[House Report 107-25]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



107th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session                                                     107-25

======================================================================



 
   PROVIDING FOR THE EXPENSES OF CERTAIN COMMITTEES OF THE HOUSE OF 
          REPRESENTATIVES IN THE ONE HUNDRED SEVENTH CONGRESS

                                _______
                                

   March 23, 2001.--Referred to the House calendar and ordered to be 
                                printed

                                _______
                                

  Mr. Ney, from the Committee on House Administration, submitted the 
                               following

                              R E P O R T

                             together with

                            ADDITIONAL VIEWS

                       [To accompany H. Res. 84]

    The Committee on House Administration, to whom was referred 
the resolution (H. Res. 84) providing for the expenses of 
certain committees of the House of Representatives in the One 
Hundred Seventh Congress, having considered the same, report 
favorably thereon with an amendment and recommend that the 
resolution as amended be agreed to.
    The amendment is as follows:
    Strike all after the resolving clause and insert the 
following:

SECTION 1. COMMITTEE EXPENSES FOR THE ONE HUNDRED SEVENTH CONGRESS.

    (a) In General.--With respect to the One Hundred Seventh Congress, 
there shall be paid out of the applicable accounts of the House of 
Representatives, in accordance with this primary expense resolution, 
not more than the amount specified in subsection (b) for the expenses 
(including the expenses of all staff salaries) of each committee named 
in that subsection.
    (b) Committees and Amounts.--The committees and amounts referred to 
in subsection (a) are: Committee on Agriculture, $9,607,006; Committee 
on Armed Services, $10,872,677; Committee on the Budget, $11,107,043; 
Committee on Education and the Workforce, $13,573,886; Committee on 
Energy and Commerce, $17,226,770; Committee on Financial Services, 
$11,846,231; Committee on Government Reform, $19,420,233; Committee on 
House Administration, $7,418,045; Permanent Select Committee on 
Intelligence, $6,955,074; Committee on International Relations, 
$12,672,626; Committee on the Judiciary, $13,166,463; Committee on 
Resources, $11,601,260; Committee on Rules, $5,370,773; Committee on 
Science, $10,628,041; Committee on Small Business, $4,798,783; 
Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, $2,871,091; Committee on 
Transportation and Infrastructure, $14,479,551; Committee on Veterans' 
Affairs, $5,142,263; and Committee on Ways and Means, $14,748,888.

SEC. 2. FIRST SESSION LIMITATIONS.

    (a) In General.--Of the amount provided for in section 1 for each 
committee named in subsection (b), not more than the amount specified 
in such subsection shall be available for expenses incurred during the 
period beginning at noon on January 3, 2001, and ending immediately 
before noon on January 3, 2002.
    (b) Committees and Amounts.--The committees and amounts referred to 
in subsection (a) are: Committee on Agriculture, $4,675,093; Committee 
on Armed Services, $5,182,597; Committee on the Budget, $5,403,522; 
Committee on Education and the Workforce, $7,059,821; Committee on 
Energy and Commerce, $8,527,251; Committee on Financial Services, 
$5,705,025; Committee on Government Reform, $9,810,000; Committee on 
House Administration, $3,560,662; Permanent Select Committee on 
Intelligence, $3,407,986; Committee on International Relations, 
$6,202,095; Committee on the Judiciary, $6,339,902; Committee on 
Resources, $5,595,266; Committee on Rules, $2,644,509; Committee on 
Science, $5,172,668; Committee on Small Business, $2,312,344; Committee 
on Standards of Official Conduct, $1,358,708; Committee on 
Transportation and Infrastructure, $6,964,664; Committee on Veterans' 
Affairs, $2,516,765; and Committee on Ways and Means, $7,228,481.

SEC. 3. SECOND SESSION LIMITATIONS.

    (a) In General.--Of the amount provided for in section 1 for each 
committee named in subsection (b), not more than the amount specified 
in such subsection shall be available for expenses incurred during the 
period beginning at noon on January 3, 2002, and ending immediately 
before noon on January 3, 2003.
    (b) Committees and Amounts.--The committees and amounts referred to 
in subsection (a) are: Committee on Agriculture, $4,931,913; Committee 
on Armed Services, $5,690,080; Committee on the Budget, $5,703,521; 
Committee on Education and the Workforce, $6,514,065; Committee on 
Energy and Commerce, $8,699,519; Committee on Financial Services, 
$6,141,206; Committee on Government Reform, $9,610,233; Committee on 
House Administration, $3,857,383; Permanent Select Committee on 
Intelligence, $3,547,088; Committee on International Relations, 
$6,470,531; Committee on the Judiciary, $6,826,561; Committee on 
Resources, $6,005,994; Committee on Rules, $2,726,264; Committee on 
Science, $5,455,373; Committee on Small Business, $2,486,439; Committee 
on Standards of Official Conduct, $1,512,383; Committee on 
Transportation and Infrastructure, $7,514,887; Committee on Veterans' 
Affairs, $2,625,498; and Committee on Ways and Means, $7,520,407.

SEC. 4. VOUCHERS.

    Payments under this resolution shall be made on vouchers authorized 
by the committee involved, signed by the chairman of such committee, 
and approved in the manner directed by the Committee on House 
Administration.

SEC. 5. REGULATIONS.

    Amounts made available under this resolution shall be expended in 
accordance with regulations prescribed by the Committee on House 
Administration.

SEC. 6. ADJUSTMENT AUTHORITY.

    The Committee on House Administration shall have authority to make 
adjustments in amounts under section 1, if necessary to comply with an 
order of the President issued under section 254 of the Balanced Budget 
and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 or to conform to any 
reduction in appropriations for the purposes of such section 1.

                            committee action

    On March 22, 2001, by voice vote, a quorum being present, 
the Committee agreed to an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute and, by voice vote, a quorum being present, the 
Committee agreed to a motion to report the resolution, as 
amended, favorably to the House.

                      committee oversight findings

    In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives, the Committee states that the 
findings and recommendations of the Committee, based on 
oversight activities under clause 2(b)(1) of rule X of the 
Rules of the House of Representatives, are incorporated in the 
descriptive portions of this report.

            statement on budget authority and related items

    The resolution does not provide new budget authority, new 
spending authority, new credit authority, or an increase or 
decrease in revenues or tax expenditures and a statement under 
clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives and section 308(a)(1) of the Congressional 
Budget Act of 1974 is not required.

               congressional budget office cost estimate

    In compliance with clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives, the Committee states, with 
respect to the resolution, that the Director of the 
Congressional Budget Office did not submit a cost estimate and 
comparison under section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act of 
1974.

         statement of general performance goals and objectives

    The Committee states, with respect to clause 3(c)(4) of 
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, that 
the general discussion section of this report includes a 
statement of the general performance goals and objectives, 
including outcome-related goals and objectives, for which H. 
Res. 84 authorizes funding.

                              record votes

    In compliance with clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, with respect to each record vote 
on a motion to report the resolution and on any amendment 
offered to the resolution, there were no record votes on a 
motion to report the resolution or on any amendment offered to 
the resolution.

                           GENERAL DISCUSSION

Voice vote

    The Committee, by voice vote, with a quorum present, on 
March 22, 2001, agreed to report H. Res. 84, as amended, 
favorably to the House.

General discussion

    The House Administration Committee would first like to 
express its deepest appreciation to Speaker Dennis Hastert for 
his leadership on this issue. Without the Speaker's 
determination and willingness to reach a bi-partisan committee 
funding resolution, this process and outcome would have been 
quite different. The committee would also like to recognize the 
efforts of the Speaker's staff who worked diligently to bring 
this process to a successful conclusion.
    In addition, the Committee would also like to express its 
appreciation to our Ranking Minority Member, Steny Hoyer of 
Maryland, for his efforts in working with Chairman Ney and the 
ranking members of the committees to assist in fashioning an 
agreeable bi-partisan resolution that could be supported by 
minority members on the House floor.
    H. Res. 84, as amended, authorizes for standing committees 
(excluding the Committee on Appropriations) and the Permanent 
Select Committee on Intelligence $203,506,704 for the 107th 
Congress. Unlike the previous and former committee funding 
resolutions, this resolution does not contain any amounts for a 
fund held in reserve for unanticipated activities. In a 
separate Committee resolution, the Committee on House 
Administration established franked mail allocations for these 
committees.
    The sum total of all budget requests for the 107th Congress 
was $223,977,186. The $203,506,704 authorized for committees is 
$20,470,482 or 9.1 percent less than the sum of all amounts 
requested by committees.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              107th
                        Committee                          request\1\    H. Res. 84       2001          2002
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Agriculture.............................................   $10,010,397    $9,607,006    $4,675,093    $4,931,913
Armed Services..........................................    10,847,677    10,872,677     5,182,597     5,690,080
Budget..................................................    15,590,870    13,573,886     7,059,821     6,514,065
Education & the Workforce...............................    15,095,429    11,846,231     5,705,025     6,141,206
Energy & Commerce.......................................    18,813,475    17,226,770     8,527,251     8,699,519
Financial Services......................................    11,221,913    11,107,043     5,403,522     5,703,521
Government Reform.......................................    21,842,000    19,420,233     9,810,000     9,610,233
House Administration....................................     7,859,306     7,418,046     3,560,662     3,857,383
Intelligence............................................     7,475,074     6,955,074     3,407,986     3,547,088
International Relations.................................    14,495,256    12,672,626     6,202,095     6,470,531
Judiciary...............................................    15,490,248    13,166,463     6,339,902     6,826,561
Resources...............................................    11,980,260    11,601,260     5,595,266     6,005,994
Rules...................................................     5,370,773     5,370,773     2,644,509     2,726,264
Science.................................................    12,254,302    10,628,041     5,172,668     5,455,373
Small Business..........................................     4,798,783     4,798,783     2,312,344     2,486,439
Standards of Official Conduct...........................     2,921,091     2,871,091     1,358,708     1,512,383
Transportation & Infrastructure.........................    16,559,562    14,479,551     6,964,664     7,514,887
Veterans' Affairs.......................................     5,273,013     5,142,263     2,516,765     2,625,498
Ways & Means............................................    16,077,758    14,748,888     7,228,481     7,520,407
                                                         -------------------------------------------------------
      Total.............................................   223,977,186   203,506,704    99,667,359   103,839,345
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Amount requested in budget request submitted to Committee on House Administration.

Committee funding process

    The 107th Congress is the fourth funding cycle under the 
biennial funding process instituted in the 104th Congress. At 
the beginning of the 104th Congress, House Rules were revised 
changing the Committee funding process to a biennial cycle and 
abolishing the bifurcation of funding under statutory and 
investigative accounts.
    The biennial committee funding process has proven 
successful. A two-year budget cycle saves time and resources 
for all committees because the process is undertaken only once 
per Congress, rather than twice as was done previously. The 
biennial funding process facilitates long term planning and 
cuts in half the time and resources dedicated to making, 
defending and approving budget requests.

Comparison of committee funding resolution

    At the beginning of the 104th Congress, three standing 
committees and 32 subcommittees were abolished. Committee staff 
was reduced by 33 percent from the 103rd Congress levels and 
committee funding levels were reduced by a total of 30 percent. 
In the 107th Congress, committee staff and funding levels 
continue to remain well below the 103rd levels.
    H. Res. 84, as amended, authorizes a total of $203,506,704 
which is 8.9 percent or $19,828,714 below the 103rd Congress 
level. The Speaker has set the staff ceiling for committees, 
excluding the Committee on Appropriations, at 1,205 for the 
107th Congress, which is 26.5 percent or 434 staff slots below 
the 103rd Congress level.

                Committee Funding Resolution Comparisons


                       [Excluding Appropriations]

103rd Congress, Democratic Majority:
    $223.3 million
    1,639 staff
104th Congress, Republican Majority:
    $157.2 million = 70% of 103rd level (reduced 30%)
    1,089 staff = 67% of 103rd level (reduced 33%)
105th Congress, Republican Majority:
    $177.9 million = 80% of 103rd level (reduced 20%)
    1,104 staff = 67% of 103rd level (reduced 33%)
106th Congress, Republican Majority:
    $183.4 million = 82% of 103rd level (reduced 18%)
    1,153 staff = 70% of 103rd level (reduced 30%)
107th Congress, Republican Majority:
    $203.5 million = 91% of 103rd level (reduced 9%)
    1,205 staff = 74% of 103rd level (reduced 26%)

    The House Administration Committee believes that these 
comparisons are significant and show a pattern of responsible 
spending, with substantial savings being passed on to 
taxpayers. The 107th Congress mark is lower than the overall 
funding levels in the 103rd Congress in both nominal and real 
dollars. Under Democrat control, the total committee funding 
allocation in the 103rd Congress was $223,335,418. Adjusted for 
inflation, and factoring in a 5 percent session increase this 
Congress, the current committee budget would be about $271 
million, almost $50 million more than committees have requested 
in this Congress. This mark, combined with budgets for the 
three previous Congresses, will have resulted in a savings to 
taxpayers of at least $286 million over the amount that would 
have spent during the same time frame had Democrats retained 
control of the House.

Hearing room upgrades

    The Committee on House Administration has determined, in 
consultation with the Office of the Speaker of the House, that 
funds requested for hearing room upgrades by the committees 
should be removed from the committee funding process and be 
funded separately. The Committee believes this is necessary so 
that the omnibus resolution accurately reflects the true base 
funding levels for each committee. Since much of the work 
performed in upgrading hearing rooms arises from costs related 
to infrastructure modifications of House buildings and other 
services usually performed by the Architect of the Capitol and 
Chief Administrative Officer under their own budget authority, 
it is not appropriate to account for these costs within 
committee's budgets.
    Numerous committees requested money in their budgets to 
fund hearing room upgrades in the 107th Congress. Some 
committees planning upgrades did not submit requests for funds, 
on the assumption that such costs would be borne by the 
Architect of the Capitol and/or the Chief Administrative 
Officer. Several committees have completed hearing room 
upgrades in the previous Congress. The House Administration 
Committee believes that these upgrade requests are indicative 
of the need for a responsive and organized committee hearing 
room upgrade process.
    It should be noted that most committee rooms are in serious 
need of upgrades, as many have not been improved in decades. 
Even more immediate is the need to upgrade the audio and video 
capabilities in the hearing rooms. Increased demand by the 
public to have more access to congressional proceedings is 
fueling the need for better and more technologically advanced 
hearing rooms.
    The decision to separate hearing room upgrades is part of 
an overall review of how committee room upgrades are being 
achieved. It is important to note that the funds requested by 
committees represent a short term solution to committee room 
upgrades, providing improvements for general audio and video 
enhancements in the hearing rooms themselves and to streamline 
video and/or audio on the Internet in order to provide 
increased public access.
    The House Administration Committee believes that a 
standardized approach is the most logical and efficient 
solution to dealing with committee room upgrades. It is also 
critical that minimum technical standards be implemented to 
ensure the efficient use of resources and the compatibility of 
equipment and infrastructure. As a result, it is the intention 
of the House Administration Committee to institute a policy 
wherebycommittees will be required to submit a plan and receive 
approval from the Committee before committee rooms can be upgraded.
    The Architect of the Capitol and the Chief Administrative 
Officer should commence a Committee Room Renovation Program to 
improve audio/visual capacity to a common standard and to 
accomplish longer-term infrastructure renovations, subject to 
the oversight of the Committee on House Administration, the 
Speaker and the Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee. 
The committee strongly encourages that funding for this purpose 
be provided.
    The Chief Administrative Officer is directed to provide 
support staff to operate the broadcasting functions for each 
Committee Room that is renovated under the Committee Room 
Renovation Program. Committee staff are not authorized to 
operate broadcasting functions for such renovated committee 
rooms. The Chief Administrative Officer is authorized, but not 
required to provide staff to operate the broadcasting functions 
of committee rooms that have been renovated prior to 
implementation of the Committee Room Renovation Program. The 
Chief Administrative Officer at the request of any such 
committee shall operate the broadcasting functions in such 
committee rooms.

Minority resources

    In the 103rd Congress, while still in the minority, 
Republicans established the goal of providing for a two-thirds/
one-third minority resources split. Since becoming the majority 
party in the 104th Congress, Republicans have continued to make 
progress on this issue. Through his own leadership, Speaker 
Hastert, has vigorously pursued this goal, advocating that all 
committees attain a one-third split with the minority. The 
House Administration Committee believes that with this budget, 
we have reached that goal. The Committee is also pleased with 
the bi-partisan nature with which this goal was reached.

                      MINORITY RESOURCE COMPARISON
                   [103rd Congress vs 107th Congress]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                   103rd   104th   105th   106th   107th
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Percent of Committees providing      11%     35%     41%     53%     88%
 33% of staff slots \1\ to the
 minority.......................
Number of Committees providing:
    33% or more.................       2       6       7       9      15
    30% to 32%..................       7       9       9       8       1
    28% and higher..............      10       2       1       0       1
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ For the 103rd Congress, the calculation is based on investigative
  staff. Committees with non-partisan staff, Armed Services and
  Standards of Official Conduct, are not listed.

    It is important to recognize again, at this point, the 
leadership that House Administration ranking minority member, 
Steny Hoyer, has shown working with all of the ranking members 
to ensure that we could arrive at a mark that can be supported 
in a bipartisan manner.

     ADDITIONAL VIEWS OF STENY H. HOYER, CHAKA FATTAH AND JIM DAVIS

    We support this committee funding resolution, House 
Resolutions 84, as amended, and will be urging Democratic 
members to vote for it on the House Floor. The process through 
which this resolution was developed, and the concern 
demonstrated by the Majority leadership toward meeting the 
Minority's legitimate needs, indicate that it may be a new day 
in the life of this institution. Our new committee chairman, 
Bob Ney, must be commended for steering us toward comity and 
bipartisanship. His leadership has been critical to the 
progress toward fairness in allocation of committee resources 
to the Minority which this resolution represents.
    After consulting with each Ranking Member, we are satisfied 
that the Minority has the minimum amount of resources needed to 
accomplish its objectives over the next two years.
    House Resolution 84 goes a long way toward achieving the 
Minority's long-time goal of controlling one-third of each 
committee's total resources and staff slots. While it did not 
reach this goal in every single case, the Ranking Minority 
Members of the 19 committees covered by the provisions of the 
resolution agree that substantial progress has been made over 
the levels of the 106th Congress, and that additional 
accommodations will occur over the course of the 107th Congress 
to deal with remaining issues between the two parties.
    Even the handful of committees that had been most visibly 
deficient in the past in meeting the Minority's legitimate 
needs have come a long way. The tricks and gimmicks used too 
often during the committee funding process by the Majority 
during its initial years in power to create an illusion of 
fairness have either been abolished or are clearly on their way 
out.
    We would also note that H. Res. 84 does not include a 
reserve fund for ``unanticipated expenses'' of committees. This 
is the first time since House rules were amended in 1997 to 
permit use of a reserve fund that the committee did not feel a 
need to include it. In the last Congress, $3 million had been 
provided, but it was never spent for that purpose and instead 
was reprogrammed to meet other pressing needs of the House.
    Finally, we are grateful to Chairman Ney and Speaker 
Hastert for their leadership and support of the Minority's 
funding needs, and for working with other committee chairman to 
ensure a fair distribution of staff and budget resources. 
Chairman Ney, through his fairness toward us here on the House 
Administration Committee, has set an example for how the 
Minority party in the House of Representatives, be it 
Democratic or Republican, should be treated in the future.
    We are also submitting with these views a copy of a 
relevant chart agreed to by the Majority which demonstrates the 
breakdown of funding and staff slots between the Majority and 
Minority for the 107 Congress.

                                   Steny Hoyer.
                                   Chaka Fattah.
                                   Jim Davis.
                                   
                                   
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