§3622 Code of Conduct for Commission Personnel

Summary

Require every Board member and every officer and employee to swear an oath to do their job faithfully before they start. All Commission staff must follow the same U.S. laws about federal employee duties and responsibilities that other federal workers follow. Make the Board create a code of conduct within 60 days after all Board members are appointed. The code must match the rules in part 735 of title 5 as of October 1, 1979 and must include rules equivalent to these laws: chapter 11 of title 18; section 7352 of title 5; sections 207, 208, 285, 508, 641, 645, 1001, 1917, and 2071 of title 18; sections 1343, 1344, and 1349(b) of title 31; chapter 131 of title 5; and similar laws of the Republic of Panama. The Commission will investigate any claims someone broke the code and may ask the President to suspend a Board member or employee while courts handle the case. The President must work out arrangements with Panama so each country uses its legal power to make Board members follow the code; U.S. enforcement of the listed laws against Board members will happen under those arrangements. Section 207 of title 18 does not apply to a "covered individual" (someone who worked for the Commission, not the Administrator, and whose Commission job ended at noon on the Canal Transfer Date) for acts done as an officer or employee of the Panama Canal Authority. Congress also agrees that retired and reserve military members and Commissioned Reserve Corps Public Health Service members may take paid jobs with the Panama Canal Authority, and that this consent is effective regardless of subsection (b) of section 908 of title 37.