[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 19 (Thursday, February 13, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1377-S1378]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         REGULATIONS REGARDING STAFF ACCESS TO THE SENATE FLOOR

  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, yesterday, the Rules Committee approved an 
amendment to the Regulations Controlling the Admission of Employees of 
Senators and Senate Committees to the Senate Floor.
  The amendment to the regulations regarding staff floor access 
provides full floor access for leadership staff and committee staff 
directors and chief counsels.
  I ask unanimous consent that a letter from Senators Lott and Daschle 
to Ranking Member Ford and myself be printed in the Record along with 
the amended Regulations Controlling the Admission of Employees of 
Senators and Senate Committees to the Senate Floor.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                                  U.S. Senate,

                                 Washington, DC, February 3, 1997.
     Hon. John Warner,
     Chairman.

     Hon. Wendell H. Ford,
     Ranking Member, Committee on Rules and Administration, U.S. 
         Senate, Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. Chairman and Senator Ford: Senator Byrd wrote us a 
     thoughtful letter last December that dealt with what he 
     characterized as ``a small but important matter: decorum in 
     the Senate.'' We share Senator Byrd's view ``of the 
     importance of maintaining proper order in the Senate at all 
     times'' and wish to encourage the Committee on Rules and 
     Administration to recommend a method for better management of 
     staff access to the Chamber. We understand the Sergeant at 
     Arms has developed such a proposal which has merit and is 
     deserving of a rapid review by the Committee.
       Senators often require their staff to assist them in the 
     Senate Chamber, and Senators must continue to have access to 
     their staff when they determine it is necessary. We would in 
     no way wish to limit Senators' rights in this regard. Indeed, 
     Senators may at any time request unanimous consent to grant a 
     staff member the privileges of the Floor, and we would not 
     support limiting that right in any way. Door keepers in the 
     Chamber should urge staff to use the seating provided rather 
     than lean against the walls.
       We feel confident that the Committee proposal will protect 
     the important balance between Senators' individual rights and 
     the needs of the larger body.
           Sincerely,
     Trent Lott.
     Tom Daschle.
                                  ____


  Regulations Controlling the Admission of Employees of Senators and 
                 Senate Committees to the Senate Floor

       1. Of those persons entitled to the privilege of the Senate 
     Floor, under Rule XXIII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, 
     card admissions henceforth will apply solely to employees of 
     Senators and Committees. All cards for admission to the 
     Senate Floor, currently in possession of Senators or officers 
     and employees of the Senate under previous rules, shall be 
     withdrawn by the Sergeant at Arms.
       2. Senators and Committee Chairman are requested to prepare 
     and forward to the Sergeant at Arms a list of those staff and 
     Committee employees who may have reason to apply for a Floor 
     Pass in the actual discharge of their official duties. These 
     provisions will not deprive any employee of the privilege of 
     the Senate Floor if he is entitled thereto under Rule XXIII. 
     They will, however, permit closer supervision over employees 
     admitted to the Senate Floor.
       3. Serially numbered cards, referred to as Floor Passes, 
     will be retained at an admission table in the foyer of the 
     Vice President's Entrance to the Senate Floor. This table 
     will be manned by a representative of the Sergeant at Arms of 
     the Senate from one-half hour before each daily session until 
     one-half hour after recess or adjournment. When the actual 
     discharge of their official duties requires their presence on 
     the Senate Floor, employees of Senators and Committees, 
     otherwise entitled to admittance under Rule XXIII, will apply 
     to the attendant at the designated table for a Floor Pass.
       4. Admission cards under the system will be available at 
     the admission table in quantities as follows:
       All Committees of the Senate, Including Joint Committees--4 
     cards to each Committee having jurisdiction of pending 
     legislation.
       All Committees of the Senate, including Joint Committees--2 
     cards to each Committee for official duties, with a 15-minute 
     limitation.
       Staffs of individual Senators--2 cards for each Senator and 
     the Vice President.
       Although two admission cards are provided for the qualified 
     staff personnel of each Senator, only one member of a 
     Senator's staff shall be allowed in the Senate Chamber itself 
     at any given time, with a time limitation of 15 minutes if 
     the individual Senator is not present. The other card (of 
     different color) may be used by an additional member of the 
     Senator's staff only to gain admittance to the Senate Lobby 
     (but not the Senate Chamber) for the sole purpose of 
     conferring with the Senator.
       Each Committee may request two 15 minute Floor passes to be 
     used for the transaction of official business.
       Should the occasion arise when an individual Senator 
     desires the assistance on the Senate Floor of personnel 
     additional to the number permitted under the above 
     allocations, he should request unanimous consent to augment 
     the maximum number allowed herein.
       5. When an eligible employee presents [himself] his Senate 
     identification (ID) card at

[[Page S1378]]

     the admission table, the attendant in charge there, as the 
     representative of the Sergeant at Arms, will satisfy himself 
     of the applicant's identity and eligibility before issuing a 
     Floor Pass. He will then note, on a special roster prepared 
     for the purpose, the name of the employee, his office, the 
     nature of his official business, and the serial number of the 
     card issued to him. When the employee leaves the floor he 
     will return the card to the above attendant. The latter will 
     replace the card in its appropriate place in the rack, after 
     noting its return on the roster. If, after completion of his 
     business on the Floor, a person to whom a Floor Pass was 
     issued fails to return the Pass or loses it, that person 
     shall not be admitted to the Floor until the Floor Pass is 
     returned or its loss is satisfactorily explained to the 
     Sergeant at Arms.
       6. In no case shall any Doorkeeper admit to the Senate 
     Floor any office employee of a Senator or a Committee staff 
     member without a proper and correct visual presentation of a 
     Floor Pass. An employee admitted to the Senate Floor under 
     these regulations shall remain there only as long as 
     necessary for the transaction of his official business and 
     shall, at all times, while so present, have in his possession 
     his Senate ID card and the Floor Pass issued to him. While on 
     the Senate Floor, an employee shall in no way encroach upon 
     the areas and privileges reserved for Senator's only. When an 
     employee's objective is solely to follow the course of a 
     pertinent discussion or vote but not to render any actual 
     assistance otherwise to his Chairman or Senator, he should, 
     under normal circumstances, observe the proceedings from an 
     appropriate place in the Senate Galleries.
       7. At the beginning of all roll-call votes the Sergeant at 
     Arms will clear the Senate Floor and the lobby of all staff 
     members except Senate clerks for whom unanimous consent has 
     previously been granted and except the staff personnel of the 
     Committee or Committees associated with the issue involved in 
     the roll-call vote shall be permitted to enter or remain in 
     the lobby for such purposes.
       8. In addition to the Floor Passes discussed above, the 
     Sergeant at Arms of the U.S. Senate shall issue to both the 
     Majority and Minority Leaders, fourteen Full Floor Access 
     Passes for their distribution to and use by their leadership 
     staff. These passes will be valid for the duration of the 
     Congress. The Sergeant at Arms shall also hold at the 
     admission table an additional twenty similar committee staff 
     Full Floor Access Passes, ten reserved for use by majority 
     party committee staff directors and chief counsels and ten 
     reserved for use by minority staff directors and chief 
     counsels. The Majority and Minority Leader and Committee 
     Chairman are requested to prepare and forward to the Sergeant 
     at Arms a list of those eligible staff who are authorized to 
     use a Full Floor Access Pass. A full Floor Access Pass shall 
     entitle eligible staff identified on such lists to access the 
     Senate Floor from any door. Committee staff Full Floor Access 
     Passes are issued on a daily basis beginning one-half hour 
     before each session and must be returned to the admission 
     table no later than one-half hour after recess or 
     adjournment. If a person to whom a Committee staff Full 
     Floor Access Pass has been issued, fails to return the 
     pass or loses it, that person shall not be admitted to the 
     floor until the pass is returned or its loss is 
     satisfactorily explained to the Sergeant at Arms.
       9. The Sergeant at Arms will be responsible for the 
     enforcement of these regulations. He shall report to the 
     Chairman of the Committee on Rules and Administration the 
     name of any employee who, in the opinion of the Sergeant at 
     Arms, is guilty of abusing these regulations.
       10. It is not the desire or intention of the Committee on 
     Rules and Administration to limit assistance by staff 
     personnel to Senators on the floor. On the contrary, the 
     Committee believes that these regulations will insure 
     adequate opportunity for such assistance and, at the same 
     time, prevent the distraction to orderly proceedings 
     attendant upon the presence of superfluous employees in the 
     Senate Chamber. All Senators are asked to acquaint their 
     employees with the scope and purposes of these regulations.
       11. Rules are effective in direct proportion to the vigor 
     of their enforcement and the cooperation demonstrated in 
     compliance. The Senators generally have expressed themselves 
     in full accord with efforts to diminish disorder and 
     confusion caused by the presence of unnecessary personnel on 
     the Senate Floor. It is hoped that all Senators, especially 
     when serving as the Presiding Officer of the Senate, will 
     cooperate with the Sergeant at Arms and the Committee on 
     Rules and Administration in this endeavor to control the 
     problem.

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