[House Report 115-1109]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                Union Calendar No. 876
115th Congress   }                                       {      Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session      }                                       {    115-1109
_______________________________________________________________________

                                     

  

                      THE REPORT ON THE ACTIVITIES

                                 of the

                   COMMITTEE ON HOUSE ADMINISTRATION

                               during the

                             115TH CONGRESS

                      together with minority views









 [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
 











 December 28, 2018.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on 
            the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                   ______
		 
                     U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 
		 
33-932 PDF                WASHINGTON : 2018                 


















                         LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL

                              ----------                              

                          House of Representatives,
                         Committee on House Administration,
                                 Washington, DC, December 28, 2018.
Hon. Karen L. Haas,
Clerk of the House,
Washington, DC.
    Dear Ms. Haas: Pursuant to clause 1, section (d)(1) of rule 
XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives, I present 
herewith the report on the activities of the Committee on House 
Administration for the 115th Congress.
            Sincerely,
                                              Gregg Harper,
                                                          Chairman.





















                                                Union Calendar No. 876
115th Congress   }                                       {      Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session      }                                       {    115-1109
======================================================================



 
 THE REPORT ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE COMMITTEE ON HOUSE ADMINISTRATION 
                       DURING THE 115TH CONGRESS

                                _______
                                

 December 28, 2018.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on 
            the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

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

                              R E P O R T

                             together with

                             MINORITY VIEWS

                              INTRODUCTION

    The Committee on House Administration (``Committee'') is 
charged with the day-to-day operations of the House of 
Representatives and the oversight of federal elections.
    The Committee on House Administration oversees accounts for 
the salaries and expenses of all House committees (except for 
the Committee on Appropriations); and accounts for the 
allowance and expenses of House Members, officers, and 
administrative offices; and the auditing and settling of these 
accounts. The Committee further oversees the employment of 
staff for House Members, committees, and other House employees. 
In addition, the Committee approves personnel actions for the 
Sergeant at Arms (``SAA''), Clerk of the House (``Clerk''), and 
Chief Administrative Officer (``CAO''). The Committee has 
jurisdiction over the House Library; the statuary and art in 
the Capitol; the Commission on Congressional Mailing Standards; 
the Congressional Record; accounts of the House; and the 
assignment of office space for House Members and committees. 
The Committee also oversees the SAA, the U.S. Capitol Police 
(``USCP''), and security of the House office buildings and 
grounds, in addition to overseeing House operations and 
legislative operations undertaken by the CAO and Clerk, 
respectively.
    The Committee also oversees other services provided to the 
House, including food service contracts, including the Members' 
Dining Room, parking facilities, and administration of the 
House office buildings and of the House wing of the Capitol. 
The Committee also deals with the domestic travel of Members; 
and the compensation, retirement and other benefits of Members, 
officers and employees of Congress. Additionally, the Committee 
has jurisdiction over the Library of Congress, the Botanic 
Garden, and the Smithsonian Institution. Lastly, the 
Committee's jurisdiction covers the election of the President 
and Vice President, House Members, Delegates, the Resident 
Commissioner, and Senators as well as House contested 
elections, credentials and qualifications of candidates, 
corrupt practices, and campaign finance matters in federal 
elections.

                           COMMITTEE FUNDING

    The Committee on House Administration reports a biennial 
primary expense resolution by which standing and select 
committees of the House (except the Committee on 
Appropriations) are authorized operating funds for each 
Congress. During the first three months of each new Congress, 
House rule X, clause 7, provides a temporary authorization for 
House committees to continue operations. This temporary 
authorization is based on their funding authorizations from the 
preceding session and allows committees to organize, adopt 
legislative and oversight agendas, and seek spending authority 
through the adoption of a primary expense resolution by the 
House.
    On March 15, 2017, the Committee reported H. Res. 173, 
providing for the expenses of certain committees of the House 
of Representatives for the 115th Congress. The amounts proposed 
in H. Res. 173 reflect requests and justifications provided to 
the Committee by the Chairs and Ranking Members of each of the 
20 standing committees during their testimony to the Committee 
on February 15 and 16, 2017. The Committee held a markup and 
adopted H. Res. 173 by voice vote on March 8, 2017. On March 
17, 2017, the House agreed to H. Res. 173 by voice vote.
    On March 7, 2018, the Committee held a markup to adopt 
Committee Resolution 115-9, allocating $200,000 from the 
Committee Reserve Fund\1\ to the House Committee on Foreign 
Affairs. The Committee on Foreign Affairs requested additional 
funds to accommodate the staffing needs of the Tom Lantos Human 
Rights Commission.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\Established in H. Res. 173.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    On June 26, 2018, the Committee held a markup to adopt 
Committee Resolution 115-19, allocating $200,000 from the 
Committee Reserve Fund\2\ to the Veterans' Affairs Committee. 
The Committee on Veterans' Affairs requested additional funds 
to establish and staff a new Subcommittee on Technology 
Modernization, which provides additional oversight of the VA's 
Electronic Health Record Modernization program.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \2\Id.
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                  MEMBERS' REPRESENTATIONAL ALLOWANCE

    The Members' Representational Allowance (``MRA'') is the 
annual authorization made to each Member of the House to 
obligate U.S. Treasury funds not to exceed a certain amount. 
These funds may be used by the Member to pay ordinary and 
necessary business expenses incurred by the Member and his or 
her congressional office employees in support of the Member's 
official and representational duties. The Committee oversees 
the use of appropriations from the accounts of the U.S. House 
of Representatives for the MRA as well as official travel by 
Members and staff. In addition, the Committee oversees the 
compensation, retirement and administration of benefits of 
Member office employees. The annual MRA is available for one 
legislative year (i.e., January 3 of one year through January 2 
of the following year).
    The amount of each Member's MRA varies but is calculated 
based on three components: the cost to lease federal office 
space in a Member's district; the number of U.S. Postal Service 
private delivery stops in a Member's district; and the distance 
between a Member's district and Washington, D.C.
    Expenditures from the MRA fall into one of three 
categories: personnel compensation; official expenses; and 
official (franked) mail expenses. Each Member has discretion 
over expenditures from the MRA account as he or she determines 
the official needs to support his or her office's operations, 
subject to House rules and regulations in the Members' 
Congressional Handbook. The use of funds in any expense 
category is not limited by the amount factored into a 
corresponding expense component, e.g., a Member may spend more 
or less than the amount of the travel component in order to 
travel to and from the district.
    Federal law\3\ authorizes the Committee to fix and adjust 
the amounts, terms, and conditions of, and other matters 
relating to the MRA (including all aspects of official mail) by 
reason of:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \3\2 U.S.C. 4313.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    1. A change in the price of materials, services, or office 
space;
    2. A technological change or other improvement in office 
equipment; or
    3. An increase in rates of pay under the General Schedule, 
e.g., a comparability and/or locality wage adjustment.
    During the 115th Congress, the Committee took the following 
actions pertaining to the Member's Representational Allowance:
    1) The Committee set authorization amounts for each of the 
441 Members of the House of Representatives for the legislative 
year starting on January 3, 2017, until January 2, 2018. The 
final amounts were authorized by letter on February 17, 2017. 
MRAs were increased by $50,000 over the 2016 authorization 
amounts.
    2) On June 29, 2017, Members were authorized to receive an 
additional $25,000 to their 2017 MRA. This increase was 
intended to be used for security expenses in wake of the June 
2017 active shooter incident (see infra).
    3) The Committee set authorization amounts for each of the 
441 Members of the House of Representatives for the legislative 
year starting on January 3, 2018, until January 2, 2019. The 
final amounts were authorized by letter on March 26, 2018. MRAs 
again were increased by an additional $25,000 over the 2017 
authorized amounts. Thus, the total individual MRA increased by 
$100,000 over the amounts authorized in the 114th Congress.
    In addition, the Committee considered and adopted updates 
to the following manuals: House Administration Members' 
Congressional Handbook and House Administration Committees' 
Congressional Handbook.
    Specifically, the Committee adopted Committee Resolution 
115-7 on February 27, 2018, amending the Members' Congressional 
Handbook as follows:
           Adding restrictions on settlements or awards 
        in connection with conduct prohibited under the 
        Congressional Accountability Act of 1995,
           Adding the authority to include security 
        expenses with respect to obligating prior year funds 
        expenses, and
           Clarifying language pertaining to 
        permissible personal and district office security 
        expenses.
    Additionally, the Committee adopted Committee Resolution 
115-8 on February 27, 2018, amending the Committee Handbook as 
follows:
           Adding restrictions on settlements or awards 
        in connection with conduct prohibited under the 
        Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 and
           Clarifying language on the deadline for 
        submitting the monthly activities reports by each 
        standing committee.
    Finally, the Committee adopted Committee Resolution 115-20 
on July 25, 2018, modifying and recognizing new categories of 
Town Hall Meetings, including:
           Physical Town Hall Meetings,
           Joint Physical Town Hall Meetings,
           Virtual Town Hall Meetings, and
           Joint Virtual Town Hall Meetings.

             COMMISSION ON CONGRESSIONAL MAILING STANDARDS

    The Commission on Congressional Mailing Standards (also 
known as the ``Franking Commission''), established by Public 
Law 93-191, is composed of six Members appointed by the Speaker 
of the House: three from the majority, and three from the 
minority. The Speaker designates the Chairman of the Franking 
Commission who must be: (1) one of the Members appointed to the 
Commission, and (2) must also be a Member of the Committee on 
House Administration. In the 115th Congress, the Commission was 
chaired by Rep. Rodney Davis of Illinois, with Rep. Susan A. 
Davis of California serving as Ranking Member. The Chairman and 
Ranking Member were joined by Commission Members Rep. Robert E. 
Latta of Ohio, Rep. Barbara Comstock of Virginia, Rep. Brad 
Sherman of California, and Rep. Donald A. McEachin of Virginia.
    Federal statute, House Rule and Regulation set out the 
jurisdiction and related functions of the Franking Commission, 
which are as follows:
    1. To prescribe regulations governing the proper use of the 
franking privilege by those entitled to use the privilege in 
connection with the mailing or contemplated mailing of franked 
mail under 39 U.S.C. sections 3210, 3211, 3212, 3213(2), 3218, 
3219 or in connection with the operation of section 3215; in 
connection with any other Federal law (other than any law which 
imposes any criminal penalty), or in connection with any Rule 
of the U.S. House of Representatives relating to franked mail 
(2 U.S.C. 501(d)).
    2. Upon the request of any person entitled to use the 
franking privilege and other official communication resources, 
to provide guidance, assistance, advice, and counsel, through 
advisory opinions or consultations, in connection with the 
distribution or contemplated distribution of franked mail or 
official communications regarding the application and/or 
compliance with applicable Federal statutes and House rules and 
regulations. The staff assigned to the Commission are delegated 
authority by the Commission to perform advisory and counseling 
functions, subject to review by the Commission (2 U.S.C. 
501(d), House rule XXIV, and the Regulations of the Committee 
on House Administration). At the time of filing this report, 
the Franking Commission had reviewed 14,208 requests for 
advisory opinions and issued 11,115 final advisory opinions 
during the 115th Congress. Staff of the Franking Commission 
also delivered individual office briefings to over 150 Member 
Offices.
    3. To investigate, decide, and dispose of complaints 
regarding the misuse of the franking privilege (2 U.S.C. 
501(e)).
    On June 22, 2017, the Franking Commission agreed 
unanimously on three Commission Resolutions. The first 
resolution fully digitized the Franking Submission process. The 
resolution eliminated paper submissions and review processes 
and made digital submission mandatory, effective October 2, 
2017. The second resolution extended the length of use for a 
template from one session of Congress to both sessions of 
Congress. The third resolution added three new examples of 
public distinctions: public education professionals, first 
responders, and military service members.
    On April 25, 2018, the Committee on House Administration 
adopted Committee Resolution 115-10 which added three 
advertising categories to the Members' Congressional Handbook 
(enforced by the Franking Commission): Members' 
Representational Programs; ``live'' social media town hall 
meetings; and legislative updates. The Committee on House 
Administration also adopted Committee Resolution 115-11 which 
clarified the advertisement regulations in the Committee 
Congressional Handbook to allow the use of subcommittee names 
in advertisements.
    On May 24, 2018, the Franking Commission received a 
complaint filed pursuant to the Rules of Practice in 
Proceedings before the House Commission on Congressional 
Mailing Standards. On July 19, 2018, the Commission unanimously 
issued an order to dismiss the complaint pursuant to Rule 3 of 
the Rules of Practice in Proceedings before the House 
Commission on Congressional Mailing Standards, determining 
there was no reason to believe that a violation had occurred.
    Since January 3, 1996, all communications required to 
receive an Advisory Opinion from the Franking Commission are 
publicly disclosed. Communications that require an Advisory 
Opinion prior to distribution, publication, or dissemination 
include mass mailings and mass communications (regardless of 
medium) as defined by 39 U.S.C. section 3210(a)(6)(E) and the 
Members Congressional Handbook. The Franking Commission 
notifies a Member whenever his or her file has been reviewed 
publicly whether in full or in part. On May 24, 2018, the 
Franking Commission rolled out full digitization of the public 
disclosure process through the use of a Franking Advisory 
Opinion ``kiosk'' in the Legislative Resource Center.

         OVERSIGHT AND LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITIES OF THE COMMITTEE

    The Committee continues to work with House Leadership and 
the Subcommittee on Legislative Branch Appropriations to reduce 
overall costs and efficiently manage House operations, 
including but not limited to financial, legislative, and 
security operations undertaken by the House Officers.

Officers of the House

    One of the primary responsibilities of the Committee is to 
conduct oversight of the House Officers, whose organizations 
serve lead roles in the legislative, day-to-day administrative, 
and security operations in order to support the Members and 
staff of the House. On February 7, 2017, each Officer 
testified, during hearings titled ``Priorities of the House 
Officers and Legislative Branch Entities for FY 2018 and 
Beyond'', on their goals and expectations for the 115th 
Congress.
    During the hearings, the Clerk of the House outlined 
several key priorities: the redesign of the Clerk's website; 
the installation of an upgraded electronic voting system on the 
House Floor; the implementation of a new comparative print 
requirement; the updating and enhancement of the Congressional 
Biography Directory; the effort to increase storage 
capabilities for the vital and historic records of Congress; 
the enhancement of the lobbying disclosure filing system; and 
the effort to meet the demand for legislative materials used on 
the House Floor and in committee hearings by transitioning to 
an on-demand print and delivery operation. Likewise, the 
Sergeant at Arms' highlighted: the coordination necessary to 
facilitate the AOC's renovation of the Rayburn and Cannon 
garages within the Rayburn Garage Rehabilitation Plan and the 
Cannon Renewal Project; the manpower challenges at key exterior 
entry points of House Office Buildings; the lifecycle 
replacement challenges of post-9/11 physical security; the 
ongoing reinforced windows initiative in the House Office 
Buildings; the additional responsibilities affiliated with the 
O'Neill Federal Office Building; and the vital issue of 
District Office security. Lastly, the Chief Administrative 
Officer focused on: solidifying its Strategic Plan; 
implementing cybersecurity measures needed to protect the House 
community; strengthening customer service through an enhanced 
House Learning Center, Finance Office, and providing 
technological services and enterprise solutions for Member's 
Washington D.C. and District offices; maintaining the CAO's 
collaborative role in the Cannon House Office Building Renewal 
Project; and reforming its asset management system and life 
cycle inventories. Each Officer subsequently updated the 
Committee on these priorities in the spring of 2018.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \4\The Committee requested this update from each Officer on March 
8, 2018. The Clerk of the House responded on March 21, 2018. The 
Sergeant at Arms (SAA) and Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) both 
responded on May 18, 2018.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Clerk of the House

    The Office of the Clerk is charged with overseeing eight 
divisions in addition to the Clerk's Immediate Office: Office 
of Legislative Operations, Office of Art and Archives, Office 
of Official Reporters, Office of House Employment Counsel, 
Legislative Resource Center, Legislative Computer Systems, 
Office of Communications, and Capitol Service Groups. The 
Clerk's primary responsibilities involve the legislative 
activities of the House. This includes managing all legislation 
originating in the House as well as overseeing implementation 
and management of the electronic voting system.
    The Committee conducted monthly oversight meetings with the 
Clerk and the office's senior staff on all aspects of the 
Clerk's operations and identified priorities, including 
installation of the new electronic voting system on the House 
Floor; implementation of a redesigned website; development of a 
new online BioGuide (Biographical Directory of the United 
States Congress) for past and present Members of Congress; and 
ongoing construction of a new archival storage space located at 
the Government Publishing Office to store the records of the 
House.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \5\This initiative is a joint venture with the National Archives.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In addition, the Committee worked with several of the 
Clerk's divisions on projects over the last two years. This 
included the release of Asian and Pacific Islander Americans in 
Congress, 1900-2017, which was compiled by the Office of Art 
and Archives in collaboration with the House Historian and GPO. 
The book was launched by the Congressional Asian Pacific 
American Caucus (CAPAC), House Leadership, and the Committee, 
and was the fourth and final installation in the ``In 
Congress'' series mandated by law in the 107th Congress.
    In addition, as will be discussed infra, the Rules of the 
House for the 115th Congress provided for greater transparency 
and accessibility to legislative information. Specifically, the 
Rules of the House were amended to provide comparative prints 
for all legislation moving to the House floor, which includes 
comparisons from existing law and for differing versions of 
legislative text. The Clerk is the primary entity responsible 
for implementing the initiative, which will be fully 
operational in 2020.
    The Clerk continued to co-chair the Bulk Data Task Force 
and worked with Committee staff to strengthen transparency 
through digitizing legislative material in the House. The Clerk 
led and participated in the Committee sponsored Legislative 
Data and Transparency Conferences held on June 27, 2017 and on 
July 12, 2018. The events brought stakeholders together from 
within and outside the House to discuss strengthening access to 
the legislative process.

Sergeant at Arms

    The House Sergeant at Arms (``HSAA'') is responsible for 
maintaining the security of the House of Representatives, 
including the buildings located on the House side of the 
Capitol and its campus, and Members of Congress, congressional 
employees, and visitors. The HSAA directs security for the 
House Chamber, the parking garages, and district offices; and 
directs emergency responses and continuity of government 
operations for the House of Representatives. The Committee 
ensures the HSAA's priorities are consistent with the security 
needs of the Members, staff, and the public.
    Following the active shooter incident in June 2017 and the 
increase in Member-reported threats, the Committee and House 
Leadership directed HSAA to create a program providing security 
equipment to Members' District Offices. The district office 
security equipment installation and enhancement program became 
the Committee's main oversight focus during the latter part of 
2017. The HSAA contracted with an outside vendor to provide 
basic security systems for one district office per Member. The 
Committee received weekly updates on the progress of the 
equipment installations. In addition, the Committee, Leadership 
staff, and the HSAA reviewed progress monthly from July to 
December 2017 to ensure equipment installations were completed 
in a timely manner. On February 27, 2018, the Committee adopted 
Committee Resolution 115-7, which incorporated changes to the 
Members' Congressional Handbook addressing the use of official 
resources for district security purposes (see supra). In May 
2018, the Committee's focus turned to the future of the program 
and the development of policies for transitioning into the 
116th Congress.
    In 2018, the HSAA formally established the District 
Security Service Center (``DSSC''), which is responsible for 
continuing to implement the district office security equipment 
enhancement program. The DSSC is district offices' point of 
contact with the HSAA for district office security needs. The 
Center also incorporates the HSAA's Law Enforcement Coordinator 
Program as well as implements other district security 
initiatives. The Committee continues to monitor the development 
and effectiveness of the DSSC.
    In addition to District Office Security meetings, the 
Committee conducted biweekly oversight meetings with the House 
Sergeant at Arms. The Committee received updates on campus-wide 
security infrastructure enhancements, including garage 
security; pre-screening; USCP manpower needs; special events 
such as the State of the Union Address; Enhanced Screening 
Portals; and securing the O'Neill House Office Building. 
Additionally, the Committee directed the HSAA to develop a 
comprehensive, campus-wide master security plan, the progress 
of which the Committee continues to monitor.
    On January 11, 2017, the Committee adopted its House 
parking policy for the 115th Congress. In 2018, the Committee 
oversaw renewed enforcement of the House parking policy.

Chief Administrative Officer

    The Chief Administrative Officer (``CAO'') of the House 
provides services and support for the House community, 
including the Office of Financial Counseling, food services, 
logistics and support, furniture, photography, and access to 
the recording studio, among other internal House operations. 
The Committee oversaw enhancements in the CAO's service 
offerings and vision for the future during the 115th Congress.
            Financial Operation
    During the 115th Congress, the CAO and the Committee 
focused on strengthening the financial operations of the House. 
The CAO hired a new Chief Financial Officer of the House, 
Leonard Puzzuoli, in the fall of 2018. Additionally, the 
Committee emphasized the need for the CAO to improve the advice 
provided by the Office of Financial Counseling (``OFC''). The 
CAO took aggressive steps to improve the performance of 
personnel in the office, as well as the timeliness and accuracy 
of the office's work. Furthermore, the Committee has provided 
oversight and assistance with the transition of the House 
Finance Card Program, which includes the House's Purchase and 
Travel credit cards. The Committee reviewed and approved the 
Finance Card transition and assisted OFC with resolving 
outstanding balances on the current Travel cards in order to 
ensure a smooth transition into the new Finance Card Program.
            Food Services
    The Committee continues to oversee the administration of 
the food service contracts. The Committee and CAO focused on 
improving food services, options and delivery to Members and 
staff. Of note, the Committee approved the opening of the 
Bennett Room located in the Members' Dining Room to staff, 
which will increase use of the facility.
            Transition
    During the 115th Congress, the Committee worked closely 
with the CAO on transition policies and procedures for the 
116th Congress. The Committee approved policies related to the 
116th Congress transition, including but not limited to the 
handling of equipment, furniture, and records. These policies 
impact both incoming Members of Congress, as well as Departing 
Members of Congress.
    While the Committee organizes and hosts the New Member 
Orientation for newly-elected Members of Congress, the 
Committee also focuses its efforts on ensuring Departing 
Members of Congress are supported in their transition. The 
Committee worked with the CAO to setup 2044 RHOB, an outfitted 
temporary space for outgoing Members of Congress who no longer 
have office space, to be able to continue their office 
operations through the end of the 115th Congress. The Committee 
also coordinated a Member-level briefing for Departing Members 
in November 2018 and followed the briefing with information to 
respond to Departing Member inquiries regarding their 
transition. Ongoing assistance for Departing Members will 
continue through the duration of the 115th Congress.
    Finally, the Committee worked with the CAO to provide 
relevant information to House Committees regarding transitions 
from Majority to Minority status and vice versa. The Committee 
worked with the CAO to update operational information for 
Committees to utilize as they start transitioning. The CAO made 
this information available as part of its House Transition 
website.
            Workplace Rights and Responsibilities Education
    The CAO, working with the Committee, implemented Workplace 
Rights and Responsibilities Education Program in 2018. 
Utilizing feedback and lessons learned from the first year of 
the program, the CAO and the Committee are working to finalize 
the curriculum for the 2019 training and update the network 
systems that support the training program for the new year. See 
infra on the Office of Compliance for additional information on 
training program.
            House Information Resources
    Throughout the 115th Congress, the Committee worked with 
House Information Resources (``HIR'') to improve technology 
services for the House community. The Committee approved new 
hardware and software standards; faster internet connectivity 
for District Offices; and the use of cloud-based services 
including Office 365 and district office telephone support. The 
Committee worked with HIR to complete the House's Technology 
Vendor Agreements for the 116th Congress.
    The Committee conducted oversight over HIR's technology 
support for Member offices, including the support for the over 
900 district offices throughout the United States and 
territories. At the direction of the Committee, HIR also 
completed the transition in all district offices to internet-
based connections to improve speed. HIR has deployed cloud-
based telephone services to 105 district offices, with the goal 
of deploying to all new Members of the 116th Congress. Office 
365 has been deployed to 6,700 active users with mobile support 
deployed to initial Leadership, Member, and CAO users with 
broad scale deployment to the entire House community planned 
for 2019. In addition, HIR is executing a plan to move over 300 
HIR- managed publicly facing websites to the cloud in 2019 
thereby reducing costs and simplifying cybersecurity 
compliance.
    The Committee continued to examine HIR's management of 
various technology service vendors and approved incremental 
improvements to policies and procedures governing these 
vendors.
    Like any governmental organization, the House must 
continually evolve its cybersecurity capabilities to meet 
changing threats. In consultation with the Committee, HIR 
continued to review the House's security policies and 
procedures and worked to make improvements where warranted. HIR 
now monitors the commonly named Dark Web for House sensitive 
information. HIR improved the security of mobile devices by 
adding mobile security capabilities. HIR's use of a Risk 
Management Framework and assessment methodology has improved 
the security of both traditional and cloud applications.
    Finally, the Committee continued to examine HIR's effort to 
improve technology governance, including efforts to improve 
strategic planning, service management and enterprise 
architecture.

Shared Employees

    Toward the end of the 114th Congress, issues were raised 
with the Committee regarding the practices of shared employees. 
The Committee established a task force (Task Force) to review 
recommendations provided by the House Officers. The Task Force, 
led by Vice Chairman, Congressman Rodney Davis, held two 
bipartisan listening sessions focused on Members who employed 
shared staff. Approximately 15 members participated in the 
listening sessions.
    On April 12, 2018, the Committee held a hearing on the 
issue of shared employees. Testifying at the hearing was Phil 
Kiko, CAO; Paul Irving, Sergeant at Arms, and Michael 
Ptasienski, Inspector General. The hearing provided members 
with the opportunity to question the House officers on 
proposals to mitigate the risks shared employees pose to the 
House. On April 25, 2018, the Committee on House Administration 
(``Committee'') marked up and adopted Committee Resolutions 
115-13 through 115-18. The Committee resolutions directed each 
of the House Officers to develop strategies to implement 
policies relating to shared information technology 
administrators and shared financial administrators. The 
resolutions directed the House Officers to submit 
recommendations within 30 days. On May 25, 2018, the Chief 
Administrative Officer (``CAO''), the Clerk of the House of 
Representatives, and the Sergeant-at-Arms each submitted 
recommended strategies to implement Committee Resolutions 115-
13 through 115-18.
    Subsequent to the House Officer submissions to the 
Committee, concern was expressed by both Member offices who 
employed shared administrators as well as shared administrators 
themselves regarding the proposed strategies issued, 
particularly the proposed standards developed and advocated by 
the CAO. The concerns expressed were primarily twofold--(1) the 
standards themselves were unclear and (2) the standards were 
unnecessarily punitive. On September 14, 2018, the Committee 
received revised recommendations, including standards and best 
practices from the CAO for both the shared information 
technology administrators and shared financial administrators. 
Notwithstanding specific changes to both Appendix B and C, the 
CAO recommended the following: 1) Delaying the implementation 
date to January 2019; 2) Allowing the CAO to move computer 
accounts in October 2018 for interested shared staff; and 3) 
Allowing the implementation plan to include a review and update 
to standards and best practices at three and six-month 
intervals.
    On September 26, 2018, the Committee marked up and adopted 
by unanimous consent Committee Resolution 115-21, a resolution 
approving the May 25, 2018 submissions presented by the House 
Officers, including revisions made on September 14, 2018.

Inspector General

    The Committee worked with the House Office of the Inspector 
General (OIG) to implement its annual workplan focusing on the 
security and financial stability of the House. The House OIG 
issued another unmodified financial statement audit for Fiscal 
Year 2017, marking the twentieth consecutive year for the House 
to receive this positive result.

The Architect of the Capitol

    The Committee oversees the AOC with respect to the House 
side of the Capitol campus, with exception of certain decisions 
that impact House Office Buildings. The Committee reinstated 
monthly oversight meetings with the AOC focusing on the AOC's 
operations, including with the House Superintendent, the Office 
of Security Programs, and the Inspector General.
    On May 24, 2017, the Committee held a hearing titled 
``Oversight of the Architect of the Capitol's Office of the 
Inspector General.'' Testifying at the hearing were Inspector 
General Christopher Failla, Architect of the Capitol, Stephen 
Ayers, and Beryl Davis, Director of Financial Management and 
Assurance for the Government Accountability Office, all of whom 
discussed the importance of the Inspector General's work in the 
AOC's operations. Since that time the Committee has focused on 
Inspector Failla's commitment to institutional integrity and 
the judicious use of taxpayer dollars. Over the last Congress, 
the Office of the Inspector General has completed a Risk 
Assessment to guide future audit work; focused on more 
productive audits; and worked to implement the peer review of 
the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and 
Efficiency's (``CIGIE''). The Committee anticipates the OIG 
will continue its audit work into the 116th Congress. To that 
end, the Committee is committed to ensuring that resources for 
audits of the AOC's large-scale construction projects and other 
vital services necessary for obligations to Congress are 
available to the OIG.
    In addition, the Committee continued its oversight of the 
Cannon Renovation Project. Started in 2016, the AOC completed 
Phase 0, is in the process of completing Phase I, and is 
preparing to start Phase II. Along with the Committee on 
Appropriations and the House Office Building Commission, the 
Committee continued to review the AOC's planning and execution 
for the ten-year project. The Committee continued to facilitate 
the Executive Working Group in order to address outstanding 
issues related to the project. Participants of the Executive 
Working Group include Committee staff, House Leadership staff, 
Committee on Appropriations staff, House Officers, USCP, SAA 
and the AOC.
    The Committee also oversaw the automation and streamlining 
of the flag flying service available to House offices. The AOC 
in coordination with the CAO implemented a new service 
beginning February 12, 2018. A phased-in approach was initiated 
to automatically process constituent flag flying requests 
through the CAO's Flag Order Portal with the Pay.gov function 
embedded on Members' websites. With the new system, Member 
offices no longer need to purchase flags in-person or online 
from the House Office Supply Store. The AOC and CAO now deliver 
the purchased flags to the Flag Office to be flown before 
delivering them back to the Member's Office. This important 
development brings innovation and efficiency to a key, but 
historically and notoriously cumbersome, constituent service. 
All Member Offices were notified of the change between February 
12-May 14, 2018. The Committee continues to monitor and 
facilitate the use of this program.
    The Committee also continued to focus on: (1) the Rayburn 
Garage Rehabilitation Initiative, currently in Phase II, and 
(2) the Hearing Room Audio-Visual Initiative (HRAVI), a long-
term initiative to modernize Hearing Room audio-visual 
capabilities. With respect to the Rayburn Rehabilitation 
Initiative, the Committee is monitoring the AOC and its work 
with other affected key stakeholders and with the House 
community to promptly notify them of changes to the 
functionality of the garages. The Committee also continued to 
collaborate with the AOC's HRAVI team and the HRAVI partners 
from the CAO's House Recording Studio to identify committees in 
need of updated audio-visual capabilities in their hearing 
rooms. In the 115th Congress, seven committee hearing rooms 
were completely upgraded with four more in the queue to be 
upgraded.
    The Committee continued to oversee the Capitol Visitor 
Center. During 2018, its 10th anniversary year, the CVC 
witnessed its 22 millionth visitor. The Committee coordinated 
with the CVC's management team and met regularly to ensure 
visitor operations were run effectively and efficiently. The 
Committee held a hearing on May 16, 2018 entitled ``The U.S. 
Capitol Visitor Center--Ten Years of Serving Congress and the 
American People.'' Testifying was CEO of Visitor Services for 
the CVC, Beth Plemmons.
    Of particular focus at the hearing was the visitor 
experience as Members, Member staff, and the public continue to 
utilize the CVC. Responding to concern about Capitol tour wait 
times, the Committee worked with the Appropriations Committee 
to include language in House Report 115-199. The Report 
directed the CVC to ``develop potential alternate policies to 
guide ticket distributions during this [April through the 
Easter holiday] peak period.'' The Report was submitted to the 
Committee on September 21, 2018 and will guide the Committee as 
it evaluates the CVC's visitor and ticketing experience to 
ensure the CVC is properly focused and staffed to handle its 
increasing numbers of visitors.
    In addition, the Committee continued to conduct oversight 
of the redesign of Exhibition Hall, which has infrastructure 
and technological vulnerabilities. A significant part of the 
design work was completed in 2018, which the Committee will 
continue to evaluate, while the physical renovations will begin 
in spring of 2019. The Committee expects the CVC to reopen 
Exhibition Hall by Inauguration Day 2021.

Fine Arts Board

    The Committee oversees the House Fine Arts Board which is 
comprised of the five House Members of the Joint Committee on 
the Library. The Board oversees the works of fine art and 
historical objects that are the property of Congress and are 
displayed in the House wing of the Capitol or in the House 
Office Buildings. The Board also accepts gifts of fine art and 
historical objects on behalf of the House, the collection of 
which is maintained by the Clerk.
    During the past two years, the Fine Arts Board approved 
requests to organize the portrait fund Committees for Chairman 
Diane Black, (Acting) Chairman Sam Johnson, Chairman Ed Royce, 
Chairman Michael Conaway, Chairman Michael McCaul, Chairman 
(Ways & Means) Paul Ryan, Chairman Mac Thornberry, Chairman 
Lamar Smith, Chairman Pete Sessions and Chairman Bob Goodlatte. 
Further, the Board approved the acceptance and deed of gift for 
the portraits of Chairman Goodlatte, Chairman Jeb Hensarling, 
(Acting) Chairman Johnson, Chairman Lamar Smith, Chairman Ed 
Royce, Chairman Bill Shuster, Chairman Jeff Miller, Chairman 
(Budget) Ryan, Chairman Black, and Chairman Fred Upton. Each 
will be added to the House Collection.
    The Board also approved a loan request from the 
Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery (NPG) for the campaign 
poster of Rep. Patsy Mink. The NPG requested to include the 
poster as part of their gallery exhibition ``Votes for Women: 
An American Awakening, 1840-1920'' commemorating the centennial 
of women's suffrage. For this exhibit, the House Curator worked 
closely with the Portrait Gallery to facilitate the loan, which 
presents the House with an opportunity to showcase its 
collection.

Office of Congressional Accessibility Services

    The Office of Congressional Accessibility Services 
(``OCAS'') was created by the Capitol Visitor Center Act of 
2008. OCAS operates under the direction of the Congressional 
Accessibility Services Board and is charged with providing and 
coordinating accessibility services for individuals with 
disabilities, including Members of Congress, House Officers and 
employees of the House and Senate, and visitors to the U.S. 
Capitol Complex. The Committee on House Administration oversees 
the agency's operations and meets with OCAS quarterly.
    Over the past two years, the Committee met on a bicameral, 
bipartisan basis to discuss a number of accessibility issues 
impacting Member and committee offices and the public 
including, but not limited to, sign language interpreting 
services, assistive listening services, accessibility training, 
accessible tours, and House intranet improvements for 
accessibility resources and maps. The Committee continues to 
oversee the OCAS' commitment to the public and its commitment 
to educating and working with the other legislative branch 
stakeholders.

Library of Congress and Joint Committee on the Library

    The Committee met regularly with Library management during 
the 115th Congress to monitor and review operations, services, 
and planning initiatives.
    Of particular focus for the Committee was the Library's 
decision to develop and implement a new strategic plan, 
notwithstanding the current plan did not expire until 2020. 
Moreover, concern was expressed by the Library IG with the 
Library's lack of performance measures and accountability in 
the existing plan. To that end, on July 26, 2017, the Committee 
held the first of two hearings focused on the new Strategic 
Plan titled ``Oversight of the Library of Congress' Strategic 
Plan.'' Testifying was Librarian of Congress Dr. Carla D. 
Hayden. On July 25, 2018, the Committee held a follow-up 
hearing entitled ``Oversight of the Library of Congress' 
Strategic Plan, Part 2.'' Testifying were Librarian Hayden, LOC 
Inspector General Kurt Hyde, and Director of Strategic Planning 
at the Library Dianne Houghton.
    The Library's final plan, ``Enriching the Library 
Experience'', was released on September 9, 2018. Encompassing 
the years 2019-2023, the Plan emphasizes the Library's 
commitment to usability, accessibility, collaboration, and 
technological innovation in order to bring the Library's 
resources to Congress and by extension to the American people. 
The Committee will continue to monitor the Library's overall 
implementation of the plan; the individual service units' 
implementation of the plan; the Library's realignment of 
service units to implement the plan, which began in Spring 
2018; the Library's efforts to continue to attract, and better 
serve, its physical and online visitors through communication, 
marketing, and collaboration; and the Library's continued 
commitment to its collections and to maintaining the Library's 
status in the U.S. and the world.
    Vital to these efforts is the Library's commitment to 
modernizing its Information Technology (IT) infrastructure. The 
Committee continued during the 115th Congress to hold the 
Library accountable for improving its severe IT deficiencies as 
documented in the Activities Report for the 114th Congress. The 
Library continued to implement and work with GAO to close its 
31 public and 74 non-public recommendations stemming from GAO's 
2015 IT Audit. At the urging of its CIO and IG, the Library has 
made significant progress in closing these recommendations. The 
LOC has successfully closed 24 of the public recommendations 
and has submitted evidence, currently being evaluated, to close 
out four more. The Committee anticipates the final three public 
recommendations being closed during the first (2 
recommendations) and second (1 recommendation) quarters of 
FY19.
    The Committee also focused on other Library initiatives, 
including: the Library's efforts to develop and execute a $60 
million Master Plan for a new Visitor Experience in the 
Jefferson Building; the aforementioned realignment of its 
service units; operations at the Audio-Visual Conservation 
Center (the Packard Campus) in Culpeper, VA; the National 
Library Service; and the Library's storage modules at Ft. 
Meade. The Committee focused on the Copyright Office's 
Modernization Plan and the Library's continued development of 
Congress.gov and related upcoming termination of LIS. Finally, 
the Committee focused on its efforts in ensuring CRS continued 
to meet the needs of Congress in an objective manner.
    The Joint Committee on the Library (JCL) has no legislative 
authority but is tasked with oversight of the Library of 
Congress, the Congressional Research Service, and the United 
States Botanic Garden (USBG), as well as management of the 
National Statuary Hall Collection and art in the Capitol.
    On February 2, 2017, H. Res. 82 was introduced in the House 
and passed by unanimous consent nominating the following 
Members to JCL: Chairman Harper, Rep. Loudermilk, Rep. Brady, 
Rep. Lofgren and Chairman Frelinghuysen. On April 6, 2017, the 
Joint Committee held its organizational meeting whereby the 
Chairman and Vice Chairman were designated and the rules 
governing the proceedings of the Joint Committee were adopted. 
Subsequent to Senator Roy Blunt's nomination to replace Senator 
Shelby as Chairman of the Senate Rules and Administration 
Committee, the Joint Committee held a second organizational 
meeting on May 16, 2018 to re-designate the Chairman and Vice-
Chairman.
    During the 115th Congress, the JCL worked with the AOC on 
requests to replace statues from the states of Nebraska (with 
William Cather and Chief Standing Bear); Utah (with Dr. Martha 
Hughes Cannon); and North Carolina (with Rev. Billy Graham). 
Finally, the JCL approved multiple resolutions important to the 
Botanic Garden and Library of Congress, such as the acceptance 
of unique preservation and conservation equipment necessary to 
the capabilities of the Audio- Visual Conservation Center; 
(funding a study of) the storage capacity of the Copyright 
Office; the empowerment of the Library's Trust Fund Board 
Investment Committee; the hours of the Law Library; artwork in 
the tunnel between the CVC and the Jefferson Building; 
empowering the Botanic Garden to offer a greater variety and 
means of educational and outreach services to its visiting 
public; updating the Garden's event policies to allow for a 
limited number of outdoors events; and expanding the Garden's 
hours for specific exhibit-related or holiday show needs to 
accommodate public demand and interest.

Joint Committee on Printing and U.S. Government Publishing Office

    The Government Publishing Office (``GPO'') produces, 
preserves and distributes the official publications and 
information products of the Congress and Federal government. By 
House rule, the Committee has oversight of and legislative 
jurisdiction over the Government Publishing Office. By law, the 
Chairman of the Committee on House Administration and the 
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration 
serve with four other Members of each committee on the Joint 
Committee on Printing (``JCP''). The bicameral JCP exercises 
certain oversight and regulatory authority over Federal 
printing policy, congressional printing and administration of 
the GPO.
    Throughout the Congress, the Committee worked closely with 
GPO on the production, communication and distribution of 
several publications including the 115th Congressional 
Directory, the 114th Congress Pictorial Directory, and the 
President's Budget. In addition to fulfilling requests for 
these publications, the Committee responded to numerous 
requests on a weekly basis for other Congressional publications 
including Our Flag, Pocket Constitution, Our American 
Government, and How Our Laws Are Made.
    The Committee spent this Congress reviewing Title 44 of the 
United States Code as it relates to government printing and the 
Federal Depository Library Program and drafted legislation to 
modernize Chapters: 1; 3; 5; 7; 9; 11; 13; 15; 17; 19; 39; & 
41. It has been more than a quarter of a century since Title 44 
has been substantially reviewed; more than a half century since 
the ``modern'' Federal Depository Library Program was 
established; and more than 100 years since most public printing 
provisions were drafted. Through regular order, including: 
bipartisan hearings; bipartisan roundtable discussions; and 
bipartisan field visits to libraries; the Chairman and Ranking 
Member introduced legislation to reform Chapters 17, 19, and 41 
of Title 44 to modernize the Federal Depository Library 
Program. All Members of the Committee were co-sponsors.
    On February 7 and 8, 2017, the Committee held its first 
oversight hearing on GPO titled ``Priorities of the House 
Officers and Legislative Branch Entities for FY2018 and 
Beyond.'' Testifying at the hearing for GPO was GPO Director 
Davita Vance-Cooks, who discussed GPO's budget priorities.
    On April 6, 2017, the Joint Committee on Printing held it 
Organizational Meeting for the 115th Congress, during which 
time Senator Richard Shelby was designated as Chairman and 
Congressman Rodney Davis as Vice-Chairman. The JCP adopted 
Rules for the 115th Congress.
    On May 17, 2017, the Committee held its second oversight 
hearing on GPO's operations titled ``Transforming GPO for the 
21st Century and Beyond.'' GPO Director Davita Vance-Cooks 
testified on GPO's priorities. The Committee focused on the 
five management challenges identified by GPO's IG in the last 
11 semi-annual reports to Congress. At the top of the list is 
the IG's concern that GPO is not focusing on its core mission 
of information dissemination. The Committee's concern, and that 
of the IG, remains that there has been no significant progress 
by GPO management in addressing the challenges.
    On July 18, 2007, the Committee held its third hearing on 
GPO entitled ``Transforming GPO for the 21st Century and 
Beyond, Part 2.'' GPO Director Davita Vance-Cooks testified at 
the hearing. Although GPO responded to the Committee's follow 
up questions to the last hearing, with 1,100 pages of material, 
several of the answers needed further clarification. The 
Committee focused in greater detail on GPO's operations in 
order to make more meaningful reforms.
    On September 26, 2007, the Committee held its fourth 
hearing on GPO titled: ``Transforming GPO for the 21st Century 
and Beyond, Part 3--Federal Depository Library Program.'' The 
hearing included two panels of witnesses. Testifying on the 
first panel was Acting Superintendent of Documents, Laurie 
Hall. On the second panel (1) Celina McDonald, Librarian for 
Government Documents, Law, Criminology and Criminal Justice at 
the University of Maryland; (2) Beth Williams, Stanford Law 
School's Library Director; (3) Stephen Parks, State Librarian 
of Mississippi; and (4) Mike Furlough, Executive Director of 
Hathi Trust Digital Library all testified. The hearing focused 
on the implementation and needed reforms in Chapter 19 of Title 
44, which established the Federal Depository Library Program 
(``FDLP'').
    On October 4, 2017 the Committee held a roundtable 
discussion on the current Federal Depository Library Program 
with FDLP stakeholders. The following stakeholders were 
invited: American Association of Law Libraries; American 
Library Association; Association of Research Libraries; 
Association of Southeastern Research Libraries; Cyber Cemetery; 
Demand Progress; Digital Library Federation; GovTrack; 
HathiTrust; Internet Archive; Ithaki S+R; Medical Library 
Association; OpenGov Foundation; Public Resource.org; Special 
Libraries Association; Sunlight Foundation; and Urban Libraries 
Council. The discussion focused on the structural and 
programmatic aspects of the FDLP as well as way to modernize 
the program.
    On October 11, 2017, the Committee held its fifth hearing 
on GPO operations titled: ``Transforming GPO for the 21st 
Century and Beyond, Part 4.'' The hearing included two panels 
of witnesses. The first panel included the Honorable Karen 
Haas, Clerk of the House, and the second panel included: (1) 
Eric Petersen, specialist in American National Government, 
Congressional Research Service, who discussed the role of the 
Joint Committee on Printing and the constitutional principles 
of separation of powers as it related to Congress's control of 
Federal printing in executive branch agencies; (2) Robin Dale, 
Deputy Director for Library Services, Institute of Museum and 
Library Services, an independent agency in the executive 
branch, who discussed Federal grantmaking to libraries; and (3) 
Roger Schonfeld, Director of Libraries and Scholarly 
Communications Programs, Ithaka S+R, a not-for-profit service 
that helps academic and cultural communities effectively use 
digital technologies. The hearing enabled the committee to 
discuss broad reforms with stakeholders.
    On January 24, 2018 the Committee held a roundtable 
discussion on the current draft of the GPO Modernization Act of 
2018 with the labor unions representing GPO employees. The 
following union bargaining units were invited to participate: 
AFGE Local 2876; BPAT Local 1937; CTU Local 101-12; FOP Lodge 
No. 1; GCC Local 1-C; GCC Local 4-B; GCC Local 713-S; IAM & AW 
Local 2135; and IBEW Local 121.
    On March 7, 2018, the Committee scheduled, but postponed, a 
hearing on GPO entitled ``Management of the Government 
Publishing Office.'' Acting Director James Bradley was 
requested to appear as a witness but resigned his office the 
day before the scheduled hearing. As a result, the hearing was 
postponed.
    On April 12, 2018, the Committee held a meeting to markup 
H.R. 5305, the Federal Depository Library Program Modernization 
Act of 2018, and H.R. 4631, the Access to Congressionally 
Mandated Reports Act. H.R. 5305 makes the following changes to 
the FDLP: (1) it recognizes the existence of a national 
collection of information dissemination products; (2) it 
updates the types of depository libraries across the country 
that may participate in the FDLP; (3) it eliminates the 
problems with fugitive documents in the government; (4) it 
allows the FDLP to accept work completed by the library 
community; (5) it provides for greater transparency in the FDLP 
itself; and (6) it removes the sales program from the purview 
of the Superintendent of Documents to allow the Superintendent 
to focus on no-fee access to government information. H.R. 5305 
is supported by the major library associations, including the 
American Library Association, the American Association of Law 
Libraries, the Association of Research Libraries, and the Chief 
Officers of State Library Agencies.
    H.R. 4631 also amends Title 44 by requiring the Government 
Publishing Office to, among other things, establish and 
maintain a publicly available website containing copies of all 
congressionally mandated reports. The bill also directs the 
Office of Management and Budget to issue guidance to federal 
agencies to assist them in submitting the reports to GPO. The 
bill was marked up and reported out of the Committee on 
Oversight and Government Reform earlier in the year. Forty-five 
organizations support this bipartisan legislation.
    On May 16, 2018, the Joint Committee on Printing held an 
organizational meeting to elect a new Chairman. Senator Roy 
Blunt was selected. Congressman Rodney Davis remained Vice-
Chairman.

United States Capitol Police

    The United States Capitol Police (``USCP'', the 
``Department'') force protects Members, staff, the public, and 
the Capitol campus to allow Congress to fulfill its 
constitutional and legislative responsibilities in a safe, 
secure, and open environment.
    The Committee's goals with respect to oversight of the USCP 
have been twofold: to ensure the effectiveness of USCP 
operations and to ensure that USCP management are supporting 
rank-and-file officers and civilians, including providing the 
resources needed to conduct operations. To that end, over the 
last two years, the Committee held biweekly oversight meetings 
with USCP leadership and staff from the Committee on Senate 
Rules and Administration. During meetings, the Committees 
received reports on House Office Building entrance wait times, 
staffing, and personnel updates. USCP also briefed Committees 
of all upcoming special events.
    Similarly, in 2018, Committee staff met with the Assistant 
Chief of Police and each USCP Bureau Commander and Office 
Director to gain deeper understanding of each of the 
Department's components.
    The Committee also regularly reviewed the progress of 
security construction projects and other physical security 
enhancements in and around the Capitol during the 115th 
Congress. Such projects include construction of an area to 
prescreen visitors outside buildings; implementation of garage 
security enhancements; incorporation of the O'Neill Building 
into the House Office Building perimeter; and expansion of the 
House Day Care Center. The Committee closely monitored the USCP 
recruitment classes and necessary changes to training 
curricula.
    With respect to management and workforce, on June 26, 2018, 
the Committee conducted an oversight hearing titled, ``United 
States Capitol Police: Operations and Workforce.'' The 
Committee received testimony from Matthew R. Verderosa, Chief, 
United States Capitol Police; Michael A. Bolton, Acting 
Inspector General, USCP; and Gus Papathanasiou, Chairman of the 
USCP Labor Committee, Fraternal Order of Police. The hearing 
enabled the Committee to understand the USCP Strategic Plan; 
convey the Committee's expectation regarding USCP operations; 
and examine the USCP's decision-making process. While USCP 
management assured the Committee that its emphasis on workforce 
development and morale remained a priority, the labor union 
representative made clear that management must do more to 
resolve termination arbitration issues. USCP management also 
emphasized its continued work to close out recommendations from 
its Office of Inspector General.
    The Committee also reviewed and responded to the needs of 
Members subsequent to an active shooter incident. The incident 
demonstrated the vulnerability of Members and staff and the 
need to revisit policies and procedures regarding the security 
of Members off campus. The Committee continues to monitor 
Member security support. In addition to its focus on procedure, 
the Committee allocated an additional $50,000 for Member MRA to 
support enhanced district office security (see supra 3-4).
    Separately, the Committee conducted oversight of FLETC and 
FLETC's Psychology Consortium to better understand the USCP 
recruitment process. In particular, attending FLETC enabled the 
Committee to review the basic training curriculum.

Smithsonian

    The Committee serves as the primary legislative and 
oversight body for the Smithsonian Institution, a federal trust 
instrumentality composed of 19 museums, numerous research 
centers, and the National Zoological Park (``Zoo''). 
Approximately two-thirds of the Institution's funding is from 
direct federal appropriations.
    Governance of the Smithsonian is vested in a 17-member 
Board of Regents, consisting of the Chief Justice, Vice 
President, six Members of Congress and nine citizen regents 
nominated by the Board and approved by a joint resolution of 
Congress.
    During the 115th Congress, the Smithsonian Board of Regents 
nominated four individuals to serve as citizen regents, Roger 
Ferguson, Michael Govan, Steven Case and Barbara Barrett. Both 
Mr. Case and Ms. Barrett were nominated to serve a second term 
as citizen regents. Legislation providing for these 
appointments was introduced and referred to the Committee (H.J. 
Res. 80; H.J. Res. 79; H.J. Res. 78; and H.J. Res. 133). 
Committee Members met separately with each nominee to discuss 
Smithsonian governance and assess the nominees' views and 
qualifications. The House approved the legislation by unanimous 
consent on April 6, 2017 (S.J.Res 30; S.J. Res. 35; and S.J. 
Res. 36) and on June 28, 2018 (S.J. Res. 60) and the 
legislation was subsequently signed into law.
    On March 28, 2017, the Committee held an oversight hearing 
on ``The Smithsonian Institution's Priorities.'' Testifying at 
the hearing was David Skorton, Secretary of the Smithsonian. 
The hearing provided an opportunity for the Committee to 
discuss the development of a new strategic plan for the 
Smithsonian and to review goals and priorities in 2017 and in 
the future. The Secretary also updated the Committee on 
facilities maintenance issues, including the renovation of the 
National Air and Space Museum (``NASM'') Mall building and the 
significant backlog of deferred maintenance projects. Given 
these challenges and budgetary constraints, the Secretary 
testified that the Smithsonian currently lacked the capacity 
and resources to add new museums to its portfolio.
    On October 11, 2017, H.R. 4009 was introduced authorizing 
the Smithsonian to construct a central parking facility at the 
National Zoo's campus in the District of Columbia, using no 
appropriated funds. Officials from the Smithsonian and the 
National Zoo briefed Committee and Member staff on the 
proposal. The Smithsonian planned to consolidate parking lots 
spread across the Zoo campus into a central facility located at 
a mid-point of the Zoo. The intent was to enter into a public-
private partnership to design, construct and operate the 
facility. On December 13, 2017, the Committee marked up H.R. 
4009 and reported it by voice vote. Following passage by the 
House and Senate, H.R. 4009 was signed into law on June 1, 
2108. Subsequently, the Smithsonian cancelled its plans to move 
forward with parking facility due to limited response to the 
Request for Proposal process.
    In addition to legislation, the Committee's oversight 
activities in the 115th Congress included: biweekly oversight 
meetings and site visits to Smithsonian facilities. In January 
2018, staff visited the NASM Udvar-Hazy museum in Chantilly, VA 
to review progress on the construction of a new storage module. 
In the near term, the module will be used as swing space for 
artifacts that must be removed from the Mall facility during 
the revitalization of that building. Ultimately, it will become 
the permanent storage space for collection items moved from 
substandard facilities at the Garber Facility in Suitland, MD. 
The storage module is scheduled for completion in January 2019 
at a cost of $58.4 million. In July 2018, staff visited the 
Rock Creek campus of the National Zoo to receive a briefing on 
proposed security enhancements and tour the areas of the zoo 
affected by the changes.
    In addition, the Committee met with the Smithsonian and the 
Smithsonian IG on various topics including information 
security; the partnership between the Smithsonian and the 
Victoria and Albert Museum in London; financial and budgetary 
matters; agendas for the Board of Regent meetings; the upcoming 
closure of a portion of the NASM Mall building due to the 
revitalization project; and the Smithsonian's educational 
resources and programming.

Office of Compliance

    In 1995, Congress passed the Congressional Accountability 
Act (``CAA''), which among other things required Congress to 
adhere to many of the same employment and workplace safety 
standards required of the federal government and the private 
sector.\6\ The CAA applies thirteen workplace laws to the 
legislative branch, including but not limited to: ``The Fair 
Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.); Title VII 
of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et 6 seq.); 
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et 
seq.); The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (29 
U.S.C. 621 et seq.); The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 
(29 U.S.C. 2611 et seq.); The Occupational Safety and Health 
Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.); Chapter 71 (relating to 
Federal service labor-management relations) of title 5; The 
Employee Polygraph Protection Act of 1988 (29 U.S.C. 2001 et 
seq.); The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act 
(29 U.S.C. 2101 et seq.); The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 
U.S.C. 701 et seq.); and Chapter 43 (relating to veterans' 
employment and reemployment) of title 38.''\7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \6\2 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.
    \7\2 U.S.C. 1302(a).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In addition to incorporating employment and workplace 
safety standards, the CAA created the Office of Compliance 
(``OOC''), which is responsible for implementing and enforcing 
the CAA. The accounts of sexual harassment revealed in the 
congressional workplace during the 115th Congress increased the 
Committee's focus on the operations of the OOC.
    The OOC testified at both of the Committee's hearings on 
sexual harassment [see November 14, 2018 hearing and December 
7, 2018 hearing infra]. In addition, the Committee closely 
monitored the Office's reporting requirement under 2 U.S.C. 
1381(h)(3). On November 30, 2017, the Committee requested the 
following information from the OOC: (1) statistics concerning 
the aggregate amount of settlements against Member, Committee 
and Leadership Offices since 2013 including the number of 
offices against whom claims were awarded or settled; the number 
of claims that specifically involved sexual discrimination 
(which includes sexual harassment and gender discrimination); 
and the number of claims that specifically involving [sic] 
sexual harassment. In addition, the Committee sought statistics 
concerning the aggregate amount of settlements paid by the 
House of Representatives and a breakdown of the aggregate 
amount of settlements paid by the House of Representatives by 
type of claim, including a specific category for sexual 
harassment (which includes quid pro quo and hostile workplace 
harassment claims) since 1997. The OOC responded on December 1, 
2017; December 19, 2017; and January 12, 2018; with the 
relevant information.
    Relatedly, the Speaker of the House of Representatives 
directed the Committee to review the House's workplace 
policies, procedures, and training. On November 14, 2017, the 
Committee on House Administration held the first of two 
hearings titled ``Preventing Sexual Harassment in the 
Congressional Workplace.'' Testifying at the hearing were OOC 
Board Chair, Barbara Walters, and Gloria Lett, Counsel, OHEC, 
in addition to Congresswoman Speier (CA) and Congressman Byrne 
(AL). The hearing focused on identifying the most apparent gaps 
in the House of Representatives' training, policies, and 
procedures and identifying effective mechanisms to address 
these issues.
    In response to the hearing, on November 29, 2017, the House 
passed H. Res. 630, a resolution requiring all House employees, 
including interns, fellows, and detailees, to participate in a 
mandatory annual training program. In addition, the resolution 
required all House offices to post a statement of employee 
rights and protections under the CAA. The Committee implemented 
the training requirement set forth in H.R. 630 by passing 
Committee Resolution 115-22 on December 19, 2017. The 
resolution outlined the parameters of the training, including 
the requirement that the training be in person and for 90 
minutes. On January 8, 2018, the Committee directed the CAO to 
implement the training requirement. The CAO subsequently 
awarded the responsibilities to Franklin Covey on February 9, 
2018. At the completion of the initial training phase July 2, 
2018, more than 14,000 Members and House employees, interns, 
detailees, and fellows had completed the training. Training 
continues for all new employees through December 31, 2018.
    On December 7, 2017, the Committee held a second hearing 
focusing on necessary reforms to the CAA. Testifying at the 
hearing were Victoria A. Lipnic, Acting Chair, Equal Employment 
Opportunity Commission; Susan Tsui Grundmann, Executive 
Director, Office of Compliance; Gloria Lett, Counsel, Office of 
House Employment Counsel; and Daniel F. C. Crowley, Partner, 
K&L Gates LLP. The witnesses discussed the administration of 
the adjudication process by the OOC. Among the issues 
highlighted during the hearing were the following:
           The importance of investigations in anti-
        harassment complaint processes,
           The need for a victim's advocate,
           The need for mediation to be discretionary,
           The need to expedite the adjudication 
        process, and
           The need for greater transparency in 
        statistics reported by the OOC.
    In addition to the hearings, the Committee also held a 
roundtable discussion with representatives from various 
organizations, including Society for Human Resource Management, 
National Women's Law Center, and private litigators. The 
purpose of the roundtable was to discuss best practices in the 
private sector with respect to training and workplace rights 
and responsibilities generally with practitioners and other 
experts to identify practicable reforms to the current dispute 
resolution process. Separately, the Committee met again with 
the EEOC to discuss the EEOC's Anti-Harassment and Anti-
Discrimination Task Force Recommendations.
    Subsequent to the hearings and roundtable discussion, the 
House unanimously passed H.R.4924, The Congressional 
Accountability Reform Act, on February 6, 2018. The House bill 
made a number of important changes to the Congressional 
Accountability Act, including: providing investigatory 
authority to the Office of Workplace Rights for employment law 
claims against Congressional Offices; ending required 
counseling and mediation for claimants; and prohibiting federal 
funds from being used for settlements for sexual harassment and 
other forms of discrimination committed by Members of Congress. 
H.R.4924 provided transparency when employment law claims are 
settled or awards issued and also renamed the OOC to the Office 
of Congressional Workplace Rights. On December 13, 2018, the 
House passed by unanimous consent S. 3749, the Congressional 
Accountability Act of 1995 Reform Act. S. 3749 among other 
things holds Members personally responsible for unlawful acts 
of harassment and retaliation. S. 3749 was also passed by the 
Senate on the same day.
    On February 6, 2018, the House unanimously passed H.Res. 
724, which among other reforms, requires the House of 
Representatives to establish a universal policy on anti-
harassment and anti-discrimination. Relatedly, the Committee 
hosted a roundtable discussion with stakeholders to share best 
practices for the development of a universal anti-harassment 
and anti-discrimination policy, as well as to analyze the key 
components of an effective policy. The Committee passed 
Committee Resolution 115-12 on April 25, 2018, which 
established the minimum requirements that must be incorporated 
into each office's employment policy.
    H.Res. 724 also authorized the creation of the Office of 
Employee Advocacy. The Office of Employee Advocacy began 
offering assistance to House employees beginning October 1, 
2018, including providing consultation, advice, and 
representation to all House employees on employment issues.

Elections

    Article 1, Section 5, of the Constitution, delegates to 
each Chamber responsibility and authority to judge its own 
elections. Pursuant to this authority and House rule X, clause 
1, the Committee on House Administration is responsible for the 
elections of the President, Vice President, Members, Senators, 
Delegates, or the Resident Commissioner, corrupt practices, 
contested elections, credentials and qualifications, and 
overseeing federal elections generally. In addition, the 
Committee is responsible for implementing the Federal Contested 
Elections Act (2 U.S.C. 381 et seq.).
    To execute its responsibilities under the Constitution, 
FCEA, and oversight of federal elections generally, the 
Committee coordinates efforts on a bipartisan basis to ensure 
that all ballots in close congressional races are counted 
fairly and accurately. When requested by a Member or candidate, 
the Committee deploys two observers, one from the Majority and 
one from the Minority, to the congressional district at issue. 
Specific observer responsibilities include: documenting the 
state of ballots during an extended count and/or recount, 
observing the security of voting machines, equipment, voter 
rolls, records, and the security of stored ballots. The 
observations are critical to the United States House of 
Representatives and to the Committee, particularly in the event 
the House or Committee is directed to investigate or resolve 
any contested election.
    During the 2018 election, the Committee received 13 
requests for observers from Members and/or candidates for 
congressional office. Nine observers were deployed for the 
Majority to 11 congressional races. Two candidates later 
determined observers were unnecessary after consultation with 
the Committee.
    In addition to implementing the election observer program, 
on January 24, 2017, the Committee introduced H.R.634, the 
Election Assistance Commission Termination Act. The Committee 
held a markup on February 7, 2017, ordering H.R.634 to be 
reported by a vote of 6-3.

            ADDITIONAL OVERSIGHT ACTIVITIES OF THE COMMITTEE

House Office of Legislative Counsel and Law Revision Counsel 
        Modernization Project

    The Committee worked with the House Office of the 
Legislative Counsel (``HOLC''), the Office of Law Revision 
Counsel (``LRC''), Leadership, and the Office of the Clerk on 
legislative modernization projects. The primary goal is to 
maintain a complete, authoritative, accurate, and consolidated 
version of the U.S. Code in a modern technical format for 
public use.
    Since 2011, the HOLC has been partnering with the Clerk of 
the House, the Government Publishing Office, and the Law 
Revision Counsel to update legislative data from a first-
generation `DTD' xml to a generation two `schema' xml, commonly 
called USLM, allowing for the future development of enhanced 
legislative drafting and interpretive tools. This project 
continues the development work with the US Code (LRC), 
providing enrolled bills, public laws, Statutes at Large, and 
the Code of Federal Regulations in the USLM format; providing 
Statute Compilations in the USLM format (see below); and, in 
future phases, providing the bills, resolutions, and amendments 
in the USLM format.
    Relatedly, in 2016, with the Committee's support, LRC 
completed the implementation of a new codification drafting 
system. The new codification drafting system enables LRC to 
prepare bills in XML, automatically generate tables and other 
materials to show the impact of LRC bills on existing law and 
create side-by-side comparison documents. The Committee 
continues to support LRC's effort to develop a new Code editing 
system that will enable LRC to maintain and update all Code 
data in XML. A prototype of the new editing system was 
delivered in June 2018 and is currently being tested 
extensively prior to implementation.
    HOLC also partnered, beginning in the Spring of 2018, with 
the Clerk of the House, Senate Office of the Legislative 
Counsel, and GPO in posting Office Statute Compilations in GPO 
Collections and converting the format of these compilations 
into the USLM format. This is an ongoing project that is 
necessary to the development of the Rule 12a Comparative Print 
tool (Posey amendment). The Posey amendment also has the added 
benefit of transparency necessary for researching Federal law. 
In December 2018, the House Committee on Appropriators 
authorized GPO (and the House's Bulk Data Task Force led by the 
Clerk's office) to move forward with phase two of this project. 
Phase two will convert the current set of Statute Compilations 
into USLM XML format.
    During the 115th Congress, the Office of the Clerk worked 
with the House Office of the Legislative Counsel (``HOLC'') to 
comply with the new House rule (clause 12 of rule XXI) on 
comparative prints. This legislative transparency requirement 
called for the creation of an electronic document showing how 
proposed changes, indicated by marked omissions and insertions, 
impact current law before legislation can be considered in the 
House. It also required a document-to-document comparison 
between different versions of legislative language.
    To effectuate new House rule 12(a), the Clerk's office and 
HOLC worked with vendors to augment an existing application, as 
well as develop a new web-based solution. Both tools generate 
comparison documents in compliance with clause 12 of rule XXI 
of the House Rules for the 115th Congress. These documents are 
posted on the Rules Committee website (rules.house.gov) and the 
U.S. House of Representatives Document Repository 
(docs.house.gov). The solutions were delivered under budget and 
before the December 31, 2017, deadline.
    During the second session of the 115th Congress, the 
Clerk's office continued to make improvements to the web-based 
application and prepared for the next phases of the project to 
implement House rules 12(a) include securing a second contract 
to continue the work. The current web-based solution will 
become the foundation for the enterprise-wide solution that 
will provide all House staffers the ability to create 
comparative prints that illustrate the changes between:
           Two versions of a bill, resolution, or 
        amendment (document to document comparison);
           Current law and current law as proposed to 
        be changed by amendments contained in a bill, 
        resolution, or amendment to current law (positive and 
        non-positive law); and
           A bill or resolution and the bill or 
        resolution as proposed to be modified by amendments 
        (amendment impact).

                  EDUCATIONAL AND OUTREACH ACTIVITIES

Outreach and Communications

    The Committee launched a professional development training 
series for Member's DC and District staffs back in 2014 and 
have continued to expand it over the last four years. The 
program initially focused on the basics of individual job 
responsibilities, learning about other positions in the office, 
and working with Committee and Leadership staff. Additionally, 
the Committee offered training on all the services the 
Committee and the House Officers provide to Members and their 
staff. The Committee expanded the professional development in 
2016, cohosting with the Speaker's office, to launch the first 
Committee training series specifically focused on Oversight 
Best Practices for Committees. The Oversight and Investigative 
series expanded to include a second and third series of 
briefings. The Committee hosted sessions for Chiefs of Staff, 
Legislative Directors, Legislative Assistants, Schedulers, 
Staff Assistants, Interns and District staff.
    The Committee sent two regular weekly emails during in-
sessions weeks to educate staff on important information 
relevant to the House community. The communications also 
discussed helpful information for offices to share with 
visiting constituents. The Committee on House Administration 
also educated Financial Administrators, House IT staffers and 
other administrative staff on the new Shared Employees 
regulations and other administrative issues such as the Rayburn 
Garage Renovation and the Cannon Renewal Project.

New Member Orientation

    The Committee is responsible for coordinating the 
orientation program and associated travel and logistics for 
newly-elected Members of Congress and their designated aides. 
The program was held during the week of November 13-17, 2018, 
and continued during the week of November 27-December 1, 2018.
    Over the course of the two-week bipartisan New Member 
Orientation (``NMO''), the Committee facilitated training on 
the Members' Congressional Handbook, the Franking Commission, 
practical guidance on setting up a congressional office, an 
overview of procedures on the House Floor, an introduction to 
the legislative process, and several Member-led panels on 
relevant topics. The Members-Elect were also given 
presentations from the House Officers, the Committee on Ethics, 
the Office of the General Counsel, the Office of Compliance, 
the Office of House Employment Counsel, and the Office of the 
Chief Administrative Officer. The 2018 NMO was the first to 
offer sexual harassment training--Workplace Rights and 
Responsibilities Education. The Committee utilized a digital 
binder system to disseminate all materials associated with the 
program. Members-Elect also received individualized training 
sessions to help expedite the setup of their DC and District 
offices.
    For the second time, the Committee developed and hosted a 
Designated Aide program for staff accompanying the newly-
elected Members for orientation. This program assisted aides in 
preparing for the first two years in office. Twenty sessions 
were held for the aides during which time opportunities were 
presented to complete required training.

Congressional Internship Program for Individuals With Intellectual 
        Disabilities

    During the 115th Congress, the internship program, 
initiated in 2010, reached its highest level of participation 
since its creation. For the first time in the program's 
history, the Committee maintained a waitlist for offices who 
sought interns. Seventy-nine unique House and Senate offices 
participated in the bipartisan program since Fall 2016 and more 
than 170 unique offices have hosted interns since the program's 
inception.

Congressional Summer Intern Lecture Series

    The Congressional Summer Intern Lecture Series is a 
bipartisan, bicameral effort coordinated annually by the 
Committee on House Administration and the Senate Committee on 
Rules and Administration. Started by former Representatives 
Gerald Ford and Donald Rumsfeld in the 1960s, both committees 
extend invitations, primarily to current and former government 
and military officials, policy experts, and media 
personalities, to speak to congressional interns.
    A total of 49 lectures were held over the nine-week period 
between June 4, 2018 and August 3, 2018. Notable speakers 
included the White House Chief of Staff, General John F. Kelly; 
Supreme Court Justices Elena Kagan and Ruth Bader Ginsburg; the 
Speaker of the House, Paul D. Ryan; House Democratic Leader, 
Nancy Pelosi; Majority Leader, Kevin McCarthy; Secretary of the 
Navy, Richard V. Spencer; Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of 
Staff, General Paul J. Selva; Director of the FBI, Christopher 
Wray; and Cabinet Secretaries Elaine Chao, Steven Mnuchin, 
Betsy DeVos, Alexander Acosta, Ben Carson, and Administrator 
Linda McMahon.

 MINORITY VIEWS OF RANKING MEMBER ROBERT A. BRADY, REPRESENTATIVE ZOE 
                LOFGREN AND REPRESENTATIVE JAMIE RASKIN

                          Library of Congress

    During the 115th Congress, the Committee Democratic and 
Majority staffs of the Committee on House Administration (the 
Committee) worked on several bipartisan issues that affect the 
Library of Congress (LOC). The Committee met regularly with LOC 
to discuss the 2019-2023 strategic plan, IT modernization and 
the process the Congressional Research Service (CRS) developed 
to make their reports available to the public. While the 
Committee Democrats and Majority have agreed on oversight for 
most of the issues facing LOC, the Committee Democrats want to 
see more effort put into upgrading programs within the National 
Library Services for the Blind and Physically Handicapped 
(NLS). The Committee is particularly interested in increasing 
access, getting a younger audience engaged and in developing 
more diverse materials for patrons.
    In August, the Committee Democrats planned, and the 
Majority participated in, an oversight visit to the Carnegie 
Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (LBPH) in 
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. LBPH is part of NLS's network of 
libraries. This network is comprised of over 100 libraries 
throughout the country and they work with NLS to distribute 
materials. The Committee wanted to visit LBPH after hearing 
about their innovative efforts to increase access. LBPH is 
working to reach a younger audience and is developing more 
efficient inventory management. During the visit, LBPH 
mentioned that more uniformity and better communication between 
the network libraries would make sharing resources easier and 
faster. The Committee Democrats believe that further engagement 
with network libraries will help NLS as they work to improve 
their programs. The Committee Democrats want to increase 
funding for NLS to allow them to move forward with their 
modernization plans and to better collaborate with the network 
libraries.

                     Oversight of Shared Employees

    On April 12th 2018, the Committee conducted a hearing on 
the role of shared employees in House operations. Testimony 
from the Chief Administrative Officer, the Sergeant-at-Arms, 
and the Inspector General reiterated systematic, ongoing 
vulnerabilities concerning the widespread use of shared 
employees for critical House functions. This hearing was the 
first Committee hearing on shared employees since May of 2008. 
Following the 2008 hearing, the Committee adopted a new 
resolution concerning shared employee compliance and issued a 
new shared employee manual.
    Despite an Office of Inspector General's report noting the 
risks of compliance failures, the Committee failed to take any 
further official action until a systematic problem occurred. In 
the weeks following, the Committee Democrats worked with the 
Majority to identify and remedy issues of concern surrounding 
the use of shared employees. While significant common ground 
was identified, some vulnerabilities remain unaddressed. The 
Committee Democrats hope to further the work of reforming this 
system in the 116th Congress and conduct robust oversight as 
well. As these issues affect nearly every Member of the House, 
we hope our Republican counterparts will join in this ongoing 
effort.

                 Workplace Rights and Responsibilities

    Until the creation of the Congressional Accountability Act 
of 1995 (CAA), Congress was exempt from workplace 
discrimination laws. The CAA was established to ensure that the 
Congressional workplace would be covered by anti-discrimination 
laws and regulations. Despite providing protections and a 
matter of redress for alleged violations, the CAA is over 
twenty years old and in 2017, as a growing number of survivors 
broke their silence and focused the nation's attention on 
workplace harassment across industries, the Committee began to 
investigate the adequacy of the CAA.
    The Committee began to examine if the CAA provided 
sufficient protection for survivors of sexual harassment in the 
Congressional workplace. Our first hearing took place on 
November 14th, 2017, titled Preventing Sexual Harassment in the 
Congressional Workplace. This hearing validated the need for 
reforms to the CAA. Soon after on December 17th, 2017, the 
Committee convened a second hearing that focused on specific 
proposals to refom1 the CAA.
    During the entire examination of potential gaps in the CAA, 
our Members met with survivors and stakeholders from varied 
sources such as the Office of Compliance (OOC), the Office of 
House Employment Counsel (OHEC), the National Women's Law 
Center, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The 
Committee took testimony from Representative Jackie Speier, who 
spoke about her personal experiences as a former Congressional 
staffer as well as Representative Bradley Byrne, whose 30 years 
of experience in employment law identified many opportunities 
for reform. From this thorough examination and collaborative 
process the Committee was able to introduce and pass three 
measures to ensure the safeguarding of survivor rights.
    While the Senate passed a version of CAA reform in May 
2018, they held no hearings, no stakeholder sessions nor 
conducted a collaborative process. As a result, organizations 
such as the American Civil Liberties Union found the House bill 
``superior'' to the Senate bill.\1\ That same sentiment was 
echoed in a May 23, 2018 coalition letter signed by several 
major civil rights groups and women's organizations addressed 
to Speaker Ryan and Leader Pelosi expressing that the House 
bill,''. . . provide[s] greater transparency and accountability 
to the public and stronger protections for employees of the 
legislative workforce''.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\Jacobs, Mia. Congress Needs to Take Responsibility for Fixing 
Harassment in Its Own Halls: (2018, September 24). In ACLU Blog Women's 
Rights. Retrieved December II , 2018 from https://www.aclu.org/blog/
womens-rights/womens-rights-workplace/congress-needs-take-
responsibility-fixing-harassment-its
    \2\American Civil Liberties Union, et al. ``Coalition Letter 
Calling for a Conference Committee on the Congressional Accountability 
Act of 1995 Reform Act (H.R. 4924/S.2952).'' Received by Speaker Ryan 
and Leader Pelosi. 8 June 2018.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    House Resolution 630, introduced November 28, 2017, 
mandated that all Members and staff, including interns, fellows 
and detailees of the House would need to undergo annual 
mandatory anti-harassment and anti-discrimination training. The 
House unanimously adopted this resolution, and the initial 
training was completed on July 2, 2018 with 100% participation 
from Members.
    The second reform we enacted was House Resolution 724. This 
resolution imposed two mandates on the House; first, that all 
House offices would be required to adopt an anti-discrimination 
and anti-harassment policy for the workplace. Second, the 
resolution established an Office of Employee Advocacy, which 
would provide publicly funded attorneys for House employees 
when facing workplace discrimination or harassment. This 
measure passed the House by voice vote on February 6, 2018.
    Finally, we introduced, H.R. 4924. This bill strengthened 
the CAA for all legislative branch employees. The legislation, 
which passed unanimously on February 6, 2018, eliminated 
counseling and mandatory mediation requirements, required 
current and former Members of Congress to reimburse the 
Treasury if an employee receives an award or settlement for the 
Member's alleged act of discrimination or retaliation, required 
non-congressional legislative offices that violate CAA 
requirements to reimburse the Treasury for resulting award or 
settlement payments, and extended CAA nondiscrimination 
requirements to unpaid interns, detailees, and fellows.
    Throughout this process the Committee worked in a 
bipartisan manner to quickly enact meaningful legislation. 
While these three measures are a good investment in 
safeguarding the workplace, we were disappointed that the 
Majority did not extend protections to the LBGTQ and gender 
identity community by providing protection from discrimination 
and harassment based on sexual identity and/or gender 
discrimination.
    Currently, extending workplace protections has become an 
issue as the Committee prepares to promulgate a model anti-
harassment and anti-discrimination policy that House employers 
can use as an example for their own policies. The proposed 
model employee policy makes significant strides to improve 
employee protections. We have reached bipartisan agreement on 
many components of the model policy, including guidelines that 
would require offices to adopt a statement that they are 
committed to equal opportunity, definitions of prohibited 
harassment of all kinds, clearly explained employee obligations 
to report violations of the policy, and addressing the office's 
responsibility to have a method to investigate and correct 
allegations of violations to the policy. The policy proposed by 
the Majority leaves behind protections for the LGBTQ employees, 
While this has been a bipartisan, good faith effort to date, we 
cannot endorse a policy that neglects so many vulnerable 
employees in the Congressional workforce.
    Requiring the same protections for gender identity and 
LGBTQ community as other protected classes is not only the 
right thing to do, but it is recommended by OHEC as well as the 
General Counsel of OOC. Further, recent appellate court 
decisions make cleat that sexual orientation is prohibited 
under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.\3\ 
Additionally, gender identity is a protected category in many 
jurisdictions, and gender stereotyping is also a form of sex 
discrimination.\4\ A number of gender identity, sexual 
orientation, and related cases, are being successfully brought 
pursuant to this case law.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \3\See Zarda v. Altitude Express, Inc., 883 F.3d 100 (2nd Cir. 
2018); Hively v. Ivy Tech. Comm. College, 853 F.3d 339 (7th Cir. 2017).
    \4\Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins, 109 S.Ct 1775 (1989).
    \5\Schroer v. Billington, 577 F. Supp. 2d 293 (D.D.C. 2008).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

                           Federal Elections

    The Committee Majority has effectively abdicated their 
responsibility to oversee and improve the administration of 
federal elections. While such a dereliction of duty is 
troubling at any time, it is particularly troubling in this 
moment when there is consensus among American intelligence 
officials and even both parties that attempts were made by 
Russia to compromise the integrity of American elections. On 
July 17, 2018, Speaker Paul Ryan said to reporters ``They did 
interfere in our elections--it's really clear,'' and Senate 
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell referred to ``indisputable 
evidence'' of Russia's attempts to influence the 2016 election. 
Leader McConnell further stated, ``We understand the Russian 
threat, and I think that is the widespread view here in the 
United States among Members of both parties.''\6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \6\Michael Collins, Nicole Gaudiano & Eliza Collins, Congressional 
GOP leadership: No doubt that Russia meddled in 2016 presidential 
election, USA TODAY, July 17, 2018, available at https://
www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/07/17/paul-ryan-really-clear-
russia-meddled-presidential-election./791541002/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    That widespread view was either not held or not heeded by 
the Committee Majority. Instead, the fact of Russian 
interference in the 2016 election was confirmed by eight 
national agencies--the Central Intelligence Agency, Office of 
the Director of National Intelligence, F.B.I., National 
Security Agency, Justice Department, Department of Homeland 
Security, House Intelligence Committee, Senate Intelligence 
Committee\7\--the Majority turned a willfully blind eye, 
denying the American people important hearings about these 
profoundly troubling findings even though they were well within 
the jurisdiction and fundamental responsibility of this 
Committee.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \7\Karen Yourish & Troy Griggs, 8 U.S. Intelligence Groups Blame 
Russia for Meddling, but Trump Keeps Clouding the Picture, N.Y. Times, 
Aug. 2, 2018 available at https://www.nvtimes.com/interactive/2018/07/
16/us/elections/russian-interference-statements-comments.html.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Instead of investigating or holding hearings on Russian 
interference, on the challenges faced by struggling states 
seeking to protect their election infrastructure with 
inadequate resources or convening experts to provide guidance 
on how to bolster election security, the Majority held exactly 
one hearing on elections, the topic of which was ``State Voter 
Registration List Maintenance,'' ostensibly to address the 
possibility of voter fraud. While the Brennan Center for 
Justice has found that National Weather Service data shows that 
Americans are struck and killed by lightning about as often as 
voter fraud occurs,\8\ the Majority chose to focus on this 
issue for a hearing, rather than the findings on election 
insecurity verified by eight national intelligence agencies and 
leadership in both parties. What's more, the Majority voted 
again to terminate the only federal agency charged with 
improving election administration, the Election Assistance 
Commission (EAC), in a February 2017 mark-up.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \8\Brennan Center for Justice, Policy Brief on the Truth About 
``Voter Fraud,'' September 1 2, 2006, available at https://
www.brennancenter.org/analysis/policy-brief-truth-about-voter-fraud. 
(It is important to draw the distinction between vanishingly rare voter 
fraud, and election fraud, which is an attempt to influence an 
election's outcome by those involved in the election, such as is 
alleged against the Republican candidate in NC-09's current House 
race.)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The Committee Democrats thankfully worked to fill the 
vacuum. Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi announced the formation 
of the Congressional Task Force on Election Security (the Task 
Force), led by Committee on Homeland Security Ranking Member 
Bennie G. Thompson and Committee on House Administration 
Ranking Member Robert A. Brady.
    Over six months, the Task Force collaborated with 
stakeholders to gain critical insights into election security's 
challenges and possible solutions. Experts consulted included 
state election officials, computer scientists, advocacy groups 
and election technology vendors. As noted in the Task Force's 
July 2018 report, the first forum was ``Securing America's 
Elections: Understanding the Threat.'' The forum featured 
former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson and former 
Under Secretary of the National Protection and Programs 
Directorate at DHS Suzanne Spaulding. The next forum was titled 
``Securing America's Elections: Preparing for 2018 and 
Beyond.'' In that presentation, Members heard from EAC Chairman 
Tom Hicks, Rhode Island Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea, and 
then-Virginia Elections Commissioner Edgardo Cortes.\9\ Through 
this work, the Task Force developed a set of recommendations on 
how to secure our elections going forward. Those 
recommendations were released in a final report in January 
2018, and were followed by an updated report in July 2018, 
which focused on the eighteen states that remained most 
vulnerable to election interference.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \9\Committee on House Administration--Democrats, Election Security 
Update: Top 18 Most Vulnerable States, July 2018.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The Committee was further involved in additional activities 
to better understand the issue of election security and how to 
best address it.
    On March 6, 2018, the Committee Democrats joined House 
Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer in leading a letter to the 
Appropriations Committee requesting that the Fiscal Year (FY) 
2018 Omnibus include $14 million for the EAC and $400 million 
in unspent funds under the Help America Vote Act of 2002 
(HAVA), so states could begin to take much-needed steps to 
secure their election infrastructure. On March 23, 2018, 
Congress passed the FY 2018 omnibus spending bill, which 
appropriated $380 million to the EAC in HAVA grants. The 
Committee worked with appropriators to ensure omnibus language 
that provides that the EAC is to use the money to make payments 
to states ``for activities to improve the administration of 
elections for Federal office, including to enhance election 
technology and make election security payments.''
    On March 19, 2018, the Committee Democrats led another 
letter with Whip Hoyer to the House Appropriations Committee 
requesting further increases in election security funding in FY 
2019 to help states secure their systems in advance of the 2020 
election. Specifically, the letter called for $23 million for 
the EAC to enable the agency to increase research on secure 
voting equipment and cybersecurity best practices, create 
technical guidelines for voting machines in conjunction with 
the National Institute of Standards, and hire additional staff 
to provide full time assistance to state and local election 
officials on security issues. The letter also requested $1.2 
billion in funding under HAVA for states to use to secure their 
voting systems from future attack, including by replacing aging 
and vulnerable voting machines that are at risk of being 
hacked, implementing risk limiting audits, hiring IT staff, and 
providing cybersecurity training to all election officials and 
poll workers. The FY 2019 Financial Services and General 
Government Appropriations Act, which has jurisdiction over this 
funding, has yet to be enacted as of the writing of this 
report.
    Finally, the Committee Democrats have actively engaged with 
the EAC and the community on securing America's election 
systems. On May 11, 2018, Committee Member Representative Jamie 
Raskin joined Whip Hoyer on a tour of the EAC headquarters in 
Silver Spring, Maryland to receive updates from EAC staff on 
the status of the election security funding provided in the FY 
2018 omnibus spending bill for states' efforts to secure their 
election systems. During the tour, the Members also discussed 
cybersecurity practices with election technology vendors. 
Committee Members expressed serious concems that these vendors 
have insufficient financial incentive to prioritize security 
and are not currently required to use cybersecurity best 
practices. Following their visit, the pair announced plans for 
a public forum on election security in Rockville, Maryland.
    That forum in Rockville took place eleven days later, on 
Tuesday, May 22, 2018. The Committee Democrats hosted a 
Congressional Forum on Election Security with Rep. Raskin and 
Whip Hoyer. Additional panelists included EAC Chairman Tom 
Hicks, Danielle Root, Center for American Program Voting Rights 
Manager, and Liz Howard, Counsel for the Brennan Center's 
Democracy Program. The forum focused on the state of U.S. 
election systems, the Election Assistance Commission's efforts 
to help states secure their elections, and the need for 
Congressional action to protect against foreign interference.
                                   Robert A. Brady,
                                           Ranking Member.
                                   Zoe Lofgren.
                                   Jamie Raskin.

                                  [all]