Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 1212 - The Employee Polygraph Protection Act

(House)
(Williams (D) Montana and 181 others)

The administration opposes the enactment of H.R. 1212, which would ban the use of polygraphs by private sector employers, because it would usurp private sector decisionmaking and is contrary to the principles of Federalism. If this legislation were presented to the President, the Department of Justice and the Office of Management and Budget would recommend that the legislation be vetoed.

The administration firmly believes that the terms and conditions of private employment, to the maximum extent possible, should be decided in the marketplace, and that a nationwide Federal prohibition on polygraph use would be inappropriate. In addition, there would be a need for Federal legislation only if polygraphs were not regulated effectively by the States. Absent that circumstance, any polygraph misuse is more appropriately deterred by States restricting the conditions under which polygraphs are administered. Therefore, the administration is also opposed to H.R. 1536, which would establish a new Federal regulatory program governing standards for the administration of polygraph examinations in the private sector, as an alternative to H.R. 1212. As in the case of H.R. 1212, the Department of Justice and the Office of Management and Budget would recommend that H.R. 1536 be vetoed.