

-that gifts of more than minimal value must be reported by the recipient to his employing agency and deposited with the U.S. Government within 60 days of receipt;

--for penalties for failure to report and deposit such gifts;

-for a change in the definition of minimal value to $100 to reflect inflation (the current law is silent but present regulations set minimal value at $50);

-for coverage of per diem experts and consultants;

-for the application of the act to foreign quasi-governmental and multilateral organizations;

-for the disposal of gifts by (a) return to giver, or (b) donation, transfer, or sale in accordance with existing law (including negotiated sale, perhaps to the original recipient);

-for the acceptance from foreign governments of travel and travel expenses under certain circumstances;

-for the acceptance of decorations or awards for meritorius performance, subject to the approval of the employing agency;

--for an annual publication in the Federal Register of all gifts reported to the various branches of Government;

that no gifts of more than minimal value shall be given by the U.S. Government using appropriate funds unless authorized by Congress or unless purchased from a specified State Department account;

-that all such gifts of more than minimal value purchased using appropriated funds, and also any gifts which did not involve the use of appropriated funds, shall be annually reported to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House International Relations Committee; and

-for the Secretary of State, through U.S. embassies, to inform foreign governments "that it is the general policy of the U.S. Government to prohibit U.S. Government employees from receiving foreign gifts or decorations of more than minimal value.”

H. Rep. No. 95-537, 95th Cong., 1st Sess. 40 (1977).

Sec. 515 of the 1978 Act amends sec. 7342 of title 5 of the United States Code to read as follows:

"7342. Receipt and disposition of foreign gifts and decorations

"(a) For the purpose of this section

"(1) 'employee' means

"(A) an employee as defined by section 2105 of this title and an officer or employee of the United States Postal Service or of the Postal Rate Commission;

"(B) an expert or consultant who is under contract under section 3109 of this title with the United States or any agency, department, or establishment thereof, including, in the case of an organization performing services under such section, any individual involved in the performance of such services; "(C) an individual employed by, or occupying an office or position in, the government of a territory or possession of the United States or the government of the District of Columbia;

"(D) a member of a uniformed service;

"(E) the President and the Vice President;

"(F) a Member of Congress as defined by section 2106 of this title (except the Vice President) and any Delegate to the Congress; and

"(G) the spouse of an individual described in subparagraphs (A) through (F) (unless such individual and his or her spouse are separated) or a dependent (within the meaning of section 152 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954) of such an individual, other than a spouse or dependent who is an employee under subparagraphs (A) through (F);

"(2) foreign government' means

"(A) any unit of foreign governmental authority, including any foreign national, State, local, and municipal government;

"(B) any international or multinational organization whose membership is composed of any unit of foreign government described in subparagraph (A); and

"(C) any agent or representative of any such unit or such organization, while acting as such;

“(3) 'gift' means a tangible or intangible present (other than a decoration) tendered by, or received from, a foreign government;

"(4) 'decoration' means an order, device, medal, badge, insignia, emblem, or award tendered by, or received from, a foreign government;

“(5) 'minimal value' means a retail value in the United States at the time of acceptance of $100 or less, except that

"(A) on January 1, 1981, and at 3-year intervals thereafter, 'minimal value' shall be redefined in regulations prescribed by the Administrator of General Services, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to reflect changes in the consumer price index for the immediately preceding 3-year period; and

"(B) regulations of any employing agency may define 'minimal value' for its employees to be less than the value established under this paragraph; and "(6) 'employing agency' means

"(A) the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct of the House of Representatives, for Members and employees of the House of Representatives, except that those responsibilities specified in subsections (c) (2) (A), (e), and (g) (2) (B) shall be carried out by the Clerk of the House;

"(B) the Select Committee on Ethics of the Senate, for Senators and employees of the Senate;

"(C) the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, for judges and judicial branch employees; and

"(D) the department, agency, office, or other entity in which an employee is employed, for other legislative branch employees and for all executive branch employees.

"(b) An employee may not

"(1) request or otherwise encourage the tender of a gift or decoration; or “(2) accept a gift or decoration, other than in accordance with the provisions of subsection (c) and (d).

"(c) (1) The Congress consents to

"(A) the accepting and retaining by an employee of a gift of minimal value tendered and received as a souvenir or mark of courtesy; and

"(B) the accepting by an employee of a gift of more than minimal value when such gift is in the nature of an educational scholarship or medical treatment or when it appears that to refuse the gift would likely cause offense or embarrassment or otherwise adversely affect the foreign relations of the United States, except that

"(i) a tangible gift of more than minimal value is deemed to have been accepted on behalf of the United States and, upon acceptance, shall become the property of the United States; and

"(ii) an employee may accept gifts of travel or expenses for travel taking place entirely outside the United States (such as transportation, food, and lodging) of more than minimal value if such acceptance is appropriate, consistent with the interests of the United States, and permitted by the employing agency and any regulations which may be prescribed by the employing agency. "(2) Within 60 days after accepting a tangible gift of more than minimal value (other than a gift described in paragraph (1)(B) (ii)), an employee shall

"(A) deposit the gift for disposal with his or her employing agency; or

"(B) subject to the approval of the employing agency, deposit the gift with that agency for official use.

Within 30 days after terminating the official use of a gift under subparagraph (B), the employing agency shall forward the gift to the Administrator of General Services in accordance with subsection (e).

"(3) When an employee deposits a gift of more than minimal value for disposal or for official use pursuant to paragraph (2), or within 30 days after accepting travel or travel expenses as provided in paragraph (1)(B) (ii) unless such travel or travel expenses are accepted in accordance with specific instructions of his or her employing agency, the employee shall file a statement with his or her employing agency or its delegate containing the information prescribed in subsection (f) for that gift.

"(d) The Congress consents to the accepting, retaining, and wearing by an employee of a decoration tendered in recognition of active field service in time of combat operations or awarded for other outstanding or unusually meritorious performance, subject to the approval of the employing agency of such employee. Without this approval, the decoration is deemed to have been accepted on behalf of the United States, shall become the property of the United States, and shall be deposited by the employee, within sixty days of acceptance, with the employing agency for official use or forwarding to the Administrator of General Services for disposal in accordance with subsection (e).

"(e) Gifts and decorations that have been deposited with an employing agency for disposal shall be (1) returned to the donor, or (2) forwarded to the Administrator of General Services for transfer, donation, or other disposal in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949. However, no gift or decoration that has been deposited for disposal may be sold without the approval of the Secretary of State, upon a determination that the sale will not adversely affect the foreign relations of the United States. Gifts and decorations may be sold by negotiated sale.

"(f) (1). Not later than January 31 of each year, each employing agency or its delegate shall compile a listing of all statements filed during the preceding year by the employees of that agency pursuant to subsection (c) (3) and shall transmit such listing to the Secretary of State who shall publish a comprehensive listing of all such statements in the Federal Register.

"(2) Such listings shall include for each tangible gift reported—

"(A) the name and position of the employee;

"(B) a brief description of the gift and the circumstances justifying acceptance;

"(C) the identity, if known, of the foreign government and the name and position of the individual who presented the gift;

"(D) the date of acceptance of the gift;

"(E) the estimated value in the United States of the gift at the time of acceptance; and

"(F) disposition or current location of the gift.

"(3) Such listings shall include for each gift of travel or travel expenses"(A) the name and position of the employee;

"(B) a brief description of the gift and the circumstances justifying acceptance; and

"(C) the identity, if known, of the foreign government and the name and position of the individual who presented the gift.

"(4) In transmitting such listings for the Central Intelligence Agency, the Director of Central Intelligence may delete the information described in subparagraphs (A) and (C) of paragraphs (2) and (3) if the Director certifies in writing to the Secretary of State that the publication of such information could adversely affect United States intelligence sources.

"(g) (1) Each employing agency shall prescribe such regulations as may be necessary to carry out the purpose of this section. For all employing agencies in the executive branch, such regulations shall be prescribed pursuant to guidance provided by the Secretary of State. These regulations shall be imple mented by each employing agency for its employees.

"(2) Each employing agency shall

"(A) report to the Attorney General cases in which there is reason to believe that an employee has violated this section;

"(B) establish a procedure for obtaining an appraisal, when necessary, of the value of gifts; and

"(C) take any other actions necessary to carry out the purpose of this section.

"(h) The Attorney General may bring a civil action in any district court of the United States against any employee who knowingly solicits or accepts a gift from a foreign government not consented to by this section or who fails to deposit or report such gift as required by this section. The court in which such action is brought may assess a penalty against such employee in any amount not to exceed the retail value of the gift improperly solicited or received plus $5,000.

"(i) The President shall direct all Chiefs of a United States Diplomatic Mission to inform their host governments that it is a general policy of the United States Government to prohibit United States Government employees from receiving gifts or decorations of more than minimal value.

"(j) Nothing in this section shall be construed to derogate any regulation prescribed by any employing agency which provides for more stringent limitations on the receipt of gifts and decorations by its employees.

"(k) The provisions of this section do not apply to grants and other forms of assistance to which section 108A of the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961 applies.".

(2) The amendment made by paragraph (1) of this subsection shall take effect on January 1, 1978.

(b) (1) After September 30, 1977, no appropriated funds, other than funds from the "Emergencies in the Diplomatic and Consular Service" account of the Department of State, may be used to purchase any tangible gift of more than minimal value (as defined in section 7342(a) (5) of title 5, United States Code) for any foreign individual unless such gift has been approved by the Congress.

(2) Beginning October 1, 1977, the Secretary of State shall annually transmit to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a report containing details on (1) any gifts of more than minimal value purchased with appropriated funds which were given to a foreign individual during the previous fiscal year, and (2) any other gifts of more than minimal value given by the United States Government to a foreign individual which were not obtained using appropriated funds.

Cape Verde

Establishment of Mission

On August 5, 1977, John H. Trattner, Director of the Office of Press Relations of the Department of State, announced that the United States Government had informed the Government of the Republic of Cape Verde that the United States intends to establish an Embassy in Praia, Cape Verde, by January 1, 1978. The Embassy will be headed by a resident Chargé d'Affaires, ad interim. The United States will continue to accredit concurrently the American Ambassador resident in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau, as the U.S. Ambassador to Cape Verde.

Mr. Trattner explained that the opening of the Embassy in Cape Verde will enable the United States to represent U.S. interests more effectively and to provide consular services to the more than 700 recipients of U.S. Federal benefit checks and to the approximately 1,000 Cape Verdeans who immigrate to the United States each year. Cape Verde has established an Embassy in Washington and a consulate general in Boston to serve the Cape Verdean-American community which is estimated at about 300,000 persons, largely concen

trated in the New England States. Cape Verde obtained its independence from Portugal on July 5, 1975, and the United States recognized Cape Verde on that date.

Dept. of State News Briefing, DPC 143, Aug. 4, 1977. For information concerning U.S. recognition of Cape Verde, see the 1975 Digest, Ch. 2, § 3, p. 35.

82

Consular Officers and Consulates

Functions of Consuls

Protection of Nationals

On March 14, 1977, Representative Dante B. Fascell introduced into the Congressional Record a letter dated March 4, 1977, which Secretary of State Cyrus Vance submitted to Speaker of the House Thomas P. O'Neill, concerning the achievement of full respect for the human rights of U.S. citizens detained in Mexico. This letter was in the form of a periodic report required by section 408(b) (2) of the International Security Assistance and Arms Export Control Act of 1976 (P.L. 94-329). Portions of the letter follow:

During the period from July 1, 1975, through January 15, 1977, over 1500 Americans were arrested in Mexico. A vast majority of that number were involved in minor offenses and the arrestees were released after only one or two days in jail and/or the payment of a fine. During this period, there were 58 cases of substantiated physical abuse at the time of arrest. In another 47 cases the evidence was not sufficient to reach a clear conclusion. There were also 17 cases wherein Americans were subjected to unscrupulous financial practices by attorneys who extracted large fees from the prisoner and/ or his family for services which they then failed to provide and another 61 cases where the evidence of malpractice was not sufficient to reach a conclusion. In cases of substantiated abuse the Embassy at Mexico City and our consular posts throughout Mexico have made and continue to make protests to the Mexican authorities at both the local and Federal levels. I should point out, however, that protests have not been made in those cases where the arrested American citizens specifically requested that no protest be made. The protests are normally made both orally and in writing to the appropriate local officials. In many instances, the cases are documented by constituent posts and forwarded to the Embassy at Mexico City so that protests can be lodged with the Mexican Foreign Ministry. In such cases, the Embassy sends a formal note of protest to the Ministry with a copy to the Mexican Attorney General. These notes include a description of the case, a sworn statement by both the prisoner and the consular officer where appropriate, and a request that a full investigation be made into the allegation of abuse. To date, the Embassy has not received satisfactory replies to the vast majority of such notes.