[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 59 (Thursday, April 1, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H1701-H1703]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     PUBLICATION OF COMMITTEE RULES


RULES OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE MODERNIZATION OF CONGRESS FOR THE 
                             117th CONGRESS

     Hon. Nancy Pelosi,
     Speaker of the House,
     House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
       Dear Madam Speaker, pursuant to Rule XI, Clause 2(a) of the 
     Rules of the House of Representatives, I respectfully submit 
     the rules for the Select Committee on the Modernization of 
     Congress in the 117th Congress for publication in the 
     Congressional Record. The Select Committee adopted these 
     rules by voice vote, with a quorum being present, at our 
     organizational meeting on Thursday, March 25, 2021.
           Sincerely,
                                                     Derek Kilmer,
                                                            Chair.


                       RULE 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS

       (a) The provisions of title II of H. Res. 6 (116th 
     Congress) governing the proceedings of the Select Committee 
     on the Modernization of Congress (hereinafter referred to as 
     the ``Committee'') are hereby incorporated by reference and 
     nothing herein shall be construed as superseding any 
     provision of that title. The Rules of the House of 
     Representatives shall apply to the Committee to the extent 
     that they are not inconsistent with that title.
       (b) Pursuant to clause 2(a)(2) of rule XI of the Rules of 
     the House of Representatives, the rules of the Committee 
     shall be made publicly available in electronic form and 
     published in the Congressional Record not later than 60 days 
     after the Committee adopts its rules.


                            RULE 2. MEETINGS

       (a)(1) The regular meeting date of the Committee shall be 
     the first Tuesday of every month when the House is in session 
     in accordance with clause 2(b) of rule XI of the Rules of the 
     House of Representatives. If the House is not in session on 
     the first Tuesday of a month, the regular meeting date shall 
     be the third Tuesday of that month. A regular meeting of the 
     Committee may be dispensed with if, in the judgment of the 
     chair of the Committee, there is no need for the meeting and 
     if notice is given pursuant to clause 2(b) of rule XI of the 
     Rules of the House of Representatives.
       (2) Additional meetings may be called by the chair of the 
     Committee as the chair considers necessary, in accordance 
     with clause 2(g)(3) of rule XI of the Rules of the House of 
     Representatives.
       (b) Meetings of the Committee shall be called to order and 
     presided over by the chair or, in the chair's absence, by a 
     member designated by the chair to carry out such duties.
       (c)(1) The date, time, place, and subject matter of any 
     meeting of the Committee (other than a hearing) shall be 
     announced at least three calendar days (exclusive of 
     Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays except when the House 
     is in session on such days) in advance of the commencement of 
     such meeting.
       (2) The agenda for each Committee meeting, setting out all 
     items of business to be considered, shall be provided to each 
     member of the Committee at least three calendar days 
     (exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays except 
     when the House is in session on such days) in advance of the 
     commencement of such meeting.
       (3) At least 24 hours prior to the commencement of a 
     meeting for the markup of a report, or at the time of an 
     announcement under clause 2(g)(3)(B) of rule XI of the Rules 
     of the House of Representatives made within 24 hours before 
     such meeting, the chair of the Committee shall cause the text 
     of such report to be made publicly available in electronic 
     form.
       (d) The requirements of paragraph (c) may be waived by a 
     majority of those present and voting (a majority being 
     present) of the Committee or by the chair with the 
     concurrence of the vice chair, as the case may be.


                            RULE 3. HEARINGS

       (a) The date, time, place, and subject matter of any 
     hearing of the Committee shall be

[[Page H1702]]

     announced at least one week in advance of the commencement of 
     such hearing, unless the chair, with the concurrence of the 
     vice chair, determines that there is good cause to begin the 
     hearing sooner.
       (b) To the greatest extent practicable:
       (1) Each witness who is to appear before the Committee 
     shall file with the Committee, at least two business days in 
     advance of his or her appearance, sufficient copies, as 
     determined by the chair, of a written statement of his or her 
     proposed testimony and shall limit his or her oral 
     presentation to a brief summary thereof. The requirements of 
     this subparagraph may be waived or modified by the chair when 
     the chair, with the concurrence of the vice chair, determines 
     it to be in the best interest of the Committee.
       (2) Each witness appearing in a nongovernmental capacity 
     shall include with the written statement of his or her 
     proposed testimony a curriculum vitae and a disclosure of any 
     Federal grants or contracts or foreign government contracts 
     and payments related to the subject matter of the hearing 
     received during the current calendar year or either of the 
     two preceding calendar years by the witness or by an entity 
     represented by the witness. The disclosure shall include (A) 
     the amount and source of each Federal grant (or subgrant 
     thereof) or contract (or subcontract thereof) related to the 
     subject matter of the hearing; and (B) the amount and the 
     country of origin of any payment or contract related to the 
     subject matter of the hearing originating with a foreign 
     government. Each witness shall file such disclosure with the 
     Committee at least two business days in advance of his or her 
     appearance.
       (3) The right to question the witnesses before the 
     Committee shall alternate between majority and minority 
     members. Each member shall be granted, at minimum, five 
     minutes in the questioning of witnesses until such time as 
     each member who so desires has had an opportunity to question 
     witnesses. All members will be permitted an additional 
     questioning period after each member of the Committee present 
     has been recognized once for their initial questioning 
     period.
       The chair shall recognize in order of appearance members 
     who were not present when the meeting was called to order, 
     after all members who were present when the meeting was 
     called to order have been recognized, in the order of 
     seniority on the Committee.
       (4) Under House Rule XI, clause 2(j)(2)(B), the Committee 
     may permit a specified number of its members to question a 
     witness for longer than five minutes during their initial 
     questioning period. Members may submit a request for extended 
     questioning during a hearing to Committee staff. The chair 
     will consider these requests and select up to two members of 
     the Committee (one minority and majority member) for an 
     extended questioning period in consultation with the vice 
     chair.
       (5) To the extent practicable, when seated at the dais 
     during meetings or hearings of the committee, Members shall 
     alternate by party. The Committee should also consider 
     seating witnesses ``in the round'' or at a round-table 
     setting with committee members.
       (6) Each member may submit to the chair additional 
     questions for the record to be answered by the witnesses who 
     have appeared. Each member shall provide a copy of the 
     questions in an electronic format to the Committee no later 
     than 10 business days following a hearing. The chair shall 
     transmit all questions received from members of the Committee 
     to the appropriate witnesses and include the transmittal 
     letter and the responses from the witnesses in the hearing 
     record. After consultation with the vice chair, the chair is 
     authorized to close the hearing record no earlier than 15 
     days from the date the questions were transmitted to the 
     appropriate witnesses.
       (c) At any hearing of the Committee, opening statements by 
     members of the Committee shall be limited to 10 minutes in 
     the aggregate. The chair shall control five minutes and 
     recognize members in the chair's sole discretion. The vice 
     chair shall control five minutes; the chair shall recognize 
     members for such time according to the direction of the vice 
     chair as communicated to the chair.
       (d) Hearings of the Committee shall be called to order and 
     presided over by the chair or, in the chair's absence, by a 
     member designated by the chair to carry out such duties.
       (e) For the purpose of taking testimony and receiving 
     evidence, two members of the Committee shall constitute a 
     quorum. A majority of the members of the Committee shall 
     constitute a quorum for those actions for which the Rules of 
     the House of Representatives require a majority quorum. For 
     the purposes of taking any other action, one-third of the 
     members of the Committee shall constitute a quorum.


                        rule 4. open proceedings

       (a) Meetings and hearings of the Committee shall be open to 
     the public, including to radio, television, and still 
     photography coverage, unless closed in accordance with clause 
     2 of rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives.
       (b) The audio and video coverage of Committee proceeding 
     permitted under clause 4 of rule XI of the Rules of the House 
     of Representatives shall apply to the Committee.
       (c) In accordance with Sec. 4 of H. Res. 965 and pursuant 
     to the section 3(s) of H. Res. 8, Remote Committee 
     Proceedings Resolutions established by the House Rules 
     Committee for the 117th Congress, the Committee may conduct 
     remote proceedings for all official purposes, including 
     member meetings, hearings, and recorded votes when 
     appropriate. Committee members participating remotely shall 
     be counted for the purpose of establishing a quorum under the 
     rules of the House and Committee. Witnesses at Committee 
     proceedings may also appear remotely. An oath may be 
     administered to a witness remotely for purposes of clause 
     2(m)(2) of rule XL. Remote hearings shall abide by the 
     regulations issued by the Committee on Rules with regard to 
     remote deliberations.
       (1) Copies of motions, amendments, measures, reports, or 
     other documents may be submitted to the committee in 
     electronic form. Any hearing conducted remotely shall be 
     considered open to the public for purposes of section 4(a). 
     When possible, the Committee should share live-video of the 
     hearing, as well as uploaded, recorded video after the fact.
       (3) Remote voting shall be conducted in accordance with H. 
     Res. 965. Members attending remotely shall be counted for 
     purposes of establishing a quorum for voting.
       (4) Remote voting may be recorded by video for purposes of 
     record-keeping. Recorded votes and video shall be made 
     available on the Committee's website within 24 hours of the 
     hearing conclusion.
       (5) Members participating remotely in a committee 
     proceeding must be visible on the software platform's video 
     function to be considered in attendance and for purposes of 
     establishing a quorum. Members participating remotely off-
     camera due to connectivity issues or other technical problems 
     must inform committee majority and minority staff either 
     directly or through staff.


                            rule 5. reports

       (a) Except as provided by paragraph (b), it shall be the 
     duty of the chair to submit or cause to be submitted promptly 
     to the House any report approved by the Committee. Members 
     shall have three days from the time of the approval of a 
     report to submit supplemental, minority, or additional views, 
     which shall be included as part of the report.
       (b) Interim status reports of the Committee are not 
     required to be submitted to the House.
       (c) No report may be approved by the Committee unless:
       (1) A majority of the Committee is actually present; and
       (2) The text of such report was made publicly available in 
     electronic form at least 24 hours prior to the commencement 
     of a meeting for the markup of such report, or at the time of 
     an announcement under clause 2(g)(3)(8) of rule XI of the 
     Rules of the House of Representatives made within 24 hours 
     before such meeting.
       (d) The Committee may only submit any report, including the 
     final report, to the House or any committee if the report 
     receives the votes of not fewer than two-thirds of its 
     members.


                       rule 6. committee records

       Documents reflecting the proceedings of the Committee shall 
     be made publicly available in electronic form on the 
     Committee's website and in the Committee office for 
     inspection by the public, as provided in rule XI, clause 2(e) 
     of the Rules of the House of Representatives, not more than 
     24 hours after each meeting has adjourned, including a record 
     showing those present at each meeting; and a record of the 
     vote on any question on which a record vote is demanded, 
     including a description of the motion, order, or other 
     proposition, the name of each member voting for and each 
     member voting against such motion, order, or proposition, and 
     the names of those members of the Committee present but not 
     voting.


                        rule 7. committee staff

       (a) Professional and other staff of the Committee are 
     subject to the provisions of clause 9 of rule X of the Rules 
     of the House of Representatives, as well as any written 
     personnel policies the Committee may adopt.
       (b)(1) Except as provided by subparagraph (2), the 
     professional and other staff of the Committee shall be 
     appointed, and may be removed by the chair, and shall work 
     under the general supervision and direction of the chair.
       (2) All professional and other staff of the Committee 
     provided to the minority party members of the Committee shall 
     be appointed, and may be removed, by the vice chair, and 
     shall work under the general supervision and direction of the 
     vice chair.
       (3) It is intended that the skills and experience of all 
     professional and other staff of the Committee staff be 
     available to all members of the Committee.
       (4) The chair shall fix the compensation of all 
     professional and other staff of the Committee, after 
     consultation with the vice chair regarding any professional 
     and other staff provided to the minority party members of the 
     Committee, within the budget approved for such purposes for 
     the Committee.


                             rule 8. budget

       (a) The chair shall prepare a budget providing amounts for 
     staff, necessary travel, investigation, and other expenses of 
     the Committee.
       (b) From the amount provided to the Committee in the 
     primary expense resolution adopted by the House of 
     Representatives, the chair, after consultation with the vice 
     chair, shall designate an amount to be under the direction of 
     the vice chair for the compensation of the minority staff, 
     travel expenses of minority members and staff, and minority

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     office expenses. All expenses of minority members and staff 
     shall be paid for out of the amount so set aside.


                             rule 9. travel

       (a) The chair may authorize travel for any member and any 
     staff member of the Committee in connection with activities 
     or subject matters under the general jurisdiction of the 
     Committee. Before such authorization is granted, there shall 
     be submitted to the chair in writing the following:
       (1) The purpose of the travel.
       (2) The dates during which the travel is to occur.
       (3) The names of the States or countries to be visited and 
     the length of time to be spent in each.
       (4) The names of members and staff of the Committee for 
     whom the authorization is sought.
       (b) Members and staff of the Committee shall make a written 
     report to the chair and vice chair on any travel they have 
     conducted under this subsection, including a description of 
     their itinerary, expenses, and activities, and of pertinent 
     information gained as a result of such travel.
       (c) Members and staff of the Committee performing 
     authorized travel on official business shall be governed by 
     applicable laws, resolutions, and regulations of the House 
     and of the Committee on House Administration.


                            rule 10. website

       The chair shall maintain an official Committee website for 
     the purpose of carrying out the official responsibilities of 
     the Committee, including communicating information about the 
     Committee's activities. The vice chair may maintain an 
     official website. To the maximum extent feasible, the 
     Committee shall make its publications available in electronic 
     form on the official Committee website maintained by the 
     chair.


               rule 11. other procedures and regulations

       The chair, with the concurrence of the vice chair, may 
     establish such other procedures and take such actions as may 
     be necessary to carry out the foregoing rules or to 
     facilitate the effective operation of the Committee.

                          ____________________