[House Hearing, 112 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
MARKUP OF H.R. 406, H.R. 6122, H. CON. RES. 132, AND H.R. 1402
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MEETING
before the
COMMITTEE ON HOUSE
ADMINISTRATION
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
HELD IN WASHINGTON, DC, JULY 19, 2012
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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
75-655 WASHINGTON : 2012
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COMMITTEE ON HOUSE ADMINISTRATION
DANIEL E. LUNGREN, California, Chairman
GREGG HARPER, Mississippi ROBERT A. BRADY, Pennsylvania
PHIL GINGREY, M.D., Georgia Ranking Minority Member
AARON SCHOCK, Illinois ZOE LOFGREN, California
TODD ROKITA, Indiana CHARLES A. GONZALEZ, Texas
RICHARD B. NUGENT, Florida
Professional Staff
Philip Kiko, Staff Director
Jamie Fleet, Minority Staff Director
MARKUP OF H.R. 406, H.R. 6122, H. CON. RES. 132, AND H.R. 1402
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THURSDAY, JULY 19, 2012
House of Representatives,
Committee on House Administration,
Washington, DC.
The committee met, pursuant to call, at 10:09 a.m., in room
1310, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. Daniel E. Lungren
(chairman of the committee) presiding.
Present: Representatives Lungren, Harper, Gingrey, Nugent,
Lofgren, and Gonzalez.
Staff Present: Phil Kiko, Staff Director and General
Counsel; Peter Schalestock, Deputy General Counsel; Kimani
Little, Parliamentarian; Joe Wallace, Legislative Clerk; Yael
Barash, Assistant Legislative Clerk; Salley Wood,
Communications Director; Linda Ulrich, Director of Oversight;
Dominic Storelli, Oversight Staff; Bob Sensenbrenner, Elections
Counsel; Matt Pinkus, Minority Senior Policy Analyst; Khalil
Abboud, Minority Elections Staff; and Greg Abbott, Minority
Professional Staff.
The Chairman. I now call to order the Committee on House
Administration for today's committee markup. A quorum is
present, so we may proceed.
Today we have four items to consider. We had originally
planned to consider a fifth bill, H.R. 1974; however, some of
our colleagues identified some issues with it for which they
wanted additional time to work out, and after consulting with
Representative Quigley, the sponsor, they asked that we remove
it from today's schedule, and we have done so.
Our first bill today is H.R. 406, a bill to amend the
Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 so as to allow candidates
to designate an individual who would be authorized to disburse
campaign funds in the event of the death of the candidate.
Under current law, only the campaign treasurer is authorized to
disburse these funds.
First introduced by Congressman Walter Jones in 2008, this
bill will give candidates more flexibility when deciding who
should have responsibility over where campaign funds are
distributed.
The second bill is H.R. 6122, a bill to revise the
authority of the Librarian of Congress to accept gifts and
bequests on behalf of the Library. This bill expands the
Library's ability to receive gifts and authorizes the Librarian
of Congress to accept gifts of securities for immediate
disbursement, personal property valued up to $25,000,
nonpersonal services or voluntary and uncompensated personal
services. It would also require the Librarian to describe such
gift or bequest valued at $1,000 or more in the annual report
of the Library of Congress.
The third measure to be considered is H. Con. Res. 132,
authorizing additional funds for printing the publication
Hispanic Americans in Congress. This resolution will bring the
printed number of Hispanic Americans in Congress on par with
the previous publications Women in Congress and Black Americans
in Congress.
Finally, the committee will consider H.R. 1402, introduced
by Mr. Kildee and cosponsored by our ranking member Mr. Brady,
which will authorize the Architect of the Capitol to establish
battery recharging stations for privately owned vehicles in
House parking areas. Users of these stations will be charged a
fee, approved by the committee, to ensure that there is no net
cost to the government.
I thank my colleagues for being here today, and I would now
recognize Mr. Gonzalez for any opening statement that he may
wish to make.
Mr. Gonzalez. I waive opening, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.
The Chairman. That was the finest presentation that I have
heard from you in a long time. No. Thank you very much for your
courtesy. I understand that we are attempting to try and deal
with Members' schedules with other committees. So I appreciate
that.
I would now call up and lay before the committee H.R. 406,
H.R. 6122, and H. Con. Res. 132. The committee will consider
these matters en bloc.
[The information follows:]
The Chairman. Would Representative Gonzalez like to be
heard on any of these matters?
Mr. Gonzalez. Again, Mr. Chairman, we have gone over these.
They are not controversial. And it is actually welcoming news
that today it will be an efficient use of our time on matters
that are important, but that we have a meeting of the minds. So
I yield back.
The Chairman. I thank the gentleman.
Would any other Member like to be heard on any of these
matters?
The gentleman from Georgia.
Mr. Gingrey. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much. And very
briefly, I want to say that I fully support H. Con. Res. 132.
This, of course, would ensure the printing and production of
Hispanic Americans in Congress.
I believe that it is important that we honor and recognize
all Hispanic Americans who have served in this body and, of
course, in the other Chamber. At the same time, though, I
wanted to make this statement, because when we have
significantly reduced funding for the legislative branch by
10.5 percent during this 112th Congress, I believe that we must
continue to find ways that we can save taxpayer dollars.
We must acknowledge that the primary source of information
is now online. We have had recent hearings on that. Through the
leadership of this committee, we have seen the decline in
physical production of the Congressional Record, Federal
Register, and U.S. Code.
So, Mr. Chairman, as we move forward in printing all
documents related to the history of Members of Congress, I
would suggest that we focus more in the digital space that
reflects the mode of communication that most represents how our
constituents choose today to get their information about
Members. So I ask my colleagues to keep this important point in
mind as we move forward in the future.
I yield back. I thank the chairman.
The Chairman. I thank the gentleman for his comments.
Are there any others who wish to make comments?
If not, I would move that H.R. 406, H.R. 6122, and H. Con.
Res. 132 be ordered favorably to the House. The question is on
the motion.
All those in favor of the motion, signify by saying aye.
Aye.
All opposed, signify by saying nay.
In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it, and the
motion is agreed to.
Without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid upon
the table.
I would ask unanimous consent that the committee staff be
authorized to make any necessary technical or conforming
changes to the measures the committee just considered. Without
objection, it is so ordered.
Does any Member wish to file supplemental, minority, or
additional views for inclusion in the committee reports to the
House?
Okay. The next item on the agenda is H.R. 1402, to
authorize the Architect of the Capitol to establish battery
recharging stations for privately owned vehicles in parking
areas under the jurisdiction of the House of Representatives at
no net cost to the Federal Government.
I now call up and lay before the committee H.R. 1402.
Without objection, the bill will be considered as read and
open for amendment at any point.
[The information follows:]
The Chairman. I do have an amendment to H.R. 1402, and the
amendment should be in the Members' packets.
If there is no objection, the amendment will be considered
as read.
[The information follows:]
The Chairman. And I would now recognize myself to speak in
favor of the amendment.
This amendment adopts language that parallels the Senate's
companion electric car bill. Under this amendment, if the
Architect of the Capitol determined Members and staff using
electric cars were receiving a subsidy, the committee would
receive a plan from the Architect. If the committee did not act
within 60 days, the Architect would take appropriate steps to
increase rates or fees to the Members using it or staff using
it to ensure that there would be no subsidy. I would urge all
Members to support this amendment.
Is there any other Member who wishes to be heard on the
amendment?
If not, without objection, the question is on the
amendment.
All those in favor, signify by saying aye. Aye.
All opposed, signify by saying nay.
In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. The
amendment is agreed to.
I move that the committee report H.R. 1402 favorably to the
House with an amendment.
So the question is on the motion.
All those in favor of the motion, signify by saying aye.
Aye.
All opposed, signify by saying nay.
In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it, and the
motion is agreed to.
Without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the
table.
I ask unanimous consent that the committee staff be
authorized to make any necessary technical or conforming
changes to the measures the committee just considered.
Without objection, it is so ordered.
Does any Member wish to file supplemental, minority, or
additional views for inclusion in the committee report to the
House?
All right. If not, there are no more items on today's
agenda, and I thank the Members for their participation in this
markup.
I now adjourn the meeting.
[Whereupon, at 10:20 a.m., the committee was adjourned.]