[JPRT, 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[COMMITTEE PRINT]
106th Congress 1st Session
JOINT COMMITTEE ON THE
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
----------
MEMBERSHIP OF THE COMMITTEE
RULES OF PROCEDURE
and
ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TONGRESS.#13
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress
C O N T E N T S
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Membership of the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress..... 1
Rules of procedure of the Joint Committee on the Library of
Congress....................................................... 3
Joint Committee on the Library of Congress organizational meeting 7
(ii)
MEMBERSHIP OF THE JOINT COMMITTEE ON THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
Senator TED STEVENS, Alaska, Chairman
Representative WILLIAM M. THOMAS, California, Vice Chairman
SENATE HOUSE
THAD COCHRAN, Mississippi JOHN A. BOEHNER, Ohio
MITCH McCONNELL, Kentucky VERNON J. EHLERS, Michigan
CHRISTOPHER J. DODD, Connecticut STENY H. HOYER, Maryland
DANIEL PATRICK MOYNIHAN, New York JIM DAVIS, Florida
SENATE CONTACT HOUSE CONTACT
Christine Ciccone, Reynold Schweickhardt,
Staff Director Deputy Staff Director
224-3471 225-8281
RULES OF PROCEDURE OF THE JOINT COMMITTEE ON THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
(Adopted March 24, 1999)
TITLE I--MEETINGS OF THE COMMITTEE
1. Regular meetings shall be held in room S-128 of the
Capitol. Meetings may be called by the chairman, with the
concurrence of the vice chairman, as may be deemed necessary or
pursuant to the provisions of paragraph 3 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate.
2. Meetings of the committee, including meetings to conduct
hearings, shall be open to the public, except that a meeting or
series of meetings by the committee on the same subject for a
period of no more than 14 calendar days may be closed to the
public on a motion made and seconded to go into closed session
to discuss only whether the matters enumerated in subparagraphs
(A) through (F) would require the meeting to be closed followed
immediately by a recorded vote in open session by a majority of
the members of the committee when it is determined that the
matters to be discussed or the testimony to be taken at such
meeting or meetings--
(A) will disclose matters necessary to be kept secret
in the interests of national defense or the
confidential conduct of the foreign relations of the
United States;
(B) will relate solely to matters of the committee
staff personnel or internal staff management or
procedure;
(C) will tend to charge an individual with crime or
misconduct, to disgrace or injure the professional
standing of an individual, or otherwise to expose an
individual to public contempt or obloquy, or will
represent a clearly unwarranted invasion of the privacy
of an individual;
(D) will disclose the identity of any informer or law
enforcement agent or will disclose any information
relating to the investigation or prosecution of a
criminal offense that is required to be kept secret in
the interests of effective law enforcement;
(E) will disclose information relating to the trade
secrets or financial or commercial information
pertaining specifically to a given person if--
(1) an Act of Congress requires the
information to be kept confidential by
Government officers and employees; or
(2) the information has been obtained by the
Government on a confidential basis, other than
through an application by such person for a
specific Government financial or other benefit,
and is required to be kept secret in order to
prevent undue injury to the competitive
position of such person; or
(F) may divulge matters required to be kept
confidential under the provisions of law or Government
regulations. (Paragraph 5(b) of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules.)
3. Written notices of committee meetings will normally be
sent by the committee's staff director to all members of the
committee at least 3 days in advance. In addition, the
committee staff will telephone reminders of committee meetings
to all members of the committee or to the appropriate staff
assistants in their offices.
4. A copy of the committee's intended agenda enumerating
separate items committee business will normally be sent to all
members of the committee by the staff director at least 1 day
in advance of all meetings. This does not preclude any member
of the committee from raising appropriate non-agenda topics.
5. Any witness who is to appear before the committee in any
hearing shall file with the clerk of the committee at least 3
business days before the date of his or her appearance, a
written statement of his or her proposed testimony and an
executive summary thereof, in such form as the chairman may
direct, unless the chairman waives such requirement for good
cause.
TITLE II--QUORUMS
1. Pursuant to paragraph 7(a)(1) of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules, 4 members of the committee shall constitute a
quorum.
2. Pursuant to paragraph 7(a)(2) of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules, 2 members of the committee shall constitute a
quorum for the purpose of taking testimony; provided, however,
once a quorum is established, any one member can continue to
take such testimony.
3. Under no circumstances may proxies be considered for the
establishment of a quorum.
TITLE III--VOTING
1. Voting in the committee on any issue will normally be by
voice vote.
2. If a third of the members present so demand, a record
vote will be taken on any question by rollcall.
3. The results of rollcall votes taken in any meeting upon
any measure, or any amendment thereto, shall be stated in the
committee report on that measure unless previously announced by
the committee, and such report or announcement shall include a
tabulation of the votes cast in favor of and the votes cast in
opposition to each such measure and amendment by each member of
the committee. (Paragraph 7(b) and (c) of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules.)
4. Proxy voting shall be allowed on all measures and
matters before the committee. However, the vote of the
committee to report a measure or matter shall require the
concurrence of a majority of the members of the committee who
are physically present at the time of the vote. Proxies will be
allowed in such cases solely for the purpose of recording a
member's position on the question and then only in those
instances when the absentee committee member has been informed
of the question and has affirmatively requested that he be
recorded. (Paragraph 7(a)(3) of rule XXVI of the Standing
Rules.)
TITLE IV--DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY TO COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN
1. The chairman is authorized to sign himself or by
delegation all necessary vouchers and routine papers for which
the committee's approval is required and to decide in the
committee's behalf all routine business.
2. The chairman is authorized to engage commercial
reporters for the preparation of transcripts of committee
meetings and hearings.
3. The chairman is authorized to issue, on behalf of the
committee, regulations normally promulgated by the committee at
the beginning of each session.
JOINT COMMITTEE ON THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING
----------
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 1999
U.S. Senate,
Committee on Appropriations,
Washington, DC.
The committee met at 3:45 p.m., in room S-128, the Capitol,
Hon. Ted Stevens (chairman) presiding.
Senators present: Senators Stevens, Cochran, McConnell, and
Dodd.
Representatives present: Thomas, Boehner, Ehlers, Hoyer,
and Davis.
Senator Stevens. Let me thank you, Bill. The Library has
become a leader in the technology area, and it has made the
treasures contained in the Library much more accessible. That
has to do with your foresight and work in the last few years as
Chairman of this joint committee.
I understand there is one unresolved issue from the 105th
Congress, and I want to defer to you to make any arrangements
necessary to resolve the pending report from the CRS Online
Task Force. And I am pleased to recognize you for anything that
you would like to say.
Mr. Thomas. Have you formally been installed as chairman?
Senator Stevens. I thought I would defer to you. I did not
want to nominate myself.
Mr. Thomas. I thought perhaps a unanimous vote had already
taken place.
Senator Stevens. No. But I sincerely thank you from this
side of Congress for your work on the digital library concepts.
Mr. Thomas. Could I suspend a comment on that and first say
that I would very much like to nominate the Senator from
Alaska, the chairman of the Joint Committee on the Library.
Senator Stevens. Are there any other nominations?
[No response.]
Mr. Hoyer. Could I have the honor of seconding that
nomination? The first bill I ever introduced was to name the
District Heights post office for the mayor, who had been mayor
for 25 years--all of my childhood and adult life had been
mayor. And when we came over, hat in hand, their staff did not
think maybe this bill ought to move. And I went, hat in hand,
to Senator Stevens and explained to him the importance, and he
has been a good mayor.
Mr. Thomas. I move the nominations be closed.
Senator Stevens. All in favor, say aye.
[A chorus of ayes.]
Senator Stevens. And I would yield to you to nominate our
distinguished friend from the House as vice chairman.
Senator Cochran. Mr. Chairman, it is an honor and a
privilege to nominate the distinguished gentleman from
California, Bill Thomas, as vice chair of the Committee on the
Library of Congress.
Senator Stevens. Is there a second? I would happily second
that.
Are there any further nominations?
Mr. Hoyer. I would second it as well, just because it is
inevitable. [Laughter.]
Mr. Thomas. You are with me when it is inevitable.
[Laughter.]
Senator Stevens. The nominations are closed. If there is no
objection, we will cast a unanimous ballot for Chairman Thomas
to become the vice chairman.
Mr. Thomas. I thank you very much.
Senator Stevens. I would yield to you.
Mr. Thomas. It was with the help of our colleague from
Mississippi and from Michigan, reviewing the reports that
historically have come to us from the Congressional Research
Service, with some indication of what we want to do with them.
And since we have a lot of new members to the staff and new
members to the committee, it seems appropriate that we do a
review of the structure, as far as it is now in terms of
content, so that we can present it at a future date in terms of
either a continuing discussion and examination of what is being
proposed or hopefully not in a reopening of the issue. But I do
think that perhaps either the Senator from Mississippi or the
gentleman from Michigan might want to make a comment about
where they are, but I would not want to propose that we take
any action now.
Senator Cochran. Vern, why do not you proceed to tell them
what we have done.
Mr. Ehlers. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would be happy to do
that.
We have spent a considerable amount of time looking into
the issue of CRS reports going on the Internet. As I am sure
everyone here knows, there is legislative language which, at
this point, does not permit the CRS, as an entity, to release
reports on the Internet. Their reports are submitted to members
of the Congress, the House and the Senate, who have requested
them, or their standardized reports that are made available to
all members.
We have examined some of the legal implications of putting
CRS reports on the Internet. And there are a number of major
issues that have to be dealt with there. Senator Cochran and I
have met and discussed this. Our staffs have also spent a lot
of time discussing it. We believe we have come up with a
workable solution, which would provide that any member wishing
to put the CRS reports on their Web site, thereby on the
Internet, would be allowed to do so.
Although they would be cautioned that the reports should be
screened to make sure there are no violations of copyright law
and things of that sort, since the CRS does not take care of
those matters in preparing them for a member, but they are
operating as an extension of staff. But if they are to be
released publicly, there are legal issues raised which must be
attended to.
We have looked at these in quite some depth, and we are
prepared to make a recommendation. I would agree with Chairman
Thomas that it is something that deserves some study on the
part of every member and their staffs. But the general
principle that we try to follow is to release as much
information as is appropriate to be released so that the public
may be informed of what the Congress does, but not violate the
principle that what the CRS does is as an extension of our
staff, and therefore the reports basically have the same status
as a memo from a staff member. And that means the reports have
to meet all legal requirements before going on the Internet.
One final item here is, as you know, most Internet
documents of the Congress are on the Thomas system of the
Library of Congress. Since we are talking about members putting
these on their own Web sites, the only role of the Library of
Congress would be to maintain an index so that any citizen
coming into Thomas would find out which members have released
which reports and they could go directly then to that member's
Web site with a simple click of the mouse.
So that is the status, Mr. Chairman. And I believe the
report is essentially complete so far as Senator Cochran and I
are concerned. And it is available for distribution to the
committee.
Senator Cochran. First of all, I would congratulate Vern on
his excellent statement about the work that has been done. Two,
I would say that there is some work we may have to do on the
report before we make it available as a report from the task
force about the effort that talks about the concerns we have.
But also there is the realization that we are moving into an
area when this information should be made available as members
may choose. But there are some safeguards that have to be built
in.
And I have been opposed to the legislation, you need to
know, that has been introduced here in the Senate that would
just automatically make everything the CRS does available on
the Internet. I am still strongly opposed to that. I think that
is a big mistake to go along with that. So that is another
thing we have kept in mind. We want to do what is appropriate,
though, to recognize the realities of the communications age.
Senator Dodd. We passed--and I think the Senate Rules
Committee adopted, I think in the last Congress--a policy just
exactly as you described. And then the CRS will help them do
that. But it is the members' product at that point, and the CRS
is acting as an assistant, in a sense, in getting it to the
public.
But I think your point is very well taken, Thad, that the
CRS all of a sudden becomes a public entity in that regard.
Senator Cochran. We would lose a good Congressional
Research Service in the process if we did that.
Senator Dodd. I think it is a nice compromise.
Mr. Ehlers. If I may comment, Mr. Chairman, on that point.
We are aware of the Senate action, and this conforms largely
with that action, in the sense of making it available if an
individual member wishes to make it public, but, at the same
time, provided it meets the legal requirements in regards to
copyright.
Mr. Thomas. However, very briefly, I do think that in the
process we may in fact have to create a procedure in which a
member making a request of CRS--and I do not want to get into a
big debate about this, but I have been thinking a lot about
this--would indicate whether they had an inclination to release
it when they received it.
I am very concerned that, notwithstanding the protections
that were provided, that CRS starts writing reports to members
as though they were going to be public, which destroys, I
think, a significant aspect of the work over the years, in
being very, very willing to provide information that they
perhaps would have second thoughts about if it was not public.
And it might be useful just to indicate that--not that they
would necessarily create a fundamentally different document,
but it may then trigger the copyright and other aspects, and
perhaps then place a statement on there that materials that
otherwise would have been used are not being used because of
copyright, et cetera, just to create an understanding that
there is a price that is going to be paid perhaps in the
research the Congress gets if our primary goal is to be a
conduit to the outside, which has not been the historical
purpose of the CRS.
Senator Stevens. Maybe we ought to make some sort of
suggestion in the report when it is finished to the effect that
the requester should indicate whether or not it will be
released before it is prepared. I have seen some pretty frank
advice from CRS, and I respected it and wanted it. But I am not
sure they will give me that kind of advice if it is going to be
released.
I do think we ought to think about promulgating some sort
of a form that is filed when the person requests, or the
committee requests, CRS to prepare a report, and have it
disclosed at that time, and that would then be binding--you
would not release one which you indicated would not be
released. That is something we should pursue if we could.
Senator Dodd. This needs some real thought. I can see this
getting out of hand and all of a sudden people start jockeying
to get positions because it becomes a political institution.
Senator Stevens. Well, we will continue to wait for the
report. As I understand it, when we get it, we will take final
action at that time. Could we at this time turn to----
Mr. Ehlers. Could I just ask one question. Would you like
us to circulate it to you for comment before the next meeting?
Senator Stevens. I think that is appropriate, do you not,
Mr. Thomas?
Mr. Thomas. Yes.
Senator Stevens. Before each of you is the new draft of the
rules of procedure for this joint committee. And it is subject
to Senate rules, but I would urge that we adopt those rules. As
I understand it, they have been cleared on both sides.
Mr. Thomas. Mr. Chairman, I move adoption of the rules.
Senator Dodd. Let me just raise an issue. And it is just a
concern. There is the minority representation--talking about
the access you have. And I have great confidence in you just
informing the minority as to when a decision has been made so
we do not have to have full committee meetings.
Senator Stevens. I want to talk about that, because of our
difference in our procedures and the House procedures. But at
this time, can we adopt the rules? Is there any comment about
the rules?
Senator Cochran. I move we adopt the rules as presented,
Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Thomas. Second.
Senator Stevens. Any discussion?
[No response.]
Senator Stevens. If not, without objection, those will be
adopted.
Now the next thing on the agenda is the gentleman is
waiting to take a class photo. And I suggest to you we stand
down there.
[A brief recess was taken.]
Senator Stevens. Let me suggest to you some concepts I
would like to pursue and see if there is any discussion. I
would like to hold an oversight hearing of the Library of
Congress bicentennial activities in the very near future. The
Library has a number of activities. I have discussed them
already with the Librarian of Congress, and he is eager to
discuss these with the joint committee, along with his staff.
And I want to work with you, Bill, to see if we can find an
appropriate time for that. And we will do that.
Secondly, I have discussed with the Librarian the concept
that we ought to think about having, in the year 2000, a dinner
to honor all of the living Nobel laureates of the United States
and for their contributions to science for our country in the
20th century. It seems to me that that is an idea that most
people think is worth pursuing. The laureates will be in town
in May of the year 2000 for an event that is sponsored by the
American Academy of Achievement. That is a group that honors
the young graduates of our country. And they will be here in
Washington at that time.
I have discussed this. And this may be a time for us to see
if we can do this dinner. It would be my intention to have the
members of this committee be involved in that. And I would hope
that you could give me your ideas if you have any question
about that. I think it would be a wonderful thing to do and I
think we ought to find somebody in Congress to recognize these
are the people who really made these significant breakthroughs
that made our country really great.
And Jim Watson, for instance, and all of his concepts about
genes. And I think these people are magnificent people and we
ought to honor them all at once, if we could do that.
Senator Dodd. How about any surviving members of Eugene
O'Neill's family, since he is the only one to get it for
literature?
Mr. Hoyer. Is this just limited to those who have gotten
Nobel Prizes in sciences?
Senator Dodd. Eugene O'Neill was the only one who ever got
it for literature.
Senator Stevens. Anyone, any Nobel laureate who is alive in
the year 2000 will be honored by that Academy. They are just
going to come in and have a seminar. I thought, while they are
here, we ought to have something.
I want to state that it would be my intention to direct our
staff to give members committee notice of any request that
require approval by the joint committee. There are two items
from the Architect of the Capitol that are in your files today.
I think that at times people have various ideas about these,
and I want to make sure that everybody is on notice when we get
these.
Mr. Thomas, you and I will both sign them, but I would like
to find some way to give notice to people on both sides that
they are available. The ones that are before you now, the first
request is to waive the 1950 rule of this joint committee which
prohibits combined statues, so that North Dakota may offer its
second donation to Statuary Hall. It is a sculpture of
Sakakawea, with a child on her back.
The second request would allow Middlebury College, in
Vermont, to borrow a sculpture from the Capitol art collection
that is currently in storage. The school will include the
sculpture in its 1999 exhibit on the career of Horatio
Greenough, an artist responsible for that.
I would like to have you indicate if you can--this is a new
procedure and I do not want to hold anybody up--but if anybody
has any questions about those, we have the people from the
Library here to discuss them. If there is no objection to
those, we will approve that.
Mr. Thomas.
Mr. Thomas. Just very briefly. On the statue, I am sure
most people have noticed the new statue from Colorado, which is
slightly different in the way in which it is presented. This
one is again slightly different. One of the things I like to
point out in the Capitol, in the Rotunda, is that circular
painting of the history of the United States. And since it is
degrees and not feet, it is always interesting to note that the
Kittyhawk flight is bumping into Columbus, and nothing else in
the 20th century is allowed to be put on there because it is
just 360 degrees, and they got carried away in the 1790's with
the paintings.
I have been approached by members whose States are
reconsidering the statues they originally sent, since there has
been a significant period of time and new famous and important
people from the State may in fact want to be substituted for
statues they have. I think we have got a legal problem there.
But I just thought I would mention it so that we can begin to
do some research on this. Because I do not know why people
ought not to be able to change the statue that represents their
State if they so choose.
Senator Stevens. I had a similar suggestion from a Senator
who said that the State wanted to reconsider one of their
people. I should think that would be something we should
review. As I understand it, the rules are those have to be
deceased persons that are represented there. Is that correct?
So we do not have any problem about subsequent tarnishing of
someone who is in the Hall, but they want to have a next
generation review, so to speak, of whether or not these people
are the ones they want.
I would hope that maybe we could get a sort of
subcommittee, so people would be willing to undertake that.
Then we can put it on the agenda for the next meeting.
Mr. Thomas. I appreciate that.
Senator Dodd. Mr. Chairman, I do not know if this fits in
or not, but this is always a delicate subject. But we have a
tendency--because we are kind to each other--that when members
leave, we name everything but stalls around here for people who
were here. I wish somebody would give some thought to the idea
of having some lapse of time between a member's departure and
the naming of rooms in the Capitol for them.
Senator Stevens. That is not our business.
Senator Dodd. Statues are but rooms are not?
Senator Stevens. I do not think we are involved in that. As
a joint committee, we have got the responsibility for the
statues, but I do not think we have any responsibility for
either side of the Capitol.
Mr. Thomas. I thought the gentleman was going to offer like
they have now below the scoring tables at basketball games,
where we could rotate and have three or four names. [Laughter.]
Senator Stevens. Let me tell you that I have instructed the
staff, as I said, that we want to try to go through the process
of coordination with some of these things that we are going to
suggest. And I would hope that we will take some time to go
over together to the Library some day and really pursue what
you have done so far and see what we might recommend and how to
go further to make the Library really the center of the world's
knowledge--is what it is coming to be. Without any question, it
has that capability now. And I think a lot of people do not
appreciate the value of that Library. Many people want to make
it the national library. It is the congressional library. I
think we should keep it that way.
You all know Christine Ciccone. She is the lady who works
with us on legislative appropriations. She is going to assist
me on this, since we had such a great allowance as chairman, as
you know. But I would hope that you would notify Christine of
what staff will work with you directly, so we can initiate--we
will follow the procedure of Thomas. We will have electronic
notification to you of any meetings. And we would seek to clear
with you any concepts that may become before the two of us for
approval from the Librarian.
And I would hope that some time we will take it upon
ourselves to go over and, as I said, sit down and talk to the
Librarian and his staff and see what we can do to assist them.
I think that is our role, really, to assist in the management
of that and secure the assistance that is necessary.
I note that past chairmen from this side have all been
members of the Appropriations Committee. I do not know how that
happens. The Library seems to have a divining rod to follow
money.
Mr. Davis.
Mr. Davis. Mr. Chairman, I am Jim Davis. It is nice to meet
you. I am going to have to leave very shortly to speak with the
President.
Mr. Thomas. Mr. Chairman, I move these two requests.
Senator Stevens. Is there any objection?
[No response.]
Senator Stevens. Without objection, so ordered.
Senator Dodd. Do I understand they are placing one?
Mr. Thomas. This is their second one. This one is with a
baby.
Senator Stevens. Thank you very much. I look forward to
working with you.
[Whereupon, at 4:10 p.m., the meeting was adjourned.]
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