[House Hearing, 111 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
MARKUP OF H. RES. 279, H. RES. 303, H.R. 1679, H.R. 151, H.R. 586, H.R.
749, AND H.R. 415
=======================================================================
MEETING
before the
COMMITTEE ON HOUSE
ADMINISTRATION
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
HELD IN WASHINGTON, DC, MARCH 25, 2009
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on House Administration
Available on the Internet:
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/congress/house/administration/index.html
----------
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
51-252 PDF WASHINGTON : 2009
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing
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Washington, DC 20402-0001
COMMITTEE ON HOUSE ADMINISTRATION
ROBERT A. BRADY, Pennsylvania, Chairman
ZOE LOFGREN, California DANIEL E. LUNGREN, California
Vice-Chairwoman Ranking Minority Member
MICHAEL E. CAPUANO, Massachusetts KEVIN McCARTHY, California
CHARLES A. GONZALEZ, Texas GREGG HARPER, Mississippi
SUSAN A. DAVIS, California
ARTUR DAVIS, Alabama
S. Elizabeth Birnbaum, Staff Director
Victor Arnold-Bik, Minority Staff Director
MARKUP OF H. RES. 279, COMMITTEE RES. 111-5, DISMISSAL OF ELECTION
CONTEST, H. RES. 303, H.R. 1299, H.R. 1679, H.R. 151, H.R. 586, H.R.
749, AND H.R. 415
----------
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2009
House of Representatives,
Committee on House Administration,
Washington, DC.
The committee met, pursuant to call, at 11:07 a.m., in Room
1310, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. Robert A. Brady
(chairman of the committee) presiding.
Present: Representatives Brady, Lofgren, Capuano, Davis of
Alabama, Lungren, and McCarthy.
Staff Present: Liz Birnbaum, Staff Director; Jamie Fleet,
Deputy Staff Director; Charles Howell, Chief Counsel; Matt
Pinkus, Professional Staff/Parliamentarian; Kyle Anderson,
Press Director; Kristin McCowan, Chief Legislative Clerk; Brian
McCue, Professional Staff; Gregory Abbott, Policy Analyst;
Khalil Abboud, Professional Staff; Jennifer Daehn, Elections
Counsel; Victor Arnold-Bik, Minority Staff Director; Peter
Schalestock, Minority Counsel; and Karin Moore, Minority
Legislative Counsel.
The Chairman. Good morning. I would like to call the
Committee on House Administration to order.
Before we start, I would like to recognize and welcome
students from W.T. Woodson High School in Fairfax, Virginia.
They are seniors that have been studying government and decided
to observe our hearings today. Welcome all of you, and you all
look bright-eyed. Are your teachers here with you?
Voice. No.
Voice. A chaperone.
The Chairman. Can you get rid of the chaperone? I used to.
Thank you all. We applaud your interest and your being here
today to watch democracy in practice, so to speak. So, again,
we thank you and appreciate your being here.
The committee meeting will come to order. We have a number
of items on the agenda today. First we will consider H.
Resolution 279, the primary expense resolution to fund the
standing and select committees of the House for the 111th
Congress. Every 2 years the committee holds hearings on the
needs of House committees in the coming Congress. We then write
a resolution authorizing funding for those committees. During
our hearings on February 11th and 25th, we heard from all the
Chairmen and most of the Ranking Members from other committees.
We are now prepared to act on the committee funding.
I will now recognize our Ranking Member, Representative
Lungren, for an opening statement.
Mr. Lungren. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. And I would
also like to welcome the students here. I would like to begin,
however, by acknowledging how well the staff on both sides of
the aisle in this committee have worked through this process. I
appreciate that very much.
While we appreciate the access to the committee funding
information, I know you would agree with me that we believe it
is crucial for both sides to have as much time as possible to
review the information and properly scrutinize all the data
presented to committee members.
I realize that you got this to us as soon as we had numbers
that you felt were those that we could go forward with. But I
would hope in the future, it would be helpful to have more time
to review all the committee submissions. But considering the
compressed time frame we have, I appreciate how well both sides
have worked.
As I told many of the Chairs and Ranking Members who
appeared before us, the funding granted for this Congress would
likely be substantially less than the requests submitted by
each committee. I understand the genuineness of the request
made by the Chairs and Ranking Members, but we in this
committee have an obligation to look at those fairly carefully
and also look at it in the context of the overall budget
request from this Congress.
And just as the American people have had to do more with
less, we must also stretch the resources available to the
Congress with a focus on efficiency and by making difficult
choices on what issues are truly of the highest legislative
priority.
So I would like to thank the Chairman for his partnership
in ensuring that the committee funding request we send to the
floor will provide adequate funding for the jobs to be done by
the legislative committees, and yet demonstrates a fiscal
responsibility in keeping with these difficult economic times.
I don't think in the numbers that we have had presented to
us, we are going to restrict any committee from doing the job
that they need to do; but at the same time, I think we have
done very careful work in asking the questions and ensuring
that we can justify the requests that have been made. And, once
again, I thank the Chairman for his interest and for his
cooperation on this.
The Chairman. Thank you. I now would like to call up and
lay before the Committee House Resolution 279, the primary
expense resolution for the 111th Congress. Without objection,
the resolution will be considered as read and open to amendment
at any point.
[The information follows:]
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The Chairman. I will now offer the Chairman's mark, an
amendment in the nature of a substitute which is in the
members' packets. And, without objection, we will disburse with
the reading of the substitute.
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The Chairman. Let me describe what we have done with this
amendment. Over the last Congress, the committees of the House
conducted far more hearings and did far more work than in
recent years. They have done all this without an increase in
funding. Last Congress we were not even able to keep up with
inflation. We realize that all the committees have been
struggling to operate on limited funds, and they will have to
even work harder to do so in this Congress due to the
challenging of our economic situations and other legislative
priorities.
At the same time, we know that the economic status of the
Nation means that we must do more with less. So we are not
going to be able to give the committees all the funds that they
have requested.
The amounts stated in the resolution, as introduced: In
general, the substitute gives each committee for 2009 the lower
of either the amount they requested or an increase of 4.78
percent over the funding of 2008. That percent equals the cost-
of-living increase for Federal employees in D.C. for the year
2009.
There are a few exceptions to this substitute. First, we
provided additional funds to the Judiciary Committee to
undertake its mandatory inquiry into judicial impeachments,
which is not an ordinary cost of that committee.
Next, the Energy and Commerce Committee and the Financial
Services Committee and the Small Businesses Committee each have
undertaken extra responsibilities in this Congress. These three
committees will each receive an additional $378,000 above
inflation in 2009.
The committee on Standards of Official Conduct will receive
an increase of $81,000 over the COLA.
Finally, we have not increased funding over the 2008 for
the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, since we have
already expanded the oversight work of all committees in this
Congress by amending the rule in H. Res. 40.
We add it all up, that keeps the total committee funding
for 2009 at just 4.78 over the total funding from 2008. In 2010
the committee will receive an across-the-board increase of 3.9,
which is our estimate of the inflationary increase needed to
keep staff paid in the coming year.
I would like to make one observation as it relates to how
the Minority funds their operation. I strongly support the two-
thirds/one-third principle. As the Congress continues working,
I want the Minority to come to me with any instances at all
where they have not been treated fairly, where the two-thirds/
one-third doctrine has been violated. And I promise to our
members on both sides that I will work with those committees to
bring the parties together and make sure that the Minority is
never disadvantaged in performing their work. After all, we are
in the Majority today; we may not be in the Majority tomorrow.
So I am not only carrying the flag for the Minority, but I am
carrying the flag for the Majority at one point in time, too.
Is there any debate on the substitute?
Mr. Lungren. Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman. I recognize Mr. Lungren.
Mr. Lungren. I would move to strike the requisite number of
words. First of all, I want to thank you for the comment on the
one-third/two-thirds. While I would have preferred that we have
that actually in the resolution, I appreciate the Chairman's
commitment to the one-third/two-thirds split.
This I think worked well when we were in the Majority. I
think it works well when we are in the Minority. I think it
gives a certainty out there and it does allow the Minority to
have sufficient staff so that they can carry out their
responsibilities.
I recall when there were times when that was not the case.
And so for our committee being the committee that authorizes
the budgets for the various committees of the House, I think
this is a very important matter.
Secondly, there might be some press reports about what the
increases are, that they total 8.67 percent. But remember, that
is over the 2-year period of time. The Chairman has articulated
what it is for the first year and then for the second year.
The amount requested additional for the Standards
Committee, otherwise known as the Ethics Committee, I hope it
is sufficient for them to do their job. In the last Congress,
the only committee that I questioned in terms of the adequacy
of their budget was the Ethics Committee. The request that we
have had as of this morning for the additional--I think it was
$87,000--I think is appropriate. I hope it is what is
necessary.
I would just say on that that we have an obligation not
only to act ethically, but to make sure the American people
understand, with that degree of transparency, that we are doing
that. When we have a situation that we don't fund the Ethics
Committee sufficiently so that, for instance, questions about
financial disclosures which were filed last year, almost a full
year ago, have not yet been answered. That is not a criticism
of the committee; it is an observation over our failure to
fully fund that committee.
So, Mr. Chairman, I would just say on the only committee I
would say this about: If there, in fact, is insufficient funds
to do the job that they must carry out, I hope we will be open
to immediately responding to that to ensure that that job is
done. And with that, I----
Ms. Lofgren. Would the gentleman yield?
Mr. Lungren. I would be happy to yield.
Ms. Lofgren. I would like to briefly address and thank the
gentleman for his support. Jo Bonner, the Ranking Member and I,
I think we talked about five times a day and worked carefully
to put together this proposal, we believe based on the work
that we have done that this is going to be sufficient. If not,
we will certainly come back.
But in the last several Congresses, the budgeted amount for
the committee was actually not expended. There are a number of
vacancies that we are working very hard to fill, and we think
that the funds here, plus the expenditure of what was already
appropriated is going to provide us what we need.
And certainly there are some rebuilding efforts necessary,
and we are actively engaged in that process. And I thank you.
Mr. Lungren. I thank you for that. I will just say overall,
I am pleased that this committee was able to bring down the
requests that were made by all the committees, and we have come
up with a measurable decrease in the expected or the requested
increases from the various committees. The only exception I
make is with respect to the Committee on Ethics because of the
role it plays in this House and the importance of ethical
issues right now before us. And with that, I yield back.
The Chairman. Mr. McCarthy.
Mr. McCarthy. Mr. Chairman, my only one--I guess I phrase
it as a question. When I go through these numbers and, one, I
echo what Mr. Lungren said, I am glad we are able to move the
percentage increase down from what everybody was requesting.
But one that stands out is Oversight and Government Reform. It
gets 3.43 percent over 2 years, which I think is great, maybe
everyone could have got to that place. But this year it gets
zero. And looking at where this world has changed about
transparency, looking at what has transpired just in the last
couple of weeks about things that are being uncovered, I am
just wondering why; and do they feel it is adequate, and
knowing that we want greater government transparency, that they
are zero this year?
The Chairman. Naturally they do not feel that it is
adequate. But after reviewing it, and looking at it and
speaking with all pertinent parties, they felt that they could,
without question, function in the right and proper manner
without an increase. Because they have been increased for years
on end. I understand, but I am not real sure that they have
maybe given back money in the past. And with the new rule that
we now have that everybody has regular oversight, that will
probably take care of some of our own internals for every
committee that has to come in front of us or send a report for
all their oversight. So we take some responsibilities from
them. That was the thought process of that.
Mr. McCarthy. Well, I appreciate that, Mr. Chairman. The
only thing I see in history, I have one that goes back to the
106th. They were actually decreased in the 106th and 107th, by
1 percent. Others were increased. In the world of transparency
as we look forward if they are to come back, that we are not
able to look at ways, especially with the TARP and other things
transpiring, this may be a role, especially under their
jurisdiction, to be able to look at certain things that we
hadn't thought of in the past.
The Chairman. If that would happened? I think that we are
going to address that in an amendment that Mr. Lungren will be
offering.
I now recognize Mr. Lungren to offer amendment.
Mr. Lungren. I have an amendment at the desk.
The Chairman. Without objection, the amendment to the
amendment in the nature of a substitute is considered to be
read.
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The Chairman. And I recognize Mr. Lungren.
Mr. Lungren. I thank the Chairman very much. And this I
think goes to the question that the gentleman had. When we had
the hearings with the Ranking Members and the Chairpersons, I
asked each and every one of them whether or not they would
agree to cooperate with us in coming back after a year for us
to look at that.
Additionally, we have in our working with the Majority
side, I think, come up with a stronger template of reports that
all the committees are required to lodge once a month, and that
will be available electronically for people to see, so that the
members can make a judgment as to whether or not the committees
are engaged in vigorous oversight, as they are required to do
under the rules.
And then at the end of the year, the purpose of my
amendment is to specifically say that they will come back to
report to us, so that we will have the regular monthly reports
that will be available to all. And then at the end of the year,
they will come back and we can review it here.
The Chairman was supportive in our questioning of the
members of the committees as they came before us. And I believe
that if we adopt this amendment it will be a model of the
transparency that we are trying to get from both sides of the
aisle, and both sides of the Capitol, to help us as we go
forward. That is basically what my amendment is and with that I
yield back to the Chairman.
The Chairman. Any other debate on the amendment?
I support the amendment offered by Mr. Lungren. During our
2 days of funding hearings, we were pleased that all the Chairs
and all the Ranking Members agreed to come back. Agreeing to
coming back and coming back sometimes can be two different
things. And I also thought it was a good idea that this
solidifies the effort. And I urge the committee to support it,
to bring our Chairmen and our Ranking Members to come back just
to address the issue that Mr. McCarthy raised, that if there is
a slack somewhere--I am sure we can find funding for our own
committee--that may not be able to function because of that. I
urge our colleagues to support the amendment.
Any other comments? So the question is on the amendment
offered by Mr. Lungren to the amendment in the nature of a
substitute.
All those in favor signify by saying ``aye.''
All opposed, ``no.''
The ``ayes'' have it, and the amendment to the amendment in
the nature of a substitute is agreed to.
No roll call is needed.
Mr. Lungren. Mr. Chairman, could I ask you to enter into
colloquy on the issue that I mentioned before about public
disclosure of monthly committee reports?
The Chairman. Yes.
Mr. Lungren. I thank the Chairman for his indulgence. As
the Chairman is aware, one of the requirements we have in the
committee's handbook is that, ``Each committee must submit to
the Committee on House Administration by the 18th of each month
an original and two copies of a report signed by the committee
Chair on the activities of the committee during the preceding
month.''
Some of the items required in the monthly report include
progress on specific investigations, statement of expenses,
report of travel, as well as staff salaries. In addition, the
monthly report of each committee, they are currently required
to be available for public inspection. One of the items in our
committee rules, rule 4(e) as we adopted, states: To the
maximum extent feasible, the committee shall make its
publications available in electronic form.
Given our committee's commitment to transparency and
accountability, would the Chairman be willing to work with me
in order to make those monthly reports available on our
committee Web site?
The Chairman. Yes, without question.
Mr. Lungren. Thank you very much.
The Chairman. You are welcome.
Are there any additional amendments?
Without objection, the previous question is ordered on the
amendment in the nature of a substitute, as amended.
The question is on the amendment. All in favor say ``aye.''
``No,'' opposed.
The ``ayes'' have it. And the amendment in the nature of a
substitute is agreed to.
The amendment is agreed to.
Now, I move that the Committee report H.R. 279 favorably to
the House with an amendment. The question is on the motion.
All in favor say ``aye.''
Any opposed?
The ``ayes'' have it and the motion is agreed to.
The Chair would announce that he is asking for 2 additional
calendar days provided by clause 2 of rule 11 to allow members
time to file additional Reviews. The Chair notices that the
gentleman will exercise his right for those 2 additional days.
Mr. Lungren. Thank you very much.
The Chairman. Without objection.
The next item on the agenda is the committee funding
resolution. I now call up Committee Resolution 111-5 providing
the allocation of official mail allowance to committees of the
House for the 111th Congress. This resolution is limited to
$5,000 per year for each committee's mail.
Without objection, the committee resolution is considered
as read and open for amendment.
[The information follows:]
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The Chairman. Is there any debate?
Are there any amendments?
If not, the question is on agreeing to the committee
resolution.
All those in favor say ``aye.''
All those opposed, no.
In the opinion of the Chair the ``ayes'' have it and the
Committee Resolution 111-5 is agreed to. Without objection, the
motion to reconsider is laid upon the table.
I now call up an original resolution relating to an
election contest in the First Congressional District of Hawaii.
The text of the resolution is before the members and I ask
unanimous consent to dispose with the reading. And, without
objection, it is so ordered.
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The Chairman. I now recognize Vice Chair Lofgren for a
statement.
Ms. Lofgren. Mr. Chairman, there has been bipartisan
agreement that this election contest relating to the First
Congressional District of Hawaii is completely frivolous. It
should by dismissed without consuming any additional time of
the committee. And unless there is further comment, I would
move that the committee favorably report to the House an
original resolution, the text of which is before the members,
to dismiss the election contest in the First Congressional
District of Hawaii.
The Chairman. Is there any additional debate?
Mr. Lungren. We agree.
The Chairman. We agree.
If there is no further debate, without objection, the
previous question is ordered. I recognize again Vice Chairman
Lofgren for the purpose of making a motion.
Ms. Lofgren. I just made the motion.
The Chairman. You made a motion?
Ms. Lofgren. Yes.
The Chairman. The committee favorably report the House's
original resolution, the text of which is before the members,
to dismiss the election contest in the First Congressional of
Hawaii.
The question on the motion offered by the Vice Chair, all
those in favor say ``aye.''
Any opposed, ``no.''
The ``ayes'' have it. The motion is agreed to, without
objection. A motion to consider is laid upon the table and the
resolution will be reported to the House.
Without objection, the staff will be authorized to make
technical and conforming changes to the resolution.
The committee now will turn to markup of H.R. 1299, the
Capitol Police Administrative Technical Corrections Act of
2009, which the House passed essentially the same bill last
year.
As its title suggests, H.R. 1299 does not make substantive
policy changes for the Capitol Police; rather, it corrects
drafting errors, modernizes outdated terms and repeals
inconsistent provisions now on the books. Chief Morse formally
requested both of these corrections, and the committee staff
found a few others.
I urge the committee support the bill once again. And would
the gentleman from California like to make a statement?
Mr. Lungren. Mr. Chairman, we have examined the bill and we
agree this is technical in nature. It does not make substantive
changes and it corrects a number of things that were oversights
or drafting errors, and we would agree with the Chairman's
position that this be supported.
The Chairman. I thank the gentleman.
I now call--any other comments?
I now call up and lay before the committee H.R. 1299.
Without objection, the first reading of the bill is dispensed
with and the bill is considered as read, and open for an
amendment at any point.
[The information follows:]
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The Chairman. Is there any debate? Are there any
amendments?
If not, I move to report H.R. 1299 favorably to the House.
The question is on the motion.
All those in favor say ``aye.''
Any opposed?
In the opinion of the Chair the ``ayes'' have it. And the
bill will be reported to the House. Without objection, the
motion to reconsider is laid upon the table.
The next item the committee will take up is H.R. 1679, the
House Reservist Pay Adjustment Act of 2009. This bill will
replace lost income from military reservists working for the
House of Representatives when they are active for more than 30
days.
I introduced this important bill after discussion with
several House employees who also serve as members of the armed
service. When they are called up, these men and women must
leave homes, families and jobs, often for an undetermined,
unpredictable amount of time.
We know that many leading companies have helped reservists
and their families by continuing to pay the difference between
their usual salary and their Active Duty pay. This bill would
do the same for the House employees. It requires the CAO to
provide that supplement for House employees, if and when they
are activated involuntarily.
I am pleased that Ms. Davis and the Republican members of
the committee have joined me in sponsoring this legislation.
And I now would like to recognize, again, our Ranking Member,
Mr. Lungren, for any statement.
Mr. Lungren. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I
congratulate you for bringing this forward. This is a concept
that we have suggested as an example of what should be done in
the private sector, if they can afford to do so. And that is,
you have men and women who are called up to Active Duty for
more than 30 days. They have a drastic reduction in pay
relative to what they are earning in many cases. It puts a
tremendous burden on them and their families. And it just seems
that we who encourage this in a private sector, where they can
afford it, ought to be leaders and do it ourselves.
I thank the gentleman for introducing it and I am happy to
join him in sponsoring it and hope that we can have expeditious
consideration by the full House.
The Chairman. Thank you, I thank the gentleman.
I now call up and lay before the committee H.R. 1679.
Without objection, the first reading of the bill is dispensed
with and the bill is considered as read and open for amendment
at any point.
[The information follows:]
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The Chairman. Is there any debate? Are there any
amendments?
If not, I now move to report H.R. 1679 favorably to the
House. The question is on the motion.
All those in favor signify by saying ``aye.''
Any opposed?
In the opinion of the Chair the ``ayes'' have it. And the
bill will be reported to the House, without objection. The
motion is reconsidered and laid upon the table.
The next item on the agenda is H.R. 151, the Daniel Webster
Congressional Clerkship Act of 2009. This bill was introduced
by Vice Chair Lofgren and sponsored by Ranking Member Lungren.
H.R. 151 establishes the Daniel Webster Congressional
Clerkship Program. Similar programs can be found at the White
House and the United States courts.
I would now like to recognize the bill's sponsor, Ms.
Lofgren, for a statement on the bill.
Ms. Lofgren. Mr. Chairman, I will be brief since I am
required to go to the Speaker's Office in 2 minutes.
Mr. Lungren. Is that like going to the principal's office?
Ms. Lofgren. It kind of is.
The Chairman. The woodshed. They can appreciate that.
Ms. Lofgren. This bill was approved by the House last year.
It is an important measure that Mr. Lungren and I have worked
on very satisfactorily. Really, the brain child of the Stanford
Law dean, actually. I want to give him credit. And it would
really elevate the legislative branch in the same way the
executive and judicial branch have the top lawyers in the
United States in these clerkships. We think it will strengthen
the legislative branch, and I really hope that we can move this
through the Senate this year, promptly through the House and
then through the Senate, so that we can accomplish this.
CRS is not included in this at the current time. I think we
can agree we can look at that down the road, and so we will
make that public commitment to review it later. But I think at
this point, I don't want to speak for Mr. Lungren, I think we
are both pretty satisfied with the way this bill is. And I
thank the gentleman.
The Chairman. I thank the lady. Mr. Lungren.
Mr. Lungren. Mr. Chairman, this bill is important for one
very important reason. Now, in law school, if you are one of
the more talented law students, one of the goals is to get a
clerkship either with a court or with an executive branch. More
for the courts than the executive branch. What that does is
some of these outstanding students then go on to be outstanding
members of the bar, but oftentimes become judges themselves.
And if they have been trained their whole time that the end-all
and be-all of the government is the judicial branch, and that
they have the only determination of what is constitutional or
not, they don't have a full appreciation for the coequal status
of the legislative branch.
And the interesting thing is this was brought to our
attention by the dean of Stanford Law school, who you would
think would like the way things are now. He noted that he sees
this with his students and those who graduate. So this is a
small effort to try and inculcate in students in law school
that the legislative branch under the Constitution is a coequal
branch with the others, and that here we have as much an
obligation to uphold the Constitution in the manner that we
carry out our responsibilities as does the judicial branch.
It is a minimal amount of money when you really compare it
to the overall cost of government. And it is our hope to begin
an appreciation for the legislative branch in the ranks of law
schools around the country. And I thank the Chairman.
The Chairman. I thank the gentleman.
I now call up and lay before the committee H.R. 151.
Without objection, the first reading of the bill is dispensed
with and the bill is considered as read and open for an
amendment at any time.
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Any amendments?
If not, I move to report H.R. 151 favorably to the House.
The question is on the motion.
All those in favor signify by saying ``aye.''
Any opposed?
The ``ayes'' have it. And the bill will be reported to the
House, without objection. The motion to reconsider is laid upon
the table.
Our next item for the committee is an important bill H.R.
586, Civil Rights History Project Act of 2009, introduced by
Mrs. McCarthy of New York and Mr. Lewis of Georgia.
The civil rights history project is an important step
toward recording the history of an important era. Gathering
firsthand accounts from those citizens who fearlessly fought
for equal rights will lend a unique perspective to what we have
already known about the civil rights movement.
Building on the success of the veterans history project,
the civil rights history project will aim to highlight the
efforts of those activists who otherwise go unacknowledged.
While Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks and our own
colleague, John Lewis, and some of the most well-known figures
in the civil rights movement and countless others were equally
instrumental in securing fair and equal treatment for African
Americans. This project will tell that story.
I would like to recognize Mr. Lungren for any remarks.
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Mr. Lungren. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I support this bill,
having had the opportunity, along with Mr. Davis and others, to
take the pilgrimage of civil rights down to Alabama just 2
weeks ago and having had the opportunity to listen to some of
the still-living legends of the civil rights movement. And
understanding as you talk with them that they are only going to
be with us a few more years, because of their age, it is
important to have this project done as soon as possible.
And I strongly support it and I thank the gentleman for the
time.
The Chairman. Thank you. Are there any amendments? Any
other comments?
If not, I will move to report H.R. 586 favorably to the
House.
The question is on the motion. All in favor signify by
saying ``aye.''
Any opposed, ``no.''
The ``ayes'' have it and the bill will be reported to the
House. Without objection, the motion to reconsider is on the
table.
Next we take up consideration of H.R. 749, a bill to amend
the Federal Elections Campaign Act to permit a candidate for
Federal office to designate someone to distribute the funds of
that candidate's campaign in the event of the candidate's
death.
H.R. 749 will help to assure candidates for Federal office
that the funds raised by their campaigns will be dispersed in
accordance with their expressed wishes after they are deceased.
The bill will not otherwise amend the terms and conditions of
the disbursement of the funds under the act.
Last Congress this committee reported this bill favorably
and it passed the House. As introduced in the 111th Congress,
H.R. 749 includes the amendments that were adopted by the
committee during the last Congress.
I would now like to recognize our Ranking Member Mr.
Lungren.
Mr. Lungren. I thank the Chairman for bringing this
forward. As you know, our colleague from North Carolina, Walter
Jones, has spoken to both of us on this. Out of a personal
experience with the death of his father, a former Member, when
learning that the disbursement of the funds that existed at the
time of his death would be at the direction of the campaign
treasurer, he saw that this would not have been in accordance
with the wishes of his late father.
And so all this does is give a Member an opportunity to
think ahead of time that, in the event of death and there are
funds available, that a person he would designate, most likely
a member of his family, a spouse or a surviving member of the
family, would designate those funds presumably to the
charitable institutions that he would have an interest in,
which may not be in accordance with the wishes of the
treasurer, because oftentimes we know we hire treasurers, we
have them concentrating on the campaign. Very simple, very
straightforward.
I thank the Chairman for bringing this up so expeditiously.
The Chairman. Thank you. Any other comments?
I now would like to call up and lay before the committee
H.R. 749. Without objection, the first reading of the bill is
dispensed with and the bill is considered as read and open for
amendment at any point.
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The Chairman. Is there any debate?
I would like to quickly echo the comments of the Ranking
Member. A lot of times, mainly for appearances, we do like to
find an attorney, no disrespect, or an accountant, no
disrespect, and we don't want to find a member of the family
who knows about our wishes much, much better than anyone that
we would have as our treasurer.
So all this bill does is, again, at the time of a death of
a candidate or somebody who is a Member of Congress, that the
campaign funds that they have would be able to go to the
designee, a member of the family who best knows their wishes
than anybody else. So I do agree and hope that this bill
passes.
I now move to report H.R. 749 favorably to the House. The
question is on the motion.
All those in favor signify by saying ``aye.''
Any opposed, ``no.''
The ``ayes'' have it and the bill is reported to the House,
without objection. The motion to reconsider is laid upon the
table.
Finally, the committee will consider H.R. 415, the Fallen
Heroes Flag Act of 2009, introduced by Mr. King of New York.
The bill would authorize Members of Congress to give flags
flown over the Capitol to the families of firefighters, police
officers and other rescue workers whose lives are lost in the
line of duty. The flags would be accompanied by a certificate
signed by the Speaker and the Member, expressing the
condolences of the House.
I would now like to recognize Ranking Member Lungren for
any remarks.
Mr. Lungren. The Chairman adequately described this. I
support it and I thank Mr. King for introducing it, and I thank
the Chairman for expeditiously considering it.
The Chairman. Thank you. I now call up and lay before the
committee H.R. 415. Without objection, the first reading of the
bill is dispensed with and the bill is considered as read and
open for amendments at any point.
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Are there any amendments?
If not, I move to report H.R. 415 favorably to the House.
The question is on the motion.
All in favor signify by saying ``aye.''
All opposed, ``no.''
The ``ayes'' have it and the bill will be reported to the
House, without objection. The motion to reconsider is laid upon
the table.
Without objection, staff is authorized to make technical
and conforming changes to the various measures considered by
the committee today.
I thank all of you for your participation, and I understand
we have a vote in about 5 minutes and we will be able to make
that. Thank you all and I now adjourn the committee.
[Whereupon, at 11:39 a.m., the committee was adjourned.]