[House Hearing, 115 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
MARKUP OF COMMITTEE RESOLUTION 115-21
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MARKUP
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON HOUSE
ADMINISTRATION
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
SEPTEMBER 26, 2018
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Printed for the use of the Committee on House Administration
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Available on the Internet:
http://www.govinfo.gov/committee/house-administration
_________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
33-312 WASHINGTON : 2018
Committee on House Administration
GREGG HARPER, Mississippi, Chairman
RODNEY DAVIS, Illinois, Vice ROBERT A. BRADY, Pennsylvania,
Chairman Ranking Member
BARBARA COMSTOCK, Virginia ZOE LOFGREN, California
MARK WALKER, North Carolina JAMIE RASKIN, Maryland
ADRIAN SMITH, Nebraska
BARRY LOUDERMILK, Georgia
MARKUP OF COMMITTEE RESOLUTION 115-21
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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2018
House of Representatives,
Committee on House Administration,
Washington, DC.
The Committee met, pursuant to call, at 11:00 a.m., in Room
1310, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. Gregg Harper
[Chairman of the Committee] presiding.
Present: Representatives Harper, Davis, Walker, Smith,
Loudermilk, and Brady.
Staff Present: Sean Moran, Staff Director; Kim Betz, Deputy
Staff Director/Policy and Oversight; Steven Wall, Deputy
General Counsel; Dan Jarrell, Legislative Clerk; Elizabeth
Joseph, Professional Staff; Courtney Parella, Communications
Director; Jamie Fleet, Minority Staff Director; Khalil Abboud,
Minority Deputy Staff Director; and Eddie Flaherty, Minority
Chief Clerk.
The Chairman. I now call to order the Committee on House
Administration. For purposes of today's Committee meeting, a
quorum is present, so we may proceed. The meeting record will
remain open for 5 legislative days so that Members may submit
any materials they wish to be included therein.
There is one item on the docket today, and that is
Committee Resolution 115-21, adopting the recommended standards
and processes submitted by the House officers in response to
Committee Resolutions 115-13 through 18.
As you all recall, this past April the Committee adopted a
package of resolutions, Committee Resolutions 115-13 through
115-18, to strengthen the oversight of shared administrative
employees.
The resolution set forth policies and the Committee
identified as essential to ensuring that risks posed to the
House by the practice of sharing employees were sufficiently
mitigated.
The resolutions directed the House Chief Administrative
Officer, the House Sergeant-at-Arms, and the Clerk of the House
to report back to the Committee within 30 days on the plans to
implement these policies.
While each House officer met the deadline, the Committee
allowed for extra time to address concerns more thoroughly. The
Committee received revised standards and processes from the
Chief Administrative Officer on September 14, 2018.
Last night the Committee received an additional letter from
the CAO, a copy of which you all have been provided. I ask
unanimous consent that the letter be entered into the record,
and without objection, so entered.
[The information follows:]
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The Chairman. The Committee is prepared to adopt today
those revised standards and processes, as well as the
recommendations previously submitted by the House Sergeant-at-
Arms and the Clerk of the House.
I would now like to recognize the Ranking Member, Mr.
Brady, for the purpose of providing an opening statement.
Mr. Brady. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for calling
this meeting.
Mr. Chairman, unless the Committee meets in a lame duck,
this is likely to be the last time we will be sitting together
at this dais, and I want you to know it has been an absolute
pleasure to work with you.
You have been a total class act the entire time as you have
been Chairman. And the few things, very, very few things I will
miss is to be working with you, not being here.
I have said many times before I would like to thank you for
your bipartisan work, working together, and making it a
pleasure to work on this Committee.
We have worked on shared employees issues for years, and
today represents another step in trying to find the balance
between letting Members run their offices with broad discretion
and working to make sure that all our rules and regulations are
followed and enforced.
I would like to also thank Mr. Davis for having meetings
with me and my staff and many other meetings.
I believe this might be your baby. You really worked on
this and cared for it and now it is coming to fruition.
So while I am certain the next Congress will continue to
wrestle with these issues, hopefully it will be a little easier
because of the work we do here today.
I want to thank the shared employees who gave us feedback
for this proposal. I know it is not everything you wanted, but
hopefully it represents a compromise document that helps
improve how our House operations. I support the resolution
before us and urge my colleagues to do the same.
And before I yield back the balance of my time, Mr.
Chairman, I want to give you a hug.
The Chairman. You know, they usually only write or do news
stories on the fussing and fighting.
Mr. Brady. That is why they are never here.
The Chairman. I know. I know. But what I want to say is, I
want to echo those sentiments. And I am going to miss working
with you, but I hope that we can maintain this friendship past
Congress.
Mr. Brady. I hope so.
The Chairman. And would love to come up to Philadelphia for
some sightseeing and hang out with you Mr. Brady. There is a
Philadelphia, Mississippi, isn't there?
The Chairman. There is. It is in my district, as a matter
of fact. And it is a great place. Mississippi Band of Choctaw
Indians is located in Philadelphia. And also the Williams
Brothers Grocery is there, and that is the family of Archie
Manning's wife, Olivia. So, I mean, you would almost have to go
to Williams Brothers to check it out.
Mr. Brady. Thank you.
The Chairman. And I just want to thank you, not just for
the way we have worked together for these 10 years, but your
friendship. And if this is our last hearing, I will always
remember the special hug, and I appreciate that. Thank you.
I would ask if any other Member of the Committee wishes to
be recognized for the purpose of providing an opening
statement.
I now call up and lay before the Committee, Committee
Resolution 115-21, to adopt the recommended standards and
processes submitted by the House officers in response to the
directives laid out in Committee Resolutions 115-13 through
115-18. Without objection, the first reading of the resolution
is dispensed with and the resolution is considered read and
open for amendment.
[The resolution follows:]
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The Chairman. Is there any debate? Are there any Members
who want to offer an amendment to the resolution?
If not, I move the Committee adopt the resolution. The
question is on the motion.
All those in favor, signify by saying aye.
Opposed, say nay.
In the opinion of the Chair, the ayes have it.
Without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid upon
the table. I ask unanimous consent that the staff be allowed to
make necessary technical and conforming changes to the bills
ordered reported today subject to the approval of the minority.
Hearing no objection, so ordered.
I would like to now take a moment before we adjourn because
this may be one of the last business meetings this Committee
holds this year. I want to thank every person, every Member on
this Committee, majority and minority.
I have been on the Committee on House Administration since
I started in January of 2009 with Mr. Brady as the Chairman,
and it has been a great Committee to be on. We have worked
together almost always in a bipartisan method and manner.
And in the times that we didn't agree, I just want to
compliment Mr. Brady because it was never, the differences that
we had were never personal. They may have been on policy or
issues. But I think Congress works better this way.
And I thank each of you for your service on this Committee,
and I wish everyone well as we go through the rest of this
year.
And now, without objection, this markup is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 11:10 a.m., the Committee was adjourned.]
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