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An Act to authorize appropriations for the United States Office of Special Counsel, the Merit Systems Protection Board, and for other purposes.

Public Law 103-424 · H.R. 2970 · 103rd Congress · began in the House

Signed by Bill Clinton (D) on Oct 29, 1994 · Government Operations and Politics

Sponsor: Rep. Francis McCloskey (D-IN-8)

Cosponsors: None

Passage votes

  • HouseUnanimous consent
  • SenateVoice vote
Data notes

The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.

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Summary

The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.

Amends the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989 (WPA) to extend the authorization of appropriations for the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) and the Merit Systems Protection Board through 1997.

Makes miscellaneous and technical amendments to various OSC provisions under WPA, including those regarding OSC administration and powers of disclosure, investigation of prohibited personnel practices and individual rights of action in certain reprisal cases, and OSC reports.

Amends Federal law to: (1) provide for the awarding of reasonable attorney fees by agencies to prevailing parties in certain cases; (2) subject to review in whistleblower cases any agency decision to require psychiatric testing or examination of an employee or any other significant change in duties, responsibilities, or working conditions made by the agency; (3) make agency heads responsible for ensuring that their employees are informed of whistleblower rights and remedies; (4) make compliance with merit systems principles a factor in Senior Executive Service performance appraisals; (5) provide for the application of certain merit systems provisions to certain Department of Veterans Affairs personnel; (6) allow corrective actions by the Merit Systems Protection Board to include placing the individual, as nearly as possible, in the position he or she would have been had the prohibited personnel practice not occurred, as well as reimbursement for attorney's fees, back pay and related benefits, medical costs incurred, travel expenses, and any other reasonable and foreseeable consequential damages; (7) provide aggrieved individuals (including, specifically, the employees of the Resolution Trust Corporation and Thrift Depositor Protection Oversight Board) with a choice of remedies with respect to certain prohibited personnel practices; (8) revise the definition of covered position with respect to prohibited personnel practices; and (9) provide that the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund is made available for any expenses incurred by the Board in administering Federal retirement appeals.

Requires OSC to: (1) issue a policy statement regarding the implementation of WPA; (2) include in any letter terminating an investigation of a prohibited personnel practice the identification of an OSC employee who can respond to questions on the investigation or review; and (3) conduct an annual survey of all individuals who contacted the office for assistance for inclusion in its annual report.

Committees

The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.

  • Post Office and Civil Service Committee · House · markup by, referred to, reported bySubcommittee: Civil Service Subcommittee
Data notes

A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.

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Timeline

From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 20 actions.

  1. Oct 29, 1994Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 103-424.
  2. Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
  3. Oct 18, 1994PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
  4. Oct 7, 1994Resolving differencesResolving differences · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  5. Resolving differencesResolving differences · On motion that the House agree to the Senate amendment Agreed to without objection.
  6. Resolving differencesResolving differences · Mr. McCloskey asked unanimous consent that the House agree to the Senate amendment.
  7. FloorFloor · Passed Senate with an amendment and an amendment to the Title by Voice Vote.
  8. FloorFloor · Amendment SP 2641 agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote.
  9. FloorFloor · Measure laid before Senate by unanimous consent. (CR S14668-14670)
  10. Oct 3, 1994FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  11. FloorFloor · On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote.
  12. FloorFloor · Mr. McCloskey moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
  13. Sep 30, 1994CommitteeCommittee · Reported by House Post Office and Civil Service Committee
  14. Aug 10, 1994CommitteeCommittee · Markup by House Post Office and Civil Service Committee
  15. Oct 20, 1993CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Civil Service Subcommittee of the House Post Office and Civil Service Committee
  16. CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Civil Service Subcommittee of the House Post Office and Civil Service Committee
  17. Sep 14, 1993CommitteeCommittee · Hearings by Civil Service Subcommittee of the House Post Office and Civil Service Committee
  18. Aug 16, 1993CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Civil Service Subcommittee of the House Post Office and Civil Service Committee
  19. Aug 6, 1993CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Post Office and Civil Service Committee
  20. IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in the House
Data notes

Shows the introduction, each committee and subcommittee step the source dates (referral, hearings, markup, report, discharge), and the floor, conference, presidential and became-law steps. Calendar placements, messages between the chambers, amendments and committee report numbers are not shown for laws before the 108th Congress. Two entries the source lists twice are shown once.

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Official record

The bill’s full text and every action, including introduction and committee steps, are on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.