[House Report 116-707]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Union Calendar No. 591
116th Congress } { Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session } { 116-707
_______________________________________________________________________
THE REPORT ON THE ACTIVITIES
of the
COMMITTEE ON HOUSE ADMINISTRATION
during the
116TH CONGRESS
together with minority views
December 31, 2020.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on
the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
______
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
42-826 WASHINGTON : 2021
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL
----------
House of Representatives,
Committee on House Administration,
Washington, DC, December 30, 2020.
Hon. Cheryl L. Johnson,
Clerk of the House,
Washington, DC.
Dear Ms. Johnson: Pursuant to clause 1(d) 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 116th Congress.
Sincerely,
Zoe Lofgren,
Chairperson.
C O N T E N T S
----------
Page
Letter of Transmittal............................................ III
Jurisdiction..................................................... 1
Rules of the Committee........................................... 2
Membership and Organization of the Committee..................... 12
Oversight Plan for the 116th Congress............................ 14
Legislative and Oversight Activities............................. 23
Hearings and Meetings............................................ 88
Committee Resolutions............................................ 96
Appendix I--Committee Resolutions................................ 97
Minority Views................................................... 167
Union Calendar No. 591
116th Congress } { Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session } { 116-707
======================================================================
REPORT ON THE ACTIVITY OF THE COMMITTEE ON HOUSE ADMINISTRATION FOR THE
116TH CONGRESS
_______
December 31, 2020.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on
the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Ms. Lofgren, from the Committee on House Administration,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
together with
MINORITY VIEWS
Report
Clause 1(d) of rule XI of the Rules of the House of
Representatives for the 116th Congress requires each standing
Committee, not later than January 2 of each odd-numbered year,
submit to the House a report on the activities of that
Committee, including separate sections summarizing the
legislative and oversight activities of that Committee during
that Congress.
Jurisdiction
RULES OF THE HOUSE
Clause 1(k) of rule X of the Rules of the House of
Representatives for the 116th Congress sets forth the
jurisdiction of the Committee on House Administration as
follows--
(1) Appropriations from accounts for committee salaries and
expenses (except for the Committee on Appropriations); House
Information Resources; and allowance and expenses of Members,
Delegates, the Resident Commissioner, officers, and
administrative offices of the House.
(2) Auditing and settling of all accounts described in
subparagraph (1).
(3) Employment of persons by the House, including staff for
Members, Delegates, the Resident Commissioner, and committees;
and reporters of debates, subject to rule VI.
(4) Except as provided in paragraph (r)(11), the Library of
Congress, including management thereof; the House Library;
statuary and pictures; acceptance or purchase of works of art
for the Capitol; the Botanic Garden; and purchase of books and
manuscripts.
(5) The Smithsonian Institution and the incorporation of
similar institutions (except as provided in paragraph (r)(11)).
(6) Expenditure of accounts described in subparagraph (1).
(7) Franking Commission.
(8) Printing and correction of the Congressional Record.
(9) Accounts of the House generally.
(10) Assignment of office space for Members, Delegates, the
Resident Commissioner, and committees.
(11) Disposition of useless executive papers.
(12) Election of the President, Vice President, Members,
Senators, Delegates, or the Resident Commissioner; corrupt
practices; contested elections; credentials and qualifications;
and Federal elections generally.
(13) Services to the House, including the House Restaurant,
parking facilities, and administration of the House Office
Buildings and of the House wing of the Capitol.
(14) Travel of Members, Delegates, and the Resident
Commissioner.
(15) Raising, reporting, and use of campaign contributions
for candidates for office of Representative, of Delegate, and
of Resident Commissioner.
(16) Compensation, retirement, and other benefits of the
Members, Delegates, the Resident Commissioner, officers, and
employees of Congress.
Rules for the Committee on House Administration, U.S. House of
Representatives, 116th Congress
(Adopted February 7, 2019)
Rule No. 1--General Provisions
(a) The Rules of the House of Representatives are the rules
of the Committee so far as applicable, except that a motion to
recess from day to day is a privileged motion in the Committee.
(b) The Committee is authorized at any time to conduct such
investigations and studies as it may consider necessary or
appropriate in the exercise of its responsibilities under rule
X of the Rules of the House of Representatives and, subject to
the adoption of expense resolutions as required by clause 6 of
rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives, to incur
expenses (including travel expenses) in connection therewith.
(c) The Committee is authorized to have printed and bound
testimony and other data presented at hearings held by the
Committee, and to make such information available to the
public. All costs of stenographic services and transcripts in
connection with any meeting or hearing of the Committee shall
be paid from the appropriate House account.
(d) The Committee shall submit to the House, not later than
January 2 of each odd-numbered year, a report on the activities
of the committee under rules X and XI of the Rules of the House
of Representatives.
(e) The Committee's rules shall be made publicly available
in electronic form and published in the Congressional Record
not later than 60 days after the Committee is elected in each
odd-numbered year.
Rule No. 2--Regular and Special Meetings
(a)(1) The regular meeting date of the Committee shall be
the second Tuesday of every month when the House is in session
in accordance with clause 2(b) of rule XI of the Rules of the
House of Representatives. If the House is not in session on the
second Tuesday of a month, the regular meeting date shall be
the third Tuesday of that month.
(2) Additional meetings may be called by the
Chairperson of the full Committee as the Chairperson
considers necessary, or at the request of a majority of
the members of the Committee in accordance with clause
2(c) of rule XI of the Rules of the House of
Representatives.
(3) The determination of the business to be
considered at each meeting shall be made by the
Chairperson subject to clause 2(c) of rule XI of the
Rules of the House of Representatives. A regularly
scheduled meeting may be dispensed with if, in the
judgment of the Chairperson, there is no need for the
meeting.
(b) If the Chairperson is not present at any meeting of the
Committee, the ranking member of the majority party who is
present shall preside at the meeting.
(c) The Chairperson, in the case of meetings to be
conducted by the Committee shall make public announcement of
the date, place, and subject matter of any meeting to be
conducted on any measure or matter. Such meeting shall not
commence earlier than the third calendar day (excluding
Saturdays, Sundays, or legal holidays except when the House is
in session on such a day) on which members have notice thereof.
If the Chairperson, with the concurrence of the ranking
minority member, determines that there is good cause to begin
the meeting sooner, or if the Committee so determines by
majority vote, a quorum being present, the Chairperson shall
make the announcement at the earliest possible date. The
announcement shall promptly be made publicly available in
electronic form and published in the Daily Digest.
(d) The Chairperson, in the case of meetings to be
conducted by the Committee shall make available on the
Committee's web site the text of any legislation to be marked
up at a meeting at least 24 hours before such meeting (or at
the time of an announcement made within 24 hours of such
meeting). This requirement shall also apply to any resolution
or regulation to be considered at a meeting.
Rule No. 3--Open Meetings
As required by clause 2(g), of rule XI of the Rules of the
House of Representatives, each meeting for the transaction of
business, including the markup of legislation of the Committee
shall be open to the public except when the Committee in open
session and with a quorum present determines by record vote
that all or part of the remainder of the meeting on that day
shall be closed to the public because disclosure of matters to
be considered would endanger national security, would
compromise sensitive law enforcement information, or would tend
to defame, degrade or incriminate any person, or otherwise
would violate any law or rule of the House. Provided, however,
that no person other than members of the Committee, and such
congressional staff and such other persons as the Committee may
authorize, shall be present in any business or markup session
which has been closed to the public. To the maximum extent
practicable, the Chairperson shall cause to be provided audio
and video coverage of each hearing or meeting that allows the
public to easily listen to and view the proceedings and
maintain the recordings of such coverage in a manner that is
easily accessible to the public.
Rule No. 4--Records and Rollcalls
(a)(1) A record vote shall be held if requested by any
member of the Committee.
(2) The result of each record vote in any meeting of
the Committee shall be made available for inspection by
the public at reasonable times at the Committee
offices, including a description of the amendment,
motion, order or other proposition; the name of each
member voting for and against; and the members present
but not voting.
(3) The Chairperson shall make the record of the
votes on any question on which a record vote is
demanded available on the Committee's website not later
than 48 hours after such vote is taken (excluding
Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays). Such record
shall include a description of the amendment, motion,
order, or other proposition, the name of each member
voting for and each member voting against such
amendment, motion, order, or proposition, and the names
of those members of the Committee present but not
voting.
(4) The Chairperson shall make available on the
Committee's website not later than 24 hours (excluding
Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays) after the
adoption of any amendment to a measure or matter the
text of such amendment.
(b)(1) Subject to subparagraph (2), the Chairperson may
postpone further proceedings when a record vote is ordered on
the question of approving any measure or matter or adopting an
amendment. The Chairperson may resume proceedings on a
postponed request at any time.
(2) In exercising postponement authority under
subparagraph (1), the Chairperson shall take all
reasonable steps necessary to notify members on the
resumption of proceedings on any postponed record vote.
(3) When proceedings resume on a postponed question,
notwithstanding any intervening order for the previous
question, an underlying proposition shall remain
subject to further debate or amendment to the same
extent as when the question was postponed.
(c) All Committee hearings, records, data, charts, and
files shall be kept separate and distinct from the
congressional office records of the member serving as
Chairperson; and such records shall be the property of the
House and all members of the House shall have access thereto.
(d) House records of the Committee which are at the
National Archives shall be made available pursuant to rule VII
of the Rules of the House of Representatives. The Chairperson
shall notify the ranking minority member of any decision to
withhold a record pursuant to the rule, and shall present the
matter to the Committee upon written request of any Committee
member.
(e) To the maximum extent feasible, the Committee shall
make its publications available in electronic form.
Rule No. 5--Proxies
No vote by any member in the Committee may be cast by
proxy.
Rule No. 6--Power To Sit and Act; Subpoena Power
(a) For the purpose of carrying out any of its functions
and duties under rules X and XI of the Rules of the House of
Representatives, the Committee is authorized (subject to
subparagraph (b)(1) of this paragraph)--
(1) to sit and act at such times and places within
the United States, whether the House is in session, has
recessed, or has adjourned, and to hold such hearings;
and
(2) to require, by subpoena or otherwise, the
attendance and testimony of such witnesses and the
production of such books, records, correspondence,
memorandums, papers, documents and other materials as
it deems necessary, including materials in electronic
form. The Chairperson, or any member designated by the
Chairperson, may administer oaths to any witness.
(b)(1) A subpoena may be authorized and issued by the
Chairperson of the full Committee, in accordance with clause
2(m) of rule XI of the House of Representatives, in the conduct
of any investigation or activity or series of investigations or
activities within the jurisdiction of the Committee, following
consultation with the ranking minority member.
(2) In addition, a subpoena may be authorized and
issued by the Committee in accordance with clause 2(m)
of rule XI of the Rules of the House of
Representatives, in the conduct of any investigation or
activity or series of investigations or activities,
when authorized by a majority of the Members voting, a
majority of the Committee being present. Authorized
subpoenas shall be signed by the Chairperson or by any
Member designated by the Committee.
(3) At least two business days before issuing any
subpoena pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection,
the Chairperson shall consult with the ranking minority
member regarding the authorization and issuance of such
subpoena, and the Chairperson shall provide a full copy
of the proposed subpoena, including any proposed
document schedule, at that time.
(4) The requirements of paragraph (3) may be waived
in the event of an exigent circumstance that does not
reasonably allow for advance written notice.
Rule No. 7--Quorums
No measure or recommendation shall be reported to the House
unless a majority of the Committee is actually present. For the
purposes of taking any action other than reporting any measure,
issuance of a subpoena, closing meetings, promulgating
Committee orders, or changing the rules of the Committee, one-
third of the members of the Committee shall constitute a
quorum. For purposes of taking testimony and receiving
evidence, two members shall constitute a quorum.
Rule No. 8--Amendments
Any amendment offered to any pending legislation before the
Committee must be made available in written form when requested
by any member of the Committee. If such amendment is not
available in written form when requested, the Chairperson will
allow an appropriate period of time for the provision thereof.
Rule No. 9--Hearing Procedures
(a) The Chairperson shall make public announcement of the
date, place, and subject matter of any hearing to be conducted
on any measure or matter at least one week before the
commencement of that hearing. If the Chairperson, with the
concurrence of the ranking minority member, determines that
there is good cause to begin the hearing sooner, or if the
Committee so determines by majority vote, a quorum being
present, the Chairperson shall make the announcement at the
earliest possible date. The clerk of the Committee shall
promptly notify the Daily Digest Clerk of the Congressional
Record as soon as possible after such public announcement is
made.
(b) Unless excused by the Chairperson, each witness who is
to appear before the Committee shall file with the clerk of the
Committee, at least 48 hours in advance of his or her
appearance, a written statement of his or her proposed
testimony and shall limit his or her oral presentation to a
summary of his or her statement.
(c) When any hearing is conducted by the Committee upon any
measure or matter, the minority party members on the Committee
shall be entitled, upon request to the Chairperson by a
majority of those minority members before the completion of
such hearing, to call witnesses selected by the minority to
testify with respect to that measure or matter during at least
one day of hearings thereon.
(d) All other members of the Committee may have the
privilege of sitting with any subcommittee during its hearing
or deliberations and may participate in such hearings or
deliberations, but no member who is not a member of the
subcommittee shall count for a quorum or offer any motion or
amendment or vote on any matter before the subcommittee.
(e) Committee members may question witnesses only when they
have been recognized by the Chairperson for that purpose, and
only for a 5-minute period until all members present have had
an opportunity to question a witness. The 5-minute period for
questioning a witness by any one member can be extended as
provided by clause 2(j) of rule XI of the Rules of the House of
Representatives. The questioning of a witness in Committee
hearings shall be initiated by the Chairperson, followed by the
ranking minority member and all other members alternating
between the majority and minority. In recognizing members to
question witnesses in this fashion, the Chairperson shall take
into consideration the ratio of the majority to minority
members present and shall establish the order of recognition
for questioning in such a manner as not to disadvantage the
members of the majority. The Chairperson may accomplish this by
recognizing two majority members for each minority member
recognized.
(f) The following additional rules shall apply to hearings
of the Committee as applicable:
(1) The Chairperson at a hearing shall announce in an
opening statement the subject of the investigation.
(2) A copy of the Committee rules and this clause
shall be made available to each witness as provided by
clause 2(k)(2) of rule XI of the Rules of the House of
Representatives.
(3) Witnesses at hearings may be accompanied by their
own counsel for the purpose of advising them concerning
their constitutional rights.
(4) The Chairperson may punish breaches of order and
decorum, and of professional ethics on the part of
counsel, by censure and exclusion from the hearings;
and the Committee may cite the offender to the House
for contempt.
(5) If the Committee determines that evidence or
testimony at a hearing may tend to defame, degrade, or
incriminate any person, it shall--
(A) afford such person an opportunity
voluntarily to appear as a witness;
(B) receive such evidence or testimony in
executive session; and
(C) receive and dispose of requests from such
person to subpoena additional witnesses.
(6) Except as provided in paragraph (5) of this
subsection, the Chairperson shall receive, and the
Committee shall dispose of, requests to subpoena
additional witnesses.
(7) No evidence or testimony taken in executive
session may be released or used in public sessions
without the consent of the Committee.
(8) In the discretion of the Committee, witnesses may
submit brief and pertinent sworn statements in writing
for inclusion in the record. The Committee is the sole
judge of the pertinence of testimony and evidence
adduced at its hearing.
(9) A witness may obtain a transcript copy of his
testimony given at a public session or, if given at an
executive session, when authorized by the Committee.
Rule No. 10--Procedures for Reporting Measures or Matters
(a)(1) It shall be the duty of the Chairperson to report or
cause to be reported promptly to the House any measure approved
by the Committee and to take or cause to be taken necessary
steps to bring the matter to a vote.
(2) In any event, the report of the Committee on a
measure which has been approved by the Committee shall
be filed within 7 calendar days (exclusive of days on
which the House is not in session) after the day on
which there has been filed with the clerk of the
Committee a written request, signed by a majority of
the members of the Committee, for the reporting of that
measure. Upon the filing of any such request, the clerk
of the Committee shall transmit immediately to the
Chairperson notice of the filing of that request.
(b)(1) No measure or recommendation shall be reported to
the House unless a majority of the Committee is actually
present.
(2) With respect to each record vote on a motion to
report any measure or matter of a public character, and
on any amendment offered to the measure or matter, the
total number of votes cast for and against, and the
names of those members voting for and against, shall be
included in the Committee report on the measure or
matter.
(c) The report of the Committee on a measure or matter
which has been approved by the Committee shall include the
matters required by clause 3(c) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives.
(d)(1) If, at the time any measure or matter is ordered
reported by the Committee, any member of the Committee gives
notice of intention to file supplemental, minority, additional,
or dissenting views, that member shall be entitled to not less
than two additional calendar days after the day of such notice,
commencing on the day on which the measure or matter(s) was
approved, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, in
which to file such views, in writing and signed by that member,
with the clerk of the Committee.
(2) All such views so filed by one or more members of
the Committee shall be included within, and shall be a
part of, the report filed by the Committee with respect
to that measure or matter.
(3) The report of the Committee upon that measure or
matter shall be printed in a single volume which--
(A) shall include all supplemental, minority,
additional or dissenting views, in the form
submitted, by the time of the filing of the
report, and
(B) shall bear upon its cover a recital that
any such supplemental, minority, additional, or
dissenting views (and any material submitted
under subparagraph (c)) are included as part of
the report. This subparagraph does not
preclude--
(i) the immediate filing or printing
of a Committee report unless timely
request for the opportunity to file
supplemental, minority, additional, or
dissenting views has been made as
provided by subsection (c); or
(ii) the filing of any supplemental
report upon any measure or matter which
may be required for the correction of
any technical error in a previous
report made by the Committee upon that
measure or matter.
(4) shall, when appropriate, contain the documents
required by clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House.
(e) The Chairperson, following consultation with the
ranking minority member, is directed to offer a motion under
clause 1 of rule XXII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives relating to going to conference with the
Senate, whenever the Chairperson considers it appropriate.
(f) If hearings have been held on any such measure or
matter so reported, the Committee shall make every reasonable
effort to have such hearings published and available to the
members of the House prior to the consideration of such measure
or matter in the House.
(g) The Chairperson may designate any majority member of
the Committee to act as floor manager of a bill or resolution
during its consideration in the House.
Rule No. 11--Committee Oversight
(a) The Committee shall conduct oversight of matters within
the jurisdiction of the Committee in accordance with clauses 2
and 4 of rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives.
(b) Not later than March 1 of the first session of a
Congress and in accordance with clause 2(d) of rule X of the
Rules of the House of Representatives, the Committee shall
prepare an oversight plan for that Congress.
Rule No. 12--Review of Continuing Programs; Budget Act Provisions
(a) The Committee shall, in its consideration of all bills
and joint resolutions of a public character within its
jurisdiction, ensure that appropriation for continuing programs
and activities of the Federal Government will be made annually
to the maximum extent feasible and consistent with the nature,
requirement, and objectives of the programs and activities
involved. For the purposes of this paragraph a Government
agency includes the organizational units of government listed
in clause 4(e) of rule X of the Rules of the House of
Representatives.
(b) The Committee shall review, from time to time, each
continuing program within its jurisdiction for which
appropriations are not made annually in order to ascertain
whether such program could be modified so that appropriations
therefore would be made annually.
(c) The Committee shall, in accordance with clause 4(f)(1)
of rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives, submit
to the Committee on the Budget (1) its views and estimates with
respect to all matters to be set forth in the concurrent
resolution on the budget for the ensuing fiscal year which are
within its jurisdiction or functions, and (2) an estimate of
the total amounts of new budget authority, and budget outlays
resulting there from, to be provided or authorized in all bills
and resolutions within its jurisdiction which it intends to be
effective during that fiscal year.
(d) Whenever the Committee is directed in a concurrent
resolution on the budget to determine and recommend changes in
laws, bills, or resolutions under the reconciliation process it
shall promptly make such determination and recommendations, and
report a reconciliation bill or resolution (or both) to the
House or submit such recommendations to the Committee on the
Budget, in accordance with the Congressional Budget Act of
1974.
Rule No. 13--Broadcasting of Committee Hearings and Meetings
Whenever any hearing or meeting conducted by the Committee
is open to the public, those proceedings shall be open to
coverage by television, radio, and still photography, as
provided in clause 4 of rule XI of the Rules of the House of
Representatives, subject to the limitations therein. Operation
and use of any Committee Internet broadcast system shall be
fair and nonpartisan and in accordance with clause 4(b) of rule
XI of the Rules of the house of Representatives and all other
applicable rules of the Committee and the House.
Rule No. 14--Committee Staff
The staff of the Committee on House Administration shall be
appointed as follows:
(a) The staff shall be appointed by the Chairperson except
as provided in paragraph (b), and may be removed by the
Chairperson, and shall work under the general supervision and
direction of the Chairperson;
(b) All staff provided to the minority party members of the
Committee shall be appointed by the ranking minority member,
and may be removed by the ranking minority member of the
Committee, and shall work under the general supervision and
direction of such member;
(c) The appointment of all professional staff shall be
subject to the approval of the Committee as provided by, and
subject to the provisions of, clause 9 of rule X of the Rules
of the House;
(d) The Chairperson shall fix the compensation of all staff
of the Committee, after consultation with the ranking minority
member regarding any minority party staff, within the budget
approved for such purposes for the Committee.
Rule No. 15--Travel of Members and Staff
(a) Consistent with the primary expense resolution and such
additional expense resolutions as may have been approved, the
provisions of this rule shall govern travel of Committee
members and staff. Travel for any member or any staff member
shall be paid only upon the prior authorization of the
Chairperson or her or his designee. Travel may be authorized by
the Chairperson for any member and any staff member in
connection with the attendance at hearings conducted by the
Committee and meetings, conferences, and investigations which
involve activities or subject matter under the general
jurisdiction of the Committee. Before such authorization is
given there shall be submitted to the Chairperson in writing
the following:
(1) The purpose of the travel;
(2) The dates during which the travel will occur;
(3) The locations to be visited and the length of
time to be spent in each; and
(4) The names of members and staff seeking
authorization.
(b)(1) In the case of travel outside the United States of
members and staff of the Committee for the purpose of
conducting hearings, investigations, studies, or attending
meetings and conferences involving activities or subject matter
under the legislative assignment of the committee, prior
authorization must be obtained from the Chairperson. Before
such authorization is given, there shall be submitted to the
Chairperson, in writing, a request for such authorization. Each
request, which shall be filed in a manner that allows for a
reasonable period of time for review before such travel is
scheduled to begin, shall include the following:
(A) the purpose of the travel;
(B) the dates during which the travel will
occur;
(C) the names of the countries to be visited
and the length of time to be spent in each;
(D) an agenda of anticipated activities for
each country for which travel is authorized
together with a description of the purpose to
be served and the areas of committee
jurisdiction involved; and
(E) the names of members and staff for whom
authorization is sought.
(2) At the conclusion of any hearing, investigation,
study, meeting or conference for which travel outside
the United States has been authorized pursuant to this
rule, members and staff attending meetings or
conferences shall submit a written report to the
Chairperson covering the activities and other pertinent
observations or information gained as a result of such
travel.
(c) Members and staff of the Committee performing
authorized travel on official business shall be governed by
applicable laws, resolutions, or regulations of the House and
of the Committee on House Administration pertaining to such
travel.
Rule No. 16--Staff Deposition Authority
The Chairperson may authorize the staff of the Committee to
conduct depositions pursuant to section 3(a) of H. Res. 6,
116th Congress, and subject to any regulations issued pursuant
thereto.
Rule No. 17--Number and Jurisdiction of Subcommittees
(a) There shall be one standing subcommittee, with party
ratios of members as indicated. The subcommittee shall have
jurisdiction as stated by these rules, may conduct oversight
over such subject matter, and may consider such legislation as
may be referred to them by the Chairperson. The name and
jurisdiction of the subcommittee shall be:
(1) Subcommittee on Elections (3/1)--.Matters
relating to voting rights issues and such other matters
as may be referred to the subcommittee.
(b) No subcommittee shall meet during any full Committee
meeting or hearing.
(c) The Chairperson may establish and appoint members,
consistent with the ratio between majority and minority members
serving on the Subcommittee on Elections, to serve on task
forces, panels, special, or select subcommittees of the
Committee, to perform specific functions for limited periods of
time, as the Chairperson deems appropriate.
Rule No. 18--Referral of Legislation to Subcommittees
The Chairperson may refer legislation or other matters to a
subcommittee as the Chairperson considers appropriate. The
Chairperson may discharge the subcommittee of any matter
referred to it.
Rule No. 19--Powers and Duties of Subcommittees
The subcommittee is authorized to meet, hold hearings,
receive evidence and report to the full committee on all
matters referred to it. No subcommittee shall meet during any
Committee meeting.
Rule No. 20--Other Procedures and Regulations
The Chairperson may establish such other procedures and
take such actions as may be necessary to carry out the
foregoing rules or to facilitate the effective operation of the
committee.
Rule No. 21--Designation of Clerk of the Committee
For the purposes of these rules and the Rules of the House
of Representatives, the staff director of the Committee shall
act as the clerk of the Committee.
Membership and Organization of the Committee on House Administration
ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
COMMITTEE ON HOUSE ADMINISTRATION
(Ratio: 6-3)
Zoe Lofgren, California, Chairperson
Jamie Raskin, Maryland Rodney Davis, Illinois, Ranking
Susan Davis, California Member
G. K. Butterfield, North Carolina Mark Walker, North Carolina
Marcia L. Fudge, Ohio Barry Loudermilk, Georgia
Pete Aguilar, California
SUBCOMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP
SUBCOMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS
(Ratio: 3-1)
Marcia L. Fudge, Ohio, Chair
G. K. Butterfield, North Carolina Rodney Davis, Illinois, Ranking
Pete Aguilar, California Member
Committee Organization
The Committee on House Administration organized on February
7, 2019, the Honorable Zoe Lofgren presiding. During the
organizational meeting the Committee adopted the Rules of the
Committee for the 116th Congress Committee Resolution 116-01).
The Committee also reconstituted the Subcommittee on Elections
and established its jurisdiction and membership (Committee
Resolution 116-02). The Committee approved five additional
Committee Resolutions: Committee Resolution 116-03, to adopt
the Parking Policy for the 116th Congress; Committee Resolution
116-04, to promulgate regulations regarding mandatory anti-
harassment and anti-discrimination policies for House offices;
Committee Resolution 116-05, to promulgate regulations
regarding the use of exercise facilities; Committee Resolution
116-06, to promulgate regulations regarding Eligible
Congressional Member Organizations; and Committee Resolution
116-07, to promulgate regulations regarding displaying a
statement of rights and protections provided to House
employees.
COMMITTEE STAFF
MAJORITY STAFF
Jamie Fleet, Staff Director
Khalil Abboud, Deputy Staff
Director
Enumale Agada, Oversight Counsel
(October 2020-Present)
Aaron Allen, Professional Staff
(February 2019-June 2019)
Hector Arias, Staff Assistant
(April 2019-June 2020)
Patrick Briggs, Professional Staff
Member (April 2020-Present)
Sydney Burns, Staff Assistant
(January 2019-August 2019)
Georgina Cannan, Elections Counsel
(October 2019-Present)
Kylie Carpenter, Professional
Staff--Franking (July 2019-
Present)
Hannah Carr, Staff Assistant (May
2019-Present)
Meredith Connor, Professional
Staff (January 2019-July 2019;
September 2019-November 2019)
Matt Defreitas, Franking Staff
Director
Arwa Dubad, Professional Staff-
Franking (October 2019-Present)
Eddie Flaherty, Chief Clerk
Mannal Haddad, Press Secretary
(March 2019-May 2020)
Kemba A. Hendrix, Diversity
Director (January 2019-March 2020)
Robert Henline, Director of Member
Services
Elizabeth L. Hira, Elections
Counsel (January 2019-October
2019)
Kaluni Jalata, Elections Counsel
(September 2019-Present)
Brandon Jacobs, Legislative Clerk
(March 2020-Present)
Sean Jones, Legislative Clerk
(January 2019-February 2020)
Aaron Lasure, Professional Staff
(March 2019-Present)
Mariam Malik, Staff Assistant
(January 2019-September 2020)
Jose Morales, Staff Assistant
(February 2020-Present)
Teri Morgan, Deputy Staff Director
Sarah Nasta, Elections Counsel
(March 2019-Present)
Giancarlo Pellegrini, Elections
Counsel (November 2019-Present)
Tanya Sehgal, Senior Elections
Counsel (January 2019-January
2020)
Stephen E. Spaulding, Elections
Counsel (January 2019-October
2020)
Matt Schlesinger, Oversight
Counsel (August 2019-Present)
Sai Singh, Staff Assistant (August
2020-Present)
Daniel Taylor, Deputy Staff
Director and Chief Counsel (March
2019-Present)
David Tucker, Senior Counsel and
Parliamentarian
Peter Whippy, Communications
Director
Gina Wright, Professional Staff--
Franking (April 2019-September
2019)
Sean Wright, Senior Elections
Counsel (October 2020-Present)
Natalie Young, Press Secretary
(July 2020-Present)
MINORITY STAFF
Jen Daulby, Republican Staff
Director (February 2019-Present)
Jaide Barja, Staff Assistant
(October 2020-Present)
Kimberly Betz, Republican General
Counsel (January 2019)
Thomas Blanford, Staff Assistant
(February 2019-May 2019)
Jeyben Castro, Director of
Diversity & Inclusion (February
2020-May 2020)
Austin Cho, Administrative
Assistant (January 2019)
Elisabeth Conklin, Professional
Staff (April 2019-Present)
Nick Crocker, Director of Member
Services
Mary S. Englund, Director,
Administration and Operations
(January 2019-May 2020)
Roberto Estrada Lobo, Professional
Staff, (April 2019-Present)
Cole Felder, Republican General
Counsel (February 2019-August
2020)
Caleb Hays, Chief Legal Counsel
for Elections (August 2020-
Present)
Daniel Jarrell, Professional Staff
(January 2019-February 2019)
Susannah Johnston, Professional
Staff (September 2019-Present)
Keighle Joyce, Counsel Clerk
(October 2019-Present)
Joy Lee, Counsel (March 2019-July
2019)
Tim Monahan, Deputy Staff Director
Aubrey Neal, Director of
Modernization Initiatives
(December 2020-Present)
Courtney Parella, Communications
Director (January 2019-May 2020)
Brittany Randall, Director of
Member Services (January 2019-
January 2020)
Jesse Roberts, Counsel (February
2019-September 2020)
Janet Schwalb, Director of
Administration
Timothy Sullivan, Republican
Franking Staff Director (January
2019-September 2020)
Oversight Plan for the 116th Congress
Clause 2(d) of rule X of the Rules of the House of
Representatives states:
(d)(1) Not later than March 1 of the first session of
a Congress, the chair of each standing committee (other
than the Committee on Appropriations, the Committee on
Ethics, and the Committee on Rules) shall--
(A) prepare, in consultation with the ranking
minority member, an oversight plan for that Congress;
(B) provide a copy of that plan to each member of the
committee for at least seven calendar days before its
submission; and
(C) submit that plan (including any supplemental,
minority, additional, or dissenting views submitted by
a member of the committee) simultaneously to the
Committee on Oversight and Reform and the Committee on
House Administration.
Accordingly, the Committee submitted the following
oversight plan in accordance with this provision:
COMMITTEE ON HOUSE ADMINISTRATION
Oversight Plan for the 116th Congress
Committee on House Administration
MEMBER SERVICES
Oversee Members' allowance amounts, including
structure and regulations.
Provide guidance and outreach to congressional
offices to ensure compliance with committee regulations.
Review and revise the Members' Congressional
Handbook, a set of regulations governing the appropriate use of
the Members' Representational Allowance.
Review and revise the guide to outfitting and
maintaining an office of the United States House of
Representatives, a set of regulations governing the
acquisition, transfer, and disposal of furnishings, equipment,
software, and related services.
Review the calculation of the Members'
Representational Allowance and ensure that all members have
adequate resources for representing their constituents.
Oversee the processing of vouchers and direct
payments, including those for payroll. Continue to monitor the
implementation of the electronic vouchering system.
Work with the Officers of the House, the Architect
of the Capitol and the legislative branch agencies to provide
meaningful outreach to member offices and provide that the
views of member offices are incorporated into their ongoing
work.
New Member Orientation
Plan, implement, and oversee the New Member
Orientation program for newly-elected Members of Congress.
Oversee the planning and implementation of the
Congressional Research Service new member issues seminar in
Williamsburg.
Work with the Congressional Research Service and
other support agencies to make available additional on-going
professional development services for new members and staff.
Intern program
In coordination with the Senate Committee on Rules
and Administration, organize, administer, and oversee the
intern lecture series.
Review and consider revising the intern handbook
and other publications and communication materials used in
support of the intern program.
Continue and expand the Gregg and Livingston
Harper congressional internship program for individuals with
intellectual disabilities.
COMMITTEE FUNDING AND OVERSIGHT
Review monthly reports on committee activities and
expenditures.
Review the Committees' Congressional Handbook
regulations governing expenditure of committee funds and update
regulations as needed.
Review primary and any secondary expense
resolutions and approve authorization of committee-funding
levels in committee and by House Resolution.
Review committees' franking expenditures.
Review the use of consultant contracts.
CONGRESSIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY ACT OF 1995
Monitor implementation of the Congressional
Accountability Act of 1995 (P.L. 104-1, 109 Stat. 3) and the
reforms provided for in P.L. 115-397 (132 Stat. 5297).
Monitor the development and deployment of the
climate survey.
Review data on workplace rights information.
Review regulations adopted by the Office of
Congressional Workplace Rights.
Evaluate resources available to the Office of
Congressional Workplace Rights and House employing offices to
facilitate implementation of the Act.
Conduct general oversight of the office of Office
of Congressional Workplace Rights.
Conduct specific oversight of the implementation
of the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights IT system.
Monitor ongoing judicial proceedings to determine
the impact on the Congressional Accountability Act.
Monitor for the ongoing anti-harassment and anti-
discrimination workplace rights training, including development
of the curriculum and administration of in district trainings.
Oversee the Office of Employee Advocacy.
FRANKING COMMISSION
Oversee the Members' use of the congressional
frank and other unsolicited mass communications by providing
guidance, advice, and counsel through consultation or advisory
opinions.
Review proposals to modernize the franking
practices of Members, and regulations governing such mailings
and communications.
Monitor current prohibition on mass mailings 90
days before a primary or general election.
Oversee efforts to ensure compliance with franked
mailings and communications reporting requirements, and the
Chief Administrative Officer's (CAO) implementation of new
digital form procedures.
Implement approved procedures to increase
transparency and improve the accounting of franked mail costs.
Revise the regulations on the use of the
congressional frank and rules on practice in proceedings before
the House Commission on Congressional Mailing Standards.
Coordinate with the Member Services team to
update, refine, and modernize policies related to the official
use of communications resources.
Coordinate with the Clerk of the House and CAO to
identify and implement new applications, resources, and
procedures for the House to be more transparent, accountable,
accessible, and to meet Member and Committee office's
obligations related to official communications.
HOUSE OFFICERS AND HOUSE OPERATIONS
Coordinate with House Officers and officials to
develop long term plans and goals for the administrative,
financial and administrative functions of the House.
Oversee an effort to recruit and retain a more
diverse workforce among all the House Officers.
Work with House Officers to identify and reduce
spending and create more cost effective and efficient
operations within the House.
Analyze management improvement proposals and other
initiatives submitted by the House Officers, the Inspector
General, the Capitol Police Board, the Architect of the
Capitol, the Library of Congress, and other legislative branch
agencies.
Coordinate with the Subcommittee on Legislative
Branch Appropriations on matters impacting operations of the
House and joint entities.
Provide policy guidance to the House Officers,
Inspector General and the joint entities as appropriate.
Oversee compliance with the House Employee
Classification Act (2 U.S.C. Sec. Sec. 291 et seq.).
Assure coordination among officers and joint
entities on administrative and technology matters, including
reviewing existing IT security policies.
Provide policy guidance and conduct oversight of
security and safety issues and congressional entities charged
with such roles.
Assure coordination among officers and joint
entities on the development of a comprehensive district office
support program.
Chief Administrative Officer
Provide policy direction for the Chief
Administrative Officer. Continue the review of functions and
administrative operations assigned to the Chief Administrative
Officer.
Review existing asset management processes.
Review House procurement policies and monitor the
effectiveness of the Chief Administrative Officer's procurement
and contract management functions. Review procedures for
processing contracts with the House that exceed the threshold
of $350,000.
Continue to review ongoing process and technology
upgrades to the House financial management system and ensuring
appropriate internal controls are in place.
Monitor reforms to the Office of Finance and
Payroll and Benefits as provided for by the Inspector General
and outside consultants.
Review and oversee information technology services
provided, maintained or hosted by House Information Resources.
Continue oversight of failsafe procedures to guarantee
continuity of operations.
Review new technology initiatives to better serve
members, committees, and the public.
Review semi-annual financial and operational
status reports; oversee implementation of changes in operations
to improve services and increase efficiencies.
Review training offerings available to members and
staff through the congressional staff academy.
Review the development and roll-out of the CAO's
customer advocate program.
Review the operations of the House gift shop and
its management.
Continued review of House restaurant operations;
furniture policy, inventory and selection; and alternatives to
the current mail delivery process to strengthen the services
and tools available to members and staff.
Examine Chief Administrative Officer's role in
assuring accessibility to the House wing of the Capitol, the
House office buildings and other House facilities consistent
with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Review staff benefits offered by the House and
proposals to modify benefits.
Review the Wounded Warrior Program and develop
recommendations, in consultation with veteran's organizations,
about improvements to the program.
Review the officially sanctioned ``Congressional
App Challenge.''
Clerk of the House
Review and approve contracts and requests for
proposals by the Clerk that exceed the $350,000 spending
threshold.
Review the Clerk's current IT configuration and
redundancy posture.
Oversee the House document repository.
Review standards for the electronic exchange of
legislative information among the houses of congress and
legislative-branch agencies.
Coordinate on matters under the jurisdiction of
the House Fine Arts Board and the Capitol Preservation Board.
Continue review of functions and administrative
operations assigned to the Clerk.
Review of semi-annual financial and operational
status reports; recommend changes in operations to improve
services and increase efficiencies.
Review the printing needs of the Clerk to evaluate
the potential for eliminating duplication.
Review the application programming interface
incorporated in the Clerk's newly-developed website.
Oversee preparation of congressionally-authorized
publications.
Sergeant-at-Arms
Review and oversee security operations in the
House, including the House Chamber, the galleries, the Capitol,
House Office Buildings, Capitol Grounds, and district offices.
Review and oversee initiatives designed to
increase security and security awareness for Members and staff
in district offices.
Review annual financial and operational status
reports; recommend changes in operations to improve services
and increase efficiencies.
Review impact of electronic access to controlled
spaces.
Continue review of functions and administrative
operations assigned to the Sergeant-at-Arms.
Review the security operation of House parking
facilities, regulations, and allocation of parking spaces.
Consult with the Sergeant-at-Arms on policies
adopted by the Capitol Police Board.
Review the policies and procedures for visitor
access to the Capitol.
Examine Sergeant-at-Arms' role in assuring
accessibility to the House wing of the Capitol, the House
Office Buildings, and other House facilities consistent with
the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Review staff ID standards.
Review the impact on staff of garage security
implementation.
Review the use of technology generally in the
protection of the House of Representatives.
Review the effectiveness of district office
security program, including the law enforcement coordinator
program, enterprise-wide security system contract, and
processes for mail sent to the district offices.
House Inspector General
Review, and approve, proposed audit plan and audit
reports, including the annual financial statements audit.
Ensure that audits and their prioritization is
based upon the assessment of risk to the operations of the
House.
Review comprehensive financial and operational
audits of the House, investigate any irregularities uncovered,
and monitor necessary improvements.
Monitor progress of House audits.
Continue review of functions and administrative
operations assigned to the Inspector General.
Direct Inspector General to conduct management
advisories to improve implementation and operation of key House
functions.
House Diversity Office
Pursuant to House Resolution 6, oversee and direct
implementation of the diversity office.
Collaborating with the legislative branch
appropriations subcommittee, oversee requirement for employment
related survey of the congressional workforce.
Review and assess diversity plan for each
legislative branch agency.
OVERSIGHT OF LEGISLATIVE BRANCH AND OTHER ENTITIES
Information and technology coordination
Oversee, in conjunction with the Senate, forums
for the sharing of technology plans and capabilities among the
legislative branch agencies.
Oversee, in conjunction with the Senate, the
legislative branch cybersecurity working group with the goal of
developing and implementing it standards across the legislative
branch.
Oversee management of the congress.gov website.
Oversee work of the legislative branch financial
managers' council.
Provide direction to the Bulk Data Task Force.
Library of Congress
Conduct a review of the progress that the Library
has made in providing public access to government information,
especially in electronic form.
Continue oversight of the development of the
Library's Visitor Experience project.
Continue oversight of Library of Congress
operations, including inventory and cataloguing systems.
Continue oversight of Law Library operations.
Continue oversight of Congressional Research
Service operations and consider any need to modify management
and organizational structure of the service.
Review implementation of the Library of Congress
Fiscal Operations Improvement Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-481, 114
Stat. 2187), the Veterans' Oral History Project Act (P.L. 106-
380, 114 Stat. 1447), the National Recording Preservation Act
of 2000 (P.L. 106-474, 114 Stat. 2085), and the History of the
House Awareness and Preservation Act (P.L. 106-99, 113 Stat.
1330).
Consider human-resources legislation proposed by
the Library.
Review the use of technology generally in Library
of Congress operations, and specifically the ongoing work to
centralize technology operations consistent with the guidance
from the general accountability office.
Continue oversight of the Library's technology
hosting environment transition.
Review reports by Library of Congress Inspector
General and implementation of audit recommendations. Examine
options to improve operation and structure of the Library of
Congress Inspector General's office.
Focus oversight on national library services to
provide the most effective service to their library partners,
explore ways to increase the number of users under 65, review
the format and content for those users and review proposals for
a new physical headquarters.
Copyright Office
Review the progress that the Copyright Office has
made in providing copyright application and registration data
(both past and current) online.
Review the use of technology generally in
Copyright Office operations, and specifically the office's
modernization efforts.
Conduct a review of the Copyright Office's efforts
to communicate its modernization efforts to stakeholders.
Conduct a review of security measures and
processes for e-deposits submitted to both the Copyright Office
and Library of Congress.
Conduct a review of the Copyright Office's
spending authority and its ability to budget for multi-year
capital projects.
Conduct a review of the examination process with a
focus on the Copyright Office's initiatives aimed at improving
examination efficiencies and reducing application pendency.
Review availability of customer service support
options available to applicants.
Review Copyright Office rulemaking authority and
processes.
Review Copyright Office fee setting authority and
the office's process for determining the actual cost of
services they provide.
United States Capitol Police (USCP)
Monitor administrative operations of the agency,
including budgetary management, over-time use, civilian
component, attrition rates, recruitment efforts and incentive
programs for officers and civilian employees.
Review proposals for additional USCP authorities,
facilities and equipment.
Review analysis of uniformed officer post/duty
assignments to determine and authorize force levels to meet the
agency's security requirements within the Capitol complex to
include the Capitol Visitor Center, the Library of Congress,
and U.S. Botanic Garden.
Conduct oversight on House-garage security
implementation.
Conduct oversight of the effectiveness of USCP
pre-screeners.
Review and consider proposals to improve USCP
training program for new recruits, and in-service training.
Authorize and oversee the installation and
maintenance of new security systems and devices proposed by the
police board.
Review and authorize regulations prescribed by the
police board for use of law enforcement authority by the
Capitol Police.
Examine Capitol Police role in assuring
accessibility to the House wing of the Capitol, House Office
Buildings and other facilities consistent with the Americans
with Disabilities Act.
Review reports by USCP Inspector General and
implementation of audit recommendations. Examine options to
improve operation and structure of the USCP Inspector General's
Office.
Review processes for ensuring adequate physical
security for Members of Congress.
Government Publishing Office (GPO)
Oversee operations of the Government Publishing
Office, including the Superintendent of Documents.
Review and adopt legislative proposals to reform
government printing by eliminating redundancies and unnecessary
printing, increasing efficiency, and enhancing public access to
government publications.
Continue efforts to reform title 44, United States
Code, particularly provisions related to the Federal Depository
Library Program.
Monitor implementation of remedial actions taken
by management to address audit issues identified by the GPO
Inspector General and outside financial auditors.
Review the printing needs of the House of
Representatives to identify the potential for eliminating
duplication.
Examine current GPO printing and binding
regulations to determine advisability of change.
Oversee Superintendent of Documents' sales and
depository library programs.
Review GPO labor practices and labor agreements.
Review use of GPO facilities and other assets to
identify possible alternatives enhancing value to the Congress
and the public.
Architect of the Capitol (AOC)
Review the operations and organizational structure
of the office of the Architect.
Participate in the selection process of a
permanent Architect of the Capitol.
Review the electronic and procured services
provided by the Architect.
Oversee Architect of the Capitol's maintenance of
House Buildings and the House side of the Capitol, and review
plans for rehabilitation of House Buildings, including
oversight over the Cannon House Office Building renovation.
Continue oversight of life safety measures,
accessibility measures, and improved evacuation mechanisms in
House buildings.
Review the AOC office of sustainability's efforts
to reduce energy and waste consumption by the Capitol Complex.
Oversee operations of the Capitol Visitor Center
including the re-design of Exhibition Hall, in conjunction with
the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration.
Review and identify ways to create organizational-
wide efficiencies and standards across all divisions of the
AOC.
Review reports by Architect of the Capitol
Inspector General and implementation of audit recommendations.
Examine options to improve operation and structure of the
Architect of the Capitol Inspector General's office.
Inventory space requirements for unmet and growing
child care needs to employees of the legislative branch and
incorporate child care space planning into the master campus
plan.
Review the pest management practices of the AOC.
Office of Congressional Accessibility Services
Oversee management and operations of Office of
Congressional Accessibility Services, such as the
implementation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), in
conjunction with Senate Committee on Rules and Administration.
Smithsonian Institution
Review the Smithsonian Inspector General's reports
on the status of the Smithsonian, with a focus on
cybersecurity.
Oversee general museum and research facility
operations of the Smithsonian Institution.
Review and evaluate the Smithsonian Institution's
use of authorized public funds.
Review proposed appointments of citizen regents to
the Smithsonian Institution's Board of Regents.
Review proposals for authorization of new
Smithsonian facilities, including the National Women's History
Museum and the National Museum of the American Latino. Review
Smithsonian policies regarding initiation of planning, design,
and construction of projects.
Review operations of the National Zoo.
Oversee Smithsonian science and research
facilities including the work being conducted in Panama.
Oversee the development of the partnership with
the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, England.
Review operations and conduct oversight of
Smithsonian enterprises.
Review any proposals to charge fees for admission
to any Smithsonian exhibits.
TECHNOLOGY USE BY THE HOUSE
Continue oversight of House Information Resources
and other technology functions of the House to improve
technology governance, services and the electronic
dissemination of information.
Review and consider recommendations made by the
National Academy of Public Administration in regard to
enhancing technology assessment capabilities within the
legislative branch.
Review cyber security measures and develop
strategic plans to improve policies.
Review technology standards for hearing rooms as
they relate to the committee broadcast program.
Oversee and continue to implement an enterprise
House disaster recovery program for House offices, standing and
select Committees, and Member offices.
Task the House Officers to develop and coordinate
a House strategic technology plan.
Oversee plan for deployment of 5G (the fifth-
generation technology standard for broadband cellular
networks).
Oversee continuation and streamlining of House
technology assessment in both new media and cloud services.
In cooperation with Member Services, review
available technology necessary to support New Member
Orientation.
Review procedures and standards for technology
services provided by outside vendors, individuals, and other
entities.
Work with legislative branch agencies to
communicate available technology services to all Member,
Committee and Leadership Offices.
OVERSIGHT OF FEDERAL ELECTION LAW AND PROCEDURES
Recommend disposition of House election contests
pending before the committee; monitor any disputed election
counts.
Use authority under Article I, Section 4 of the
United States Constitution to provide equivalent opportunities
for voters to participate in federal elections.
Review operations of the Federal Election
Commission (FEC) and evaluate possible changes to improve
efficiency, improve enforcement of the Federal Election
Campaign Act, and improve procedures for the disclosure of
contributions and expenditures. Consider authorization issues
and make recommendations on the FEC's budget.
Review federal campaign-finance laws and
regulations, including presidential and congressional public
financing, and consider potential reforms.
Examine the role and impact of political
organizations on federal elections.
Review operations of the Election Assistance
Commission (EAC) and evaluate possible changes to improve
efficiency and improve implementation of the Help America Vote
Act (HAVA).
Examine the impact of amendments made by HAVA and
the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act (MOVE Act) to
the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act
(UOCAVA) and consider proposals to improve voting methods for
those serving and living abroad.
Build the congressional record in support of a
reauthorized national Voting Rights Act.
Review state and federal activities under the
National Voter Registration Act to identify potential for
improvement to voter registration and education programs and
reducing costs of compliance for state and local government.
Review all aspects of registration and voting
practices in federal elections. Monitor allegations of fraud
and misconduct during all phases of federal elections and
evaluate measures to improve the integrity of the electoral
process.
ADDITIONAL MINORITY VIEWS ON OVERSIGHT OF FEDERAL ELECTION LAW AND
PROCEDURES
The majority election oversight plan covers the
jurisdiction of the Committee and we share in most of these
objectives. However, we differ in the priority of these
objectives. As the 116th Congress progresses we hope to work
with the majority in ensuring the integrity of our nation's
election infrastructure, the rights of states to run their own
elections without undue federal regulation, and the prohibition
against predatory election tactics such as ballot harvesting.
Legislative and Oversight Activities
OVERVIEW
The Committee is responsible for providing oversight over
the operations of the House, House Officers, the Smithsonian
Institution, the Library of Congress, and federal elections.
Federal Elections
The Committee conducted extensive oversight of the federal
elections process during the 116th Congress. Examining all
facets of the voting experience, the Committee and Subcommittee
on Elections held numerous hearings and sent oversight letters
gathering critical information on the U.S. election process.
The Committee held five full committee hearings, examining
equitable access to American democracy, the security of our
elections, the Election Assistance Commission (EAC), election
machine vendors, and voting safely during the COVID-19
pandemic. The Committee sent three oversight letters to the
EAC, three oversight letters to the Federal Election Commission
(FEC), and two oversight letters to voting system vendors.
In addition, the Subcommittee on Elections held eight
hearings and a listening session in 2019 examining the state of
voting rights and election administration across America. These
hearings enabled the American people to relate their
experiences in voting and gathered evidence of the ongoing
discrimination and voter-suppression efforts happening
throughout the country, especially efforts that immediately
followed the United States Supreme Court decision in Shelby
County v. Holder.\1\ The Committee issued a report prepared by
staff of the Subcommittee on Elections, which was led by
Chairperson Marcia L. Fudge, Voting Rights and Election
Administration in the United States of America, which was
included in the report accompanying H.R. 4--the Voting Rights
Advancement Act.\2\
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\1\570 U.S. 529 (2013).
\2\Comm. on Judiciary, Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2019, 109-
251, H. Rept. 116-317, 116th Cong. (2019).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In 2020, the Subcommittee held hearings on Native American
voting rights, the impact of COVID-19 on voting, voting in the
U.S. territories, and combatting misinformation in the 2020
election. Additionally, the Committee supported election
administration oversight efforts in connection with U.S. Postal
Service (USPS) issues leading up to the 2020 election, joining
an oversight letter sent to USPS. The Committee also joined the
Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, of the Committee
on Oversight and Reform, to send oversight letters to election
officials in Florida, Georgia, Texas, and Wisconsin, with an
additional oversight letter sent to Texas.
Legislative Branch Operations
House Officers are provided for in the U.S.
Constitution.\3\ During the 116th Congress, the Committee
worked extensively with the House Officers to develop and
implement long term plans, increase efforts to recruit and
retain a more diverse workforce, improve efficiency, review
proposed management improvements, provide general policy
guidance, oversee policy compliance, facilitate coordination
among the House Officers, oversee security and safety issues
and create a comprehensive district office support program.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\``The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and
other officers'' (U.S. Const. art. I, sect. 2, cl.5).
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The Committee conducted robust oversight over the Clerk of
the House, reviewing relevant contracts, information technology
capabilities, standards for electronic exchange of legislative
information within the Legislative Branch, the development and
launch of a new website, House printing needs and other
business practices. The Committee also oversaw the House
Document Repository, the preparation of congressionally
authorized publications such as Women in Congress and the
activities of the House Fine Arts Board and Capitol
Preservation Board.
The Committee's oversight activities with respect to the
House Sergeant-at-Arms included a general review of House
security operations. It also included oversight of the
implementation of initiatives designed to increase security at
district offices and a review of electronic access to
controlled spaces, financial and operational status reports,
security in House parking facilities, visitor access policies,
compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, staff ID
standards and technology in general.
The Committee provided significant policy direction and
oversight to the CAO, reviewing processes pertaining to asset
management, procurement, contract management, financial
management, payroll and benefits, information technology,
Member and staff training, customer service (including the
customer advocate program), the House gift shop, restaurants,
mail and furniture, accessibility, staff benefits, officially-
sanctioned contests such as the Congressional App Challenge and
programs like the Wounded Warrior Program. The Committee also
established in the CAO the SPF Sean Cooley and SPC Christopher
Horton Congressional Gold Star Family Fellowship Program,
modeled after the successful Wounded Warrior Program.
The Committee worked closely with House Information
Resources (HIR), a CAO business unit dedicated to information
technology and cybersecurity. The Committee conducted oversight
of HIR and other technology functions of the House to improve
technology governance, services and electronic information
dissemination. The Committee reviewed cybersecurity measures,
hearing room technology standards, and procedures and standards
with respect to external vendors and oversaw a streamlining of
technology assessment procedures. The Committee continues to
oversee the House Disaster Recovery Program and continues to
work with HIR on a strategic plan with respect to technology.
Additional detail on HIR oversight can be found within this
report.
The Committee also exercises oversight authority over the
House Office of Inspector General, which provides nonpartisan
recommendations for improving the performance, accountability,
and integrity of House operations. The Committee worked with
the Office of Inspector General to review and approve its audit
plan and reports, including the annual financial statements
audit, considering the various risks to House operations. The
Committee also directed the Inspector General to conduct
management advisories and continued to review the Office of
Inspector General's administrative operations.
The Committee worked to stand up and conduct oversight of
the new House Office of Diversity and Inclusion. Together with
the Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee, the
Committee oversaw an employment survey and reviewed diversity
plans for legislative branch agencies.
The Committee oversaw the establishment of the House Office
of the Whistleblower Ombudsman, created in the House Rules
package passed at the outset of the 116th Congress, to develop
best practices for whistleblower intake for House offices and
provide trainings to House offices on how to safely and
confidentially receive information from whistleblowers.
The Committee's oversight work extends to other Legislative
Branch entities, including the Library of Congress (Library)
United States Capitol Police (USCP), Government Publishing
Office (GPO), Architect of the Capitol (AOC), Office of
Congressional Accessibility Services, and the Smithsonian
Institution. The Committee provided oversight of plans for
collaboration among these entities, particularly in the context
of technology and cybersecurity. The Committee also provided
oversight of the Legislative Branch Financial Managers' Council
and provided general direction to the Bulk Data Task Force.
The Committee provided extensive oversight of the Library
of Congress, including the Visitor Experience project and other
initiatives designed to increase youth engagement, digitization
of government information, and information technology
modernization and centralization. The Committee also reviewed
implementation of several initiatives required by law, such as
the Veterans' Oral History Project Act and the Library of
Congress Fiscal Operations Improvement Act. Moreover, the
Committee provided detailed oversight on several Library units,
including the Law Library, Congressional Research Service and
National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled.
Particular emphasis was placed on the United States Copyright
Office (USCO), which is in the process of a technology
modernization initiative designed to make the USCO systems more
secure, efficient, and stakeholder friendly. This initiative
takes into account stakeholder input and addresses recordation,
registration and other vital copyright functions.
The Committee provided detailed oversight of the USCP. The
Committee's activities included monitoring agency operations,
reviewing USCP proposals for new trainings and additional
authorities, analyzing force levels, and conducting oversight
of the garage-security program, pre-screeners and new security
systems and devices. The Committee also reviewed and authorized
regulations set forth by the Capitol Police Board, examined the
USCP role in ensuring compliance with the Americans with
Disabilities Act, reviewed USCP Inspector General reports and
recommendations, and continually reviewed processes for
ensuring adequate physical security for Members, their
families, and staff. It should be noted that further
accountability measures were included in the omnibus funding
and coronavirus legislation, H.R. 133, the Consolidated
Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2021, that was agreed to by
both the House and Senate on December 21, 2020 and signed by
the President on December 27, 2020.
The Committee also conducted oversight activities with
respect to GPO. The Committee conducted oversight of general
GPO operations, including the Superintendent of Documents. It
also worked with GPO leadership to enact legislation to reform
operations to increase efficiency, continued to review
potential changes to The Federal Depositary Library Program,
monitored the remediation of management issues identified by
the GPO Inspector General, and reviewed House printing needs,
GPO printing and binding regulations, labor practices and labor
agreements, and use of GPO facilities and other assets.
The Committee worked closely with the AOC in an oversight
capacity. Much of the Committee's focus centered on the Cannon
House Office Building Rehabilitation project. Phase Two of the
project will be complete and delivered by the transition to the
117th Congress. The Committee also reviewed the operations and
organizational structure of the AOC, participated in the
selection of Brett Blanton as the new Architect, and oversaw
maintenance of the House side of the Capitol and House Office
Buildings, life safety and accessibility measures,
sustainability efforts, and operations of the Capitol Visitor
Center, including the redesign of Exhibition Hall. The
Committee's oversight activities also included reviews of AOC
Inspector General recommendations, opportunities to create
organizational wide efficiencies and standards, the pest
management practices, and inventory space requirements.
The Committee conducted oversight of the Office of
Congressional Accessibility Services. This oversight included
general monitoring of the implementation of the Americans with
Disabilities Act and ensuring that the Capitol complex, along
with Legislative Branch websites, are accessible.
With respect to Member Services, the Committee provided
oversight of the Members' Representational Allowance (MRA) by
providing guidance to Member offices and revised the Members'
Congressional Handbook which governs, among other things, the
MRA. The Committee also worked with Member and Committee
offices to ensure compliance with relevant regulations;
reviewed and revised relevant handbooks; reviewed regulations
pertaining to acquisition, transfer, and disposal of House
furnishings, equipment, and software; and collaborated with
House Officers and other Legislative Branch entities to ensure
that the views of Member offices are heard and understood. The
Committee also worked with the CAO as it continued to implement
the electronic vouchering system as a means of streamlining the
payment of vendors. With respect to committees specifically,
the Committee reviewed expense resolutions, approved committee
funding levels, and reviewed the use of consultant contracts.
In addition, the Committee facilitated the longest New
Member Orientation program in the history of the House of
Representatives. Notwithstanding the challenges posed by the
COVID-19 pandemic, the Committee worked with the Congressional
Research Service to provide issues briefings and professional
development services for new Members and their staff which, for
the first time, included a paid transition aide.
In another first, the Committee oversaw the creation of a
paid internship program. The Committee also reviewed and
revised publications and communications used to support the
intern program and continued to support the Gregg and
Livingston Harper congressional internship program.
The Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 (CAA) requires
Congress and legislative branch entities to follow many of the
same employment and workplace safety laws applied to private
business and the rest of the federal government. During the
116th Congress, the Committee conducted oversight of the Office
of Congressional Workplace Rights (OCWR) and other House
entities with responsibility for enforcement of the
Congressional Accountability Act. The Committee reviewed the
content development and deployment of the climate survey as
provided for by P.L. 115-397 (132 Stat. 5297) and oversaw the
completion of a new IT intake system for complaints allowing
employees to file online. The Committee also oversaw changes to
the updated the Workplace Rights and Responsibilities training
program to more specifically tailor the courses to different
members of the House community, including Members, supervisory
staff and more junior staff, both in the districts and in
Washington, D.C. The Committee continues to monitor judicial
proceedings to determine the impact on the CAA and continues to
oversee the Office of Employee Advocacy.
The House Commission on Congressional Mailing Standards,
commonly known as the Franking Commission, is responsible for
issuing regulations governing the proper use of official
communications resources, providing advice and counsel to
Members and committees through advisory opinions, and hearing
formal complaints against Members who have allegedly violated
relevant law and regulations. During this Congress, and in
coordination with the Select Committee on the Modernization of
Congress, the Commission revised the regulations on the use of
the official communications resources to more reasonably
reflect the realities of contemporary digital communications.
These changes will also simultaneously provide more
transparency to the public and more flexibility for Members. In
addition, the Committee continued its general oversight on use
of the frank, monitored compliance with the blackout on
official communications 90 days before a primary or general
election, coordinated with the Office of the Clerk to increase
transparency and accountability through technology, and
investigated and disposed of complaints regarding misuse of the
franking privilege.
COMMITTEE FUNDING
The Committee 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, clause 7 of rule X of the Rules of the House of
Representatives authorizes interim funding authority for
committees to operate until the House adopts a primary expense
resolution. This funding authority is based on upon funding
levels from the second session of the previous Congress.
The funding process begins at the beginning of each new
Congress when each House subcommittee introduces a separate
House resolution requesting a specific funding level for
committee operations. These resolutions are referred to the
Committee on House Administration.
On March 12, 2019, the Committee held a hearing titled
``Committee Funding for the 116th Congress.'' By prior
agreement between Chairperson Lofgren and Ranking Member Davis,
it was determined that committees that submitted a bipartisan
budget request would not be required to appear before the
Committee. The Chairman and Ranking Member of the Committee on
Oversight and Reform appeared before the Committee and provided
testimony regarding that Committee's budget request for the
116th Congress.
On March 21, 2019, H. Res. 245, Providing for the expenses
of certain committees of the House of Representatives in the
One Hundred Sixteenth Congress was introduced and referred to
the Committee. The Committee met on March 25, 2019, to mark up
the resolution and ordered the resolution reported by voice
vote. The House agreed to H. Res. 245 on March 27, 2019.
The amounts provided each committee are as follows:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st Session 2nd Session Total
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Committee on Agriculture............................... $5,756,664 $5,756,664 $11,513,328
Committee on Armed Services............................ 8,175,111 8,175,111 16,350,222
Committee on the Budget................................ 5,190,212 5,190,212 10,380,424
Select Committee on the Climate Crisis................. 1,890,750 1,890,750 3,781,500
Committee on Education and Labor....................... 7,289,357 7,289,357 14,578,714
Committee on Energy and Commerce....................... 10,573,692 10,573,692 21,147,384
Committee on Ethics.................................... 3,507,696 3,507,696 7,015,392
Committee on Financial Services........................ 8,538,931 8,538,931 17,077,862
Committee on Foreign Affairs........................... 8,120,362 8,120,362 16,240,724\4\
Committee on Homeland Security......................... 7,654,001 7,654,001 15,308,002
Committee on House Administration...................... 5,172,211 5,472,211 10,664,422
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence............. 6,231,500 6,231,500 12,463,000
Committee on the Judiciary............................. 7,930,297 7,930,297 15,860,594
Sel. Comm. on the Modernization of Congress............ 450,000 37,500 487,500
Committee on Natural Resources......................... 6,947,963 6,947,963 13,895,926
Committee on Oversight and Reform...................... 9,495,034 9,495,034 18,990,068
Committee on Rules..................................... 3,327,189 3,327,189 6,654,378
Committee on Science, Space and Technology............. 5,539,827 5,539,827 11,079,654
Committee on Small Business............................ 3,098,148 3,098,148 6,196,296
Comm. on Transportation and Infrastructure............. 8,915,165 8,915,165 17,830,330
Committee on Veterans' Affairs......................... 4,138,192 4,138,192 8,276,384
Committee on Ways and Means............................ 9,133,432 9,133,432 18,266,864
Reserve Fund........................................... 1,500,000 6,500,000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On July 26, 2019, the Committee agreed to Committee
Resolution 116-12 (via Committee Poll No. 5) to allocate
$450,000 from the First Session Reserve Fund to the Select
Committee on the Modernization of Congress. In addition, the
Committee, on January 16, 2020, agreed to Committee Resolution
116-14 (via Committee Poll No. 8) to allocate an additional
$912,500 from the Second Session Reserve Fund to the Select
Committee on the Modernization of Congress.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\The amount provided to the Committee on Foreign Affairs includes
$410,000 ($205,000 for the first session and $205,000 for the second
session) to provide funding for the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
On March 23, 2020, the Committee agreed to Committee
Resolution 116-18 (via Committee Poll No. 12) to allocate funds
from the Second Session Reserve Fund. These amounts were as
follows:
Committee on Armed Services, $385,000
Committee on Education and Labor, $400,000
Committee on Energy and Commerce, $600,000
Committee on Foreign Affairs, $190,000
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, $450,000
Committee on Veterans' Affairs, $375,000
Committee on Ways and Means, $400,000
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).
In March 2019, Chairperson Lofgren wrote to the
Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch of the Appropriations
Committee and asked the Subcommittee to ``consider a
substantial increase for the MRA.'' Noting that ``investing in
the MRA account helps Congress attract and retain qualified
staff, and communicate effectively with our constituents,'' the
Committee has sought to authorize a notable increase in the
allowance after years of decline, which had reduced the ability
of the House to conduct its constitutional duties. Accordingly,
the MRA for 2020 was increased an average of 4.5 percent. This
represents the greatest increase in eight years for the
authorization for the MRA. The Committee supports fiscally
responsible increases to the MRA so Members have sufficient
resources to perform their duties.
HOUSE COMMISSION ON CONGRESSIONAL MAILING STANDARDS
The Commission on Congressional Mailing Standards, also
known as the Franking Commission, was established by Public Law
93-191 (87 Stat. 737). It 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 Chairperson 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 116th Congress, the Commission was chaired by Rep.
Susan A. Davis of California, with Rep. Bryan Steil of
Wisconsin serving as Ranking Member. The Chairperson and
Ranking Member were joined by Commission Members Rep. Brad
Sherman of California, Rep. Debra A. Haaland of New Mexico,
Rep. Robert E. Latta of Ohio, and Rep. Mark Walker of North
Carolina.
The primary functions of the Franking Commission, are as
follows:
1. To prescribe regulations governing the proper use of the
franking privilege and other official communications resources
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.
Sec. 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).
3. To investigate, decide, and dispose of complaints
regarding the misuse of the franking privilege (2 U.S.C.
Sec. 501(e)).
The Franking Commission's mission throughout the 116th
Congress was to modernize and harmonize the content rules
governing the use of official communication resources and
platforms. The Commission Members engaged with Congressional
Leadership, the Committee on House Administration, the Select
Committee on the Modernization of Congress, and other Members
of Congress and their staff on how to best achieve this goal.
The first step was to replace the House manual governing
official communications content with a new, simpler set of
rules which prevent the misuse of taxpayer funds, while
creating greater Member accountability, expediting the approval
process, and giving Members the ability to better adapt to
changing technology.
In her role as Chairperson of the Franking Commission, Rep.
Davis testified before the Select Committee on the
Modernization of Congress (SCMC) on two occasions throughout
the 116th Congress. On March 12, 2019, she described the intent
of the Franking Commission's mission for the next two years
based on the principles of making the franking rules more
fitting for modern communications alongside the goal of
increasing transparency and accountability. In addition, she
asked for support in pushing Congress to adopt more real-world
constituent outreach technology and practices.
On October 31, 2019, Chairperson Davis again, appeared
before the SCMC to update it on the progress the Commission had
made in achieving its stated goals. At this hearing,
Chairperson Davis also advocated for SCMC's support in
consolidating the jurisdiction of all official communications
content rules under the Commission, to allow for broader
communication subscription options for constituents to receive
communications from their Representatives, to consider methods
for permitting transferal of social media followers from
campaign accounts to official accounts, to improve the House's
unsolicited mass email hygiene and practices, and to update
reporting measures for the use of the frank.
On December 17, 2019, the Franking Commission agreed
unanimously to approve Commission Poll 116-1, which became
effective on January 7, 2020. This included the adoption of a
brand new manual, the House of Representatives Communications
Standards Manual (Manual) which replaced and superseded the
Regulations on the Use of the Congressional Frank by Members of
the House of Representatives and Rules of Practice in
Proceedings Before the House Commission on Congressional
Mailing Standards. To increase transparency and accountability,
it also established a public disclosure webpage found on the
Clerk of the House's website for all Advisory Opinions issued
by the Franking Commission, starting from January 3, 2018.
Prior to the creation of this webpage, the public only had
access to Advisory Opinions through in-person requests at the
Legislative Resource Center. In addition, the Commission took
steps to rename the Commission on Congressional Mailing
Standards to the House Communications Standards Commission, and
to set an agenda to update the Rules of Practice and Procedures
of the Commission.
On February 12, 2020, the Committee on House Administration
adopted Committee Resolution 116-16 which amended language in
the Members' Congressional Handbook and Committees'
Congressional Handbook to grant the Commission jurisdiction on
content regulations related to official communications
resources beyond that of the franking privilege. This included
official website and social media content, telephone town
halls, mass SMS messaging, email newsletters, flyers and other
publications, and advertisements across digital, television,
and radio platforms.
The Commission took steps to address the COVID-19 pandemic
to waive the pre-election blackout restrictions for non-franked
mail communications discussing resources, safety instructions,
and government actions related to addressing this threat to
life safety. On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief,
and Economic Security (CARES) Act was signed into law by
President Trump. It included a provision amending 39 U.S.C.
Sec. 3210(a)(6)(D), granting the Commission the ability to
waive the pre-election blackout restriction for unsolicited
postal mail sent in response to or to addressing threats to
life safety. Upon the signing of the CARES Act, the Franking
Commission agreed to Commission Poll 116-2 which included
conforming updates to the Manual, and to apply the waiver in
response to addressing the COVID-19 pandemic for franked mail
along with all other forms of unsolicited mass communication
previously waived.
On July 9, 2020, Chairperson Davis introduced H.R. 7512,
the Communications Outreach Media and Mail Standards (COMMS)
Act. The bill would amend U.S. Code to rename the ``House
Commission on Congressional Mailing Standards'' the ``House
Communications Standards Commission,'' expand the authority of
the Commission to regulate, provide guidance to authorized
users, and hear complaints related to the use of official
communications, to revise required disclaimers, and to revise
restrictions on postal mail content and communication
distribution periods. The COMMS Act passed the House on July
30, 2020 by unanimous consent. The COMMS Act was included in
H.R. 133, the Consolidated Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year
2021, which was signed by the President on December 27, 2020.
All written staff Advisory Opinions issued on or after
January 3, 1996, are available for public review and
photocopying. In addition, mass mailings issued prior to that
date are available for inspection. The Legislative Resource
Center has made these materials available to the public. As
previously mentioned, the Commission took steps to make
Advisory Opinion widely available online. As of December 22,
2020, the Legislative Resource Center had received 29 in-person
requests to review Advisory Opinions throughout the 116th
Congress. According to analytics on the public disclosure web
page, there have been 3,195 views since its launch on January
7, 2020.
As of December 22, 2020, the Commission staff reviewed
19,136 requests throughout the 116th Congress. This is an
increase of over 31 percent from the 115th Congress, and while
the pre-election blackout exemption for COVID-19 related
communications could be accounted for an increase in the second
session of the 116th Congress, the Commission staff reviewed
the highest number of requests for Advisory Opinions ever
recorded throughout the first session of the 116th Congress. No
official complaints related to the use of official
communications were reported to the Commission.
JOINT COMMITTEES
The Joint Committee on the Library
Established in 1802, the Joint Committee on the Library
(JCL) is the oldest continuing joint committee in the history
of the Congress and is made up of certain Members of the
Committee on House Administration (Committee), the chair of the
Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee, and certain
members of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration.\5\
Chairpersonship of the JCL switches between chambers each
Congress with the Senate chairing the Joint Committee for the
116th Congress. Members of the JCL are appointed by resolution
agreed to by the respective chambers.\6\ For the 116th
Congress, the House Members of the JCL are Vice Chairperson Zoe
Lofgren of California, Rep. G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina,
Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio, Rep. Rodney Davis of Illinois, and Rep.
Barry Loudermilk of Georgia.
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\5\2 U.S.C. Sec. 132b, P.L. 110-5.
\6\H. Res. 226, 116th Congress.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The House and Senate met on April 30, 2019, to formally
organize the JCL and adopt the rules of the joint committee.
Per statute, the JCL is responsible for acceptance and
oversight of works of fine art in the Capitol collection as
well as supervision of the National Statuary Hall Collection
(Statuary Hall).\7\\8\ For the 116th Congress, the JCL approved
the following state requests, each at varying stages of the
statue replacement process:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\7\2 U.S.C. Sec. 2132.
\8\2 U.S.C. Sec. 2133.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
April 2019: Approved Nebraska's final bronze
statue and granite pedestal for display in Statuary
Hall.
May 2019: Approved Utah's maquette.
November 2019: Approved Florida's request to
replace a statue in Statuary Hall.
December 2019: Approved Nebraska's maquette.
February 2020: Approved Missouri's request
to replace a statue in Statuary Hall.
April 2020: Approved Arkansas's request to
replace both statues in Statuary Hall.
June 2020: Approved Florida's maquette.
June 2020: Approved Kansas' full-scale clay
model and pedestal design.
September 2020: Approved Virginia's request
to replace a statue in Statuary Hall.
October 2020: Approved Florida's full-scale
clay model and pedestal design.
October 2020: Approved Missouri's maquette.
December 2020: Approved Nebraska's full-
scale clay model and pedestal design.
On July 23, 2020, the House passed H.R. 7573, directing the
JCL to remove the bust of Justice Roger Taney from the Old
Supreme Court Chamber, to be replaced with a bust of Justice
Thurgood Marshall, and to remove the statues of Charles
Brantley Aycock, John Caldwell Calhoun, and James Paul Clarke
from Statuary Hall as well the bust of John Cabell Breckinridge
from the Senate wing of the Capitol. The Senate has yet to
consider the legislation.
The Joint Committee on Printing and the Government Publishing Office
In addition to the its standalone authority over the
Government Publishing Office (GPO), the Committee also conducts
oversight of GPO through the Joint Committee on Printing (JCP),
a statutorily created joint committee, the House component of
which consists of the Chairperson of the Committee and four
other Committee members.\9\ Like the JCL, Members of the JCP
are elected by a resolution agreed to by the respective
chambers. In the 116th Congress, the House appointed
Chairperson Lofgren, Representative Jamie Raskin,
Representative Susan Davis, Representative Rodney Davis, and
Representative Barry Loudermilk. Chairperson Lofgren chaired
the JCP for the 116th Congress.\10\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\9\44 U.S.C. Sec. 101 ``The Joint Committee on Printing shall
consist of the chairman and four members of the Committee on Rules and
Administration of the Senate and the chairman and four members of the
Committee on House Oversight of the House of Representatives.''
\10\Supra, note 1.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The House and Senate met on April 30, 2019, to formally
organize the JCP and adopt the rules of the joint committee.
The JCP, per statute and various joint committee
resolutions, has broad authority over GPO operations and
government printing. Statute provides JCP with the authority to
``use any measures it considers necessary to remedy neglect,
delay, duplication, or waste in the public printing and binding
and the distribution of Government publications'' while JCP
Resolution #2 stipulates JCP's authority extends to ``all
matters involving GPO personnel.''\11\ Statute also charges JCP
with approval authority of collectively bargained wages between
GPO and its trade union.\12\ After nearly five years without a
contract, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
and the Fraternal Order of Police reached agreements with
management and the House's stewardship of JCP restored long
absent labor peace to the agency.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\11\44 U.S.C. Sec. 103, Joint Committee on Printing Resolution #2
adopted May 11, 1982.
\12\44 U.S.C. Sec. 305.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Before making certain expenditures, GPO must first obtain
JCP approval. In the 116th Congress, JCP authorized nearly $300
million in investments to improve agency operations,
particularly in XPub, a state-of-the-art technology for XML-
based publishing; the NextGen Passport program, an initiative
designed to enhance passport security with more advanced
construction and design; and health and safety enhancements to
protect GPO's workforce.
The House-chaired JCP also oversaw the appointment of GPO's
first permanent Director in over two years after Hugh Halpern
was confirmed by the Senate on December 4, 2019. On March 3,
2020, the Committee held a hearing titled Oversight of the
Government Publishing Office. Committee Members heard testimony
from Director Halpern, Inspector General Michael Leary, and
Superintendent of Documents Laurie Hall. Notably, it was
Director Halpern's first appearance as a witness at a
Congressional oversight hearing.
In response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and for the
safety of Members and staff, the JCP, working with the Clerk of
the House and GPO, JCP established a regime to allow for the
electronic endorsement of extensions of remarks for publication
in the Congressional Record for the first time in the House's
history.
OFFICERS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Clerk of the House
The Clerk's primary responsibilities involve the
legislative activities of the House. This includes managing the
bills originating in the House and overseeing the voting
system. The Office of the Clerk also performs a variety of
administrative functions under the oversight of the Committee.
The Office of the Clerk is comprised of eight divisions, in
addition to the Clerk's Immediate Office. These divisions
include: 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 Committee conducted monthly oversight meetings with the
Clerk and her senior staff on all aspects of the Clerk's
operations, including oversight of vacant offices, election
certifications, financial disclosures, the Posey Comparative
Print Project, implementation of the updated Clerk website and
overall IT posture. Additionally, the Committee worked closely
with the Office of the Clerk to produce an updated edition of
Women in Congress,\13\ which was undertaken by the Office of
Art and Archives together with the House Historian and
Government Publishing Office.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\13\Women in Congress, 1917-2020, prepared under the direction of
the Committee on House Administration of the United States House of
Representatives, by the Office of the Historian and Office of the
Clerk, United States House of Representatives, U.S. Government
Publishing Office, Washington, DC, 2020.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Notably, during the global COVID-19 pandemic, the Committee
worked with the Office of the Clerk to implement vital changes
to legislative operations. These temporary changes allowed the
House to continue its to work on behalf of the American people,
notwithstanding the danger of gathering in places like
committee rooms and the House Floor. For example, in April
2020, the Speaker of the House directed the creation of an
electronic hopper to allow for virtual submission of bills,
resolutions, co-sponsors and extensions of remarks. Since then,
as of December 22, 2020, 2,816 measures have been filed
electronically, while just 159 were manually filed using the
traditional process. The Office of the Clerk was instrumental
in executing on this direction from the Speaker.
On May 15, 2020, the House passed House Resolution 965,
which authorized remote voting by directed proxy during the
COVID-19 public health emergency. This Resolution requires
Members not physically in Washington, D.C. to submit a signed
letter to the Clerk designating a specific Member to serve as
proxy. Designated proxies were only permitted to vote as
explicitly directed by the Member not located in Washington,
D.C. The Clerk maintained a list of designated proxies and
helped facilitate the voting process on the House Floor. As of
December 22, 2020, the House has conducted 142 roll call votes
that included proxy votes. Those votes included 6,253
individual votes cast by Members of both parties by proxy.
Several measures passed with proxy votes have been signed by
the President and enacted into law. These votes were
accomplished without incident.
The Rules of the House for the 116th Congress established,
for the first time, a House Consensus Calendar. The House
Consensus Calendar allows for consideration, on the House
Floor, of certain unreported House bills and resolutions that
enjoy broad support. More specifically, a House-originated
measure must: (1) not have been reported by its committee of
jurisdiction; (2) have gained the support of at least 290
cosponsors; (3) have been subject to a motion to place the
measure on the Consensus Calendar; and (4) have maintained at
least 290 cosponsors for 25 legislative days following the
filing of the motion. A total of 12 motions for consideration
on the Consensus Calendar were made during the 116th Congress.
The Clerk also continued to co-chair the Bulk Data Task
Force and worked with Committee staff to increase transparency
by digitizing legislative material. As part of these duties,
the Clerk led and participated in the Committee sponsored
Legislative Data and Transparency Conference held on October
17, 2020, in the Capitol Visitor Center. The conference brought
individuals from Legislative branch agencies together with data
users and transparency advocates to discuss strengthening
access to the legislative process.
The Committee, working with the Clerk and the CAO,
initiated a pilot program regarding field hearings where, for
the first time, the Clerk would provide official reporters and
the House Recording Studio would directly handle broadcast
responsibilities. Prior to this initiative, reporters were
hired locally, and broadcast efforts were often incomplete.
This initiative, widely applauded by House committees, has
resulted in field hearings that are consistent in terms of
professionalism and quality with hearings held in Washington,
D.C.
Sergeant-at-Arms
The House Sergeant-at-Arms (HSAA) dates back to the first
Congress in 1789 and is the principal law enforcement official
for the House. HSAA is responsible for the security of the
House of Representatives, the buildings located on the House
side of the Capitol and its campus, as well as Members of
Congress, congressional employees, and visitors. HSAA directs
emergency responses and continuity of government operations for
the House. Under clause 3 of rule II of the Rules of the House
of Representatives, the HSAA is responsible for maintaining
order and decorum in the House Chamber. HSAA coordinates
special events for the House of Representatives in conjunction
with other House and Senate Offices, the U.S. Capitol Police
(USCP) and external entities. The HSAA, the Senate Sergeant-at-
Arms, and the Architect of the Capitol (AOC) make up the
Capitol Police Board (CPB) which oversees the USCP.
The Committee held two hearings where the HSAA testified:
``House Officer Priorities for 2019 and Beyond,'' on April 9,
2019, and ``Oversight of the United States Capitol Police,'' on
July 16, 2019.
Beginning early in 2019 the Committee instituted standing
monthly oversight meetings with the executive teams of the HSAA
to provide oversight over HSAA activities and operations.
In addition to oversight hearings, the Committee worked
closely with HSAA to further key initiatives. These initiatives
include:
Joint Audible Warning System
The current audible emergency annunciator system was
installed as a temporary measure following the September 11,
2001, terrorist attacks. The current system components are
beyond their end-of-life dates, battery components are no
longer produced, and vendor support is limited. The current
system is unable to work in conjunction with the Joint
Emergency Mass Notification System (JEMS) or the Public Address
System (PAS). HSAA has worked with the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms,
USCP, and AOC to procure a new Joint Audible Warning System
(JAWS) to replace the current system in all five HOBs and the
Capitol Visitor Center. JAWS will incorporate multiple
encrypted systems to provide life safety alerts to Members,
staff, employees, and visitors and work with JEMS and PAS. The
Committee looks forward to the successful implementation of the
new JAWS and its contribution to increasing the safety and
security of the House.
District Security Service Center
The District Security Service Center (DSSC) serves as a
single point of contact regarding district security matters.
The DSSC ``has documented over 17,000 interactions with
district office staff . . . [and] coordinated the installation
or upgrade of 540 security systems[.]''\14\
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\14\Testimony of Paul D. Irving, Sergeant-at-Arms, U.S. House of
Representatives, Fiscal Year 2021 Budget Submission Before the
Subcommittee on Legislative Branch, Committee on Appropriations, March
3, 2020.
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The threats to Members and their families have steadily
increased. The DSSC has improved interactions with Members and
Members' District Offices nationwide and has put in place a
program to assess and evaluate information received from
Members and their District Offices in order to better align law
enforcement resources to address threats, emergencies and
logistical issues. In addition, DSSC has worked with the USCP
to provide risk assessments to Members regarding off-campus
events held in the Washington, D.C., area as well as Members'
District Offices. HSAA now pays District Offices security
monitoring fees and as of November 2020 added a second
nationwide security contractor to assist with District Office
security enhancement requirements. DSSC provided Members and
Members' District Office staff with threat awareness training
and provided enhanced outreach to District Offices which
experienced natural disasters, active shooter incidents,
environmental disasters, security incidents, protests, and
COVID-19 pandemic matters during the 116th Congress. In
addition, HSAA and CAO have begun an initiative to visit
District Offices in order to better tailor the services
provided to these offices and staff, with an annual goal of 150
visits. The Committee has encouraged these efforts to more
effectively integrate Members' District Offices into the work
of the House and the House community.
In April 2019, the Committee directed the HSAA and CAO to
work together to make customer service and training more
comprehensive for District Office staff. This led to the Joint
District Office Training Program which was launched in June
2019. HSAA worked with the Congressional Staff Academy to
establish on-line Law Enforcement Coordinator (LEC) training
classes to aid District Office staffers assigned as LECs and
published an updated LEC Handbook in the spring of 2020.
Garage Security Enhancement Project
Nearly seven years ago, the HSAA commenced the Garage
Security Enhancement Project as part of a security initiative
to incorporate all House Office Buildings (HOBs) into a secure
perimeter, in line with Senate Office Buildings as well as the
Capitol, and bring the entire Capitol Complex closer to 100
percent security screening. During the 116th Congress, HSAA
completed Phase II and III of the Project and began the final
Phase IV in October 2020. HSAA estimates a completion date of
January 2022.
The HSAA completed its goal of pushing initial screening of
all individuals at pedestrian and garage entries at HOBs. This
has reduced the need for redundant screening locations in HOBs
and permitted the USCP to reassign officers to other important
security assignments. Security screening improvements have also
proved beneficial in improving the effectiveness of the Office
of Attending Physician's (OAP) recommended enhanced screening
safety protocols in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
COVID-19 Pandemic Response
On February 28, 2020, the HSAA and the OAP issued an e-Dear
Colleague Notice titled ``Coronavirus (COVID-19) Guidance for
House Offices.'' The HSAA with OAP and House Leadership issued
subsequent guidance on March 27, 2020, via an e-Dear Colleague
Notice titled ``Procedures for March 27, 2020'' outlining House
COVID-19 protocols while in session. This marked the first time
voting on the House floor would be conducted to keep Members
and staff safe while following OAP and Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) COVID-19 guidelines. The HSAA and
OAP further refined the House floor guidance and COVID-19
protocols through December 2020 to ensure the continued safety
of Members and staff.
HSAA, in coordination with CAO and AOC began issuing
personal protective equipment (PPE) to the House community
beginning on April 22, 2020. Through November 30, 2020, over
13,000 boxes of masks, nearly 36,000 bottles of hand sanitizer,
over 5,500 cannisters of cleaning wipes, and nearly 13,000
boxes of gloves have been distributed. In addition, HSAA has,
as of December 10, 2020, had 958 discrete contacts with the
House community of COVID-19 outreach, including checking office
status, PPE inquiries, or related efforts. The DSSC has
documented 5,471 interactions with District Offices since the
start of 2020, including 3,290 related to COVID-19.
Chief Administrative Officer
The Office of the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) is a
non-partisan House office that provides support services and
business solutions to Members and staff. The CAO is tasked with
supporting the finance, procurement, logistics and information
technology needs of the House. The Committee is charged with
overseeing the CAO, which in the 116th Congress was led by
Chief Administrative Officer Phil Kiko. In consultation with
the Committee, the CAO entered the 116th Congress focusing on
improving customer service, increasing innovation and
modernizing House business practices. On December 22, 2020,
Kiko announced that he would not serve another term as CAO.
Chairperson Lofgren issued a public statement thanking him for
his many years of service to make the House of Representatives
work for Members of Congress and the people they serve.
House Information Resources
The Committee continued to work closely with House
Information Resources (HIR) to improve technology services and
security for the House. With oversight from the Committee, HIR
continued efforts to modernize its services. A key feature of
this modernization is the migration to the Office 365 suite.
Office 365 provides House staff with the ability to access
software through mobile devices, securely store files, and
collaborate on documents with colleagues from anywhere. As will
be discussed below, this capability was vital when the House
moved to a maximum telework posture due to the COVID-19
pandemic.
In March 2020, the Committee provided oversight and
guidance as the HIR Business Continuity/Disaster Recovery team
operationalized its plans to support offices during the COVID-
19 pandemic. More than 1,500 laptops were rapidly procured and
imaged, and new tools were deployed to support expanded
telework. HIR leveraged the deployment of cloud services,
Office 365 and collaboration tools such as Teams, Webex, and
Zoom to ensure that legislative activities and constituent
services could continue unimpeded. For example, Teams Live
Events were made available to the House community. This
provided the capability of hosting both large town hall events
and smaller meetings.
Working with other CAO business units, HIR established a
Telework Readiness Center in the Rayburn Cafeteria to provide
software upgrades, security updates, and new equipment for
Member offices. HIR also collaborated with the Customer
Experience Center and House Recording Studio to provide House
staff with training and tutorials on collaboration tools and
other key aspects of remote work. Moreover, in response to
House Resolution 965, HIR facilitated remote committee
hearings, meetings and markups. As of December 17, 2020, as
discussed later in this report, House committees held 169
entirely remote hearings, 130 hybrid hearings, 4 entirely
remote markups, and 36 hybrid markups. This included the
reconfiguration of the Capitol Visitor Center Congressional
Auditorium to broadcast a hybrid Committee hearing held by the
House Judiciary Committee.
Like any governmental entity, the House must be cognizant
of the evolving nature of cybersecurity threats. In
consultation with the Committee, HIR continued to review the
House security policies and procedures and made improvements
where needed. For example, HIR promulgated House Information
Security Policy (HISPOL) 8, governing configuration and use of
mobile devices; HISPOL 11, governing information security in
the context of telecommuting; and HISPOL 19, governing all
information systems that utilize active directory. HIR also,
among other activities, conducted cloud risk reviews, hosted a
cybersecurity fair and deployed new identity management service
software. At the same time, it ensured that it was able to
block unauthorized scans and screen questionable emails.
The Committee provided oversight of myriad other efforts to
enhance the technology user experience for Members and staff.
For example, HIR vetted and deployed cloud solutions to the
House, improved the House public WiFi, enhanced the House
network for district offices, migrated Member websites to the
cloud, and added digital signatures to Member website forms.
Finally, HIR is also working to migrate the House's data
centers off campus to geographically dispersed, Tier 3 data
centers. Despite delays due to COVID-19, HIR teams worked hard
to ensure the project remained on schedule with an initial
operating date of April 2021.
Finance
The CAO built on efforts initiated during the previous
Congress to improve and streamline the Office of Finance.
Namely, the Office of Finance began using in-house knowledge
management technology for CAO employees to establish and share
precedents, creating an institutional record of organizational
knowledge. In addition, the Office of Finance partnered with
the Congressional Staff Academy to create trainings for both
CAO staff and House Financial Administrators on various
financial services and processes. The Office of Finance also
improved its customer outreach activities by relaunching its
newsletter, hosting open houses for staff, and implementing
``MyServiceRequests''' to facilitate financial counseling
services. Finally, the Office of Finance established a Quality
Assurance team, led by a Director of Quality Assurance, which
focuses on improving Member-facing activities and coordinating
with other CAO business units.
Food Services
The Committee has continued its oversight of the
administration of food service contracts. In response to
feedback from the House community, the CAO facilitated the
arrival of several new branded food options, including Au Bon
Pain, Jamba, Steak n' Shake, and &pizza. These dining options
provide additional choice and options to members of the public
who visit the Capitol, as well as legislative branch staff. In
addition, the Members' Dining Room was opened to the general
public at times when the House was out of session. Furthermore,
in response to the pandemic, the CAO worked closely with the
Office of Attending Physician to ensure all House eateries
operated safely during the COVID-19 pandemic, while still
providing food to the essential workers on campus. These
efforts included increased cleaning, installing safety shields,
limiting self-serve selections, and placing social distancing
decals and signage at appropriate locations.
Congressional Staff Academy
The Committee also continued its oversight of the
Congressional Staff Academy. The Staff Academy partnered with
HIR to create a cloud-based learning management system that
provides for easy access to online courses and in-person course
registration. The Staff Academy also completed a renovation of
its classrooms, providing for increased capacity. The classroom
renovations also simplified the process for hosting and
participating in webinars, allowing district office staff to
utilize the services of the Staff Academy more easily.
Paid Intern Program
In April 2019, the House Paid Internship program was
enacted with interim regulations established by the Committee.
All Members of Congress were allocated $20,000 to pay interns
in their Washington, D.C., office through this program. These
funds are separate from the Members' Representational Allowance
and are disbursed by the CAO. In May 2020, the Committee issued
new regulations that provided each Member of Congress $25,000
to pay interns and allowed paid interns to work in district
offices.
Workplace Rights and Responsibilities Training
In conjunction with the Committee and the Office of House
Employment Counsel, the CAO updated the Workplace Rights and
Responsibilities training program to include separate courses
designed for non-supervisory staff, supervisory staff, and
Members. Furthermore, the CAO implemented a new registration
system to improve the experience for users looking to find,
register, and track completion of their training.
COVID-19 Pandemic Response Activities
In addition to increased information technology
requirements, the COVID-19 pandemic required significant
changes to normal House operations. In consultation with the
Committee, the CAO Asset Management team facilitated the
acquisition of personal protective equipment (PPE) and the
provision thereof to district offices.
The Office of Employee Assistance (OEA) continued to be a
valuable resource for Members and staff. OEA's caseload more
than doubled during the pandemic, and specialized programming
was created for chiefs of staff, district directors, staff
directors, caseworkers and other members of the House
community. In addition, the House Wellness Center facilitated
webinars on teleworking and created a COVID-19 toolkit.
Moreover, the CAO worked with House vendors in an effort to
prevent their employees--contract workers in places like House
eateries--from being furloughed as a result of the pandemic. In
addition, under guidance from the Committee, in-person
operations like the House Child Care Center, when permitted to
reopen under relevant public health guidelines, modified
protocols and processes to minimize risk of exposure and spread
of COVID-19.
Other Initiatives
The Committee directed the creation of a new and innovative
program to provide televisions to House offices, leveraging
bulk purchasing while saving an estimated $1.3 million over the
next six years. Previously, Members were responsible for
purchasing office televisions, which resulted in a medley of
different television brands, sizes, and quality. When Members
moved offices, these televisions would also have to be moved,
increasing costs and adding to the end-of-Congress workload of
House employees. The new program, which will standardize House
office televisions, will provide Members with televisions that
will remain the property of the CAO. These televisions will be
eligible to be upgraded every six years.
Additionally, the Committee worked with the CAO to
establish a new Equipment Modernization Initiative for New
Members of Congress. Building upon the Select Committee on the
Modernization of Congress' bulk purchasing for technology
recommendation, the CAO will provide computer-related equipment
to new Members of Congress. Prior to this initiative, Members
were responsible for outfitting their offices with computer-
related equipment--the new initiative will realize savings due
to the House's ability to buy equipment in bulk.
The Committee, in a letter dated June 24, 2019, requested
the CAO to enter into negotiations with the General Services
Administration (GSA) to enter into a revised Memorandum of
Agreement (MOA) covering District Office leases. The existing
MOA in place was entered into in 1997 and revised with an
addendum in 2000 and, in the Committee's view, was outdated and
not providing adequate protection and benefit to the House. The
CAO successfully renegotiated the MOA to the satisfaction of
both the House and GSA and a revised MOA was executed toward
the end of 2020.
FINE ARTS BOARD
The House Fine Arts Board (Board), established by 2 U.S.C.
Sec. 2121, consists of the House members of the JCL and is
chaired by the Chairperson of the Committee. The Board is
primarily charged with supervision of fine arts on display in
House-controlled areas of the Capitol complex and in the House
collection generally. The Board also administers the
portraiture process for Committee chairs for display in the
House's committee rooms.
In February 2020, the Board, on behalf of the House,
accepted a statue of Pierre L'Enfant from the government of the
District of Columbia, for display in a House-controlled space.
In June 2020, the Board oversaw the removal of Confederate
portraiture from the Speaker's Lobby in the Capitol.
THE ARCHITECT OF THE CAPITOL
The Architect of the Capitol (AOC) is responsible for the
maintenance, operation, development, and the preservation of
the entire Capitol Complex, which includes 17.4 million square
feet of building space and 460 acres of land. The Committee
oversees the AOC with respect to the House side of the Capitol
campus, with the exception of certain decisions that affect the
House Office Buildings.
During the 115th Congress, Inspector General Christopher
Failla underscored a clear commitment to institutional
integrity and the judicious use of taxpayer dollars. The
Committee, also committed to those same values and
transparency, has ensured that resources for audits and
investigations of the AOC's large-scale construction projects
and other vital services necessary for obligations to Congress
are available to the OIG. The AOC OIG Annual Work Product
Report dated December 8, 2020, shows more than a 550 percent
increase in the number of investigations from 2018, as well as
six major audits per year for 2019 and 2020, compared to a
total of nine during the 115th Congress.
On September 10, 2019, the Committee held an oversight
hearing titled, ``Oversight of the Renovation of the Cannon
House Office Building.'' This was the first hearing on the
Cannon House Office Building Renewal Project (``Cannon
Project'' or ``Project'') since the commencement of active
construction. The previous hearing had been held on May 6,
2009. The hearing provided clear oversight direction and led to
the disclosure by the AOC of a substantial cost overrun of 10-
15 percent, representing $75 million to $100 million in
additional costs. Testifying at the hearing were Thomas J.
Carroll, Acting Architect of the Capitol, Christopher P.
Failla, Architect of the Capitol Inspector General, Terrell G.
Dorn, Government Accountability Office Managing Director of
Infrastructure Operations, and Brian A. Abt, Clark
Construction, Division CEO, Mid-Atlantic Region.
During the September oversight hearing, the OIG announced
the independent contractor, Cotton & Company, LLC, would begin
Cannon construction and contract audits to assess the
effectiveness of phases 0 and 1 contract modifications and
potential change orders. The audit began on August 13, 2019,
and the OIG issued a final report on May 29, 2020.
In addition, Cotton & Company, LLC performed a second audit
of the Cannon Renewal Project's invoices for phases 1 and 2 to
ensure the cost and payments were made in accordance with
contract requirements, AOC policies and procedures, and
industry standards. The OIG issued a final audit report on
August 25, 2020.
Following the hearing, the Committee committed to
increasing its oversight of the Cannon Project and increasing
coordination and communication. Weekly meetings were held with
senior staff from the AOC, CAO, USPC, and HSAA to gain a better
understanding of the interdependencies of these internal
stakeholders and to improve transparency.
On December 9, 2019, President Trump nominated Brett
Blanton as the 12th Architect of the Capitol and he was sworn
in on January 16, 2020. In addition, the AOC hired David Wilder
as Superintendent to the House Office Buildings in October
2020. Thomas Carroll, Assistant to the Architect resigned
December 11, 2020, after more than a decade of service to the
AOC. The Committee appreciates Mr. Carroll's public service and
many contributions to the Congress. The AOC, responsible for
the delivery of the Cannon House Office Building Renewal
(CHOBr), is in the process of completing Phase II and preparing
to start Phase III.
In responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, the AOC, in
coordination with the House Office of Attending Physician (OAP)
and the Committee, implemented a strict mask policy with
monitors and incorporated a cleaning protocol to help reduce
the transmission of COVID-19. As the 116th Congress draws to a
close, a national spike in infections and deaths has reached an
all-time high. Despite these challenges, phase II of the Cannon
Project was delivered on time with some punch list items that
will continue until the start of the 117th Congress. Phase III
will begin in January 2021.
The Committee continued to conduct oversight of the Capitol
Visitor Center (CVC) with a significant portion focused on the
redesign work associated with the Exhibition Hall. The physical
renovation began in the spring of 2019. Oversight of this
project is conducted by the Committee along with the Senate
Committee on Rules and Administration. The CVC anticipates
reopening Exhibition Hall sometime in 2022. In March, the CVC
was closed to the public due to COVID-19 and as of the date of
this report, it has not re-opened to the general public. The
CVC, AOC, and Committee continue to monitor the status of the
COVID-19 pandemic and have collaborated on a phased reopening
plan. To better serve the public until the implementation of
the phased reopening plan is safe, the CVC continues to provide
virtual resources for the public, including educational
resources and video tours. The video tours are geared both
toward general audiences and middle school students.
The Committee also continues to work with the AOC to
identify potential statutory reforms that would allow it to
work more efficiently and effectively. To that end, the
Committee and AOC worked to amend the statute governing the
Deputy Architect position. This reform, which was included in
the year-end omnibus appropriations and coronavirus relief
package sent to the White House for the President's signature,
provides the Architect with additional flexibility in
delegating duties to the Deputy Architect and other AOC
officials.
Finally, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the many
logistical elements required to support New Member Orientation,
the Committee worked with the AOC, House Superintendent, USCP,
HSSA, and the OAP to develop and execute a plan to ensure a
smooth transition for the new and departing Members. The plan
incorporated virtual activities as much as possible and for in-
person activities. In addition, a COVID-19 testing program was
accessible to all Members-elect and designated aides who
travelled to Washington, D.C., for the program, as well as to
others who worked on orientation. In addition, cleaning
protocols were in place and CDC guidance was followed including
the wearing of masks and appropriate social distancing
measures.
INSPECTOR GENERAL
The Committee worked with the House Office of the Inspector
General (OIG) to implement its annual workplan for the
continued improvement of House operations. The plan focused on
technology, efficiency, and financial stability of the House.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic presenting challenges to
carrying out its audit function, the House OIG was able to
conduct ten audits this Congress, with six audits being
conducted during the pandemic.
The OIG issued another unmodified financial statement audit
for Fiscal Year 2019, marking the twenty second consecutive
year for the House to receive a clean report. An unmodified
audit means that no material weaknesses were found in internal
control over financial reporting and that the House was in
accordance with all material respects with U.S. generally
accepted accounting principles.
UNITED STATES CAPITOL POLICE
The United States Capitol Police (USCP) 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.
Commencing in March 2019, the Committee instituted monthly
oversight meetings with USCP and the USCP Office of Inspector
General (USCP OIG) throughout the 116th Congress. In addition,
recognizing the importance of rank-and-file officer input, the
Committee held bi-weekly meetings with the Fraternal Order of
Police Labor Union (FOP/Labor). The Committee also held regular
meetings with law enforcement entities and non-profit advocacy
organizations to discuss the USCP's operations, effectiveness,
and transparency, as well as its interaction with Members,
employees, and visitors.
The Committee held an oversight hearing on July 19, 2019,
titled ``Oversight of the United States Capitol Police.'' At
this hearing, Chairperson Lofgren stated:
The Committee's oversight includes ensuring the
United States Capitol Police continue to critically
review its policing practices to ensure those practices
evolve and are refined based on best practices and new
information. We want to make sure the [USCP] is focused
on its core mission, protecting Congress, and has
enough resources to do so.
And:
[The USCP] must seek to ensure the diversity of its
employees by establishing sound recruiting practices
and sound employee diversity training. A diverse
workforce is a strong workforce and investing in
training and development will telegraph to the rank-
and-file officers of the Department that Congress is
committed to investing in you and your career and that
there are more opportunities for you to compete for
roles of increasing and different responsibilities.
Strategic Plan for 2021-2025
The Committee worked with stakeholders to develop key
oversight areas to incorporate into the USCP's new five-year
strategic plan. The USCP used a third-party vendor to compile
views and concerns of customers and to identify items deemed
critical to the success of the USCP. The Committee's
recommendations were incorporated into the new five-year plan
which will serve as a roadmap with clearly defined benchmarks
in order to assess and evaluate the USCP's progress in meeting
its stated goals. The USCP's Human Capitol Strategic Plan,
2021-2025 complements and directly supports its strategic plan.
Cyber and Technology Issues
On February 27, 2020, the Committee received the USCP-OIG
report ``Review of the United States Capitol Police Cyber-
Investigation Capabilities.'' The USCP-OIG assessed the USCP
had ``adequate procedures for cyber capabilities but did not
adequately document those procedures in guidance,'' noting that
the USCP did not have a formal Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU) with the U.S. Secret Service and that it also had an
outdated Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Federal Bureau
of Investigation. The Committee worked with USCP and HSAA
recognize these challenges and to incorporate new
administrative processes to formalize MOUs and MOAs on a
regular basis into the Strategic Plan 2021-2025 and Human
Resource Strategic Plan 2021-2025.
In August 2020 the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police
Department informed the USCP it would be replacing its current
COLBALT Data base system which must be used by all federal law
enforcement agencies conducting law enforcement arrests in the
District of Columbia. The USCP's old license agreement
prevented the USCP from appropriately interfacing with the
COLBALT system and transfer critical data to its systems. The
USCP's transition to the new system would allow it to use
critical data in its intelligence assessment evaluations as
well as keep accurate records of all individuals with which it
has contact. The Committee fully supports the acquisition of a
new Mark43 cloud-based software system which is expected to be
completed in February 2021.
Office of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Action
During August 2020, the Committee engaged the USCP to
ascertain the status regarding the Office of Inclusion,
Diversity, Equity and Action (IDEA) efforts to engage its
workforce, especially after the summer of national civil
protests relating to the tragic killings of George Floyd,
Ahmaud Arbrey, and Breonna Taylor, among others. On September
2, 2020, the USCP provided a formal briefing of its intent to
conduct Race, Equity, and Policing Town Halls in October 2020.
The Department successfully provided Race, Equity, and Policing
Town Hall sessions October 26, 2020, which were well received,
and the FOP/Labor commended the USCP's efforts to engage sworn
officers in a productive manner. The USCP vowed that IDEA would
be fully integrated throughout the USCP's infrastructure and be
a critical element in its Department Strategic Plan 2021-2025
and Human Capital Strategic Plan 2021-2025.
Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA)
The USCP and FOP/Labor currently are operating under a CBA
last ratified on June 8, 2010. The Committee worked to improve
the trust between the USCP and FOP/Labor and strongly
recommended the formal start of new CBA negotiations. On
September 9, 2019, FOP/Labor notified the USCP and the
Committee that it had failed to reach an extension agreement
concerning the existing CBA and it had selected a new FOP/Labor
CBA negotiation team. On October 9, 2019, the USCP notified
FOP/Labor and the Committee that it too had selected a new USCP
CBA negotiation team.
On January 29, 2020, FOP/Labor informed the Committee it
was pleased with the CBA negotiations to date. FOP/Labor
President indicated the FOP/Labor CBA team reported the
negotiations were positive, productive, and professional. Non-
disclosure agreements had been finalized and were signed by all
participating USCP and FOP/Labor teams as well as participating
attorneys on February 19, 2020. The USCP noted the negotiations
and discussions have been positive and productive. On February
24, 2020, Department informed the Committee that there had been
six formal meetings to establish a new CBA.
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and increasing
infection numbers, on March 20, 2020, the USCP notified the
FOP/Labor and the Teamsters Union of its decision to suspend
both CBAs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The USCP requested the
FOP/Labor CBA Negotiation Team continue with CBA negotiations;
however, FOP/Labor informed the USCP it could not continue CBA
negotiations in good faith with the entire CBA being suspended
under the exigent circumstances the USCP outlined. On March 23,
2020, FOP/Labor issued a press release outlining its opposition
to the suspension of the entire CBA and its efforts to get the
USCP to reconsider the unprecedented suspension of the entire
CBA. The CBA remained suspended for April, May, and June of
2020. The USCP reinstated minor article portions of the FOP/
Labor Union CBA on July 15, 2020. The USCP and followed with
further reinstatement of other articles on August 14, 2020. On
September 17, 2020, Chief Sund and the FOP/Labor and Teamsters
Unions re-initiated bi-weekly meetings. On October 6, 2020,
FOP/Labor informed Committee it was notifying the Department it
had reinstated the FOP/Labor Committee CBA Team and was ready
to restart formal CBA negotiations.
Training and Development
On January 29, 2020, the Committee held a meeting with
USCP's Chief Administrative Officer concerning training and
development programs for sworn and civilian personnel. The
USCP--CAO informed Committee staff that the USCP did not have
any regulations in place or mandatory training program for
employees which aided in their professional development.
Further, the USCP--CAO also advised that there was no
established requirement or program for supervisors to complete
advanced leadership training prior to promotions. The Committee
had previously recommended that the USCP--OIG review training
issues. The Committee recognized the USCP had systemic
leadership development and training deficiencies as reported in
the USCP--OIG report, ``Assessment of the United States Capitol
Police Leadership Training Program,'' Report Number OIG-2020-
07, dated March 2020. The OIG assessed, ``While it had a
program providing new Sergeants and Lieutenants with leadership
training, the [USCP] did not offer formalized leadership
refresher training to Supervisors. The [USCP] also did not
offer leadership training to develop future potential leaders.
Without appropriate supervisory and leadership training, [USCP]
leaders may have lacked the leadership skills necessary to
perform their jobs.''
As a result of the Committee's oversight, the USCP
Strategic Plan 2021-2025 identifies Goal 1--Invest in the USCP
workforce. The USCP identified five objectives to successfully
attain Goal--1: 1.1 Deliver valuable human capital management
services aligned with the USCP's mission and strategic goals;
1.2 Cultivate a diverse, inclusive culture of transparency,
collaboration, and equity that leverages employees' unique
talent, skills, and perspectives; 1.3 Recruit and retain the
workforce needed to meet the USCP's mission now and into the
future; 1.4 Train and develop sworn and civilian personnel to
ensure a ready, able and professional USCP workforce; and 1.5
Enhance performance management practices to support and sustain
a high performing USCP workforce. The USCP-approved
reorganization in October 2019 placed a Deputy Chief over the
Training Division to ensure appropriate oversight, guidance and
creation of codified mandatory employee and leadership basic/
advanced training programs.
Reorganization
On August 21, 2019, Chief Sund forwarded a USCP
reorganization request letter to the Committee. The Chief
requested the Committee's approval to conduct a structural
reorganization of USCP. The reorganization would create new
division level entities; Employee Wellness and Resiliency
Division, Internal Controls and Risk Management Division,
Badging and Credentialing Division, and the Employment and
Suitability Division under the auspice of the Chief
Administrative Officer (CAO). The request also outlined the
renaming of the Protective Service Bureau/Intelligence Analysis
Division to Intelligence and Interagency Coordination Division;
the renaming of the Operational Services Bureau/Patrol/Mobile
Response Division to Special Operations Division; and the
renaming of the Office of Human Resources/Human Capital
Strategy, Recruitment and Employment Division to Human Capital
Strategy, Staffing and Employment Division. The Capitol Police
Board was briefed regarding this request and endorsed the
structural reorganization proposal.
The reorganization would include the creation of a new
Assistant Chief of Police, Inspector, and Captain executive
positions. The new Assistant Chief of Police would oversee the
Protective Services Bureau (PSB), comprised of the Intelligence
and Interagency Coordination Division (IICD), Dignitary
Protection Division (DPD), and the Investigations Division
(ID). This position would also have responsibility over the
Security Service Bureau (SSB), which manages the Physical
Security Division (PSD), and the Technical Countermeasures
Division (TCD). The Chief stated this reorganization would
provide better oversight of the IICD and DPD which has had
noted deficiencies outlined by the USCP OIG regarding a failure
of appropriate command oversight, a lack of professionalized
intelligence production/reviews, as well as integration of IICD
and DPD with other department bureaus and divisions.
A second Assistant Chief of Police would have
responsibility over Uniformed Operations, comprised of the
largest contingent of sworn USCP officers. The Assistant Chief
of Police would also have responsibility over the Command and
Coordination Bureau, Operational Services Bureau, and the
Uniformed Services Bureau (USB). The proposal requested the
addition of a new Captain position within the USB House
Division to oversee the O'Neill House Office Building and the
implementation of pre-screening and House Garage Security.
The USCP proposal requested the formation of the Employee
Wellness and Resiliency Division (EWRD) and the Internal
Controls and Risk Management Division (ICRMD) under the
responsibility of the CAO. EWRD would address all manners of
employee physical, mental, and financial well-being while ICRMD
will address audits, reviews, policy directives working with
the OIG. The Chief's proposal requested the formation of two
new divisions under the guidance of the CAO within the Office
of Background Investigations and Credentialing (OBIC) would be
the Badging and Credentialing Division (BCD) and the Employment
Suitability Division (ESD).
The USCP proposal requested the addition of an Inspector
position to be assigned to the Office of the CAO to ``allow for
a regular rotation within the core administrative element to
learn and gain an in-depth understanding of the administrative
and support functions . . . thereby preparing personnel at this
rank for greater responsibilities and business acumen at the
rank of Deputy Chief. On October 17, 2019, the Committee
approved the USCP reorganizational proposal.
COVID-19 Pandemic Response
The COVID-19 pandemic had an adverse effect upon USCP and
USCP-OIG operational activities including recruiting and
training programs from March 2020 through December 2020. The
Committee worked with the USCP, to modify security and
screening procedures and other operations to ensure that the
USCP could continue to carry out its critical core mission to
``Protect the Congress--its Members, employees, visitors, and
facilities--so it can fulfill its constitutional and
legislative responsibilities in a safe, secure and open
environment.''
The Committee engaged all parties to ensure consistent
communication concerning the modification of Capitol Complex
security and safety measures were provided to Members,
employees, and visitors. Since March 2020, the USCP issued over
100 Bulletins and notices to its employees. The USCP initiated
on-line support services and working with the FOP/Labor took
its safety suggestion and initiated a nationwide best practice
of providing hotel lodging and meals for employees assigned for
duty to prevent them from exposing their families if they
should have contracted COVID-19 during their shift. The USCP
provided over 40,000 lunches to all shifts as well as made
available 1,100 hotel rooms to prevent COVID-19 transmission to
families. The USCP provided N-95 (limited) and personal
protective equipment (PPE) to all employees. Over 3,000 cloth
masks and gloves were issued and all screening posts in HOBs
were fitted with plexiglass barriers for extra protection for
sworn officers as well as extra PPE working in conjunction with
the Committee, HSAA, CAO, and AOC.
The USCP reported FLETC training facilities in Brunswick,
Georgia, and Cheltenham, Maryland, were closed, and training
suspended in March 2020. The USCP had Class 209 and Class 210
sent home from training in FLETC--Brunswick, Georgia and Class
208 from FLETC--Cheltenham, Maryland. FLETC restarted classes
after mandatory 14-day quarantine of students recalled to
complete training on June 1, 2020. The USCP had 33 recruits
affected by the COVID-19 delay. The USCP-OIG reported two of
its investigators' training was extended for two weeks after
FLETC--Brunswick, Georgia shut down all activity in November
2020 due to a COVID-19 outbreak at the facility. The two USCP-
OIG investigators will graduate in December 2020. The USCP-OIG
was successful in hiring investigators during FY 2020 and for
the first time was fully staffed with 10 investigators
increasing its capability to address matters in a more
efficient and effective manner.
On December 11, 2020 the USCP reported to the Committee its
90th employee COVID-19 infection, with 64 employees having
recovered and returned to work. The USCP negotiated with OAP
and the District of Columbia to have priority testing available
to employees exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms.
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
The Committee serves as the primary legislative and
oversight body for the Smithsonian Institution, a quasi-federal
institution of 19 museums, 21 libraries, the National Zoo,
numerous research centers, and several education centers.
Approximately two-thirds of the Smithsonian's funding is from
federal appropriations.
The Smithsonian is overseen by a Board of Regents, which is
composed of the Chief Justice, Vice President, Members of the
House and Senate, and other private citizens known as ``Citizen
Regents.'' Citizen Regents are appointed to six-year terms by
joint resolution of Congress. During the 116th Congress, the
Smithsonian Board of Regents nominated five individuals to
serve as Citizen Regents: John Fahey, Risa J. Lavizzo-Mourey,
Michael Lynton, Denise O'Leary, and Franklin Raines. The
Committee met with the new nominees prior to their appointment.
Mr. Fahey, Dr. Lavizzo-Mourey, and Mr. Lynton were reappointed
to the Board of Regents via S.J. Res. 65, S.J. Res. 67 and H.J.
Res. 87, respectively. Ms. O'Leary and Mr. Raines were
appointed to their first term on the Board of Regents via S. J.
Res. 66 and H. J. Res. 88, respectively.
The Institution's day-to-day operations are led by the
Secretary of the Smithsonian. The current Secretary, Lonnie G.
Bunch III, assumed his position on June 16, 2019. Secretary
Bunch was previously the founding Director of the Smithsonian's
National Museum of African American History and Culture.
On September 18, 2019, the Committee held a hearing
entitled, ``Oversight of the Smithsonian Institution.''
Witnesses at the hearing included Secretary Bunch and Cathy L.
Helm, the Smithsonian's Inspector General. The hearing provided
an opportunity for the Committee to discuss Secretary Bunch's
vision, as well as some of the issues and challenges facing the
Institution. Such issues and challenges included the renovation
of the National Air and Space Museum, a growing deferred
maintenance backlog, a lack of diversity, collections
management, and information technology/security.
The Committee continues to work with the Smithsonian to
address the above referenced issues. For example, in response
to the deferred maintenance backlog, the Committee sent a
bipartisan letter to the Appropriations Committee requesting
that the appropriation for maintenance match industry standards
and be available until expended. The Committee is also working
with the Smithsonian on solutions to collections management
problems and its information technology/security challenges.
The Committee focused extensively on increasing diversity
within the Smithsonian during the 116th Congress. As will be
described herein, the Committee's efforts culminated in the
authorization of two new museums honoring Latinos and women,
respectively. As of this writing, authorizations for both
museums have passed both chambers of Congress and are awaiting
the President's signature.
On February 5, 2020, the Committee held a hearing entitled,
``Oversight of the Smithsonian Institution: Opportunities for
Growth by Honoring Latino Americans and Asian Pacific
Americans.'' The hearing centered on two bills, H.R. 2420, the
National Museum of the American Latino Act, which would
authorize the creation of the National Museum of the American
Latino, and H.R. 4132, the Commission to Study the Potential
Creation of National Museum of Asian Pacific American History
and Culture Act. This bill would create a commission to study
the feasibility of creating a museum dedicated to Asian Pacific
American History. Governmental witnesses at the hearing
included Reps. Jose Serrano and Will Hurd, the two sponsors of
H.R. 2420; Rep. Grace Meng, who sponsored H.R. 4132, and
Secretary Bunch. Additional witnesses included Henry Munoz,
Chair of the National Museum of the American Latino Commission;
Dr. Beth Lew-Williams, Associate Professor of History at
Princeton University; Lisa Sasaki, Director of the Smithsonian
Asian Pacific American Center; and Dr. Eric Petersen, a
Specialist in American National Government at the Congressional
Research Service. The hearing included a constructive
conversation with the witnesses about the importance of
diversifying the Smithsonian and ways in which H.R. 2420 and
H.R. 4132 could help achieve that goal. On July 27, 2020, the
House agreed to H.R. 2420 under suspension of the rules.
On December 21, 2020, both the House and Senate agreed to
the provisions of H.R. 2420 and incorporated the bill into H.R.
133, the Consolidated Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2021,
which was signed by the President on December 27, 2020. This
represents the culmination of more than 15 years of efforts to
make the National Museum of the American Latino a reality.
In addition to the bill establishing the National Museum of
the American Latino, the Committee also shepherded H.R. 1980,
the Smithsonian Women's History Museum Act, to passage on the
House Floor. This bill, sponsored by Rep. Carolyn Maloney, was
marked up by the Committee on November 12, 2020. The bill was
ordered favorably reported to the House by voice vote and, on
February 11, 2020, was agreed to by the House under suspension
of the rules. On December 21, 2020, the House and Senate agreed
to the provisions of the bill establishing a national women's
history museum and included it in H.R. 133, the Consolidated
Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2021, which was signed by
the President on December 27, 2020. When the authorization to
create this museum is signed into law, it will be the result of
more than 25 years of efforts to establish this vitally
important museum. Appropriately, this bill passed during the
100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th amendment,
which granted women the constitutional right to vote.
Finally, the Committee met regularly with the Smithsonian
and the Smithsonian Office of Inspector General to conduct
oversight and perform site visits. Topics discussed during
these meetings included, for example, information security, new
programming, collections management, deferred maintenance, the
COVID-19 pandemic and impacts to the Institution and
Smithsonian Enterprises.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
The Committee met regularly with Library of Congress
(Library) management and the Library Office of Inspector
General during the 116th Congress to monitor and review
operations, services and planning initiatives. Areas of focus
for the Committee included information technology (IT)
modernization, Copyright Office modernization, reimagination of
the Library visitor experience, the operations of the
Congressional Research Service (CRS), the Library's response to
the COVID-19 pandemic, overseas offices, Congress.gov, the
National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, and
the Law Library.
Information Technology
As technology has advanced and the needs of Library patrons
have changed, the Library has increased its reliance on IT. In
2015, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reviewed IT
management at the Library and produced a report with wide-
ranging recommendations to improve IT. In response, and with
oversight from the Committee, the Library has undertaken an IT
modernization effort that has continued into the 116th
Congress. This modernization effort includes an overhaul of
records storage, utilization of both the cloud and a new data
center, a more stabilized core IT structure, improved IT
governance and a more centralized and professionalized IT
workforce.
The Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) aligned
the Library's IT governance with the new centralized structure.
To ensure the Library's IT efforts worked in concert with its
strategic plan, OCIO implemented a FY 2019-2023 directional
plan in May 2019. Efforts under this directional plan include a
transition to a new data center and enterprise cloud
environment, and implementation of multifactor authentication
for all Library users.
In addition, OCIO worked closely with the various Library
business units on IT modernization. Modernization of the U.S.
Copyright Office, including IT modernization, will be discussed
in greater detail below.
Moreover, the Library has experienced record web traffic on
its various websites, including Congress.gov and Copyright.gov.
This is attributed, in part, to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Additionally, the Library created new streams of programming,
including the Library Engage and Families blog, to provide
content to users impacted by the pandemic and the Library's on-
site closure. Programming traditionally held in person, such as
the National Book Festival, was successfully transitioned to
fully virtual events. In all, in FY 2020, total Library page
views were up 56 percent, total visits were up 46 percent, and
mobile visits were up 83 percent. Included in this data is
traffic to Library of Congress educational websites. The
Committee worked with the Library to provide educational
websites to Members during the COVID-19 pandemic. Members then
sent this information to parents and teachers within their
districts.
Visitor Experience and Thomas Jefferson Building Renovations
The Committee provided oversight of renovations to the
Thomas Jefferson Building, made as part of the effort to
enhance the visitor experience. This project includes the
creation of a new youth center, improvement to exhibit
infrastructure through the creation of a treasures' gallery,
and the means to provide more collection-based civics and
history education to visitors. The youth center will be made up
of ``learning labs''' that will let young people interact with
the Library's collections. In addition, the Library is
constructing a new orientation space where visitors will be
able to look up through an oculus to view the main reading
room. The project is funded through a public-private
partnership that provides $40 million in appropriated funds and
$20 million in matching private funds raised by the Library.
The Committee continues to provide oversight over the
various elements of the project, including the treasures
gallery, scheduled to open to the public in December 2022, the
youth center, scheduled to open to the public in December 2023,
and the orientation gallery. Conceptual design directions for
the orientation gallery are expected in early 2021.
United States Copyright Office
As part of the Library's broader modernization efforts, the
United States Copyright Office (USCO) is in the process of
implementing an office-wide initiative to build a new
enterprise copyright IT system with a user-centered, flexible
design. The new copyright system is intended to streamline
processes and policies and improve access. It includes, among
other projects, reimagined registration and recordation
systems, as well as an improved application process. The
Committee has focused a significant portion of its oversight
efforts with respect to the Library on USCO modernization.
The new Enterprise Copyright System (ECS) will include the
UCO registration, recordation, public records, and licensing IT
applications. A copyright public records application pilot is
now available inside the USCO and will be launching to the
public later in December 2020. A copyright recordation
application pilot was launched in April 2020. New features will
continue to be added through the end of FY2024. A new web-based
application for registration is in development. Foundational
design was completed in April 2020. The full registration
application development process began soon thereafter and will
run through the end of FY2024. Development of a licensing
application began in FY2020. The application has a dedicated
user experience design and initial automated workflow.
Development efforts will accelerate through FY2021. Finally, an
updated user experience and platform is in development. The
goal is to ensure the ECS is easy to operate. This project
began in September 2020 and will continue through September
2021.
The above referenced work is now taking place under a new
Register of Copyrights. Shira Perlmutter, who previously served
as Chief Policy Officer and Director for International Affairs
at the United States Patent and Trademark Office, assumed this
role on October 26, 2020.
Congressional Research Service
On June 20, 2019, the Committee held a hearing entitled,
``Oversight of the Congressional Research Service.'' CRS
provides nonpartisan, confidential research and analysis on a
wide range of issues for Members of Congress and staff. The
primary focuses of the CRS hearing were the identification of
both challenges facing the agency and solutions therefor. The
Committee heard testimony from the Director of CRS, Mary
Mazenac, and President of the Congressional Research Employees
Association, Dr. Susan Thaul. The main challenges identified at
the hearing pertained to the CRS workforce. The CRS workforce
has been declining steadily since 2010, with the service
experiencing an overall attrition rate of approximately 10
percent. In addition, lack of diversity and declining morale
were also identified as issues by CRS employees. The Committee
continues to work with CRS to address these issues and has held
numerous follow-up meetings with CRS and other stakeholders
within the Congressional community.
OFFICE OF CONGRESSIONAL WORKPLACE RIGHTS
The beginning of the 116th Congress marked the start of a
number of reforms to the Office of Congressional Workplace
Rights (OCWR), formerly named the Office of Compliance. The end
of the 115th Congress saw the enactment of the Congressional
Accountability Act Reform Act (CAARA) the first major update to
the 1995 Congressional Accountability Act (CAA), which first
applied 13 workplace and accessibility laws to Congress and
created the Office of Compliance to administer and enforce the
CAA.\15\
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\15\P.L. 115-397, 132 Stat. 5297.
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The Committee worked on a bipartisan and bicameral basis to
provide guidance to OCWR on implementing several key reforms by
their statutory deadlines.
Treasury Repayment Reporting
Among other key reforms, CAARA mandated that Members of
Congress be held personally liable for their acts of harassment
and retaliation; and that the Committee would be responsible
for establishing a timetable and procedures for withholding
amounts from the compensation of a Member who is required to
reimburse any portion of an award or settlement under the
Congressional Accountability Act (CAA); and that the Committee
issue rules establishing the content, format, and other
requirements for an annual public report that the OCWR is
required to make to Congress and the public about payments made
for settlements and awards under the CAA.
The Committee worked with OCWR and other stakeholders to
establish the new requirements in accordance with these
reforms, resulting in the successful publication of semiannual
reports in both the first and second sessions of this Congress.
Despite the absence of a mandate in the CAARA to hold
Members equally liable for their personal acts of
discrimination and retaliation, the Committee worked with the
Committee on Rules to establish in the 116th Congress for the
first time that Members will be held to the same repayment
standard for acts of discrimination as they are for harassment
or retaliation.
Online Employee Claims System
Another key reform required OCWR to develop an online
system for legislative branch employees to file a claim
regarding allegations of prohibited workplace misconduct.
Staff from the Committee and the Senate Committee on Rules
and Administration met with OCWR staff individually and jointly
in advance of the statutory deadline to ensure OCWR would meet
the various requirements set forth by the reform act. The
Committees convened a bicameral, bipartisan meeting with staff
from OCWR and the LOC to discuss the online filing system. The
system was launched as the Secure Online Claims Reporting and
Tracking E-Filing System (SOCRATES).
The Committee continued its oversight responsibilities
through the COVID-19 pandemic monitoring the potential impact
to employees on the claims process. All claims, hearings and
mediations continued to be processed in accordance with
statutory deadlines. Nine claims were filled during the
pandemic via SOCRATES and two administrative hearings were
conducted remotely via Webex.
Permanent Posting of Workplace Rights Information
The CAARA added a requirement for all employing offices to
erect permeant postings in a conspicuous location of employee's
workplace rights, along with information about the alternative
dispute resolution process. The Committee worked to establish
rules and a timeline for House employing offices to comply with
this change.\16\
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\16\Committee Resolution 116-7.
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Additionally, the committee worked with OCWR to ensure the
House community was made aware of the free dissemination of
workplace posters and where and how to obtain any additional
posters in order to be compliant with the new law and
regulations.
These notices will help to ensure that new and current
employees are informed of their rights.
Anti-Discrimination and Anti-Harassment Policy for House Offices
While not included in the CAARA, the Committee acted to
further strengthen workplace rights by establishing an anti-
discrimination and anti-harassment policy by working with the
Committee on Rules to include in the House Rules package for
the 116th Congress a requirement that all employing House
offices have a written anti-discrimination, anti-harassment
policy, to be provided to employees. Employees include interns,
paid and unpaid, and fellows. The Committee worked to establish
and pass guidelines to establish a minimum set of standards for
the policy and worked with other stakeholders to provide a
model policy or guide for offices to build their policy
language around.
Climate Survey
Section 202 of the CAARA provided for a first-ever
legislative branch-wide workplace climate survey. House and
Senate oversight committees worked in a bipartisan and
bicameral way to develop methodologies for a comprehensive
climate survey. From the Committee's work with other oversight
committees in overseeing and giving feedback, the creation of a
comprehensive survey with emphasis on the respondents'
attitudes towards harassment and discrimination was launched.
Due to the unforeseen circumstances of the COVID-19
pandemic and holiday launch of the first survey, all the
surveys had to be extended and the last surveys of the
legislative branch will be concluded by the end of the year.
Mandatory Workplace Rights Education Training
As a result of an OCWR 102(b) recommendation, the Committee
constructed and passed a resolution establishing a mandatory
anti-harassment and anti-discrimination training program that
would be required to be taken annually by every employee and
Member.\17\ The program is now in its third year and has
trained over 14,000 employees each year.
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\17\This recommendation can be found in numerous 102(b) annual
reports, but most recently for the 116th, 115th and 114th Congresses.
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The Committee worked to establish training guidelines and
regulations to govern both sessions of Congress, however the
committee had to quickly pivot during the early stages of the
coronavirus pandemic.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Committee closely
monitored and regularly consulted with the OAP, House Officers,
and others about impacts on the House community. As a result,
the Committee cancelled all live-in person training classes and
rescheduled live interactive webinars which counted as
completing the mandatory training requirement for the rest of
the 2020 year.
OFFICE OF THE WHISTLEBLOWER OMBUDSMAN
Established during the 116th Congress by Section 104(e) of
H. Res. 6 (116th Congress), the Office of the Whistleblower
Ombudsman (Office) is charged with promulgating best practices
for Congressional offices to receive whistleblower disclosures
and providing training and resources to equip offices to
effectively administer all stages of whistleblower claims, from
initial disclosures to an ultimate disposition.
After an extensive public search and interview process
conducted by the bipartisan staffs of the Committee, Shanna
Devine was appointed by Speaker Nancy Pelosi as the inaugural
director of the Office. In July 2020, the Committee issued
hiring regulations establishing the internal structure of the
office and authorizing the Director to hire personnel.\18\
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\18\Committee Resolution 116-22, 116th Congress, adopted July 30,
2020.
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The Office responds to individual Member and Committee
office requests for trainings and other resources and regularly
conducts virtual trainings through the Congressional Staff
Academy. To date, the Office has conducted nearly 100 such
sessions.
FEDERAL ELECTIONS
Overview
From the opening days of the 116th Congress, the Committee
swiftly reasserted its historic role in conducting oversight of
federal elections, election administration, the integrity of
U.S. elections, and ensuring access to the franchise for all
Americans. In contrast to the 115th Congress, where the
Committee held one hearing on elections, in the 116th Congress
the Committee held five full Committee hearings on elections.
These hearings included examining critical democracy reforms,
securing America's election systems, oversight of the Election
Assistance Commission (EAC), the first hearing calling all
three major election systems vendors before Congress together,
and voting safely during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Committee reported out, and shepherded through House
passage, three major pieces of elections legislation: H.R. 1,
the For the People Act of 2019; H.R. 2722, the Securing
America's Federal Elections Act; and H.R. 4617, the Stopping
Harmful Interference in Elections for a Lasting Democracy Act.
These bills addressed critical election issues such as
equitable access to American democracy, strengthening election
infrastructure, and combatting foreign interference in American
elections.
The Committee conducted oversight over the two federal
agencies under its purview, the Federal Election Commission
(FEC) and the EAC, examined how Americans could vote safely
during the COVID-19 pandemic, extensively revamped the
Committee's contested elections program, and sent observers to
more than 20 Congressional races during the 2020 general
election.
One of the first actions taken by the Committee at the
start of the 116th Congress was the reconstitution of the
Committee's Subcommittee on Elections. The Subcommittee on
Elections conducted extensive oversight of federal elections
administration and access to the franchise, taking Congress to
the American people by convening an inaugural listening session
and seven field hearings, as well as five additional hearings
during the 116th Congress.
The Committee also responded to the once-in-a-generation
challenges of voting during a global pandemic by holding
hearings on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on voting,
voting safely during a pandemic, and preparing legislation to
protect voters, support state and local election
administrators, and secure our elections.
Legislation
The Committee reported out, and the House passed, three
major pieces of election reform legislation in the 116th
Congress. H.R. 1, the ``For the People Act of 2019,'' is the
most ambitious pro-democracy reform package and most
significant overhaul of the American election system in modern
history, expanding access to the franchise for all Americans,
removing dark money from politics, and strengthening ethics in
government. H.R. 2722, the ``Securing America's Federal
Elections (SAFE) Act,'' would provide critical resources to
states and localities to bolster election infrastructure while
ensuring necessary funding to replace aging voting equipment
with voter-verified paper ballot systems and implementing
additional cybersecurity protocols. Finally, H.R. 4617, the
``Stopping Harmful Interference in Elections for a Lasting
Democracy (SHIELD) Act,'' is comprehensive legislation that
strengthens the resilience of our democracy and protects
against foreign interference in elections, including by foreign
governments.
H.R. 1--For the People Act of 2019
H.R. 1, the ``For the People Act of 2019'' was introduced
by Rep. John P. Sarbanes of Maryland on January 3, 2019. It
represents the culmination of years of legislative work,
containing provisions introduced over the years by many Members
of Congress. H.R. 1 addresses the democratic promise--the
advancement of a responsive, fully representative government.
The Federalist No. 57 states:
Who are to be the electors of the federal
representatives? Not the rich, more than the poor; not
the learned, more than the ignorant; not the haughty
heirs of distinguished names, more than the humble sons
of obscurity and unpropitious fortune. The electors are
to be the great body of the people of the United
States.\19\
\19\Federalist No. 57, in The Federalist Papers, available at
https://guides.loc.gov/federalist-papers/text-51-60#s-lg-box-wrapper-
25493433. A series of 85 essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James
Madison, and John Jay, appeared anonymously in New York newspapers
under the pen name ``Publius.'' Federalist No. 57 is considered to be
the work of either Alexander Hamilton or James Madison.
It is the promise of American democracy that the people
choose their representatives, not the other way around. H.R. 1
would help fulfill that promise.
For far too long, many Americans have chosen not to
participate in the electoral process, feeling shut out and as
though their vote does not matter or does not make a
difference. Though this was the highest turnout in 50 years,
only about half of the voting-eligible population voted in the
2018 midterm elections.\20\ H.R. 1 would implement nationwide
automatic voter registration to enfranchise 50 million eligible
citizens, provide for same day voter registration, and online
voter registration. It would also prohibit deceptive practices,
increases access to the polls for voters with disabilities,
provide grants to states to replace outdated voting
infrastructure, and require the disclosure of dark money
donors--not limiting their speech but simply asking them to
stand by it. H.R. 1 incorporates key provisions of the late
Rep. John Lewis of Georgia's H.R. 1275, the ``Voter Empowerment
Act,'' and dismantles systemic, discriminatory barriers to
voting by ending the indiscriminate purging of eligible voters
from the rolls, restores voting rights to individuals with
felony convictions after they have completed their prison
sentences, and expands access to absentee and early voting.
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\20\Camila Domonoske, ``A Boatload of Ballots: Midterm Voter
Turnout Hit 50-Year High,'' NPR (Nov. 8, 2018), available at https://
www.npr.org/2018/11/08/665197690/a-boatload-of-ballots-midterm-
voterturnout-hit-50-year-high.
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Prior to the passage of H.R. 1, on February 14, 2019, the
Committee held a two-panel, full Committee hearing, entitled
``For the People: Our American Democracy.'' Expert witnesses
testified to the policies included in H.R. 1, while others
testified to their personal experiences trying to navigate the
democratic process. Witnesses included Chiraag Baines, Director
of Legal Strategies, Demos; Peter Earle, Wisconsin Civil Rights
Trial Lawyer; Brandon A. Jessup, Data Science and Information
Systems Professional; Executive Director, Michigan Forward;
Alejandro Rangel-Lopez, Senior at Dodge City High School, Dodge
City, Kansas and plaintiff in LULAC & Rangel-Lopez v. Cox;
Wendy Weiser, Director, Democracy Program, Brennan Center for
Justice; Fred Wertheimer, President, Democracy 21; David
Keating, President, Institute for Free Speech; and Kim Wyman,
Secretary of State, Washington.
H.R. 1 was marked-up by the Committee on February 26, 2019,
and ordered reported favorably. When H.R. 1 was considered on
the House floor, more than 50 amendments were offered by more
than 40 Representatives. H.R. 1 passed the House on March 8,
2019, by a vote of 234 to 193.\21\
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\21\U.S. House of Representatives, Office of the Clerk, Roll Call
118, Bill Number: H.R. 1, 116th Congress, 1st Session, available at
https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2019118.
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H.R. 2722, Securing America's Federal Elections (SAFE) Act
The legitimacy of our representative system of self-
government rests on every eligible voter casting a ballot with
the confidence that it will count. Aging equipment, under-
resourced jurisdictions, and interference by foreign entities
or non-state actors leave the system vulnerable to exploitation
that undermines confidence in our election outcomes. Following
Russian interference in the 2016 election, Congress did not do
nearly enough to tackle these problems. The risks posed by the
previously exploited vulnerabilities remained. Despite the
overwhelming evidence of these vulnerabilities, the White House
failed to direct resources toward securing the nation's
election infrastructure.
In 2016, Russian hackers targeted state voting systems, and
sought to infiltrate voter registration databases and the
networks of election technology vendors. This attack exposed
the numerous vulnerabilities in our nation's election
infrastructure. Many states had not kept pace with changing
voting technology. At the time of the SAFE Act, in at least 40
states, elections were carried out using voting machines that
were purchased more than a decade ago.\22\ The Mueller Report
largely confirmed what was already known about Russian
interference in the 2016 election; however, it did reveal that
a Florida county had been breached by hackers. Several Trump
administration officials, and one former official, made public
comments emphasizing the seriousness of the threat and urgent
need for action. Experts were unequivocal in their assessment
that foreign interference would continue in the lead up to the
2020 election.
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\22\Brennan Center for Justice, New Analysis Shows Voting Machines
Remain Vulnerable Ahead of 2020 Elections, (Mar. 5, 2019), available at
https://www.brennancenter.org/press-release/new-analysisshows-voting-
machines-remain-vulnerable-ahead-2020-election.
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To address these issues, Chairperson Lofgren introduced
H.R. 2722, the Securing America's Federal Elections (SAFE) Act
on May 14, 2019. The SAFE Act provides critical resources to
states and localities to bolster election infrastructure, helps
states plan for the future by providing ongoing maintenance
funding on a biannual basis, provides grant programs for states
to implement required risk-limiting audits, institutes
accountability for election technology vendors so that they
abide by cybersecurity standards, and spurs innovation by
awarding grants for research and development that will improve
the accessibility of election infrastructure.
Prior to marking-up the SAFE Act, the Committee held a
hearing on election security on May 8, 2019. The Committee
heard testimony from witnesses Jocelyn Benson, Secretary of
State, Michigan; Joseph L. Hall, Chief Technologist and
Director, Center for Democracy and Technology; Lawrence Norden,
Deputy Director, Democracy Program, Brennan Center for Justice;
Marian Schneider, President, Verified Voting Foundation; and
John Merrill, Secretary of State, Alabama.
The SAFE Act was marked-up by the Committee on June 21,
2019 and ordered reported favorably. It passed the House on
June 27, 2019 by a vote of 225 to 184.
H.R. 4617, Stopping Harmful Interference in Elections for a
Lasting Democracy (SHIELD) Act
During the 2016 and 2018 elections, Russian state actors
attempted to influence our elections. Special Counsel Robert
Mueller concluded in his March 2019 report on the investigation
into Russian election interference that the ``Russian
government interfered in the 2016 presidential election in
sweeping and systematic fashion.''\23\ The attempts to
interfere did not stop in 2016. Special Counsel Mueller
testified before Congress in 2019 that ``[t]hey're doing it as
we sit here.''\24\ The ease with which foreign entities
interfered in the 2016 presidential election emboldens future
adversaries to interfere in elections to come. In 2019, then-
Director of National Intelligence Dan R. Coats issued a stern
warning about likely foreign interference in the upcoming 2020
elections: ``Our adversaries and strategic competitors probably
already are looking to the 2020 US elections as an opportunity
to advance their interests.''\25\ Additionally, these views
were shared by FBI Director Christopher Wray. In July 2019 he
testified in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing that ``[t]he
Russians are absolutely intent on trying to interfere with our
elections.''\26\
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\23\Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller, III, Report on the
Investigation Into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential
Election, Volume I, pg. 1, available at https://www.justice.gov/
storage/report.pdf.
\24\Transcript of the Hearing: ``Former Special Counsel Robert S.
Mueller III on the Investigation Into Russian Interference in the 2016
Presidential Election,'' July 24, 2019, U.S. House of Representatives,
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, at p. 66.
\25\Daniel R. Coats, Statement for the Record: Worldwide Threat
Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community, Jan. 29, 2019, pg. 7,
available at https://www.dni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/2019-ATASFR---
SSCI.pdf.
\26\Doina Chiacu, REUTERS, ``FBI Director Wray: Russia Intent on
Interfering with U.S. Elections,'' July 23, 2019, available at https://
www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-security/fbi-director-wray-
russia-intenton-interfering-with-us-elections-idUSKCN1UI1XW.
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H.R. 4617, the SHIELD Act is a comprehensive piece of
legislation that strengthens the resilience of our democracy
and protects against foreign interference in elections,
including interference by foreign governments. The bill
requires political committees to report foreign contacts that
involve offers of unlawful campaign assistance to the FBI and
FEC. It also modernizes campaign finance law to uphold
Americans' right to know who is behind election-related
advertising and disinformation, including better disclosure of
the sources of online political advertisements. Additionally,
the bill closes gaps in the law that foreign nationals
(including foreign governments) can exploit to influence
elections.
The Committee marked-up the SHIELD Act on October 16, 2019,
and ordered the bill reported favorably. The House passed the
SHIELD Act on October 23, 2019, by a vote of 227 to 181.
Additional Legislative Activities
On October 29, 2019, Chairperson Lofgren managed the Floor
debate for H.R. 1623, the ``Help America Run Act (HARA),'' a
bill introduced by Rep. Katie Porter of California and referred
to the Committee. H.R. 1623 was considered under suspension of
the rules agreed to by the House on October 29, 2019. HARA
removes barriers to running for office by allowing for certain
personal use services to be considered as campaign committee
expenditures, including childcare, elder care, and health
insurance if the services are necessary to enable the candidate
to participate in campaign-connected activities. This would
only apply to candidates for federal office who are not current
federal office holders.
The Committee also discharged consideration of H.R. 4990,
the Election Technology Research Act of 2020, a bill introduced
by Rep. Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey, which directs the
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the
National Science Foundation (NSF), and other agencies to
support research on voting systems. H.R. 4990 was considered
under suspension of the rules and passed on the House Floor on
September 16, 2020.
Additionally, the Committee worked with the House Armed
Services Committee to include two voting-related provisions in
H.R. 6395, the ``National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal
Year 2021 (NDAA).'' One provision, offered by Rep. Susan Davis
of California, would require the chief state election official,
in coordination with local election jurisdictions, to establish
and operate an absentee ballot tracking program. The second,
offered by Rep. Michael Turner of Ohio, Rep. Jason Crow of
Colorado, and Committee Ranking Member Rodney Davis of
Illinois, would require the Secretary of Defense to take
actions necessary to ensure that an absent uniformed services
voter who is absent from the United States by reason of active
duty or service at a diplomatic and consular post is able to
receive and transmit balloting materials in the same manner and
with the same rights and protections as a uniformed services
voter absent by reason of active duty or service at a military
installation.
Hearings
The Committee held a number of other hearings. On May 21,
2019, the Committee held an oversight hearing with the
Commissioners from the EAC. Commissioners Benjamin Hovland,
Thomas Hicks, Christy McCormick, and Donald Palmer testified
before the Committee. The EAC was created by the Help America
Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002\27\ to administer the newly created
grant program, to develop guidance to assist states in meeting
HAVA requirements, and to serve as a national clearinghouse of
information on election administration. In addition, the EAC
tests and certifies voting machines, provides guidance on
managing election technology, and works with state and local
officials to assist them in preparing for elections.
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\27\P.L. 107-252, 116 Stat. 1666.
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For the first time in several years, the Committee sought
to strengthen, and not shutter, the EAC. With a full slate of
EAC commissioners in place, the Committee focused on oversight,
addressing personnel and morale issues at the agency, working
to ensure the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG) updates
were back on track, and addressing resourcing issues.
On January 9, 2020, the Committee held a hearing titled
``2020 Election Security--Perspectives from Voting Vendors and
Experts,'' in which the heads of each of the three major
election machine vendors appeared before Congress for the first
time together. Witnesses included Tom Burt, President and CEO,
Election Systems & Software; Julie Mathis, President and CEO,
Hart InterCivic; and John Poulos, President and CEO, Dominion
Voting Systems. The vendors called to appear for this hearing,
Election Systems & Software (ES&S), Dominion, and Hart
InterCivic, sell more than 80 percent of the voting systems in
use today.\28\ While the EAC produces the Voluntary Voting
System Guidelines (VVSG), the vendors themselves are free from
federal oversight.
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\28\Kim Zetter, N.Y. TIMES MAGAZINE, The Crisis of Election
Security: As the midterms approach, America's electronic voting systems
are more vulnerable than ever. Why isn't anyone trying to fix them?,
(Sept. 26, 2018), available at https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/26/
magazine/election-security-crisis-midterms.html.
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During questioning at the hearing, all three vendor CEOs
expressed support for federal regulations requiring vendors to
disclose ownership and foreign investment. The CEOs expressed
support regarding requirements to disclose company
cybersecurity practices, cyberattacks experienced by the
companies, background checks done on employees, foreign
investments in the companies, and information on the supply
chain involved in building the voting equipment.
In addition to the CEOs, the Committee heard testimony from
Matt Blaze, Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center;
Juan Gilbert, Andrew Banks Family Preeminence Endowed Professor
and Chair, University of Florida; Liz Howard, Counsel, Brennan
Center for Justice; Rev. T. Anthony Spearman, President, North
Carolina NAACP; Donald Palmer, Commissioner, Election
Assistance Commission; and Mike Gianasi, County Clerk and
Recorder, Christian County of Illinois.
Additional Oversight
The Committee sent several oversight letters to federal
agencies, election administrators, and election equipment
vendors. The Committee sent three oversight letters to the
Election Assistance Commission, two oversight letters to
election machine vendors, and three oversight letters to the
Federal Election Commission.
The Committee sent an oversight letter to the EAC in April
2019, inquiring about past agency activities and plans for
future activity. In June 2019, the Committee sent another
letter expressing ongoing concerns about the management of the
EAC under then-Executive Director Brian Newby. Additionally, in
November 2019, the Committee sent a letter to the EAC with a
series of questions about the security and testing requirements
for voting machines. The Committee has also conducted
quarterly, bipartisan oversight meetings with majority and
minority committee staff, the EAC Commissioners, and agency
senior staff.
Prior to the election machine vendors hearing, the
Committee sent an oversight letter in July 2019 to ES&S and
Hart InterCivic inquiring about the use of Microsoft Windows 7
on their voting machines following reports that Windows 7 would
not be supported by Microsoft after January 14, 2020.
Additionally, the Committee sent a letter to each of the three
vendors in September 2019 requesting information regarding the
security and testing requirements for their voting machines.
The Committee sent an oversight letter to the FEC in April
2019 posing more than 45 questions to the agency regarding its
operating posture, key vacancies at the agency, challenges, and
enforcement actions, among others. The Committee sent a second
letter in December 2019 comprised of more than 30 additional
questions, building upon the earlier set contained in the April
letter. Finally, the Committee sent a third oversight letter in
June 2020 asking a series of questions about how the pandemic
impacted the Commission and the Commission's unresolved
enforcement caseload, among others.
Subcommittee on Elections
During the 116th Congress, Rep. Marcia L. Fudge of Ohio
chaired the Subcommittee on Elections. From the outset, the
Subcommittee's goal was to take Congress to the American
people, engage with voters, stakeholders, advocates officials,
and election administrators, and collect evidence and testimony
on the state of voting rights and election administration
across America. The Subcommittee on Elections held one
listening session and 12 hearings, including eight field
hearings.
The Subcommittee conducted a listening session in
Brownsville, Texas, and field hearings in Atlanta, Georgia;
Fort Yates, North Dakota; Weldon, North Carolina; Cleveland,
Ohio; Ft. Lauderdale, Florida; Birmingham, Alabama; and
Phoenix, Arizona. Following the field hearings, the
Subcommittee held a summary hearing in Washington, D.C. The
testimony and documents gathered during the series culminated
in the report written by Subcommittee staff, Voting Rights and
Election Administration in the United States of America.\29\
The report summarized the findings of the Subcommittee's series
of field hearings under the title Voting Rights and Election
Administration, and was included in the committee report
accompanying H.R. 4, the ``Voting Rights Advancement Act of
2019.''\30\
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\29\Comm. on House Admin., Subcomm. on Elections, staff print,
Voting Rights and Election Administration in the United States of
America, 116th Cong., 1st Sess. (2019), available at https://
cha.house.gov/sites/democrats.cha.house.gov/files/documents/
Voting%20Rights%20and%20Election%20Administration%20in%20America.pdf.
\30\Supra note 2, Comm. on Judiciary, Voting Rights Advancement Act
of 2019, 109-251, H. Rept. 116-317, 116th Cong. (2019).
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The Subcommittee also held hearings on Native American
voting rights, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on voting,
voting in the U.S. territories, and combatting misinformation
and disinformation in the 2020 general election.
Subcommittee Field Hearings
From the outset, the Subcommittee examined the landscape of
voting in America after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in
Shelby County v. Holder\31\ to determine whether Americans can
freely cast their ballot, examine what barriers, if any, have
been erected that impede access, and ensure American's believe
their ballot is counted as cast. The Subcommittee heard from
voting and election advocates, experts, community leaders,
litigators, and voters about the state of voting rights and
election administration in their communities with the goal of
documenting any barriers and shedding light on them through the
Subcommittee's final report.
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\31\570 U.S. 529 (2013).
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The Subcommittee learned that pernicious voting changes
have been implemented in states both previously covered under
the Voting Rights Act (VRA) and those that were not.
During the field hearing series, the Subcommittee visited
eight states, called more than 60 witnesses, gathered several
thousand pages of testimony, documents, and transcripts, and
hours of oral testimony were delivered before Members of the
Subcommittee. While the evidence collected by the Subcommittee
shows many legacy voter suppression tactics are still
pervasive, a new wave of surreptitious tactics has also
emerged. To suppress the vote, states have aggressively purged
otherwise eligible voters from the voter registration rolls,
made cuts to early voting and same-day voter registration,
moved, closed, or consolidated polling places without adequate
notice to voters, required exact name or signature match,
engaged in discriminatory gerrymandering, and restricted
language access and assistance, among other devices.
General election administration issues also serve as
barriers to voting, especially when compounded with other
suppressive, discriminatory tactics. The Subcommittee heard
testimony on a lack of compliance with the National Voter
Registration Act (NVRA), inconsistent poll worker training and
a lack of adequate resources, use of provisional ballots,
attempts to require proof of citizenship, the continued
disenfranchisement of Americans with prior felony convictions,
the proliferation of misinformation and disinformation by
foreign and domestic actors, and the increasing frequency and
intensity of natural disasters that impact voting.
In the inaugural listening session in Brownsville, Texas,
the Committee heard from litigators and civil rights advocates
Rolando Rios, Esq.; George Korbel, Esq.; Matthew McCarthy, ACLU
of Texas; Chad Dunn, Esq.; and Mimi Marziani, President, Texas
Civil Rights Project. The Subcommittee heard testimony
detailing the barriers to voting in Texas, including how voter
IDs are financially burdensome, disproportionally impact
minority voters, and effectively impose a poll tax. Witnesses
testified about the ongoing racial discrimination in voting in
Texas, issues such as voter roll purges, returns to at-large
elections, bans on straight ticket voting, legal impediments to
voter registration and non-compliance with motor voter laws,
polling place closures and location changes, voter
intimidation, and a lack of multilingual materials, among other
issues.
At the hearing in Atlanta, Georgia, the Subcommittee
received testimony from Stacey Abrams, CEO and Founder, Fair
Fight Action; Cliff Albright, Co-Founder, Black Voters Matter;
Gilda Daniels, Director of Litigation, Advancement Project;
Stacey Hopkins, Voter, Fulton County, Georgia; and Sean Young,
Legal Director, ACLU of Georgia. Witnesses testified to a wide
array of barriers faced by the voters of Georgia such as voter
ID requirements, polling place closures and changes,
impediments to third-party voter registration, vulnerable and
inadequate voting equipment, disparate treatment based on the
county voters live in, voter purges, issues with provisional
and absentee ballots, signature match requirements, voter
intimidation, discriminatory redistricting, early voting
cutbacks, and a lack of language access and assistance.
In North Dakota, the Subcommittee held a hearing focused
specifically on issued faced by Native American voters. The
hearing was held on the Standing Rock Reservation and featured
witnesses from four of the five tribes of North Dakota,
including Charles Walker, Judicial Committee Chairman, Standing
Rock Sioux Tribe; Roger White Owl, Chief Executive Officer,
Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation; Myra Pearson, Chairwoman,
Spirit Lake Tribe; Alysia LaCounte, General Counsel, Turtle
Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians. The Subcommittee heard
testimony about how Native American communities have faced more
than two hundred years of discrimination, disenfranchisement,
and voter suppression, which continues to this day and is
exacerbated when tribes are not consulted when states and the
federal government craft voting laws. The tribal leaders
testified specifically about North Dakota's voter ID law, which
forced their members to obtain ID cards they would never have
otherwise needed, or face being stripped of their right to
vote, and the lengths the tribes went to ensure their members
could vote in the 2018 election.
Additionally, the Subcommittee received testimony from Ruth
Buffalo, Member, North Dakota House of Representatives;
Jacqueline De Leon, Staff Attorney, Native American Rights
Fund; and Prairie Rose Seminole, Community Organizer, each of
whom testified to the barriers faced by tribal members in North
Dakota when attempting to exercise their right to vote.
Additionally, O.J. Semans, Sr., Co-Executive Director, Four
Directions, Inc. provided testimony on the barriers to voting
for tribal members in South Dakota.
In North Carolina, the Subcommittee heard testimony from
Rev. Dr. William Barber II, President and Senior Lecturer,
Repairers of the Breach; Dan Blue, Minority Leader, North
Carolina Senate; Irving L. Joyner, Professor of Law, North
Carolina Central University School of Law; Tomas Lopez,
Executive Director, Democracy North Carolina; Caitlin Swain,
Co-Director, Forward Justice; and Patricia Timmons-Goodson,
Vice-Chair, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, about the
significant barriers faced by voters in North Carolina. Less
than two months after the Supreme Court decided Shelby County
v. Holder, the North Carolina General Assembly passed, and the
Governor signed into law, what became known as the ``monster
law,''\32\ a sweeping voter suppression bill requiring strict
forms of voter ID, cuts to early voting, and eliminating key
election administration practices. The North Carolina law was
crafted in such a discriminatory manner a three-judge panel
found that the provisions ``target[ed] African Americans with
almost surgical precision'' and ``impose[d] cures for problems
that did not exist.''\33\ While that law was struck down by the
courts, barriers to voting persist in North Carolina. Issues
discussed included attempts at restrictive voter ID laws,
discriminatory gerrymandering, reductions in early voting
opportunities, intimidation, and the perpetuation of false
voter fraud narratives, among others.
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\32\Sari Horwitz, WASH. POST, How North Carolina Became the
Epicenter of the Voting Rights Battle, Apr. 27, 2016, available at
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/how-north-
carolina-became-the-epicenter-of-the-voting-rights-battle/2016/04/26/
af05c5a8-0bcb-11e6-8ab8-9ad050f76d7d_story.html.
\33\North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP v. McCrory, 831
F.3d 204, 216-218 (4th Cir. 2016), cert. denied, 137 S. Ct. 1399.
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In Cleveland, Ohio, Naila Awan, Senior Counsel, Demos; Mike
Brickner, Ohio State Director, All Voting is Local; Inajo Davis
Chappell, Member, Cuyahoga County Board of Elections; Daniel
Ortiz, Outreach Director, Policy Matters Ohio; Tom Roberts,
President, Ohio Conference of the NAACP; and Elaine Tso,
Interim Co-Chief Executive Officer, Asian Services in Action
presented testimony detailing the suppressive changes Ohio has
made to the state's election laws. These changes include
reductions in early voting hours and days, the elimination of
``Golden Week,'' a week of essentially same day voter
registration during early voting, and the reduction of early
voting locations to one per county regardless of county size,
all while constantly altering the rules and procedures around
voting and implementing an aggressive voter purge system.\34\
Additionally, witnesses raised the need for greater language
access and Ohio's practice of denying pre-trial detainees
jailed in the days preceding an election access to an absentee
ballot.
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\34\Subcomm. on Elections, Voting Rights and Election
Administration in the United States of America, 116th Congress (2019),
available at https://cha.house.gov/sites/democrats.cha.house.gov/files/
documents/
Voting%20Rights%20and%20Election%20Administration%20in%20America_ONLINE_
11-18-2019.pdf.
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In Florida, the Subcommittee heard testimony from Marleine
Bastien, Founder and Executive Director, Family Action Network
Movement; Nancy Batista, Florida State Director, Mi Familia
Vota; Juan Cartagena, President and Senior Counsel, Latino
Justice PRLDEF; Judith Browne Dianis, Executive Director,
Advancement Project; Andrew Gillum, Chair, Forward Florida;
Anjenys Gonzalez-Eilert, Executive Director, Common Cause
Florida; Karen Wilkerson, Member, League of Women Voters of
Florida; and Logan Churchwell, Communication and Research
Director, Public Interest Legal Foundation (minority witness).
Witnesses discussed the concerted effort of Florida Republicans
to undermine the will of Florida voters and limit the scope of
Amendment 4, which would have restored the right to vote to
approximately 1.4 million Floridians with prior felony
convictions, by making these voters pay all past fines and fees
before they can regain their right to vote. Additionally, the
Subcommittee heard testimony on issues such as the lack of
access to language assistance, signature match issues, attempts
to undermine early voting, voter purges, polling place
closures, natural disaster preparedness, and election security.
The Subcommittee also visited Alabama, home to the historic
town of Selma as well as Shelby County of the 2013 Shelby
County v. Holder Supreme Court case. In Birmingham, the
Subcommittee received testimony from Nancy Abudu, Deputy Legal
Director, Voting Rights, Southern Poverty Law Center; James
Blacksher, Esq.; Jenny Carroll, Professor of Law, University of
Alabama School of Law; Scott Douglas, Executive Director,
Greater Birmingham Ministries; Isabel Rubio, Executive
Director, Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama; Benard
Simelton, Sr., President, Alabama Conference of the NAACP, and
Ernest Montgomery, Council Member, Calera City Council. Mr.
Montgomery's City Council seat, the attempt to redraw the
district lines, and the subsequent denial by the Department of
Justice was the basis of the Shelby County case. These
witnesses offered testimony about issues such as Alabama's
restrictive voter ID law, attempts to require proof of
citizenship to vote, voter purges and voter registration
issues, the continued disenfranchisement of people with prior
felony convictions, and polling place closures.
In Phoenix, Arizona, the Subcommittee heard additional
testimony on the barriers faced by Native American voters.
Stephen Roe Lewis, Governor, Gila River Indian Community and
Jonathan Nez, President, Navajo Nation testified about the
barriers to voting faced by members of their tribal nations,
such as a lack of traditional address and regular mailing
services, which creates difficulties in registering to vote,
receiving and returning mail-in ballots, and accessing
consolidated polling locations.\35\ Additionally, access to
properly translated voting materials for Native-language
speaking voters, as well as proper assistance at the polls,
pose challenges for Native voters.
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\35\Voting Rights and Election Administration in Arizona: Hearing
Before the Subcomm. on Elections, 116th Cong. (2019), written testimony
of President Jonathan Nez and Governor of Stephen Roe Lewis.
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Also in Arizona, Montserrat Arredondo, Table Director, One
Arizona; Patricia Ferguson-Bohnee, Professor of Law and
Director, Indian Legal Clinic, Arizona State University Sandra
Day O'Connor School of Law; Alex Gulotta, Arizona State
Director, All Voting is Local; Darrell Hill, Policy Director,
ACLU of Arizona; and Lorena C. Van Assche, Member, Arizona
State Advisory Committee, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
testified to issues such as the widespread reduction in polling
places that has occurred throughout the state,\36\ attempts to
outlaw third-party ballot return, photo ID requirements,
language access, and the continued disenfranchisement of
formerly incarcerated individuals with prior felony
convictions. Michelle Ugenti-Rita, Senator, State Senate of
Arizona (minority witness) discussed Arizona's H.B. 2023
(prohibiting the gathering of ballots and placing heavy
penalties on individuals who turn in ballots other than their
own), arguing in favor of the law. When questioned about how
significant a problem ``ballot harvesting'' is in Arizona,
Senator Ugenti-Rita stated that ``maybe a dozen'' people came
to speak with her about the alleged problem before she created
the current law, but she offered no evidence of any issue with
ballot collection.\37\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\36\The Leadership Conference Education Fund, Democracy Diverted:
Polling Place Closures and the Right to Vote (Sept. 2019) at p. 26,
available at http://civilrightsdocs.info/pdf/reports/Democracy-
Diverted.pdf.
\37\Voting Rights and Election Administration in Arizona: Hearing
Before the Subcomm. on Elections, 116th Cong. (2019), hearing
transcript, State Senator Michelle Ugenti-Rita at p. 75-76.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In Washington, D.C., the Subcommittee held a culminating
hearing which brought together four panels and a total of
fifteen witnesses to provide the Members with a national-scope
of evidence of voting rights and election administration issues
and offer testimony and evidence about issues in states the
Subcommittee was unable to visit prior to finishing the report.
During the hearing's first panel, Dale Ho, Director, Voting
Rights Project, ACLU; Kristen Clarke, President and Executive
Director, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law; and
Deuel Ross, Senior Counsel, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational
Fund, Inc. discussed the landscape of voting rights litigation
post-Shelby County, in both formerly covered states and states
that were never covered. On the second panel, Catherine E.
Lhamon, Chair, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights; Michael
Waldman, President, Brennan Center for Justice; Brenda Wright,
Senior Advisor for Legal Strategies, Demos; and Elena Nunez,
Director of State Operations and Ballot Measure Strategies,
Common Cause discussed the state of voting rights and voting
laws in the states not visited by the Subcommittee, the
continued disenfranchisement of formerly incarcerated persons,
election administration issues that create barriers to voting,
and emerging barriers.
Panel three, composed of Barbara Arnwine, National Co-
Chair, National Commission for Voter Justice; Hannah Fried,
Director, All Voting is Local; Virginia Kase, Chief Executive
Officer, League of Women Voters; and Denise Liberman, Senior
Attorney and Program Director, Power and Democracy, Advancement
Project, discussed the voting experience, including polling
place closures, wait times, and stories collected from voters
across the county. On the fourth and final panel, Thomas Saenz,
President and General Counsel, MALDEF; Arturo Vargas, Chief
Executive Officer, NALEO Educational Fund; John C. Yang,
President and Executive Director, Asian Americans Advancing
Justice|AAJC; and Michelle Bishop, Voting Rights Specialist,
National Disability Rights Network provided testimony on
language access barriers faced by Asian American and Latino
voters, election administration issues that can disenfranchise
limited-English proficiency voters, and barriers faced by
persons with disabilities when trying to cast their ballot.
The results of these field hearings culminated in a more
than 140-page report titled Voting Rights and Election
Administration in the United States of America, issued in the
fall of 2019.\38\ The report and its findings were incorporated
into the House report accompanying H.R. 4, the Voting Rights
Advancement Act of 2019 (later renamed the John R. Lewis Voting
Rights Advancement Act of 2020).\39\ Findings included in the
report resulted in the incorporation of protections guarding
against cutbacks to Sunday early voting and discriminatory
voter purges in the covered practices provisions of the House-
passed version of H.R. 4. The Voting Rights Advancement Act
would restore the full force of the Voting Rights Act by
instituting a new coverage formula and implementing a new
covered practices regime.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\38\Supra note 40.
\39\Supra note 2.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Subcommittee Hearings
In February 2020, the Subcommittee held a hearing titled
``Native American Voting Rights: Exploring Barriers and
Solutions,'' building upon the testimony received by the
Subcommittee at the field hearings in North Dakota and Arizona
and discussing solutions such as H.R. 1694 the Native American
Voting Rights Act (NAVRA).
Rep. Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico testified before the
Subcommittee regarding H.R. 1694, which would protect the
voting rights of Native American and Alaska Native voters.
Leonard Forsman, Chairman, Suquamish Tribe (WA); Doreen McPaul,
Attorney General, Navajo Nation; and Amber Torres, Chairperson,
Walker River Paiute Tribe (NV) testified to the structural and
administrative barriers faced by the members of their tribal
nations, advancements made to improve access to the franchise,
and the need for further protections, such as those offered in
NAVRA.
Additionally, Patricia Ferguson-Bohnee, Professor of Law
and Director, Indian Legal Clinic, Arizona State University
Sandra Day O'Connor School of Law, and Jacqueline De Leon,
Staff Attorney, Native American Rights Fund spoke to the unique
structural problems affecting life on Native American
reservations, to specific litigation involving Native American
voting rights, to the legal history of Native American
disenfranchisement, and to congressional constitutional
authority in Native American affairs. Elvis Norquay, Member,
Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, spoke to his personal
experience of being denied his right to vote in 2014 in North
Dakota because his tribal ID card lacked a residential address.
The COVID-19 pandemic changed the landscape of the 2020
primary elections. Following the conduct of several primaries
in March and April 2020, the Subcommittee convened a hearing on
June 11, 2020 to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on
voting rights and election administration. Specifically,
Wisconsin's April primary highlighted numerous problems with
relying primarily on in-person voting during the pandemic,
including the widespread closure of polling locations due to a
lack of poll workers, issues with voters never receiving their
requested mail-in ballots in time to safely cast a ballot, and
widespread voter confusion over the constantly changing voting
regulations.
This hearing, ``The Impact of COVID-19 on Voting Rights and
Election Administration: Ensuring Safe and Fair Elections,''
was the Subcommittee's first conducted virtually under H. Res.
965 (116th Congress) that permitted House Committees to conduct
remote proceedings due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Rep. Marcy
Kaptur of Ohio and Rep. Gwen Moore of Wisconsin testified to
the issues experienced by voters in their respective states
during the primaries and the need to find a solution for the
November general election that protected both the right to vote
and voters' health.
As states were making a rapid shift to mail-in voting and
false claims were spreading that a widespread shift to vote-by-
mail would be ripe for fraud, Kristen Clarke, President and
Executive Director, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under
Law; Sherrilyn Ifill, President and Director-Counsel, NAACP
Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.; and Lawrence Norden,
Director, Election Reform Program, Brennan Center for Justice
testified to the need for additional resources and
Congressional action, protections for safe in-person voting
options, the landscape of voting changes and litigation taking
place in the states, and the impact of the pandemic and voting
changes on minority voters. Mark Dimondstein, President,
American Postal Workers Union testified to the Postal Service's
long history of successfully carrying out vote-by-mail, the
need for more funding for the Postal Service, and the
commitment of postal workers to ensuring every American can
safely access their right to vote in November. R. Kyle Ardoin,
Secretary of State, Louisiana, and John H. Merrill, Secretary
of State, Alabama testified about the changes made in their
states during the pandemic and argued against further federal-
level actions.
Additionally, on July 28, 2020, the Subcommittee held a
virtual hearing focused specifically on voting rights and
election administration in the U.S. Virgin Islands and the
other U.S. territories. The U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI), Puerto
Rico, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the
Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) make up the inhabited
territories of the United States. People who are born in Puerto
Rico, USVI, Guam, and CNMI are U.S. citizens; persons born in
American Samoa are U.S. nationals. More than 90 percent of the
residents of the territories are racial or ethnic minorities,
yet residents the territories do not have full congressional
representation.
The hearing, ``Voting Rights and Election Administration in
the U.S. Virgin Islands and Other Territories,'' featured
Delegates and a Resident Commissioner representing four of the
five territories. Del. Stacey E. Plaskett of the U.S. Virgin
Islands; Del. Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan of the Northern
Mariana Islands; Del. Michael F. Q. San Nicolas of Guam; and
Resident Commissioner Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon of Puerto
testified regarding the unique challenges faced by residents of
the territories when voting, as well as the impact the lack of
full enfranchisement has on the territories. The hearing also
discussed the varying treatment of the territories under
federal election laws.\40\ Gerard Emanuel, Retired Educator;
Gwen-Marie Moolenaar, President, League of Women Voters of the
Virgin Islands; and Neil Weare, President and Founder, Equally
American Legal Defense and Education Fund provided additional
testimony. This hearing was the first of its kind.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\40\Under federal election laws, the territories are currently not
covered by the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA). All the
territories are covered by the Voting Rights Act (VRA). USVI, Puerto
Rico, Guam, and American Samoa are covered by the Uniformed and
Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA); CNMI is not. USVI,
Puerto Rico, Guam, and American Samoa are also covered by the Help
America Vote Act (HAVA); CNMI is not. H.R. 1 added CNMI to HAVA
coverage as well as the NVRA.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
On October 6, 2020, in the final Subcommittee hearing of
the 116th Congress, Members focused on combatting
misinformation and disinformation in the upcoming 2020 general
election. Ahead of the 2020 election the President spread false
information about the integrity of vote-by-mail, made false
claims about non-existent voter fraud, encouraged his
supporters in North Carolina and elsewhere to ``test the
system'' by mailing in a ballot and then showing up at their
polling site to ``make sure their vote was counted,'' claimed
that if he lost, the election must be rigged, and made false
claims that if we did not know the winner on election night, we
may never know who won the election, among other false claims.
Also impacting this year's election was the perpetuation of
misinformation and disinformation around the COVID-19 pandemic.
This remote hearing, ``Voting Rights and Election
Administration: Combatting Misinformation in the 2020 Election,
included testimony from Benjamin Hovland, Commissioner, U.S.
Election Assistance Commission; Jena Griswold, Secretary of
State, Colorado; and Inajo Davis Chappell, Member, Cuyahoga
County Board of Elections. This testimony provided various
federal, state, and local responses to misinformation and
disinformation ahead of the November election. Spencer Overton,
President, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies,
provided testimony on the disparate impact of misinformation
and disinformation on minority voters and the role of social
media companies and government in combatting the spread of
election misinformation and disinformation.
Voting During a Pandemic
The 2020 primary and general elections took place during
the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. In June, the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released guidelines that
recommended election administrators provide a wide variety of
voting options, longer in-person voting periods, and other
mechanisms or options for reducing any crowding at polling
locations.\41\ The CDC warned that ``elections with only in-
person voting on a single day are higher risk for COVID-19
spread because there will be larger crowds and longer wait
times'' and said that alternative voting options can ``minimize
direct contact and reduce crowd size at polling locations''
Throughout the primary and general election season, local and
state election officials across the country worked hard to
expand safe in-person voting opportunities and access to
absentee voting by mail.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\41\Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Considerations for
Election Polling Locations (updated June 22, 2020), available at
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/election-polling-
locations.html.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
As previously discussed, the Subcommittee on Elections held
a hearing on the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on voting. On
August 28, 2020, the full Committee held a remote hearing on
titled ``Voting Safely in a Pandemic,'' providing an
opportunity for election officials and administrators, voting
experts and advocates to testify about the importance of
providing safe voting options and how Americans can vote safely
either in-person or by mail during the ongoing pandemic. The
hearing featured Alex Padilla, California Secretary of State;
Julie Wise, Director of Elections, King County, Washington;
Amber McReynolds, CEO, National Vote at Home Institute; Vanita
Gupta, President and CEO, The Leadership Conference on Civil
and Human Rights; and Donald Palmer, Commissioner (EAC).
The witnesses testified about election administration
changes being made to adapt to the voting access and public
health challenges posed by the pandemic. Changes included
securely expanding access to, and eligibility for, no-excuse
absentee voting by mail, maintaining safe polling centers,
providing personal protective equipment and relevant trainings
to poll workers and increasing voter education about safe
voting options. Additionally, testimony addressed concerns
about mail service disruptions at the U.S. Postal Service,
ongoing election disinformation about alleged voter fraud, and
the suppression of historically marginalized communities.
Witnesses also testified about the positive impact of election
administration grants appropriated through the Coronavirus Aid,
Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act and the need for more
federal resources to support local and state election
administration.\42\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\42\P.L. 116-136.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additionally, the Committee supported election
administration oversight activities in connection with ongoing
service issues at the U.S. Postal Service. After the
appointment of Louis DeJoy as the Postal Service's Postmaster
General on June 15, 2020, the Postal Service began undergoing
significant and disruptive operational policy changes that
slowed mail delivery and raised serious concerns about the
impact on voting by mail. The changes included an Expedited to
Street/Afternoon Sortation (ESAS) pilot program in 384 selected
sites across the nation that altered delivery practices and
procedures, overtime restrictions, restrictions in late trips
and extra trips, and a plan to decommission 671 sorting
machines. In early August, Postmaster General DeJoy overhauled
management at the Postal Service. Further, the Postal Service's
General Counsel and Executive Vice President, Thomas Marshall,
sent letters to chief election officials across the country
indicating that the longstanding practice of treating Election
Mail (which includes voter registration materials, absentee
ballot requests and absentee ballots) as First-Class Mail would
not be continuing.
On August 14, 2020, Speaker Pelosi and Senate Minority
Leader Chuck Schumer, along with Chairperson Zoe Lofgren,
Chairperson Carolyn Maloney, and Senators Amy Klobuchar and
Gary Peters, sent an extensive oversight letter seeking
additional information on the Postal Service's various
disruptive operational policy changes and requesting documents
regarding such changes in policies and practices.\43\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\43\Letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy (Aug. 14, 2020),
available at https://www.speaker.gov/sites/speaker.house.gov/files/
20200814_Letter_JointPelosiSchumerLofgrenKlobucharCBMPeterstoPMGreElecti
onPrep.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
After further criticism from Members of Congress, postal
unions, election administrators, voting advocacy groups, and
voters, Postmaster General DeJoy released a statement on August
18, 2020, in which he said that he would reverse ``longstanding
operational initiatives'' in order ``to avoid even the
appearance of any impact on election mail.''\44\ In the
statement, DeJoy made four specific assurances: retail hours
would not change at post offices, mail processing equipment and
blue collection boxes would remain put, mail processing
facilities would not close, and overtime would continue and be
approved as needed.\45\ DeJoy's statement did not clarify the
entire scope of the ``longstanding operational initiatives''
that would be suspended, did not reverse equipment removals of
mail sorting machines and mailboxes that had already taken
place, and did not address the question of whether Election
Mail would be treated just as First-Class Mail.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\44\Postmaster General Louis DeJoy Statement, The United States
Postal Service (Aug. 18, 2020), available at https://about.usps.com/
newsroom/national-releases/2020/0818-postmaster-general-louis-dejoy-
statement.htm.
\45\Postmaster General Louis DeJoy Statement, The United States
Postal Service (Aug. 18, 2020), available at https://about.usps.com/
newsroom/national-releases/2020/0818-postmaster-general-louis-dejoy-
statement.htm.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
On August 14, 2020, the Committee worked with the Committee
on Oversight and Reform's Select Subcommittee on the
Coronavirus Crisis to send election administration oversight
letters to chief election officials in Florida, Georgia, Texas,
and Wisconsin to examine preparations being made to administer
free, fair, and safe federal elections in November in the midst
of the COVID-19 pandemic. During the primary election season,
these states experienced significant barriers to voting such as
long lines and wait times at polling places, closed, moved or
consolidated polling places, poll worker shortages, and for
Texas in particular, eligibility restrictions to voting by
mail. The oversight letters requested documents and information
about how each state planned to eliminate election
administration challenges and voting barriers that emerged
during the primary election season and how each state plans to
ensure that every eligible voter could freely and safely cast
their ballot in the general election. The letters also called
for the states to develop plans that adhered to the June 2020
CDC recommendations for election administration and that
offered adequate early voting, sufficient polling locations and
hours, and accessible mail-in or absentee voting options.
On October 6, 2020, the Committee worked with the Select
Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis to send an additional
oversight letter to the Secretary of State of Texas. The
oversight letter raised disenfranchisement and public health
concerns about the Secretary of State's October 1 proclamation
which prohibited multiple ballot drop-off locations and
required early vote-by mail ballots returned in person to be
delivered to a single designated voting clerk's office in each
county. Such a restriction to where ballots can be cast
contravened CDC guidance because it forced voters to congregate
at a single county clerk's office to deliver mail-in ballots.
The letter urged the Secretary of State to reverse the
proclamation and to disclose documents regarding the decision
to restrict access to early voting by mail by outlawing ballot
drop-off locations other than a single designated clerk's
office.
Faced with a pandemic amid a national election, the
Committee drafted H.R. 7427, the American Coronavirus/COVID-19
Election Security and Safety (ACCESS) Act, which offers a
comprehensive solution to the challenges posed by voting during
a national health crisis. The ACCESS Act adopts an ``all of the
above'' approach to ballot access by expanding both in-person
early voting and voting by mail. The bill ensures that every
voter will receive a ballot in a national emergency, such as
the COVID-19 outbreak, and protects against the invalidation of
absentee ballots due to signature matching or other
discrepancies, which disproportionately affect minority voters.
The ACCESS Act also requires absentee ballots to be accompanied
by prepaid postage, contains special protections for Native
American voters, who face unique geographical and structural
obstacles to exercising the franchise, and implements expanded
voter registration opportunities. Perhaps most importantly, the
ACCESS Act provides states and localities with the funding they
need to implement these and other necessary changes.
The House passed the ACCESS Act on May 15, 2020, as part of
the Heroes Act (H.R. 6800, Division P). Regrettably, the Senate
refused to take up this critical piece of legislation, leaving
state and local election officials to fend for themselves
during a once-in-a-generation crisis.
Contested Elections
Article 1, Section 5, of the Constitution, delegates to
each Chamber of Congress the responsibility and authority to
judge its own elections. The Committee is also responsible for
implementing the Federal Contested Elections Act (FCEA).\46\ 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 at least 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 House of Representatives and
to the Committee, particularly in the event the House or
Committee is directed to investigate or resolve a contested
election.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\46\2 U.S.C. Sec. Sec. 381 et seq.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
During the 2020 election cycle, the Committee reworked its
election observer program, creating new and more detailed
training materials and conducting extensive research on the
applicable laws in each state. In total, the Committee's
majority staff trained over 200 House staffers as election
observers. This year, the Committee received 31 requests for
observers from incumbent Members and/or candidates for
congressional office in connection with the November 3, 2020,
general election, which is almost 2.5 times more requests for
observers than the Committee received in 2018. The Committee
sent observers to 21 congressional races in Arizona,
California, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Nevada, New Jersey, New
York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, and Virginia. Ten candidates
later determined observers were unnecessary after consultation
with the Committee. In addition, the Committee sent four
observers to observe a recount in Iowa's Second Congressional
District.
Contested election cases are rare. For example, from 1933
to 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives considered only 107
contested election cases. Of these 107 contests, in at least
three cases, the House ultimately seated the contestant, and in
at least one case, the House ultimately refused to seat any
individual, declaring a vacancy.
On December 2, 2020, Rita Hart, a candidate for the House
in Iowa's Second Congressional District, announced that her
campaign would file a contest under the FCEA with the House to
challenge the results of a district-wide recount. The recount
resulted in a six-vote margin between the candidates. On
December 22, 2020, Hart filed with the Clerk of the House a
notice of intent to contest the election. As of this time, the
Committee has received, and is in the early stage of reviewing,
the filing. Under the FCEA, her opponent, Mariannette Miller-
Meeks, has 30 days to answer or file a motion to dismiss the
contest. The Committee intends to closely review filings from
both campaigns, as the law requires.
Legislative Operations During the Covid-19 Pandemic
During the 116th Congress, the nation and the world
suffered through the devastating coronavirus (COVID-19)
pandemic. At the beginning of 2020, Americans were first
hearing the term COVID-19. Today, more than 77.9 million people
worldwide have contracted the virus and it has killed more than
1.7 million people.\47\ As of this time, in the U.S. more than
18.2 million people are known to have contracted the virus,
more than 322,000 have died, and more than 117,000 are
hospitalized--with all of these numbers continuing to
climb.\48\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\47\Johns Hopkins University, COVID-19 Dashboard by the Center for
Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University
(JHU), at https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html (last accessed Dec. 22,
2020); STAT, The Covid-19 Tracker, at https://www.statnews.com/feature/
coronavirus/covid-19-tracker/ (last accessed Dec. 22, 2020; CDC, ``CDC
COVID Data Tracker,'' https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/
index.html#cases_casesinlast7days (last accessed Dec. 22, 2020); The
COVID Tracking Project, ``Our Data,'' at https://covidtracking.com/data
(last accessed Dec. 22, 2020).
\48\Johns Hopkins University, COVID-19 Dashboard by the Center for
Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University
(JHU), at https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html (last accessed Dec. 22,
2020); STAT, The Covid-19 Tracker, at https://www.statnews.com/feature/
coronavirus/covid-19-tracker/ (last accessed Dec. 22, 2020; CDC, ``CDC
COVID Data Tracker,'' https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/
index.html#cases_casesinlast7days (last accessed Dec. 22, 2020).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
To put the impact of the pandemic in historical
perspective, more than three times as many Americans have died
of COVID-19 in less than a year than were killed in all of the
military conflicts our nation has fought in the 75 years since
World War II combined.\49\ The death toll has already surpassed
the total number of battle deaths suffered by Union and
Confederate forces in four years of fighting in the Civil
War.\50\ At current rates, experts estimate that by mid-January
2021, the total number of deaths in just one year will eclipse
all American deaths in World War II.\51\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\49\A total of 102,231 U.S. servicemembers were killed from the
start of the Korean War in 1950 through Operation Inherent Resolve and
Operation Freedom's Sentinel, as of December 14, 2020, including all
battle and other in theater deaths. U.S. Department of Veterans
Affairs, ``America's Wars,'' https://www.va.gov/opa/publications/
factsheets/fs_americas_wars.pdf (Nov. 2019); U.S. Department of
Defense, ``Casualty Status,'' https://www.defense.gov/casualty.pdf
(last accessed Dec. 19, 2020).
\50\Union and Confederate battle deaths in the Civil War totaled
214,938. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, ``America's Wars,''
https://www.va.gov/opa/publications/factsheets/fs_americas_wars.pdf
(Nov. 2019).
\51\Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, COVID-19
Projections, available at https://covid19.healthdata.org/united-states-
of-america (last accessed Dec. 19, 2020).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
These terrible figures are more than statistics: they
represent shattering losses for many, many American families.
But in addition to the tragic loss of life and the still-
unknown long-term health consequences facing those who have
contracted the virus, the pandemic has had--and continues to
have--staggering impacts on nearly every aspect of life in the
United States. Among other things, it has affected how we spend
time with our families and loved ones; how we interact with our
neighbors; how we travel; how we learn; and how we work. The
pandemic has also affected how our democracy operates,
including how we vote and how those we elect to represent us
conduct business in legislative bodies at all levels of
government.
The COVID-19 crisis demands legislative action and
oversight and the continued work of the Congress, which has a
responsibility to the American people to explore additional
ways to be able to continue that work in the face of the
pandemic. The Committee has been mindful that many people are
putting themselves at risk by working on the frontlines every
day: from doctors and nurses, to police officers, firefighters,
and paramedics, to transit workers and truck drivers, among
others. The Committee appreciates all that the people in many
critical lines of work are doing to support their communities
and the country, even at risk to their own health. While the
Committee is keenly aware of these immense changes and
challenges, this report focuses narrowly on issues related on
how the House of Representatives and the Committee responded to
protect the safety and health of those who work in the
legislative branch while preserving the ability of the Congress
to continue its vital work.
Fortunately, Members and staff of the Congress have an
option that many vital frontline workers do not: Congress can
perform much of its work remotely in a safe, secure, online
format. During the pandemic, the Committee has worked with
leadership, other committees, and institutional partners to
find ways to ensure that the House can continue its legislative
operations while protecting the health and safety of all who
work in the legislative branch. This portion of the report
summarizes the effect that the pandemic has had on the
functioning of government throughout the country, the
innovative practices the Committee has helped develop to ensure
the House continue to operate, and the Committee's review of
one particular possible innovation, remote voting.
The Pandemic's Impact on Governmental Operations
In the fall of 2020, events at the White House actively
spread COVID-19 and also impacted the operations of the U.S.
Senate, underscoring the effect the pandemic has had on
operations of the highest levels of government. On October 2,
2020, President Donald J. Trump announced that he and First
Lady Melania Trump had both tested positive for COVID-19 and
would begin to quarantine immediately.\52\ The same day,
President Trump was flown by helicopter to Walter Reed National
Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, while Mrs. Trump
was quarantined in the White House.\53\ President Trump was
hospitalized for three days and received a number of
experimental treatments not in widespread use before being
returned to the White House.\54\ In addition, dozens of senior
government officials who attended events at the White House
with the President in the prior week--including at least three
U.S. Senators--also tested positive for the virus.\55\ An
investigation by USA Today concluded that, ``President Trump
and other White House insiders infected with COVID-19 carried
the virus across the country in a matter of days, potentially
exposing hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people as they went
about their business.''\56\ As Dr. Anthony Fauci put it, ``I
think the--the data speaks for themselves. We had a super-
spreader event in the White House and it was in a situation
where people were crowded together and were not wearing
masks.''\57\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\52\President Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), Twitter (Oct. 2,
2020, 12:54 a.m.), https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/
1311892190680014849.
\53\Rebecca Ballhaus, Catherine Lucey & Michael C. Bender, Wall St.
J., Trump Moves to Walter Reed Hospital After Testing Positive for
Coronavirus, Oct. 3, 2020, available at https://www.wsj.com/articles/
president-trump-and-first-lady-melania-test-positive-for-the-
coronavirus-11601639968.
\54\Barbara Sprunt, NPR, ``Don't Be Afraid Of It'': Trump Dismisses
Virus Threat As He Returns to White House, Oct. 5, 2020, available at
https://www.npr.org/sections/latest-updates-trump-covid-19-results/
2020/10/05/920412187/trump-says-he-will-leave-walter-reed-medical-
center-monday-night.
\55\Josh Margolin & Lucien Bruggeman, ABC News, 34 people connected
to White House, more than previously known, infected by coronavirus:
Internal FEMA memo, Oct. 7, 2020, available at https://abcnews.go.com/
Politics/34-people-connected-white-house-previously-infected-
coronavirus/story?id=73487381.
\56\Josh Salman & Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA Today, White House
coronavirus outbreak may have exposed thousands from Atlanta to
Minnesota, Oct. 7, 2020, available at https://www.usatoday.com/story/
news/investigations/2020/10/07/officials-exposed-went-attend-rallies-
debates-and-fundraisers/5907663002/.
\57\Kathryn Watson & Steven Portnoy, CBS News, Fauci says data on
masks ``speaks for itself'' after ``super-spreader'' White House Event,
Oct. 9, 2020, available at https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dr-fauci-on-
masks-super-spreader-covid-event-interview/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In response to the outbreak and the fact that a number of
Senators contracted the virus, Senate Majority Leader Mitch
McConnell changed the legislative schedule in the Senate, and
delayed floor activity for two weeks.\58\ Senator McConnell
also subsequently stated that he had not been to the White
House in months, observing that it was not ``approaching
protection from this illness in the same way that I thought was
appropriate in the Senate,'' and he specifically noted that the
White House has not insisted on mask wearing and social
distancing.\59\ Similarly, media reports also noted that the
White House has not followed a number of practices widely
recommended by health experts, including wearing masks,
practicing social distancing, following state and local limits
on large gatherings, not following guidelines for quarantining
and isolating following positive tests, and not following
contact tracing protocols.\60\ In addition, media reports also
indicated that the White House had relied too heavily on rapid
tests, while also using the rapid tests in a manner not
consistent with their intended use.\61\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\58\Chris Cioffi, Roll Call, After Republican COVID-19 positives,
Senate to remain out until Oct. 19, Oct. 3, 2020, available at https://
www.rollcall.com/2020/10/03/after-republican-covid-19-positives-senate-
to-remain-out-until-oct-19/.
\59\Dominic Torres & Clare Foran, CNN, McConnell says he hasn't
been to White House since August, citing Covid-19 protocols, Oct. 8,
2020, available at https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/08/politics/mcconnell-
white-house-coronavirus/index.html.
\60\Lauren Leatherby, Amy Schoenfeld Walker, Larry Buchanan & John
Keefe, N.Y. Times, How the White House Flouted Basic Coronavirus Rules,
Oct. 8, 2020, available at https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/10/
08/us/white-house-coronavirus-cdc.html.
\61\Lauren Leatherby, Amy Schoenfeld Walker, Larry Buchanan & John
Keefe, N.Y. Times, How the White House Flouted Basic Coronavirus Rules,
Oct. 8, 2020, available at https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/10/
08/us/white-house-coronavirus-cdc.html; Lev Facher, STAT News, Why the
White House's testing-only strategy to shield Trump from Covid-19 fell
short, Oct. 2, 2020, available at
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The outbreak of COVID-19 associated with events at the
White House, President Trump and the First Lady contracting
COVID-19, and the Senate subsequently suspending legislative
activity for weeks are the starkest examples to date of how a
new virus that was previously unknown in the United States
has--in less than a year--become a deadly pandemic capable of
impacting nearly every facet of American life, including the
operations of our federal government. But they are not the only
examples.
Even after all of these events, two lawyers for President
Trump and his unsuccessful presidential campaign traveled to a
number of states and spoke to state legislators about the 2020
election, and did not wear masks during their appearances.\62\
Subsequently, both were revealed to have tested positive for
COVID.\63\ As a result, state legislatures in three different
states canceled legislative session or otherwise had to modify
legislative operations.\64\
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\62\Associated Press, Jenna Ellis, 2nd member of Trump's legal
team, tests positive for COVID-19, Dec. 9, 2020, available at https://
www.fox9.com/news/jenna-ellis-2nd-member-of-trumps-legal-team-tests-
positive-for-covid-19.
\63\Id.
\64\Lindsay Walker, Yahoo! News, AZ legislature closes after
Republican lawmakers exposed to virus, Dec. 7, 2020, available at
https://news.yahoo.com/az-legislature-closes-republican-lawmakers-
163946863.html; Abigail Censky, NPR, After Giuliani hearing last week,
Michigan House is accused of COVID-19 violations, Dec. 8, 2020,
available at https://www.npr.org/2020/12/08/944322462/week-after-
giuliani-hearing-michigan-house-is-accused-of-covid-19-violations; Maya
T. Prabhu, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Georgia Senators urged to
quarantine after Giuliani's COVID-19 diagnosis, Dec. 7, 2020, available
at https://www.ajc.com/politics/georgia-senators-urged-to-quarantine-
after-giulianis-covid-19-diagnosis/TELIVAETQJFUPKOFANAKWBU6II/.
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At the state level, outbreaks among legislators have
impacted the ability to conduct government business in a number
of states. For example, in Mississippi, more than 60
legislators and staff--including at least 49 members--
contracted the virus in July 2020.\65\ The Speaker of the House
and the Lieutenant Governor, who presides over the Senate, were
also both positive. That left the state government in limbo,
with significant pending business unfinished.\66\ In a number
of states, tragically, legislators have died.\67\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\65\Anita Lee, Sun Herald, How many MS legislators did COVID-19
strike? Number has grown, with one related death, Aug. 10, 2020,
available at https://www.sunherald.com/news/coronavirus/
article244854672.html; Bobby Harrison, Mississippi Today, Legislators
pay price for disregarding COVID-19 precautions at Capitol, July 19,
2020, available at https://mississippitoday.org/2020/07/19/legislators-
pay-price-for-disregarding-covid-19-precautions-at-capitol/.
\66\Ivan Pereira, ABC News, Mississippi statehouse shuttered for 2
weeks as dozens of lawmakers contract coronavirus, July 9, 2020,
available at https://abcnews.go.com/Health/mississippi-statehouse-
shuttered-weeks- dozens-lawmakers-contract-coronavirus/
story?id=71690136.
\67\Ballotpedia, ``Government official, politician, and candidate
deaths, diagnoses, and quarantines due to the coronavirus (COVID-19)
pandemic, 2020,'' available at https://ballotpedia.org/
Government_official,_politician,_and_candidate_deaths,_diagnoses,_and_qu
arantines_due_to_
the_coronavirus_(COVID-19)_pandemic,_2020 (last accessed Dec. 22,
2020).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In Congress, by one count 105 Members have publicly
disclosed that they tested positive, self-quarantined, or had
otherwise come in contact with someone else who was
positive.\68\ In April 2020, at the same time least 22 Members
of the House had either tested positive, were presumed
positive, or were in self-quarantine because of exposure to
someone who was positive.\69\ In just the last month, 23
Members have publicly reported testing positive.\70\ In one
case, a Member disclosed having tested positive just hours
after voting and speaking on the House floor--then deleted a
Facebook post from just hours earlier in which he had
criticized steps the House has taken to protect its Members and
staff.\71\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\68\GovTrack, COVID-19 in Congress, available at https://
www.govtrack.us/covid-19#legislators (last accessed Dec. 22, 2020);
Ballotpedia, ``Government official, politician, and candidate deaths,
diagnoses, and quarantines due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic,
2020,'' available at https://ballotpedia.org/
Government_official,_politician,_and_candidate_deaths,_diagnoses,_and
_quarantines_due_to_the_coronavirus_(COVID-19)_pandemic,_2020 (last
accessed Dec. 22, 2020).
\69\GovTrack, COVID-19 in Congress, available at https://
www.govtrack.us/covid-19#legislators (last accessed Dec. 22, 2020).
\70\Id.
\71\CNN, Rep. Joe Wilson tests positive for COVID-19, Dec. 16,
2020, available at https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/16/politics/joe-wilson-
covid-19/index.html; Amanda Terkel, Huffington
Post, After positive COVID-19 diagnosis, GOP lawmaker deletes post
mocking precautions, Dec. 17, 2020, available at https://
www.huffpost.com/entry/joe-wilson-covid_n
_5fdad6bec5b650b99ad9b68b.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Support of Legislative Operations
As one recent media report observed, ``Legislatures are
natural targets for Covid, with a potential to become potent
spreading grounds as cases continue to surge nationally: They
involve large numbers of adults--many of them older--meeting
for hours in sometimes windowless committee rooms and chambers,
arguing, testifying, and making speeches.''\72\ In light of
these very serious concerns, and to avoid the types of
situations described above, in the early weeks and months of
the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the U.S. House of
Representatives proactively and responsibly modified its
legislative operations to ensure that the House would be able
to continue its critical work during the public health
emergency, while protecting the health and safety of all those
who work in the House.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\72\Margaret Newkirk, Bloomberg, Lawmaker's death chills U.S.
statehouses where masks are shunned, Dec. 15, 2020, available at
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-15/covid-cases-strike-
in-statehouses-with-mask-averse-lawmakers.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
These steps ensured that the House could continue to act
during the crisis, including passing legislation and conducting
oversight, while also protecting the health and safety of
legislative branch staff. The House authorized committees to
conduct virtual hearings, created an electronic hopper for the
introduction of legislation, developed a system to
electronically submit extensions of remarks, and took
significant steps to swiftly expand the ability of its Members
and staff to telework by distributing laptops and tablet
computers and rapidly increasing the availability of online
collaborative platforms for official work. The House authorized
remote voting by proxy and directed the chair of the Committee
to study the feasibility of using technology to conduct remote
voting in the House, as discussed in the following section.
Although these are new tools for governing, they are within
the House's authority to implement and they are not intended to
replace regular order. To the contrary, they represent prudent
and responsible steps to ensure the House can continue to lead
during this crisis, and they are intended to be used only
during extraordinary circumstances.\73\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\73\Exploring the Feasibility and Security of Technology to Conduct
Remote Voting in the House: Hearing before the Committee on House
Administration, 116th Cong. (Opening Statement of Chairperson Zoe
Lofgren).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
A number of the changes increase the options for Members
and staff to complete legislative tasks remotely, rather than
requiring in-person contact. For example, in April 2020, the
Speaker of the House directed the creation of an electronic
hopper to permit the virtual submission of all Floor
documents--including bills, resolutions, co-sponsors and
extensions of remarks--via a dedicated and secure email system.
Since the policy took effect, 2,816 measures have been filed
electronically, while just 159 were manually filed using the
traditional process.
Also in April 2020, Committee Chairperson Zoe Lofgren, in
her capacity as Chairperson of the Joint Committee on Printing,
directed the Government Publishing Office to accept, for
publication in the Congressional Record, extensions of remarks
submitted with a Member's electronic signature. Under this new
and more convenient system, as of December 22, 2020, Members
have filed 2,534 extensions of remarks by email.
On May 15, 2020, the House passed House Resolution 965, a
resolution ``authorizing remote voting by proxy in the House of
Representatives and providing for official remote committee
proceedings during a public health emergency due to a novel
coronavirus and for other purposes.''\74\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\74\Authorizing remote voting by proxy in the House of
Representatives and providing for official remote committee proceedings
during a public health emergency due to a novel coronavirus, and for
other purposes, H. Res. 965, 116th Cong. (2020).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Section 1 of House Resolution 965 provides that ``at any
time after the Speaker or the Speaker's designee is notified by
the Sergeant-at-Arms, in consultation with the Attending
Physician, that a public health emergency due to a novel
coronavirus is in effect, the Speaker or the Speaker's
designee, in consultation with the Minority Leader or the
Minority Leader's designee, may designate a period (hereafter
in this resolution referred to as a `covered period') during
which a Member who is designated by another Member as a proxy
in accordance with section 2 may cast the vote of such other
Member or record the presence of such other Member in the
House.''\75\ The ``covered period'' terminates 45 days after
the designation, and may be extended or terminated.\76\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\75\Id.
\76\Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Speaker of the House, pursuant to section 1(a) of House
Resolution 965 announced that a public health emergency existed
and designated a ``covered period'' on May 20, 2020. In light
of the continued and explosive growth in COVID-19 cases in the
U.S., this ``covered period'' was subsequently extended until
August 18, 2020; until November 16, 2020; and until December
31, 2020.
Under the provision which permits proxy voting, as of
December 22, 2020, the House has conducted 142 roll call votes
that have included directed votes cast by proxy without
incident. Nearly 6,253 individual votes have been cast by
proxy, including by Members of both parties. Demonstrating that
the system can operate in a bipartisan fashion that protects
the rights of the minority, proxy votes have been cast by a
Member of one party on behalf of a Member of the other party
where the physically present Member voted in a different way
than their colleague whose proxy vote they cast. In addition,
several measures passed with proxy votes have been signed by
the President and enacted into law.
Section 4 of House Resolution 965 provides authority for
remote proceedings in House committees during a ``covered
period.'' The Committee worked closely with the Committee on
Rules, the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), and House
Information Resources (HIR) to develop options for holding
committee proceedings on collaborative online platforms, such
as Teams, Webex, and Zoom. Using these new options, as of
December 17, 2020, House committees have held at least 529
events using some form of technology to permit remote or
virtual participation, including:
Held 169 entirely remote hearings;
Held 130 hybrid hearings;
Held 4 entirely remote markups;
Held 36 hybrid markups; and
Held scores of remote or hybrid briefings,
forums, meetings, and roundtables.
The Committee also coordinated closely with CAO to ensure
that Member and committee offices had the technology they would
need to work remotely. That included getting thousands of
laptops and tablets ordered, imaged, and delivered to offices
at a time when there were significant issues with the supply
chain. Using that hardware and the other technology tools
available to House offices, Members and staff have been able to
conduct a significant amount of work remotely, including as of
December 17, 2020:
More than 11,600 Zoom meetings;
More than 6,000 Webex meetings;
More than 327,900 Teams calls or
meetings; and
More than 16.8 million Teams chat
messages.
In addition to working with other House offices to advance
the adaptations discussed above, the Committee has also worked
with the Attending Physician, CAO, Architect of the Capitol,
and other legislative branch offices to ensure that in
circumstances when Members and employees need to work in
person, their workplaces are as safe as possible. For example,
to ensure offices have access to appropriate personal
protective equipment (PPE), as of December 18, 2020, the
Committee has worked with the CAO and Architect to acquire and
distribute, to both D.C. and district offices, more than 5,900
canisters of wipes, more than 41,900 bottles of hand sanitizer,
more than 689,900 pairs of gloves, and more than 697,700 masks.
The Committee has also worked with these offices to handle more
than 300 requests from offices for plexiglass, with delivery of
nearly 700 items.
The Sergeant at Arms announced new procedures specific to
Floor activity and voting, developed in consultation with the
Attending Physician and leadership.\77\ These procedures
include limiting access to the Floor during debate to those
Members who are scheduled to speak during debate, conducting
votes by groups of Members, and maintaining ``safe social
distancing at all times.''\78\ In addition, the Sergeant at
Arms and Attending Physician have specifically cautioned for at
least six months that with respect to activity on the Floor,
``Members who are ill with respiratory symptoms or fever are
discouraged from attending.''\79\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\77\See e.g. Dear Colleague from Sergeant at Arms Paul D. Irving
and Attending Physician Dr. Brian P. Monahan, ``Procedures for Friday
March 27, 2020,'' Mar. 26, 2020.
\78\Id.
\79\Id. (emphasis original).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
These critical precautionary measures have been implemented
to protect the safety of all who work in the Capitol. As a
practical matter, however, this means that votes take longer
than they would under ``normal'' conditions.\80\ For example,
each recorded vote can take 35 minutes or longer, and special
cleaning protocols are in place between vote series.\81\ This
has an overall impact on the House's efficiency, but can also
impact the amount of time available for legislative activity,
particularly on complex bills, which in turn has an impact on
the House's options for considering amendments.\82\ It is of
particular relevance to this discussion that a primary
rationale in favor of adopting electronic voting in the House
50 years ago was to ``significantly reduce the time required to
vote,'' as Members had long expressed concern about the time
spent simply taking votes, including roll call votes that could
take 45 minutes.\83\ If the House adopted a remote voting
system, as discussed in the following section, that could not
only further protect the health and safety of legislative
branch staff and Members, but improve House efficiency by
reducing the amount of time needed to execute votes, as was the
case when the House adopted electronic voting a half century
ago.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\80\See e.g. Noah Wofsy, Remote Control: How the Legislative
Counsel and the House of Representatives Operate During the Pandemic in
Lawmaking Around the World in the Time of COVID-19 (2020), available at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4f1MsxZ8mA&feature=youtu.be.
\81\Id.
\82\Id.
\83\Jacob R. Straus, Cong. Res. Svc., Electronic Voting in the
House of Representatives: History and Usage, June 13, 2011.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
For those situations when someone must physically be in the
office, the Attending Physician has devised and recommends use
of a simple self-screening inventory to be completed at home,
before someone goes to the workplace. In addition, it has been,
and remains, critical that people who are physically in the
Capitol and House buildings wear a mask. The Attending
Physician continues to emphasize that wearing a mask ``is one
of the simple, basic things all Americans must do.''\84\ The
Attending Physician has said clearly, ``I expect all of you in
the workplace--any time you are inside, in the company of
another person--that you are wearing an approved face
covering.''\85\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\84\Dr. Brian P. Monahan, COVID-19 update (Sept. 17, 2020),
available at https://cha.house.gov/coronavirus; Dr. Brian P. Monahan,
Mask update (Oct. 27, 2020), available at https://cha.house.gov/
coronavirus.
\85\Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recently, and consistent with the repeated guidance of the
Attending Physician and the CDC, the Speaker of the House
announced that masks are not only ``required at all times in
the Hall of the House without exception, including while
Members are under recognition,'' and ``reiterate[d] that this
is a matter of order and decorum in the Chamber under clause 2
of rule I.''\86\ Moreover, ``To be clear, Members will not
recognized unless they are wearing a mask, and recognition will
be withdrawn if they remove their mask while speaking.''\87\
Fortunately, this announcement was made prior to the Member
noted above speaking and voting on the floor while positive for
COVID.\88\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\86\Announcement by the Speaker, 116th Congress, 166 Cong. Rec.
H7,158 (daily ed. Dec. 15, 2020).
\87\Id.
\88\Supra note 31; see also Celine Castronuovo, The Hill, South
Carolina Republican tests positive for coronavirus hours after speaking
on House floor, Dec. 16, 2020, available at [https://thehill.com/
homenews/house/530602-south-carolina-republican-tests-positive-for-
coronavirus-hours-after-speaking; see also;
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Remote Voting Study
In addition to all of the other adaptations discussed
above, House Resolution 965 also directed that the ``chair of
the Committee on House Administration, in consultation with the
ranking minority member, shall study the feasibility of using
technology to conduct remote voting in the House, and shall
provide certification to the House upon a determination that
operable and secure technology exists to conduct remote voting
in the House.''\89\ The Committee followed the House's
direction by studying the issue of remote voting, including by
reviewing the practices of other legislative bodies, at both
the national and state levels; reviewing available technology;
and conducting a public hearing. This review is focused
specifically on the question of whether it is feasible to use
technology for the House to conduct remote voting; it is not a
review of the constitutionality of remote voting, the specific
situations in which it might be employed, or individual
products or platforms for remote voting.\90\ The witnesses at
that hearing--itself conducted in a virtual online format--
included a former Republican Speaker of the House and several
technology experts.\91\ All of the witnesses concluded that
remote voting is technologically feasible.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\89\H. Res. 965, supra note 34.
\90\Comm. on Rules, Authorizing Remote Voting by Proxy in the House
of Representatives and Providing for Official Remote Committee
Proceedings During a Public Health Emergency Due to a Novel
Coronavirus, and For Other Purposes, H. Rep. 116-420, 116th Cong., 2d
Sess. (2020).
\91\Comm. on House Admin., Exploring the Feasibility and Security
of Technology to Conduct Remote Voting in the House: Hearing before the
Comm. on House Administration (2020), available at https://
www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG- 116hhrg41953/pdf/CHRG-
116hhrg41953.pdf and https://cha.house.gov/committee-activity/hearings/
exploring- feasibility-and-security- technology-conduct-remote-voting.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Accordingly, following the Committee's review, the staff
wrote a report which summarized the review and the hearing and
concluded that:
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a devastating loss
of life in the United States and impacted every aspect
of American life. Given the clear impact that COVID-19
can have on the ability of the federal government to
conduct legislative business and the continuing surge
of the pandemic within the U.S., it is imperative that
Congress be able to continue its work safely and
securely.
The House has already taken several steps to ensure
its continued ability to act during the crisis,
including passing legislation and conducting oversight,
while also protecting the health and safety of
legislative branch staff. The authorization of directed
proxy voting by Members on the Floor is one important
step the House has taken to protect the health and
safety of all legislative branch staff and Members.
However, other important safety protocols, such as
voting in groups and limiting the number of Members on
the Floor at one time, have increased the amount of
time it takes to conduct Floor votes. Remote voting
could both provide additional health and safety
benefits--both for those Members and staff in
Washington, D.C., and those who may be in their
districts--while improving House efficiency.
In light of the findings described above, including
witness testimony from a former Speaker of the House
and highly qualified technology experts, as well as a
review of procedures adopted by other legislative
bodies, this staff report concludes that operable and
secure technology exists to permit the House to conduct
remote voting, and that such a tool could be developed
to further establish its flexibility and resiliency to
operate during the pandemic.\92\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\92\Comm. on House Admin., Staff Report on Feasibility of Remote
Voting in the United States House of Representatives Pursuant to House
Resolution 965, Sec. 5, 17, 116th Cong., 2d Sess. (2020), available at
https://cha.house.gov/sites/democrats.cha.house.gov/files/
2020_Feasibility %20of%20Remote%20Voting
%20in%20the%20US_v4%20%281%29.pdf.
Accordingly, the Chairperson authorized the release of the
staff report and certified that such technology exists.\93\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\93\Certification Submitted Pursuant to Section 5(a) of House
Resolution 965, 116th Congress, 166 Cong. Rec. H5,760 (daily ed. Nov.
16, 2020).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE MODERNIZATION OF CONGRESS
The Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress
(SCMC) was established at the beginning of the 116th Congress
as part of the H. Res. 6, the House Rules package. Originally
authorized for the first session only, the SCMC was extended to
the conclusion of the 116th Congress by H. Res. 695 which, in
part, amended H. Res. 6. The SCMC, co-chaired by Representative
Derek Kilmer of Washington and Representative Tom Graves of
Georgia, counts among its Members the Chairperson and Ranking
Member of the Committee.
The SCMC held a total of 16 hearings between March 2019 and
February 2020 and held six markups to pass a total of 97
recommendations.\94\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\94\Select Comm. on the Modernization of Congress, Recommendations
to Reclaim Congress' Article One Powers, Boost Staff Capacity, Improve
the Schedule and Calendar, Improve the Budget and Appropriations
Process, Identify Administrative Inefficiencies and Improve Technology
and Continuity, H. Rep. 116-561, 116th Cong., 2d Sess. (2020).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The SCMC, although without legislative jurisdiction, was,
with the passage of H. Res. 756 ``the first select committee in
recent history to effectively turn suggested reforms into
legislative action.''\95\ Under the jurisdiction of the
Committee, H. Res. 756, the Moving Our Democracy and
Congressional Operations Towards Modernization Resolution, was
brought to the House floor on March 10, 2020, where it passed
the House under suspension 395-13. H. Res. 756 included 24 of
the SCMC's recommendations.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\95\Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
WOMEN IN CONGRESS
In 2007, GPO published Women in Congress, 1917-2006. This
edition was authorized by H. Con. Res. 66 (107th Congress) and
was prepared under the direction of the Committee by the Office
of History and Preservation, Office of the Clerk to update and
revise an earlier edition, Women in Congress, 1917-1990.
During the first session of the 116th Congress, the
Committee began working with the Clerk of the House's Office of
the Historian in order to revise the 2007 edition and include
the historic number of women in the 116th Congress.
The Committee introduced H. Con. Res. 92, authorizing the
printing of a revised and updated version of the House document
entitled ``Women in Congress, 1917-2006,'' on February 26,
2020. This concurrent resolution was then agreed to by the
House on July 30, 2020, and the Senate on September 15, 2020.
This updated version, Women in Congress, 1917-2020 was
published in December 2020. As Chairperson Lofgren wrote in the
forward to this new edition:
As Chairperson of the Committee on House
Administration, I felt that a new edition of this
remarkable story of women in Congress was overdue. This
history is a fascinating story of how legislative
institutions and practices affected the women who first
came here a century ago, while highlighting how women
have changed and shaped those very institutions and
practices in turn. It is a valuable history to all
students of Congress, and all students of history. It
is a story of how Congress wrestles to truly represent
all Americans, while continuing the precedents and
procedures that are important to it, working together
to effectively meet the challenges of today and
tomorrow.\96\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\96\Women in Congress, 1917-2020, supra, pg. ix.
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EDUCATIONAL AND OUTREACH ACTIVITIES
Outreach and Communications
At the beginning of the 116th Congress, the Committee
authorized a series of necessary measures to ensure the
essential functions of the House of Representatives. These
measures included authorizing the initial funding of the
Members' Representational Allowance and committee funds,
establishing certain reimbursement rates and House fees, and
providing guidance on up-coming caucus and conference retreats.
In cooperation with the Assistant Speaker's office, the
Committee supported weekly freshman office chiefs-of-staff
briefings focused on proper office operations.
Section 120 of P.L. 115-244 (132 Stat. 2897) established a
separate fund for Members of Congress to pay interns in their
Washington, D.C., offices subject to regulations promulgated by
the Committee which were adopted on March 12, 2019.
Through both electronic Dear Colleagues and in-person
forums the Committee briefed the House community and addressed
frequently asked questions on the details of the newly adopted
rules for the House Paid Internship Program. The Committee
through the Spring and Summer of 2019 continued outreach
through several initiatives.
The annual Summer Intern Lecture Series featured 42
prominent speakers and was attended by over 1,200 congressional
interns. Additionally, working with congressional agency
partners, the Committee developed and launched a district
office outreach program to better connect district offices to
resources available in Washington, D.C. The inaugural session
took place in San Jose, California, with a subsequent event in
St. Louis, Missouri.
The Committee also provided support and subject matter
expertise in the development and execution of the annual
district director fly-in which took place in Washington, D.C.,
during July 2019. In the Fall of 2019, the Committee drafted
updated regulations regarding advance payments made at the end
of a legislative year, which were adopted through Committee
Resolution 116-13. The Committee replicated necessary measures
to ensure the functions of the House of Representatives at the
beginning of the second session of the 116th Congress including
authorizing the initial funding of the MRA and committee funds,
establishing certain reimbursement rates and House fees, and
providing guidance on up-coming caucus and conference retreats.
Normal outreach and education were disrupted by the onset
of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Committee focused efforts on
providing Members and staff with appropriate resources needed
to maintain office functions in a remote work environment.
Throughout the Spring and Summer of 2020, the Committee ensured
Members and staff had access and funding for safe alternative
commuting options, tele-work resources and support, personal
protective equipment, and home health screening tools. This was
subsequently reflected in the adoption of Committee Resolution
116-24 on November 10, 2020. In the Fall of 2020, the Committee
turned its attention to the development and support of both
contested elections training and the New Member Orientation
Program. The Committee continues to plan for the necessary
measures that must be executed at the beginning of the 117th
Congress ensuring the House of Representatives has resources
needed to perform official duties.
New Member Orientation
The Committee is responsible for planning and executing the
New Member Orientation (NMO) program, along with the travel and
logistics for newly-elected Members of Congress, designated
aides, and, for the first time, paid transition aides. The
program was held in two phases: November 12, 2020-November 21,
2020 and November 29, 2020-December 5, 2020. At 17 days, this
was the longest NMO in the history of the House of
Representatives.
Over the course of NMO, Members-elect, along with their
aides, participated in more than 20 bipartisan briefings. These
briefings were provided by current Members, senior staff, House
Officers, institutional staff and others. Programming included:
Operating a Congressional Office During the COVID-19 Pandemic;
Physical and Cyber Security; Best Practices for Hiring Staff;
Office Setup, the Members Representational Allowance and
Leases; Introduction to the House Floor; Legal Liabilities;
Responsibilities as an Employer; Workplace Rights and
Responsibilities; Effective Constituent Services; Connecting
the D.C. Office to the District Office; Legislative Process;
Drafting Legislation; Understanding the House Floor and
Committees; Office Lottery Overviews; Ethics Training; Decorum
and Bipartisanship; Advice from Current Freshmen Members;
Overview of Public Health Issues for the 117th Congress;
Economic Impacts of COVID-19; Overview of the Federal Budget
Process; and Congress and the Courts.
In addition to participating in the briefings described
above, aides participated in programming specifically designed
for staff. This programming included the following briefings:
November to January Transition Timetable; Creating a Diverse
and Inclusive Workplace; Managing Your Workforce During the
Pandemic; and Office Structure and Business Processes.
As referenced above, aide briefings were provided both to
designated aides and the newly authorized paid transition
aides. Paid transition aides were a recommendation of the
Select Committee on Modernization implemented by the Chief
Administrative Officer in coordination with the committee.
Transition aides are House employees, paid by the Chief
Administrative Officer, dedicated to assisting Members-elect
with office setup tasks. They are paid by the Chief
Administrative Officer and act as the primary liaison between
Members-elect and House support offices. In total, 52
transition aides participated in NMO.
Notably, NMO took place amid the COVID-19 pandemic, at a
time when cases across the nation were spiking. As such, the
committee consulted extensively with the Office of Attending
Physician to ensure all committee-planned NMO activities were
conducted safely. All bipartisan committee-planned briefings
and other activities were streamed online via Webex, allowing
for completely virtual participation for Members and presenters
who wished to attend remotely.
The Committee spearheaded a new initiative, one recommended
by the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress to
require presentations, along with myriad videos from House
Officers and institutional partners be recorded and uploaded to
a dedicated website so that Members and aides could access them
at their convenience. This initiative will begin to build an
easily-accessible knowledge base for Members and staff.
For Members-elect participating in person, the Capitol
Visitor Center Congressional Auditorium was configured such
that seats for both Members-elect and participants were
appropriately distanced. To ensure individuals were
appropriately spaced, aides viewed all presentations via
simulcast across three additional rooms within the Capitol
Visitor Center. In addition, hotel accommodations, meals and
transportation provided under direction of the committee were
all facilitated pursuant to relevant direction and guidance
from the Office of Attending Physician.
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, mostly to current and former government and
military officials, policy experts, and media personalities, to
speak to congressional interns. The First and Second Session
Lectures were conducted in contrasting manners due to the
COVID-19 pandemic.
The First Session Lecture series was conducted in the
traditional manner. A total of 42 lectures were held over the
seven-week period between June 10, 2019, and July 26, 2019.
Notable lectures from the 2019 Lecture Series included the
Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr.
Robert R. Redfield; the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi;
House Republican Leader, Kevin McCarthy; House Minority Whip,
Steve Scalise; political commentator and former talk show host,
Greta Van Susteren; political journalists Jake Sherman and Anna
Palmer; the Librarian of Congress, Dr. Carla Hayden; NASA
Administrator, Jim Bridenstine; and United States Department of
Transportation Secretary, Elaine L. Chao.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Second Session Lecture
Series was held virtually for the first time. In order to
ensure the health, safety and security of this unique intern
experience, less invites were extended. The virtual experience
allowed for Interns and Member's to partake in a private, off
the record lecture series, while maintaining their health and
safety. A total of 30 lectures were held over a five-week
period between June 30, 2020, and July 31, 2020, with a lecture
nearly every day during that time. Notable speakers from this
year's series included the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi;
the Librarian of Congress, Dr. Carla Hayden; and several House
and Senate Chairs and Members.
HOUSE PAID INTERNSHIP PROGRAM
Pursuant to section 120 of Public Law 115-244, the Energy
and Water, Legislative Branch, and Military and Veterans
Affairs Appropriations Act, 2019 and H. Rept. 115-929, the
Conference Report to accompany H.R. 5895, on March 12, 2019,
the Committee on House Administration adopted Committee
Resolution 116-8 providing up to $20,000 per Member office for
the sole purpose of paid internships in Washington, D.C., known
as the House Paid Internship Program. The paid internship
positions authorized under this provision did not count against
the number of employees who may be employed by a Member of the
House under 2 U.S.C. Sec. 5321.
Subsequently, on May 5, 2020, the Committee adopted
Committee Resolution 116-19 authorizing $25,000 per Member
office for interns participating in this program and allowing
interns to be based in the Washington, D.C., or a Member's
district office. These interns continue to not count against
the Member's employee staff ceiling. Additionally, in the event
of a vacancy in office, the Committee authorized amounts to be
made available to the succeeding Member on a prorated basis as
determined by the Committee. Furthermore, the Committee
directed the CAO to report in the Statement of Disbursements
payments from the applicable House accounts in a manner that
accurately reflects the employing office of individuals
employed through the House Paid Internship Program. The CAO was
also directed to develop a payroll authorization form for this
program and include program participants on the monthly payroll
certification of the Member office that has authorized the
internship. Finally, the CAO was directed to provide offices a
monthly update on the balance of their allotment and submit a
semiannual report to the Committee on both total usage of the
authorization by Member offices and usage by Washington, D.C.,
and district offices.
Committee Hearings and Meetings
Hearings
Listening Session on Voting Rights and Elections in Brownsville, Texas
Full Committee
February 4, 2019
Witnesses:
Mr. Rolando Rios, Esq.; Mr. George Korbel, Esq.; Mr.
Matthew McCarthy, ACLU Foundation of Texas; Mr. Chad Dunn,
Esq.; and Ms. Mimi Marziani, Esq., President, Texas Civil
Rights Project
For the People: Our American Democracy
Full Committee
February 14, 2019
Witnesses:
Chiraag Bains, Director of Legal Strategies, Demos; Wendy
Weiser; Director, Democracy Program, Brennan Center for Justice
at NYU School of Law; Fred Wertheimer, President, Democracy 21;
The Honorable Kim Wyman, Secretary of State, State of
Washington; Panel two: Alejandro Rangel-Lopez, Student; Peter
Earle, Wisconsin Civil Rights Trial Lawyer; Brandon A. Jessup,
Data Science and Information Systems Professional; Executive
Director, Michigan Forward; and David Keating, President,
Institute For Free Speech
Voting Rights and Election Administration in Georgia
Subcommittee on Elections--Field Hearing, Atlanta, Georgia
February 19, 2019
Witnesses:
Stacey Abrams, CEO and Founder, Fair Fight Action; Panel 2:
Gilda Daniels, Director of Litigation, Advancement Project;
Sean Young, Legal Director, Georgia ACLU; Stacey Hopkins,
Voter, Fulton County GA; and Cliff Albright, Cofounder, Black
Votes Matter.
Committee Funding for the 116th Congress
Full Committee
March 12, 2019
Witnesses:
Hon. Elijah E. Cummings, Chairman, Committee on Oversight
and Reform, U.S. House of Representatives; and Hon. Jim Jordan,
Ranking Member, Committee on Oversight and Reform, U.S. House
of Representatives.
House Officer Priorities for 2019 and Beyond
Full Committee
April 9, 2019
Witnesses:
Hon. Cheryl L. Johnson, Clerk of the U.S. House of
Representatives; Hon. Paul D. Irving, Sergeant at Arms, U.S.
House of Representatives; Hon. Philip G. Kiko, Chief
Administrative Officer, U.S. House of Representatives; and Hon.
Michael T. Ptasienski, Inspector General, U.S. House of
Representatives.
Voting Rights and Election Administration in the Dakotas
Subcommittee on Elections--Field Hearing, Fort Yates, North Dakota
April 16, 2019
Witnesses:
Ms. Alysia LaCounte, General Counsel, on behalf of Turtle
Mountain Band of Chippewa; Ms. Myra Pearson, Chairwoman, Spirit
Lake Tribe; Mr. Charles Walker, Councilman at Large, on behalf
of Standing Rock Sioux Tribe; Mr. Roger White Owl Chief
Executive Officer, on behalf of Mandan, Hidatsa & Arikara
Nation; Ms. Ruth Buffalo, Representative, North Dakota House of
Representatives; Ms. Jacqueline De Leon, Staff Attorney, Native
American Rights Fund; Ms. Prairie Rose Seminole Community
Organizer; Ms. Donita Loudner, former Buffalo County
Commissioner; Ms. Peri Pourier, Representative, South Dakota
House of Representatives; and Mr. O.J. Semans Sr., Co-Executive
Director, Four Directions, Inc.
Voting Rights and Election Administration in North Carolina
Subcommittee on Elections--Field Hearing, Weldon, North Carolina
April 18, 2019
Witnesses:
Dr. William Barber II, President and Senior Lecturer,
Repairers of the Breach; Hon. Dan Blue, Minority Leader, North
Carolina Senate; Mr. Irving L. Joyner, Professor of Law, North
Carolina Central University School of Law; Mr. Tomas Lopez,
Executive Director, Democracy North Carolina; Ms. Caitlin
Swain, Co-Director, Forward Justice; and Ms. Patricia Timmons-
Goodson, Vice-Chairwoman, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
Voting Rights and Election Administration in Ohio
Subcommittee on Elections--Field Hearing, Cleveland, Ohio
April 25, 2019
Witnesses:
Ms. Naila Awan, Senior Counsel, Demos; Mr. Mike Brickner,
Ohio State Director, All Voting is Local; Ms. Inajo D.
Chappell, Member, Cuyahoga County Board of Elections; Mr.
Daniel Ortiz, Outreach Director, Policy Matters Ohio; Mr. Tom
Roberts, President, Ohio Conference of the NAACP; and Ms.
Elaine Tso, Interim Co-Chief Executive Officer, Asian Services
in Action
Voting Rights and Election Administration in Florida
Subcommittee on Elections--Field Hearing, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
May 6, 2019
Witnesses:
Ms. Marleine Bastien, Founder and Executive Director, Fanm
Ayisyen Nan Miymi, Inc.; Ms. Nancy Batista, Florida State
Director, Mi Familia Vota; Mr. Andrew Gillum, Chair, Forward
Florida; Ms. Anjenys Gonzalez-Eilert, Executive Director,
Common Cause Florida; Mr. Juan Cartagena, President and Senior
Counsel, Latino Justice PRL DEF; Ms. Judith Browne Dianis,
Executive Director, Advancement Project; Ms. Karen Wilkerson,
League of Women Voters of Florida, and Mr. Logan Churchwell;
Communication and Research Director, Public Interest Legal
Foundation
Election Security
Full Committee
May 8, 2019
Witnesses:
Hon. Jocelyn Benson, Secretary of State, State of Michigan;
Mr. Joseph L. Hall, Chief Technologist and Director, Center for
Democracy and Technology; Hon. John Merrill, Secretary of
State, State of Alabama; Mr. Larry Norden, Deputy Director,
Brennan Center's Democracy Program; and Ms. Marian Schneider,
President, Verified Voting Foundation.
Voting Rights and Election Administration in Alabama
Subcommittee on Elections--Field Hearing, Birmingham, Alabama
May 13, 2019
Witnesses:
Mr. James Blacksher, Attorney; Ms. Jenny Carroll, Professor
of Law, University of Alabama Hugh F. Culverhouse Jr. School of
Law; Mr. Ernest Montgomery, Council Member, Calera City
Council; Ms. Nancy Abudu, Deputy Legal Director, Voting Rights,
Southern Poverty Law Center; Mr. Scott Douglas, Executive
Director, Greater Birmingham Ministries; Ms. Isabel Rubio,
Executive Director, Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama; and
Mr. Benard Simelton Sr., President, Alabama Conference of the
NAACP.
Oversight of the Election Assistance Commission
Full Committee
May 21, 2019
Witnesses:
Hon. Thomas Hicks, Commissioner, Election Assistance
Commission; Hon. Benjamin Hovland, Commissioner Vice Chair,
Election Assistance Commission; Hon. Christy McCormick,
Commissioner and Chairwoman, Election Assistance Commission;
and Hon. Don Palmer, Commissioner, Election Assistance
Commission.
Oversight of the Congressional Research Service
Full Committee
June 20, 2019
Witnesses:
Mary B. Mazanec, Director, Congressional Research Service;
and Susan Thaul, Ph.D., President, Congressional Research
Employees Association
Oversight of the United States Capitol Police
Full Committee
July 16, 2019
Witnesses:
Hon. Paul D. Irving, Sergeant at Arms, U.S. House of
Representatives; Mr. Steven A. Sund, Chief of Police, United
States Capitol Police; Mr. Michael A. Bolton, Inspector
General, United States Capitol Police; and Mr. Gus
Papathanasiou, Chairman, U.S. Capitol Police Labor Committee.
Oversight of the Renovations of the Cannon House Office Building
Full Committee
September 10, 2019
Witnesses:
Mr. Brian A. Abt, Chief Executive Officer, Mid Atlantic
Region, Clark Construction, LLC., Washington, D.C.; Mr. Thomas
J. Carroll III, Acting Architect of the Capitol, Washington,
D.C.; Mr. Terrell Dorn Managing Director, Infrastructure
Operations, Government Accountability Office, Washington, D.C.;
and Mr. Christopher P. Failla, Architect of the Capitol
Inspector General, Washington, D.C.
Oversight of the Smithsonian Institution
Full Committee
September 18, 2019
Witnesses:
Mr. Lonnie G. Bunch III, Secretary, Smithsonian
Institution, Washington, D.C.; and Ms. Cathy L. Helm, Inspector
General, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Voting Rights and Election Administration in Arizona
Subcommittee on Elections--Field Hearing, Phoenix, Arizona
October 1, 2019
Witnesses:
Ms. Montserrat Arredondo, One Arizona; Ms. Patricia
Ferguson-Bohnee, Professor of Law, Indian Legal Clinic, ASU Law
School; Mr. Alex Gulotta, Arizona State Director, All Voting Is
Local; Mr. Darrell Hill, Policy Director, ACLU of Arizona; The
Honorable Stephen Roe Lewis, Governor, Gila River Indian
Community; The Honorable Jonathan Nez, President, The Navajo
Nation; The Honorable Michelle Ugenti-Rita, State Senator,
State Senate of Arizona; and Ms. Lorena C. Van Assche, Arizona
State Advisory Committee, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
Voting Rights and Election Administration in America
Subcommittee on Elections
October 17, 2019
Witnesses:
Ms. Barbara Arnwine, National Co-Chair, National Commission
for Voter Justice; Ms. Michelle Bishop, Voting Rights
Specialist, National Disability Rights Network; Ms. Kristen
Clarke, President & Executive Director, Lawyers' Committee for
Civil Rights Under Law; Ms. Hannah Fried, Director, All Voting
Is Local; Mr. Dale Ho, Director, Voting Rights Project; Ms.
Virginia Kase, Chief Executive Officer, League of Women Voters;
The Honorable Catherine E. Lhamon, Chair, U.S. Commission on
Civil Rights; Ms. Denise Lieberman, Senior Attorney & Program
Director, Power & Democracy, Advancement Project; Ms. Elena
Nunez, Director of State Operations & Ballot Measure
Strategies, Common Cause; Mr. Deuel Ross, Senior Counsel, NAACP
Legal Defense Fund; Mr. Thomas Saenz, President & General
Counsel, MALDEF; Mr. Arturo Vargas, Chief Executive Officer,
NALEO Educational Fund; Mr. Michael Waldman, President, Brennan
Center for Justice; Ms. Brenda Wright, Senior Advisor for Legal
Strategies, Demos; and Mr. John C. Yang, President & Executive
Director, Asian Americans Advancing Justice
Member Day: Committee on House Administration
Full Committee
November 21, 2019
Witnesses:
Hon. Derek Kilmer, Member of Congress, Washington D.C; Hon.
Tom Graves, Member of Congress, Washington D.C.; Hon. Dean
Phillips, Member of Congress, Washington D.C.; Hon. Tom Rice,
Member of Congress, Washington D.C.; Hon. Mark Takano, Member
of Congress, Washington D.C,. Hon. Pete Olson, Member of
Congress, Washington D.C.; Hon. Justin Amash, Member of
Congress, Washington D.C., Statement for the Record; Hon. Tony
Cardenas, Member of Congress, Washington D.C., Statement for
the Record; Hon. Anna G. Eshoo, Member of Congress, Washington
D.C., Statement for the Record; Hon. Brian K. Fitzpatrick,
Member of Congress, Washington D.C., Statement for the Record;
Hon. Carol D. Miller, Member of Congress, Washington D.C.,
Statement for the Record; Hon. Seth Moulton, Member of
Congress, Washington D.C., Statement for the Record; Hon.
Stacey E. Plaskett, Member of Congress, Washington D.C.,
Statement for the Record; Hon. Jose E. Serrano, Member of
Congress, Washington D.C., Statement for the Record; and Hon.
Haley M. Stevens, Member of Congress, Washington D.C.,
Statement for the Record.
2020 Election Security-Perspectives from Voting System Vendors and
Experts
Full Committee
January 9, 2020
Witnesses:
Mr. Matt Blaze, Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law
Center, Washington, D.C.; Mr. Tom Burt, President and CEO,
Election Systems & Software, Omaha, NE; Mr. Mike Gianasi,
County Clerk and Recorder, Christian County of Illinois,
Taylorville, Illinois; Dr. Juan Gilbert, Andrew Banks Family
Preeminence Endowed Professor & Chair, University of Florida,
Gainesville, FL; Ms. Liz Howard, Counsel, Brennan Center for
Justice, Washington, D.C.; Ms. Julie Mathis, President and CEO,
Hart InterCivic, Austin, TX; The Honorable Donald Palmer,
Commissioner, Election Assistance Commission, Silver Spring,
Maryland; Mr. John Poulos, President and CEO, Dominion Voting
Systems, Denver, CO; and Rev. T. Anthony Spearman, President,
North Carolina NAACP, Greensboro, North Carolina
Oversight of the Smithsonian Institution: Opportunities for Growth by
Honoring Latino Americans and Asian Pacific Americans
Full Committee
February 5, 2020
Witnesses:
Hon. Jose E. Serrano, Member of Congress, Washington D.C.;
Hon. Will Hurd, Member of Congress, Washington D.C.; Hon. Grace
Meng, Member of Congress, Washington D.C.; Mr. Lonnie G. Bunch
III, Secretary, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.; Dr.
Beth Lew-Williams, Associate Professor of History, Princeton
University, Princeton, New Jersey; Mr. Henry Munoz, Chair,
National Museum of the American Latino Commission, Washington,
D.C.; Dr. Eric Petersen, Specialist in American National
Government, Congressional Research Service, Washington, D.C.;
and Ms. Lisa Sasaki, Director, Smithsonian Asian Pacific
American Center, Washington, D.C.
Native American Voting Rights: Exploring Barriers and Solutions
Subcommittee on Elections
February 11, 2020
Witnesses:
Ms. Jacqueline De Leon, Staff Attorney, Native American
Rights Fund, Boulder, CO; Mrs. Patricia Ferguson-Bohnee,
Director, Indian Legal Clinic, Sandra Day O' Connor College of
Law, Phoenix, AZ; Mr. Leonard Forsman, Chairman, Suquamish
Tribe, Suquamish, WA; The Honorable Ben Ray Lujan, Member of
Congress, Washington D.C.; Ms. Doreen McPaul, Attorney General,
Navajo Nation; Mr. Elvis Norquay, Member, Turtle Mountain
Reservation, Rolla, ND; and Ms. Amber Torres, Chairperson,
Walker River Paiute Tribe
Oversight of The Government Publishing Office
Full Committee
March 3, 2020
Witnesses:
Mr. Hugh Halpern, Director, Government Publishing Office,
Washington, D.C.; Ms. Laurie Hall, Superintendent of Documents,
Government Publishing Office, Washington, D.C.; and Mr. Michael
P. Leary, Inspector General, Government Publishing Office,
Washington, D.C.
The Impact of COVID-19 on Voting Rights and Election Administration:
Ensuring Safe and Fair Elections
Subcommittee on Elections
June 11, 2020
Witnesses:
Hon. Marcy Kaptur, Member of Congress, Washington D.C.;
Hon. Gwen Moore, Member of Congress, Washington D.C.; Ms.
Kristen Clarke, President & Executive Director, Lawyers'
Committee for Civil Rights Under Law; Mr. Mark Dimondstein,
President, American Postal Workers Union; Ms. Sherrilyn Ifill,
President & Director--Counsel, NAACP Legal Defense &
Educational Fund, Inc.; Mr. Lawrence Norden, Director, Election
Reform, Democracy, Brennan Center for Justice; Hon. R. Kyle
Ardoin, Secretary of State, State of Louisiana; and Hon. John
H. Merrill, Secretary of State, State of Alabama
Exploring the Feasibility and Security of Technology to Conduct Remote
Voting in the House
Full Committee
July 17, 2020
Witnesses:
Hon. Cheryl L. Johnson, Clerk of the U.S. House of
Representatives; William Crowell, Partner, Alsop Louie
Partners; Newt Gingrich, Former Speaker of the House; Jon
Green, Vice President and Chief Security Technologist, Aruba
Networks; Dr. Ronald L. Rivest, Institute Professor, MIT
Computer Science and Artifical Intelligence Lab; Dr. Aviel
Rubin, Professor and Technical Director, The Johns Hopkins
University Information Security Institute; and Dr. David
Wagner, Professor, Computer Science Division, University of
California, Berkeley
Voting Rights and Election Administration in the U.S. Virgin Islands
and Other Territories
Subcommittee on Elections
July 28, 2020
Witnesses:
Hon. Stacey E. Plaskett, Member of Congress, Washington
D.C.; Hon. Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon, Member of Congress,
Washington D.C.; Hon. Michael F. Q. San Nicolas, Member of
Congress, Washington D.C.; Hon. Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan,
Member of Congress, Washington D.C.; Mr. Gerard Emanuel,
Retired Educator; Dr. Gwen-Marie Moolenaar, President, League
of Women Voters of the Virgin Islands; and Neil Weare,
President and Founder, Equally American Legal Defense &
Education Fund
Voting Safely in a Pandemic
Full Committee
August 28, 2020
Witnesses:
Hon. Donald L. Palmer, Commissioner, U.S. Election
Assistance Commission; Hon. Alex Padilla, Secretary of State,
State of California; Ms. Julie Wise, King County Director of
Elections, State of Washington; Ms. Vanita Gupta, President and
Chief Executive Officer, The Leadership Conference on Civil &
Human Rights; and Ms. Amber McReynolds, Chief Executive
Officer, National Vote at Home Institute
Voting Rights and Election Administration: Combatting Misinformation in
the 2020 Election
Subcommittee on Elections
October 6, 2020
Witnesses:
Hon. Benjamin Hovland, Commissioner, U.S. Election
Assistance Commission; Hon. Jena Griswold, Secretary of State,
State of Colorado; Ms. Inajo Davis Chappell, Member, Board of
Elections, Cuyahoga County, Ohio; and Mr. Spencer Overton,
President, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies
Meetings
Markup of H.R. 1 or a related measure, and for other purposes
February 26, 2020
Markup of Committee Resolution 116-08
March 12, 2019
Markup of H. Res. 245 and Committee Resolution 116-09
March 25, 2019
Markup of H.R. 2722, the SAFE Act
June 21, 2019
Markup of H.R. 4617 Stopping Harmful Interference In Elections For A
Lasting Democracy Act (SHIELD Act)
October 16, 2019
Markup of H.R. 1980
November 12, 2019
Committee Resolutions
The Committee passed 24 resolutions over the course of the
116th Congress. These resolutions are reprinted in Appendix I--
Committee Resolutions.
MINORITY VIEWS
LEGISLATIVE BRANCH OPERATIONS
During the 116th Congress, the Committee Republican and
Majority staffs of the Committee on House Administration (the
Committee) worked on several bipartisan issues impacting
Legislative Branch operations. The Committee Republicans
appreciate the bipartisan efforts to:
Establish ``subject-specific'' re-occurring
oversight meetings to address: Copyright IT
Modernization, Cannon House Office Building Renovation,
District Office Outreach, and improving the services
offered by House Information Resources.
Direct the United States Capitol Police and
encourage the Fraternal Order of Police to start
collective bargaining agreement negotiations.
Identify and work to confirm a permanent
agency head for the Government Publishing Office, which
had gone without a permanent director for over two
years.
Identify and work to confirm a permanent
agency head for the Architect of the Capitol
Conduct several oversight hearings
including: Priorities for House Officers, United States
Capitol Police, Congressional Research Service, Cannon
House Office Building Renovation, Smithsonian
Institute, and Government Publishing Office.
Update the Member and Committee Handbooks to
address advanced payments and incorporate changes
necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Establish the SPF Sean Cooley and SPC
Christopher Horton Congressional Gold Star Family
Fellowship Program.
Implement the first ever initiative to
provide a paid transition aide to member-elects of the
117th Congress.
Direct the CAO to revise the existing
Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the General Services
Administration covering district office leases and
services.
Provide oversight of the Library of
Congress's Visitor Experience project.
Provide oversight of the Capitol Visitor
Center's re-fresh of Exhibition Hall.
CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE
The hearing held by the Committee focusing on the
Congressional Research Service (CRS) was a productive first
step in addressing several long-term management issues at CRS.
The Committee Republicans were hopeful that the hearing would
be a starting point in addressing the challenges CRS faces.
Unfortunately, that never occurred, and Committee Republicans
believe most of the issues raised at the hearing still have not
been addressed. Committee Republicans look forward to working
together in a bipartisan way to conduct proper oversight the
Congressional Research Service in the 117th Congress.
SHARED EMPLOYEES
The Committee Republicans were optimistic that the Majority
would be willing partners to fully implement the necessary
controls over shared employees that had been developed in the
115th Congress to address identified vulnerabilities. That
implementation has not occurred. To make matters more
frustrating, it appears the Majority put more effort into
approving a significant six-figure settlement with several
former shared employees, than working together to implement
needed controls over shared employees and existing
vulnerabilities.
UNITED STATES CAPITOL POLICE
The Committee Republicans introduced the Capitol Police
Advancement Act of 2020. This piece of legislation calls to
increase transparency of the department and provide authorities
needed to remove bad actors from the police force. While much
of the debate around policing in America was focused on local
and state police departments, the Committee felt it was
important to advocate for policy changes that would address
some longstanding issues on the Capitol campus. Furthermore,
Committee Republicans support the regional reorganization of
the department to better protect Members and staff in the
districts. This initiative has been approved by the Capitol
Police Board and hopefully the Majority will support
implementation.
NATIONAL LIBRARY SERVICES HEADQUARTERS
The Committee Republicans want to see more of an effort put
into upgrading programs within the National Library Services
(NLS), the most impactful step to that end is for Congress to
find a permanent long-term headquarters. A proposal that has
support from the Library of Congress, NLS, Senate, and
Committee Republicans has been pending approval with the
Majority of the Committee for over a year.
HOUSE COMMISSION ON CONGRESSIONAL MAILING STANDARDS
The Committee Republicans would like to associate
themselves with the following portion of the Majorities
Committee Activity Report and emphasize the gratitude to
Franking Commission Chairwoman Susan Davis and Ranking Member
Bryan Steil:
``The House Commission on Congressional Mailing
Standards, commonly known as the Franking Commission,
is responsible for issuing regulations governing the
proper use of official communications resources,
providing advice and counsel to Members and committees
through advisory opinions, and hearing formal
complaints against Members who have allegedly violated
relevant law and regulations. During this Congress, and
in coordination with the Select Committee on the
Modernization of Congress, the Commission revised the
regulations on the use of the official communications
resources to more reasonably reflect the realities of
contemporary digital communications. These changes will
also simultaneously provide more transparency to the
public and more flexibility for Members.''
SELECT COMMITTEE ON MODERNIZATION OF CONGRESS
The Select Committee on Modernization (SCMC), established
at the beginning of the 116th Congress for the first session
and later extended for the entire Congress. The SCMC passed at
total of 97 recommendations. The recommendations ranged from
way to improve communication with constituents, additional
human resource support for offices, efforts to promote
bipartisanship, and reimaging how the House uses information
technology. Many of the recommendations are in the process of
being implemented or are already in place, the benefits already
being realized by offices. The 117th Congress provides an
enormous opportunity to build on this work through the
Committee prioritizing which additional recommendations should
be implemented. The Committee Republicans are supportive of the
SCMC being authorized for the 117th Congress and look forward
to collaborating with them again.
COVID-19 RESPONSE
As the global pandemic began to impact Congressional
operations there was a real spirit of bipartisanship to address
the immediate needs of the House. The initial effort to
transition thousands of staff to telework posture was a
monumental task that went extremely well. Additionally, there
was collaboration on establishing supply lines, initial
procurements and distribution of personal protection equipment,
both in DC and districts. An internal COVID taskforce was
created consisting of Congressional support agencies,
Leadership staff from both sides, and staff from both sides of
the Committee. For many weeks the taskforce met daily, these
conversations were helpful often resulting in resolution on
timely issues. As it became apparent that the pandemic was
going to have a lengthy impact on operations; the Committee
Republicans began to advocate for the development of a
transparent, comprehensive plan to balance the health and
safety of our workforce with the Constitutionally required work
of the House. That plan should have been based in science and
medical advice, developed in a bipartisan way, and made
available to everyone. It should have addressed a comprehensive
health monitoring program including testing, reconfiguring of
multi-use space to accommodate social distancing requirements,
consistent occupancy limits and a way to enforcement them, and
clearly established phases that would drive the institution's
operating posture.
Instead what was developed at the Majority's direction was
a patchwork of confusing guidance, inconsistent messaging, and
the appearance that decisions that should be made by medical
professionals were instead being driven by political
conveniences. For the final seven months of the 116th Congress
the Majority of the Committee has effectively abdicated the
spirit of bipartisanship that has been the hallmark of the
Committee for many years when addressing House operations.
Despite the unjustified mode of operation by the Majority, the
Committee Republicans hope the spirit of bipartisanship will
return in the 117th Congress and continue to stand ready to
work together.
ELECTIONS
Throughout the 116th Congress there was fundamental
difference on election policy between Committee Republicans and
the Majority. The 116th Congress started with H.R. 1 and its
provisions that would have mandated a Federal takeover of
elections, legalized ballot harvesting nationwide, funded
Congressional campaigns with taxpayer dollars, limited free
speech, and further politicized the Federal Election
Commission. After the hyper-partisan H.R. 1 failed to become
law, the Committee Republicans offered several commonsense
election related bills including the Election Security
Assistance Act and the Honest Elections Act.
ELECTION OBSERVER PROGRAM
The Committee Republicans wanted to highlight the
importance of the Election Observer Program. The program has
provided Committee Republicans with an incredible amount of
data and established strong relationships and communication
with key outside partners that will be critical to our efforts
to fight back in this contested election fight. A few
highlights from this year's program:
Our team recruited and trained more than 70
Republican House staffers to serve as official election
observers.
Through the program, we deployed observers
to 19 districts across the countrywho are observing to
ensure ballots in the closest House races are being
processed fairly and counted accurately.
In the weeks following the election, we
dedicated significant resources to observation in
Allegheny Co., PA, southwestern Iowa, Gwinnett Co., GA,
Clark County, NV, Illinois, Utah, New York, and
California, among others. As counting and other post-
election work progressed, we remained on the groundto
closely monitor races.
We raised issues with access for observers,
segregation of ballots, glitches with voting machines,
processes for provisional ballots, inventory of memory
cards, and others. A comprehensive analysis on election
administration issues will be forthcoming in the 117th
Congress.
The Committee also conducted significant
time fact-finding in various States prior to the
general election to hear directly from local election
administrators on the challenges they face. This work
will help inform Committee Republicans develop policy
moving forward.
Rodney Davis
Ranking Member.