[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 54 (Tuesday, March 31, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H4189-H4190]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


           DANIEL WEBSTER CONGRESSIONAL CLERKSHIP ACT OF 2009

  Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules 
and pass the bill (H.R. 151) to establish the Daniel Webster 
Congressional Clerkship Program.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                H.R. 151

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Daniel Webster Congressional 
     Clerkship Act of 2009''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds the following:
       (1) Each year, many of the most talented law school 
     graduates in the country begin their legal careers as 
     judicial law clerks.
       (2) The judicial clerkship program has given the judiciary 
     access to a pool of exceptional young lawyers at a relatively 
     low cost.
       (3) These same lawyers then go on to become leaders of 
     their profession, where they serve a critical role in helping 
     to educate the public about the judiciary and the judicial 
     process.
       (4) The White House, the administrative agencies of the 
     Executive Branch, the Administrative Office of the United 
     States Courts, the Federal Judicial Center, and the United 
     States Sentencing Commission, all operate analogous programs 
     for talented young professionals at the outset of their 
     careers.
       (5) The Congress is without a similar program.
       (6) At a time when our Nation faces considerable 
     challenges, the Congress and the public would benefit 
     immeasurably from a program, modeled after the judicial 
     clerkship program, that engages the brightest young lawyers 
     in the Nation in the legislative process.
       (7) Accordingly, the Congress herein creates the Daniel 
     Webster Congressional Clerkship Program, named after one of 
     the most admired and distinguished lawyer-legislators ever to 
     serve in the Congress, to improve the business of the 
     Congress and increase the understanding of its work by the 
     public.

     SEC. 3. DANIEL WEBSTER CONGRESSIONAL CLERKSHIP PROGRAM.

       (a) Selection Committees.--As used in this Act, the term 
     ``Selection Committees'' means--
       (1) the Committee on Rules and Administration of the 
     Senate; and
       (2) the Committee on House Administration of the House of 
     Representatives.
       (b) Establishment of Program.--There is hereby established 
     the Daniel Webster Congressional Clerkship Program for the 
     appointment of individuals who are graduates of accredited 
     law schools to serve as Congressional Clerks in the Senate or 
     House of Representatives.
       (c) Selection of Clerks.--Subject to the availability of 
     appropriations, the Selection Committees shall select 
     Congressional Clerks in the following manner:
       (1) The Committee on Rules and Administration of the Senate 
     shall select not less than 6 Congressional Clerks each year 
     to serve as employees of the Senate for a 1-year period.
       (2) The Committee on House Administration of the House of 
     Representatives shall select not less than 6 Congressional 
     Clerks each year to serve as employees of the House of 
     Representatives for a 1-year period.
       (d) Selection Criteria.--In carrying out subsection (c), 
     the Selection Committees shall select Congressional Clerks 
     consistent with the following criteria:
       (1) Each Congressional Clerk selected shall be a graduate 
     of an accredited law school as of the starting date of his or 
     her clerkship.
       (2) Each Congressional Clerk selected shall possess--
       (A) an excellent academic record;
       (B) a strong record of achievement in extracurricular 
     activities;
       (C) a demonstrated commitment to public service; and
       (D) outstanding analytic, writing, and oral communication 
     skills.
       (e) Process.--After a Congressional Clerk is selected under 
     this section, such Congressional Clerk shall then interview 
     for a position in an office as follows:
       (1) For a Congressional Clerk selected under subsection 
     (c)(1), the Congressional Clerk shall interview for a 
     position with any office of any Committee of the Senate, 
     including any Joint Committee or Select and Special 
     Committee, or any office of any individual member of the 
     Senate.
       (2) For a Congressional Clerk selected under subsection 
     (c)(2), the Congressional Clerk shall interview for a 
     position with any office of any Committee of the House of 
     Representatives, including any Joint Committee or Select and 
     Special Committee, or any office of any individual Member of 
     the House of Representatives.
       (f) Placement Requirements.--The Selection Committees shall 
     ensure that Congressional Clerks selected under this section 
     are apportioned equally between majority party and minority 
     party offices.
       (g) Compensation of Congressional Clerks.--Each 
     Congressional Clerk selected under this section shall receive 
     the same compensation as would, and comparable benefits to, 
     an individual who holds the position of a judicial clerkship 
     for the United States District Court for the District of 
     Columbia within 3 months of graduating from law school.
       (h) Required Adherence to Rules.--Each Congressional Clerk 
     selected under this section shall be subject to all laws, 
     regulations, and rules in the same manner and to the same 
     extent as any other employee of the Senate or House of 
     Representatives.
       (i) Exclusion From Limit on Number of Positions.--A 
     Congressional Clerk shall be excluded in determining the 
     number of employees of the office that employs the Clerk for 
     purposes of--
       (1) in the case of the office of a Member of the House of 
     Representatives, section 104 of the House of Representatives 
     Administrative Reform Technical Corrections Act (2 U.S.C. 
     92); or
       (2) in the case of any other office, any applicable 
     provision of law or any rule or regulation which imposes a 
     limit on the number of employees of the office.
       (j) Rules.--The Selection Committees shall develop and 
     promulgate rules regarding the administration of the 
     Congressional Clerkship program established under this 
     section.
       (k) Member Defined.--In this section, the term ``Member of 
     the House of Representatives'' includes a Delegate or 
     Resident Commissioner to the Congress.

     SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

       There are authorized to be appropriated for fiscal year 
     2010 and each succeeding fiscal year from the applicable 
     accounts of the House of Representatives and the contingent 
     fund of the Senate such sums as necessary to carry out the 
     provisions of this Act.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Brady) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Daniel 
E. Lungren) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Pennsylvania.


                             General Leave

  Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I ask that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks in 
the Record on this bill and include extraneous materials.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support H.R. 151, which would establish 
the Daniel Webster Congressional Clerkship Program. This program would 
bring the most talented law school graduates across the country to 
Washington, D.C., and offer them an opportunity to be employed as 
congressional clerks in the House of Representatives or the Senate.
  This program is modeled after the judicial clerkships offered in the 
Federal courts. H.R. 151 would offer no fewer than six 1-year 
clerkships in each Chamber. The clerks would be apportioned equally 
between majority and minority offices within each Chamber. H.R. 151 
would give recent law grads invaluable insight into the functions and 
operations of the Federal legislature, and I urge my colleagues to 
support this program.
  Mr. Speaker, at this time, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such 
time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 151. For the last 
several years, I have joined my colleague, Ms. Lofgren from California, 
in sponsoring this bill. This is a bill which would create a 
congressional clerkship program to qualified law school graduates to 
serve for temporary 1-year terms in offices in the House and the 
Senate.
  The genesis of this actually was the dean of the Stanford Law School, 
when he came on a visit back here and spoke to Ms. Lofgren and myself 
and others and explained that he thought that with the prominence that 
judicial clerkships are given, that most aspiring outstanding law 
students look to the judicial branch--and even with the clerkships that 
are available and fellowships that are available in the executive 
branch--look to those two branches of government as somehow the epitome 
of government service. And in a sense, what that does is it confers a 
sense of importance on those two branches of government, at least in my 
judgment, to the exclusion of the legislative branch.
  The way our system works, many outstanding young people who serve 
clerkships to judges go on to be judges themselves.

                              {time}  1515

  The idea of the dean of Stanford Law School was that if we had a 
similar-

[[Page H4190]]

type program in the legislative branch, perhaps we would have some of 
those people who are outstanding members of the legal profession who 
would go on to receive judgeships, but they would have a better 
understanding of the importance of the legislative branch.
  Currently, as I said, both the judicial and executive branches have 
clerkship programs that attract these highly talented law school 
graduates. Judicial clerkships, in particular, offer both prestige and 
practical legal experience for such graduates. Should this bill pass, 
initially 12 clerks per Congress would be selected to serve in the 
offices of various committee chairs and ranking members. It would be on 
a competitive basis. It would be on a bipartisan basis. It would be on 
a bicameral basis.
  Not only would congressional clerks gain invaluable experience and 
knowledge about the legislative process, but they would then move into 
other leadership positions, not only with the courts but with the major 
law firms around the country and in other positions, bringing that 
understanding of the workings of Congress to bear on those careers.
  I thank Chairman Brady for considering this bill and the expeditious 
way in which it was handled. I thank the Speaker for scheduling it so 
quickly, and I believe that this will truly provide an opportunity for 
some of the most gifted, young, legal minds to serve in Congress and, 
thereby, increase the understanding of its work by the public.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as she 
may consume to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Zoe Lofgren), my 
colleague.
  Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my 
colleague, fellow attorney, my fellow Californian, the former attorney 
general for California, Congressman Dan Lungren, for joining with me in 
introducing this bill first in the 109th Congress, then again working 
to get the bill on the floor in the 110th, and now, once again, in the 
111th Congress. And I am grateful to Chairman Brady for moving this 
bill so promptly. I think starting this early perhaps we'll get this 
all the way through the Senate and over to the President and accomplish 
something that's really quite important for the legislative branch.
  As has been mentioned, top law graduates in the top law schools in 
the Nation seek clerkships in the judicial branch and sometimes in the 
executive branch, but we don't have that here in the legislative 
branch, and he's right, we do owe some gratitude to Dean Larry Kramer 
for proposing this idea.
  Here's what Dean Kramer said: ``This bill will serve an important 
role by educating young lawyers and future leaders of the profession 
about the legislative process. It will be enormously beneficial for 
both the profession and the public if some of the Nation's brightest 
young lawyers begin their careers in the legislature and so develop and 
can convey to the public an appreciation of Congress and the 
legislative process equal to that lawyers have shown for courts and the 
judicial process.''
  This really isn't about getting work out of these bright, young 
lawyers. It's about starting off on the right course and having the 
respect for Article I that we hope that they will get by working with 
us here in the Congress.
  We believe that this bipartisan bill, that will be bicameral, 
bipartisan, will make a difference not today, not tomorrow, but 10 
years from now, 20 years from now, 30 years from now, to make sure that 
Article I is elevated as it should be.
  I would urge my colleagues to support this legislation. Again, I 
thank the chairman. I thank Congressman Lungren, and I thank the dean 
of the Stanford Law School, Larry Kramer.
  Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members 
to vote for this, and I would yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I also urge all Members to 
support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Brady) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 151.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and 
nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

                          ____________________