[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 9 (Friday, January 13, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H536-H537]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          115TH CONGRESS STAFF DEPOSITION AUTHORITY PROCEDURES

                                         House of Representatives,


                                           Committee on Rules,

                                 Washington, DC, January 13, 2017.
     Hon. Paul D. Ryan,
     Speaker, House of Representatives,
     Washington, DC.
       Mr. Speaker: Pursuant to section 3(b)(2) of House 
     Resolution 5, 115th Congress, I hereby submit the following 
     regulations regarding the conduct of depositions by committee 
     and select committee staff for printing in the Congressional 
     Record.
           Sincerely,
                                                    Pete Sessions,
                                     Chairman, Committee on Rules.


          115th Congress Staff Deposition Authority Procedures

       1. Notices for the taking of depositions shall specify the 
     date, time, and place of examination (if other than within 
     the committee offices). Depositions shall be taken under oath 
     administered by a member or a person otherwise authorized to 
     administer oaths.
       2. Consultation with the ranking minority member shall 
     include three days notice before any deposition is taken. All 
     members of the committee shall also receive three days notice 
     that a deposition will be taken. For purposes of these 
     procedures, a day shall not include Saturdays, Sundays, or 
     legal holidays except when the House is in session on such a 
     day.
       3. Witnesses may be accompanied at a deposition by 
     personal, nongovernmental counsel to advise them of their 
     rights. Only members, committee staff designated by the chair 
     or ranking minority member, an official reporter, the 
     witness, and the witness's counsel are permitted to attend. 
     The chair of the committee that noticed the deposition may 
     designate that deposition as part of a joint investigation 
     between committees. If such a designation is made, the chair 
     and ranking minority member of the committee that provided 
     notice of such deposition may each also designate up to two 
     committee staff from committees designated as part of the 
     joint investigation to attend the deposition after 
     consultation with the chair or ranking minority member of the 
     designated committees. Observers or counsel for other 
     persons, including counsel for government agencies, may not 
     attend.
       4. If member attendance is required, the deposition will 
     stand in recess for any period in which a member is not 
     present.
       5. A deposition shall be conducted by any member or staff 
     attorney designated by the chair or ranking minority member. 
     When depositions are conducted by committee staff attorneys, 
     there shall be no more than two committee staff attorneys 
     permitted to question a witness per round. One of the 
     committee staff attorneys shall be designated by the chair 
     and the other by the ranking minority member per round. Other 
     committee staff members designated by the chair or ranking 
     minority member, including designated staff from additional 
     committees in the case of a joint investigation, may attend, 
     but may not question the witness.
       6. Deposition questions shall be propounded in rounds. The 
     length of each round shall be determined by the chair after 
     consultation with the ranking minority member, shall not 
     exceed 90 minutes per side, and shall provide equal time to 
     the majority and the minority. In each round, a member or 
     committee staff attorney designated by the chair shall ask 
     questions first, and the member or committee staff attorney 
     designated by the ranking minority member shall ask questions 
     second.
       7. Only the witness or the witness's personal counsel may 
     make objections during a deposition. Objections must be 
     stated concisely and in a non-argumentative and non-
     suggestive manner. A committee may punish counsel who violate 
     these requirements by censure, and by suspension or 
     exclusion, either generally or in a particular investigation, 
     from further representation of clients before the committee. 
     A committee may also cite the counsel to the House for 
     contempt. If the witness raises an objection, the deposition 
     will proceed, and testimony taken is subject to any 
     objection. The witness may refuse to answer a question only 
     to preserve a testimonial privilege. When the witness has 
     objected and refused to answer a question to preserve a 
     testimonial privilege, the chair of the committee may rule on 
     any such objection after the deposition has recessed. If the 
     chair overrules any such objection and thereby orders a 
     witness to answer any question to which a testimonial 
     privilege objection was lodged, such ruling shall be filed 
     with the clerk of the committee and shall be provided to the 
     members and the witness no less than three days before the 
     reconvened deposition. If the witness or a member of the 
     committee chooses to appeal the ruling of the chair, such 
     appeal must be made within three days, in writing, and shall 
     be preserved for committee consideration. A deponent who 
     refuses to answer a question after being directed to answer 
     by the chair in writing may be subject to sanction, except 
     that no sanctions may be imposed if the ruling of the chair 
     is reversed on appeal.

[[Page H537]]

  

       8. Committee chairs shall ensure that the testimony is 
     either transcribed or electronically recorded or both. If a 
     witness's testimony is transcribed, the witness or the 
     witness's counsel shall be afforded an opportunity to review 
     a copy. No later than five days after a transcript is made 
     available to the witness, the witness may submit suggested 
     changes to the chair. Committee staff may make any 
     typographical and technical changes. Substantive changes, 
     modifications, clarifications, or amendments to the 
     deposition transcript submitted by the witness must be 
     accompanied by a letter signed by the witness requesting the 
     changes and a statement of the witness's reasons for each 
     proposed change. Any substantive changes, modifications, 
     clarifications, or amendments shall be included as an 
     appendix to the transcript conditioned upon the witness 
     signing the transcript.
       9. The individual administering the oath, if other than a 
     member, shall certify on the transcript that the witness was 
     duly sworn. The transcriber shall certify that the transcript 
     is a true record of the testimony, and the transcript shall 
     be filed, together with any electronic recording, with the 
     clerk of the committee in Washington, DC. Depositions shall 
     be considered to have been taken in Washington, DC, as well 
     as the location actually taken once filed there with the 
     clerk of the committee for the committee's use. The chair and 
     the ranking minority member shall be provided with a copy of 
     the transcripts of the deposition at the same time.
       10. The chair and ranking minority member shall consult 
     regarding the release of deposition transcripts and 
     recordings. If either objects in writing to a proposed 
     release of a deposition transcript or recording, or a portion 
     thereof, the matter shall be promptly referred to the 
     committee for resolution.
       11. A witness shall not be required to testify unless the 
     witness has been provided with a copy of Rule XI of the Rules 
     of the House of Representatives and these procedures.

     

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