[House Report 117-656]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


117th Congress    }                                  {         Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session       }                                  {        117-656
_______________________________________________________________________

                                     


 RECOMMENDATIONS TO FOSTER COLLABORATION AND CIVILITY IN CONGRESS, TO 
    MODERNIZE THE CONGRESSIONAL SUPPORT AGENCIES, AND TO ENCOURAGE 
                      EVIDENCE-BASED POLICYMAKING

                               __________

                              R E P O R T

                               __________

                      THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE

                       MODERNIZATION OF CONGRESS

                     U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                               __________










[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
                               







 December 21, 2022.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on 
            the State of the Union and ordered to be printed 
            
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                 U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
                 
39-006                   WASHINGTON : 2023
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
           SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE MODERNIZATION OF CONGRESS

                    DEREK KILMER, Washington, Chair
ZOE LOFGREN, California              WILLIAM TIMMONS, South Carolina,
EMANUEL CLEAVER, Missouri              Vice Chair
ED PERLMUTTER, Colorado              BOB LATTA, Ohio
DEAN PHILLIPS, Minnesota             RODNEY DAVIS, Illinois
NIKEMA WILLIAMS, Georgia             DAVE JOYCE, Ohio
                                     GUY RESCHENTHALER, Pennsylvania
                                     BETH VAN DUYNE, Texas
                                 ------                                

                            Committee Staff 

                     Yuri Beckelman, Staff Director
                Derek Harley, Republican Staff Director  
                
                
                
                
                
                
                
                
                
                
                
                
                
                
                
                
                
                            C O N T E N T S

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                           December 21, 2022

                                                                     Page
 I. PURPOSE AND SUMMARY...............................................  1
II. BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR RECOMMENDATIONS...........................  1
III.HEARINGS..........................................................  5

IV. RECOMMENDATIONS...................................................  7
 V. COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION AND VOTES................................. 16
VI. APPENDIX.......................................................... 17  



















                         LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL

                              ----------                              

                          House of Representatives,
         Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress,
                                 Washington, DC, December 21, 2022.
Hon. Cheryl L. Johnson,
Clerk, House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
    Dear Ms. Johnson: I present herewith the Select Committee 
on the Modernization of Congress' report of recommendations to 
foster collaboration and civility in Congress, to modernize the 
congressional support agencies, and to encourage evidence-based 
policymaking
            Sincerely,
                                              Derek Kilmer,
                                                             Chair. 















117th Congress    }                                  {         Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session       }                                  {        117-656

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

 
 RECOMMENDATIONS TO FOSTER COLLABORATION AND CIVILITY IN CONGRESS, TO 
    MODERNIZE THE CONGRESSIONAL SUPPORT AGENCIES, AND TO ENCOURAGE 
                      EVIDENCE-BASED POLICYMAKING

                                _______
                                

 December 21, 2022.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on 
            the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

Mr. Kilmer, from the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         I. PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

    The Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress 
(Select Committee or Committee) has been charged with the 
important responsibility of recommending improvements to the 
U.S. House of Representative to help members of Congress and 
their staff better serve the American people. During the 116th 
Congress, the Select Committee passed 97 recommendations to 
make Congress a more efficient and effective institution. These 
recommendations addressed many issues within the Select 
Committee's jurisdiction and were detailed in the Committee's 
Final Report for the 116th Congress. On July 29th, 2021, the 
Select Committee met and issued its sixth set of 
recommendations focused on increasing staff capacity, diversity 
and inclusion, and expanding accessibility to Congress for 
staff as well as the general public.
    The Select Committee met on December 8, 2021, to pass its 
seventh package of recommendations, the second set of the 117th 
Congress. The recommendations broadly focus on enhancing 
civility and collaboration, bolstering the effectiveness of the 
congressional support agencies, and promoting the collection 
and use of impartial data and analysis in the policymaking 
process. The recommendations address issues the Select 
Committee took up in public hearings, member meetings, and in 
meetings with stakeholders.

              II. BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR RECOMMENDATIONS

    Enhancing civility and collaboration, modernizing the 
congressional support agencies to best meet the needs of an 
evolving Congress, and improving the use of data and analysis 
in policymaking will help improve the way Congress works on 
behalf of the American people. The Select Committee identified 
the following specific issues to be addressed with 
recommendations:
          1. New Member Orientation is what sets the tone for 
        members-elect after the election. Some members have 
        expressed to the Committee that the existing 
        orientation program and schedule divide 
        representatives-elect into partisan camps rather than 
        teach them about civility, congressional traditions, 
        and how to work collaboratively to achieve legislative 
        success.
          2. Members have expressed frustration that there are 
        not enough voluntary professional training 
        opportunities provided by the institution. They note 
        that private sector companies often provide resources 
        for training and best practices in areas like 
        negotiation, conflict resolution, fostering 
        collaboration, and leadership development.
          3. Members contribute to the legislative process when 
        bills they've previously introduced are incorporated 
        into larger bills. The public, however, has limited 
        options for tracking these individual member 
        contributions to larger legislation. The Committee 
        received testimony supporting a better and clearer 
        accounting that enhances transparency and makes member 
        involvement in legislation clearer, particularly when 
        standalone bills are incorporated into larger 
        legislation or ``omnibus'' packages. While members can 
        currently publicize their own contributions through 
        press releases and other means, there is no formal, 
        publicly accessible way for tracking detailed 
        legislative history. Furthermore, the ``related bills'' 
        tab on Congress.gov does not provide sufficiently 
        comprehensive information and does not always 
        accurately encapsulate all or most related bills, 
        particularly across multiple sessions of Congress. At 
        the Committee's Member Day Hearing on April 15, 2021, 
        it was suggested that incorporating hyperlinks and 
        implementing a track changes style system for 
        Congress.gov would provide transparency and a clearer 
        accounting of the legislative process.
          4. There is currently no tool offered to committee 
        chairs and/or ranking members who wish to solicit 
        private feedback from committee members on committee 
        operations.
          5. The House's Committee's Congressional Handbook 
        currently restricts committees from paying for 
        committee business events and working meetings unless 
        outside speakers or participants are present or unless 
        the event is part of a ``legislative planning session 
        meeting'' (with a limit of two such planning meetings 
        per year).
          6. The culture within Congress has devolved much more 
        than in many state legislatures. Congress does not have 
        a formal process for learning about and potentially 
        adopting best practices from state legislatures.
          7. Although there occasionally may be bipartisan 
        events for House members sponsored by outside entities, 
        there is no neutral party within the House of 
        Representatives offering regular, bipartisan gatherings 
        focused on helping members find common ground and 
        mutual understanding.
          8. The House currently lacks a dedicated office or 
        individual focused on learning and promoting best 
        practices for improving collaboration and civility 
        within the institution.
          9. Members and staff can have difficulty identifying 
        colleagues who share mutual policy interests, which can 
        inhibit productive collaboration on policy. Informal 
        collaboration happens through caucuses, listservs, the 
        e-dear colleague system, and organically through member 
        and staff-level relationships, but it can still be 
        difficult to identify members to collaborate that have 
        interests in specific topics. Some of these current 
        tools, such as email listservs and the e-dear colleague 
        system, are outdated or inefficient ways to find 
        partners for collaboration at the beginning stages of 
        the legislative process.
          10. Several outside organizations have created models 
        for facilitating private conversations between members 
        with the goal of identifying and fostering common 
        ground. However, there is a lack of awareness about 
        these resources, in part because the House does not 
        provide information on formal opportunities for 
        facilitated conversations for members wishing to use 
        them.
          11. Partisan committee websites may encourage more 
        extreme rhetoric and make it more difficult for the 
        public to learn about the activities of a committee. 
        Additionally, partisan websites have led to some 
        committee materials, including for example, minority 
        oversight reports, press releases, or entire websites 
        disappearing from the House system when committee 
        leadership changes or chamber majorities switch.
          12. Without some agreed upon norms regarding how 
        House committee members are going to treat one another, 
        there will be regular misunderstandings as complex and 
        difficult issues are debated. Generic civility rules 
        for large organizations (like the House of 
        Representatives, for instance) rarely work in the long-
        term, due to their lack of specificity.
          13. Even as the private sector experiments with and 
        sees success with flexible shared workspaces that 
        foster collaboration and creativity, the House remains 
        very traditional in how it assigns its very limited 
        office space for its staff. Currently the only flex 
        space available is set up for short meetings and there 
        is no place on the House campus designed specifically 
        for staff from multiple offices to work together and 
        collaborate on an idea.
          14. Members become disengaged from the process when 
        bills become stuck in the Senate, even bills that have 
        bipartisan support. Members know their districts' needs 
        best but can struggle to get their ideas passed in the 
        Senate.
          15. Congress.gov, administered by the Library of 
        Congress (LOC), does not always display non-partisan 
        summaries prepared by the Congressional Research 
        Service (CRS) for bills receiving a vote on the House 
        floor.
          Without a nonpartisan bill summary, members, staff, 
        media, and the public are left with summaries 
        distributed by the majority and minority of a 
        committee.
          16. A consistent theme the Committee heard in 
        testimony on the support agencies was the importance of 
        ensuring the agencies have timely, reliable access to 
        data--particularly, data that is (or should be) 
        maintained by federal agencies. The information and 
        expertise that congressional support agencies provide 
        is only as good as the data on which it is based. Each 
        agency has experienced its own unique hurdles and 
        delays in accessing data. The agencies need consistent 
        and dynamic access to high-quality, real-time data to 
        serve Congress in a timely and accurate way.
          17. The culture at the CRS should be oriented toward 
        meeting the diverse and evolving research and analysis 
        needs of members and staff. At the Committee's hearing 
        on modernizing the support agencies, numerous customer 
        service issues were identified. There are limited 
        opportunities for members and staff to provide feedback 
        on products and services to CRS, and as a result, the 
        agency misses critical end-user feedback that could 
        help improve services.
          18. The General Accountability Office (GAO) is a 
        vital resource for Congress and American taxpayers; 
        however, the Committee understands that congressional 
        staff may not be sufficiently aware of the resources 
        and support GAO provides and may not know how best to 
        contact agency experts. In addition, opportunities are 
        limited for members and staff to provide feedback to 
        the agency on how they can improve their services.
          19. GAO's recommendations help ``congressional and 
        agency leaders prepare for appropriations and oversight 
        activities, as well as help improve government 
        operations.'' While the agency provides regular 
        reporting on the cost savings achieved through the 
        implementation of its recommendations, there is not a 
        consolidated, regular report on estimated costs by 
        agency of unimplemented recommendations.
          20. There may be areas where congressional action 
        would be helpful or necessary to implement GAO 
        recommendations. Congressional committees can utilize 
        technical assistance to address open priority GAO 
        recommendations within their jurisdiction. By 
        presenting legislative options annually as technical 
        assistance to the committees on priority open 
        recommendations and areas on the High-Risk List within 
        their jurisdiction, GAO could spur legislative efforts 
        to reform government and save taxpayer dollars.
          21. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and its 
        scoring processes and methodologies are not always well 
        understood by rank-and-file members or staff. 
        Furthermore, many staff haven't been fully informed 
        about the hierarchy of statutorily defined priorities 
        by which CBO is obligated to provide scores, how to 
        interpret and understand CBO scores and methodologies, 
        and the other functions and services CBO provides for 
        staff and members. Without a clear understanding of how 
        CBO operates, it can be difficult for staff to craft 
        legislation or adequately brief members on relevant CBO 
        reports. Bolstering legislative outreach at CBO to help 
        answer questions and engage in proactive outreach with 
        congressional staff about CBO's work, and to solicit 
        regular feedback, would help staff get their questions 
        answered, could direct analyst-or score-specific 
        inquires, would help manage expectations on the scoring 
        process, and in general would help CBO be a more 
        effective, and better understood, resource for staff 
        and members.
          22. The absence of a central legislative staff 
        directory makes it difficult for congressional staff to 
        identify and connect with experts across the 
        legislative branch. While partial solutions are 
        available inside Congress, there is no comprehensive 
        resource available to staff. As a result, individual 
        offices either purchase access to costly third-party 
        databases or do without vital information.
          23. The needs of Congress from the support agencies 
        continuously change, and the legislative tools they 
        have to meet those needs have not been systematically 
        reviewed to ensure that their mission and mandate is 
        addressing the changing needs of the Congress. For 
        example, GAO was created in 1921 through the Budget and 
        Accounting Act. The 1921 Act provides GAO with a broad 
        mandate to investigate how federal funds are spent. 
        Later legislation clarified or expanded GAO's duties 
        (and changed the agency's name). GAO now provides a 
        variety of services to Congress that extend beyond its 
        original functions, but the 1921 Act continues to serve 
        as the basis for the agency's activities. Further, CRS 
        was renamed and directed to put more resources toward 
        research and analysis in 1970. There have been small 
        adjustments through Legislative Branch appropriations 
        bills but the main statutory obligations and agency 
        directives have not been reassessed since 1970.
          CBO was established under the Congressional Budget 
        Act of 1974. Other than attempts to alter how the 
        agency scores legislation, its authorities have not 
        been reexamined since its creation. The only exception 
        to this was in 1995 when the agency was charged with 
        including state and local government impacts into its 
        cost estimates.
          24. The Science, Technology Assessment, and Analytics 
        (STAA) team within GAO has recently expanded its 
        mission and services to provide technology policy 
        support and related services to members and staff. 
        However, defining STAA's mission, role, and services, 
        as well as how it will operate within GAO long-term, 
        has not been addressed through the authorization 
        process. The Committee received several specific 
        recommendations for strengthening STAA within GAO and 
        providing much-needed technology policy support to 
        Congress in the absence of a reestablished Office of 
        Technology Assessment (OTA). The Committee strongly 
        supports the STAA's mission and the important services 
        it provides to Congress, and the issues surrounding its 
        current authorities, structure, oversight, and funding 
        should be properly addressed through an authorization 
        process in the committee of jurisdiction and in 
        consultation with the House Committee on Science, Space 
        and Technology.
          25. The Commission on Evidence Based Policymaking, 
        established by Congress in the Foundations for 
        Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 (P.L. 115-435) 
        generated numerous recommendations for increasing the 
        use of data and evidence in the executive branch. A 
        similar effort to examine the needs of Congress would 
        help the legislative branch improve its use of 
        impartial data and evidence in the policymaking 
        process. Evidence-based policymaking is a complex, 
        multi-faceted topic and recommendations for 
        congressional action should come from an expert 
        commission.

                             III. HEARINGS

    The Select Committee has continued to use its unique 
roundtable format to conduct its formal hearings. In addition 
to the formal hearings, the Select Committee held a listening 
session with members of the Fix Congress Cohort which helped 
further inform these recommendations. The hearings included:
           ``Building a More Civil and Collaborative 
        Culture in Congress,'' on June 17, 2021. The Select 
        Committee received testimony from:
                   Dr. Yuval Levin, Director of 
                Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies at 
                the American Enterprise Institute (AEI)
                   Dr. Molly Reynolds, Senior 
                Fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings 
                Institution
           ``Rethinking Congressional Culture: Lessons 
        from the Fields of Organizational Psychology and 
        Conflict Resolution,'' on June 24, 2021. The Select 
        Committee received testimony from:
                   Dr. Kris Miler, Associate 
                Professor in the Department of Government and 
                Politics at the University of Maryland
                   Dr. Adam Grant, Professor at the 
                Wharton School at the University of 
                Pennsylvania
                   Dr. William Doherty, Co-Founder 
                of Braver Angels
                   Amanda Ripley, author of High 
                Conflict: Why we get Trapped and How we get Out
           ``Enhancing Committee Productivity,'' on 
        July 20, 2021. The Select Committee received testimony 
        from:
                   Congresswoman Diana DeGette (D-
                CO)
                   Congressman Fred Upton (R-MI)
                   Jenness Simler, former Staff 
                Director for the House Committee on Armed 
                Service
                   Warren Payne, former senior 
                staff member for the House Committee on Ways 
                and Means
                   Dr. E. Scott Adler, Professor of 
                Political Science at the University of 
                Colorado, Boulder
           ``Pathways to Success: How Practicing 
        Civility, Collaboration, and Leadership Can Empower 
        Members,'' on September 23, 2021. The Select Committee 
        received testimony from:
                   Shola Richards, CEO and Founder 
                of Go Together Global
                   Liz Wiseman, CEO of the Wiseman 
                Group
                   Dr. Alison Craig, Assistant 
                Professor of Political Science at the 
                University of Texas at Austin
           ``Modernizing the Congressional Support 
        Agencies to Meet the Needs of an Evolving Congress,'' 
        on October 21, 2021. The Select Committee received 
        testimony from:
                   Gene Dodaro, Comptroller General 
                of the United States and head of the Government 
                Accountability Office (GAO)
                   Dr. Mary Mazanec, Director of 
                the Congressional Research Service (CRS)
                   Dr. Phillip Swagel, Director of 
                the Congressional Budget Office (CBO)
                   Dr. Wendy Ginsberg, Staff 
                Director of the Government Operations 
                Subcommittee on the House Committee on 
                Oversight and Reform, testifying on her own 
                behalf
                   Zach Graves, Head of Policy at 
                Lincoln Network
                   Dr. Philip Joyce, Senior 
                Associate Dean of the School of Public Policy 
                at the University of Maryland
           ``Strengthening the Lawmaking Process: How 
        Data Can Inform and Improve Policy,'' on October 27, 
        2021. The Select Committee received testimony from:
                   Dr. Nick Hart, President of Data 
                Foundation
                   Poppy MacDonald, President of 
                USAFacts
                   Tara McGuinness, Fellow and 
                Senior Adviser at New America

                          IV. RECOMMENDATIONS

    The Select Committee made the following 25 recommendations 
to address the problems identified above (see II. BACKGROUND 
AND NEED FOR RECOMMENDATIONS):

             Foster Collaboration and Civility in Congress

          (1) Recommendation: New Member Orientation should 
        strive to promote civility, collaboration, and 
        leadership skills and sessions should be held 
        separately from and at times that do not conflict with 
        party leadership events.
    Specifically . . . Changing the tone, structure, and 
coursework at orientation to include leadership, civility, 
history, and collaboration would positively impact culture and 
norms in Congress and help foster relationship building across 
the aisle. This recommendation expands on the Committee's 
previous recommendation (#14) that New Member Orientation 
``include a session on House Rules of Decorum and Debate and 
other practices to promote civility in Congress.''. Based on 
testimony received by the Committee, topics to consider 
piloting in future new member orientations include a leadership 
training module; historical perspectives on Congress; 
perspectives on social media; and demonstrations on how 
civility and collaboration can increase member effectiveness 
through case studies, videos, and stories from House 
colleagues. To the extent possible, orientation sessions should 
be separated from party leadership events.
          (2) Recommendation: The proposed Congressional 
        Leadership Academy (CLA) and Congressional Staff 
        Academy (CSA) should offer voluntary training to 
        members and staff to promote civility, collaboration, 
        and leadership skills.
    Specifically . . . The Committee received several 
suggestions for providing members and staff additional training 
opportunities on current best practices that could further 
support and enhance civility and bipartisan collaboration in 
the House, including leadership development, conflict 
resolution, and meeting facilitation skills. The CLA, which was 
proposed by the Committee in the 116th Congress, should develop 
and offer voluntary continuing education and one-on-one 
training programs for members who are interested in learning 
current best practices for legislative cooperation and 
developing additional skills in these areas.
    Staff also benefit from continuing education and skills 
building in these areas. The CSA should continue offering staff 
trainings in a bipartisan, collaborative fashion including de-
escalation training which is popular among district staff. The 
Committee is encouraged by staff interest shown in the 
bipartisan CSA coach program launched in July 2021. The 
Committee encourages the CSA to continue the good work they've 
done and consider expanding those offerings.
    The Committee believes the programs offered through the 
proposed CLA and CSA should be based on demand and need. CSA 
continually tracks interest and demand for course offerings and 
CLA should develop their own methods for tracking Member 
interest and effectiveness of course offerings. The Committee 
also believes the proposed CLA and the CSA should continue to 
solicit feedback and track program performance metrics and 
effectiveness, to ensure program offerings are meeting defined 
goals.
    Suggested topics for training by CLA and CSA mentioned in 
expert testimony received by the Committee include but are not 
limited to, 1) best practices for facilitating forums that 
bring constituents with opposing views together to promote 
dialogue and understanding, 2) fostering bipartisan 
collaboration as a chair and/or ranking member, 3) perspectives 
on social media distortions, 4) leadership development, 
including legislative effectiveness, and 5) conflict 
resolution.
          (3) Recommendation: The Library of Congress website 
        (Congress.gov) should provide a clearer accounting of 
        member contributions in legislation.
    Specifically . . . The Committee received testimony 
supporting a better and clearer accounting that enhances 
transparency and makes member involvement in legislation 
clearer, particularly when standalone bills are incorporated 
into larger omnibus packages. The Committee believes this can 
be done through improved technology and tracking on 
Congress.gov's ``related bills'' tab to better reflect when 
standalone bills are incorporated into larger omnibus packages. 
Relatedly, the Committee received testimony supporting more 
robust committee reports that more clearly highlight member 
involvement in committee-produced legislation. The Committee 
understands that some committees already provide this 
information in their reports and believes that a significantly 
improved and enhanced accounting of related legislation at 
Congress.gov would make it easier for committee staff to track 
and provide that information in their reports, which in turn, 
will provided added transparency and help better account for 
member contributions in committee-prepared reports.
          (4) Recommendation: The House of Representatives 
        should develop and provide tools for committee 
        leadership to receive member feedback on committee 
        operations.
    Specifically . . . Committee chairs and ranking members 
could benefit from rank-and-file member feedback and could 
adjust and improve leadership style and committee operations. 
The Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) should develop and 
provide an optional tool for committee chairs and ranking 
members to solicit private feedback from members and staff on 
committee operations. Envisioned as a customer service tool, it 
would focus on operations, not policy or legislative agendas, 
providing committee leaders an optional way to survey members 
and staff and identify opportunities for improvement.
          (5) Recommendation: Committees should have 
        flexibility to host occasional events to foster 
        collaboration and further develop working relationships 
        among committee members.
    Specifically . . . The House of Representatives should 
consider changes to the Committee Handbook to provide 
flexibility for committees to host occasional bipartisan, 
collaboration-building events. The additional flexibility 
envisioned would maintain existing related Committee Handbook 
policies, including the prohibition on using committee funds to 
purchase alcohol, and include additional guardrails that would 
prevent excessive spending and limit spending to official 
committee business. Handbook changes should limit events to 
those held on Capitol grounds. This change would also support 
committees to provide for members during extended hearings/
markups creating an informal and more impromptu way for 
committees to foster working relationships at the staff and 
member levels. More bipartisan brainstorming and relationship 
building events may lead to increased trust and more 
collaboration.
          (6) Recommendation: The House of Representatives 
        should survey and examine best practices from state 
        legislatures.
    Specifically . . . Many state legislatures manage to 
sustain relatively functional cultures of bipartisan work 
despite deep divisions. Congress could learn from them, and the 
process of such learning could itself be helpful to the culture 
of the institution. Members should be encouraged, through a 
formal process, to bring to the attention of their colleagues' 
best practices in their state legislatures that Congress might 
consider. This could take the form of a hearing either in the 
House Committee on Rules or the Committee on House 
Administration, inviting states to testify and share lessons. 
Members may also visit their state capitols and bring 
information back to share with Congress.
          (7) Recommendation: The Library of Congress is 
        encouraged to explore expanding its regular, bipartisan 
        events for small groups of members to include events 
        specifically focused on promoting relationship building 
        and collaboration.
    Specifically . . . In 2013, the LOC began hosting a dinner 
series for members called ``Congressional Dialogues.'' The 
stated purpose of these dinners is, ``to provide the members 
with more information about the great leaders and events in our 
country's past, with the hope that, in exercising their various 
responsibilities, our senators and representatives would be 
more knowledgeable about history and what it can teach us about 
future challenges.'' A secondary goal was to reduce partisan 
rancor by bringing members together in a nonpartisan setting. 
Though it took a few years for these dinners to catch on with 
members, they are now wildly popular. The LOC could build on 
this successful model and host a ``Civility Dialogues'' dinner 
series, where the specific focus would be on fostering 
civility, collaboration, and trust. The dinners or events would 
be on a much smaller scale, for 10-20 members at a time, and 
feature experts who would engage with the members on various 
topics connected to the overall theme of civility. 
Implementation of this recommendation would not require any new 
appropriated funding and should ensure compliance with House 
Ethics guidelines.
          (8) Recommendation: The House should include within 
        the portfolio of an institutional office 
        responsibilities to provide best practices to members 
        and staff seeking advice, support, and workshops that 
        encourage bipartisan collaboration in the House.
    Specifically . . . The House should investigate providing 
an institutional office with direction to focus on and carry 
out the task of promoting collaboration best practices. The 
House should make clear that this is a nonpartisan 
responsibility.
          (9) Recommendation: The House of Representatives 
        should offer technology tools to facilitate member 
        collaboration on legislation and issues of mutual 
        interest.
    Specifically . . . The House, through the CAO, should 
develop and deploy new technology tools to better enable 
members and staff to identify policy areas of common interest 
on which to collaborate. Members and staff who voluntarily 
choose to participate would be able to, anonymously if desired, 
share or select issues of interest and identify other members 
who share those interests. Additionally, this system should 
provide up to date information on which caucuses Members serve 
on. Attempts at issue ``match-making'' already happen through 
caucuses, listservs, the e-dear colleague system, and 
organically through member and staff-level relationships, but 
it can still be difficult identifying members to collaborate 
with that have interests in specific topics. However, a new 
tool, for those who choose to participate, could help speed up 
the process and make it easier for members, especially new 
members without an established network, to identify areas of 
mutual interest and expertise.
          (10) Recommendation: The House of Representatives 
        should provide information on organizations and 
        resources members can utilize to participate in 
        facilitated conversations with the goal of fostering 
        common ground.
    Specifically . . . Several outside organizations have 
created models for facilitating private conversations between 
members with the goal of identifying and fostering common 
ground. In offering these voluntary opportunities, rather than 
building an in-house capability, the House could, consistent 
with House rules, collaborate with established outside entities 
who may already be providing a variety of these services to 
interested members and provide a menu of options for members 
and staff. This information should be available for all members 
and may be provided at New Member Orientation and/or the 
proposed bipartisan biennial retreat. There should be 
guardrails for the information provided to ensure there is no 
undue influence by outside organizations. Outside organizations 
must be vetted and approved by the Committee on House 
Administration and information must be provided in accordance 
with House Ethics guidelines.
          (11) Recommendation: Committees should have a 
        bipartisan, public-facing website with basic, 
        nonpartisan information about the committee and its 
        operations.
    Specifically . . . For committees that choose to do so, 
this change would bring the committee website in line with 
Senate committees, which have one bipartisan website for each 
committee. Additionally, the Modernization Committee only has 
one website, and its used mainly to house reports and committee 
activity. Nothing in this recommendation would preclude a 
committee majority and/or minority from having a partisan 
website, in addition to a non-partisan, largely administrative 
website that houses committee documents and resources and 
doesn't largely change content as the majority changes between 
party hands.
    Having one website also promotes transparency by retaining 
the information within the House. This would not preclude a 
committee majority or minority from having a partisan website 
in addition to the non-partisan website.
          (12) Recommendation: The House of Representatives 
        should provide resources and guidance to committees 
        seeking to create tailored, mutually developed, 
        civility norms.
    Specifically . . . The Committee received testimony on the 
benefits for organizations that adopt accepted norms of 
behavior and civility. The recommendation is for the House to 
provide resources and guidance to committees wishing to develop 
and adopt civility norms for and within their committee. These 
norms may be established by committees during each new session 
of Congress. Importantly, this is not a Code of Conduct. 
Traditionally, Codes of Conduct are created by the leaders of 
an organization, with the expectation that those within the 
organization will follow the codes that they created. Civility 
norms, on the other hand, would be created by the members of 
each committee for the members of each committee.
    This information may be provided at a committee retreat 
and/or at the proposed biennial bipartisan retreat. The Select 
Committee previously proposed that committees meet to determine 
goals for the year, and to discuss how the members will treat 
each other in public and in private, and how the committee will 
treat witnesses during hearings.
          (13) Recommendation: The House of Representatives 
        should explore bipartisan co-working spaces for staff.
    Specifically . . . Flexible shared workspaces open to all 
staff could help break down norms that staff can only work near 
and collaborate with people from the same party. The co-working 
spaces for staff should be centrally located, usable, and 
convenient for staff. While the House office buildings have 
self-reserve rooms and other public spaces in and near the 
cafeterias where staff can sit and meet, there are currently no 
spaces designed specifically to facilitate staff working 
outside of their office and/or to collaborate, formally or 
informally, with other staff. The committee previously 
recommended that the House's physical workspace be updated and 
noted that members and staff ``desire private bipartisan spaces 
to work together.'' This recommendation further develops this 
idea.
          (14) Recommendation: A bicameral group of members, 
        including majority and minority members of the House 
        and Senate Rules Committees, should convene to discuss 
        joint rules changes in each chamber that would require 
        widely supported, bipartisan legislation passed in one 
        chamber to receive expedited consideration in the other 
        chamber.
    Specifically . . . Representatives of the House and Senate 
should convene to discuss a reciprocated rule change in each 
chamber that would take effect only upon mutual adoption in 
both chambers. This rule change under discussion should provide 
for each chamber to expedite consideration of all legislation 
that has passed in the originating chamber by unanimous 
consent, or with at least \2/3\ of its members voting in the 
affirmative.

                Modernize Congressional Support Agencies

          (15) Recommendation: The Library of Congress should 
        prioritize ensuring that bills to receive a floor vote 
        have nonpartisan summaries available.
    Specifically . . . Improving the availability of Library of 
Congress legislative summaries would ensure members, staff, 
media, and the public have access to nonpartisan summaries 
before legislation is passed. In a discussion with the LOC they 
indicated that this is a capacity issue and that it can be 
difficult to assign staff to bills that were added to a voting 
schedule with very little notice. This recommendation asks the 
LOC to prioritize this, and if necessary, to seek additional or 
reallocated resources.
          (16) Recommendation: CRS, GAO, and CBO should each 
        report to committees of jurisdiction on access to 
        federal data, including any challenges to accessing 
        that data, and identify whether Congress can take any 
        actions to ensure agencies have continuous and real-
        time access to high-quality federal data and the staff 
        who maintain and can provide insight into that 
        information.
    Specifically . . . The CRS, GAO, and CBO all have unique 
data access challenges in conducting their work. The Committee 
understands each agency has experienced hurdles and/or delays 
in accessing the data they need, including examples below.
    CRS: To get access to federal data, the Committee 
understands CRS sometimes is instructed to file a Freedom of 
Information Act (FOIA) request or must get the signature of 
committee chairs on information request letters, which can lead 
to delays. CRS requests are not treated as originating in 
Congress.
    GAO: The GAO has well-established statutory authority to 
access agency records while carrying out its audit, evaluation, 
and investigative duties (see, 31 U.S.C. 716(a)). However, the 
Committee understands GAO may face challenges accessing 
information and experts in specific areas on which Congress may 
choose to take action. GAO access authority should be broadened 
in at least three areas First, GAO access to agency records 
should explicitly include access to and authority to make and 
retain copies of data and records created and maintained in 
digital form in IT systems including machine readable, 
structured data (e.g., CSV, XML). Second, GAO access authority 
should also explicitly extend to interviewing officers and 
employees of federal agencies as well as employees from certain 
non-federal entities (e.g., state/local agency, contractor, 
grantee, recipient) necessary to carry out an audit, 
evaluation, or investigation of a federal program or activity 
or use of federal funds, including private entities receiving 
such funds. Third, GAO access should include the authority to 
inspect facilities and examine property necessary to carry out 
its work for Congress and the American taxpayer.
    CBO: Analysts should continue to have electronic access to 
data, rather than being required to access federal data in 
person. CBO also needs streamlined access to federal agency 
experts. With enhanced data and expert access, CBO may be able 
to produce distributional analyses. The FY21 appropriation bill 
for the legislative branch requested information about the 
CBO's access to data from federal agencies, including data 
sources and data sets. CBO reported on this information in June 
2021.
    Consistent access to federal data and experts will help the 
support agencies produce higher quality products that inform 
Congress's work. Therefore, the Committee recommends each 
agency report to the committees of jurisdiction on the specific 
access challenges they face, the legislative remedies they may 
need, if any, and whether in some cases an MOU may provide a 
solution to provide necessary data access. The Committee hopes 
the reports provide the committees of jurisdiction a roadmap 
for potential action to address these issues.
          (17) Recommendation: CRS should ensure that its 
        products and services are designed to adapt and meet 
        the ever-changing needs of an evolving Congress and 
        develop real-time customer feedback tools to improve 
        and continually update the services and products it 
        provides to Congress.
    Specifically . . . By developing a customer-focused 
approach to the provision of its products and services, the 
agency can better tailor its work to meet the diverse and 
evolving needs of members and staff. CRS's culture should be 
oriented toward meeting the diverse and evolving research and 
analysis needs of members and staff. To this end, the agency 
should regularly and proactively engage in outreach efforts to 
Congress to determine where improvements can be made and where 
new approaches are appropriate. Customer oriented reforms 
mentioned during the Committee's hearing include the following:
           emphasize more concise reports, videos, and 
        podcasts;
           improve the functionality of CRS.gov;
           tailor products to staff's knowledge-level;
           proactively get CRS products to staff;
           employ technology to survey staff directly 
        and regularly on CRS products and services, including 
        interactions with individual analysts;
           ensure analysts are continuously up to date 
        in their field by allowing participation in academic 
        conferences;
           take steps to build a more diverse 
        workforce;
           allow analysts to detail to congressional 
        committees;
           improve ease of access to agency reports and 
        other information via web portals;
           routinely seek member and staff input to 
        improve CRS.gov.
    Additionally, the Library of Congress Inspector General 
should play a role in helping the Committee on House 
Administration oversee CRS and all aspects of the Library, 
including accessing and providing needed information that will 
help evaluate and enhance the customer service experience.
          (18) Recommendation: The Government Accountability 
        Office should boost initiatives to meet Congress' 
        information needs and assess member and staff awareness 
        of and satisfaction with its products and services.
    Specifically . . . The GAO should go further to inform 
Congress about its products and services. The Committee 
understands that staff may not be sufficiently aware of the 
resources and support provided by GAO and how best to contact 
experts. Possible initiatives could include:
           Hosting a session on GAO's role, products 
        and services, and protocols and processes at New Member 
        Orientation, as well as an information session for all 
        members at the start of each Congress;
           improve the public-facing GAO.gov and the 
        Congress-facing ``watchdog'' websites to enhance staff 
        ability to search for reports by topic area, locate and 
        contact experts, and submit service requests and 
        feedback;
           explain formal mechanisms to collect and 
        assess customer feedback on products and services;
           outreach to assess member and committee 
        priorities and interests and continuous learning 
        initiatives for members and staff including one-pagers 
        and coordinating regular briefings on critical topics 
        with CRS and the National Academies;
           employ technology to survey staff directly 
        and regularly on products and services including 
        interactions with individual analysts;
           explore adding a physical GAO presence in 
        the House to improve visibility and awareness of GAO's 
        products and services.
          (19) Recommendation: The Comptroller General should 
        provide an annual report to committees on unimplemented 
        GAO recommendations and the estimated cost savings, by 
        agency.
    Specifically . . . According to GAO, as of November 23, 
2021, ``there are 4661 open recommendations, of which 482 are 
priority recommendations.'' Further, recommendations remain 
open until they are designated as ``Closed-implemented'' or 
``Closed-not implemented.'' An annual report on unimplemented 
recommendations, and associated costs, could inform and spur 
Congressional oversight and reforms, improving agency 
performance and saving taxpayer dollars. Associated costs 
should be included where feasible. Similarly, the report 
accompanying the FY2022 legislative branch appropriations bill 
directs the Comptroller General to provide committees with a 
report estimating the financial costs of unimplemented GAO 
recommendations by agency.
          (20) Recommendation: The Government Accountability 
        Office should annually report to Congress on 
        legislative options to address open priority 
        recommendations as well as related work from the 
        ``High-Risk List.''
    Specifically . . . GAO's recommendations can provide a 
starting point for bipartisan legislative reform. Every two 
years the agency reports on federal programs and operations 
that are vulnerable to waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement, 
or that need broad reform in their High-Risk List which could 
form the basis of legislative options.
          (21) Recommendation: The Congressional Budget Office 
        should expand its congressional outreach to provide 
        additional information and assistance to members of 
        Congress and staff.
    Specifically . . . A larger, more robust, proactive 
congressional outreach program would provide much needed 
insight for staff and members into the agency's protocols, 
processes, and work. Bolstering legislative outreach at CBO to 
help answer questions and engage in proactive outreach with 
congressional staff about the agency's work, and to solicit 
regular feedback, would help staff get their questions 
answered, could direct analyst-or score-specific inquires, 
would help manage expectations on the scoring process, and in 
general would help CBO be a more effective, and better 
understood, resource for staff and members.
          (22) Recommendation: Congress and congressional 
        support agencies should establish a web portal with 
        staff contact information that is managed and updated 
        by the House, Senate, congressional support offices, 
        and support agencies to enhance the exchange of 
        information and policymaking process.
    Specifically . . . It is important to facilitate the 
ability of congressional staff to easily identify and connect 
with other congressional staff--including across the chambers--
and with the staff of the support agencies (and for support 
agency staff to directly contact congressional staff). Where 
feasible, the portal (or directory) should include the name, 
title, office, phone number, email address, and issue/area of 
expertise for each employee from the House, Senate, support 
offices, and support agencies. Information should be able to be 
filtered by office, title, party, issue/area of expertise, and 
continuously updated. Access to the directory should be 
permissioned and limited to authorized users.
          (23) Recommendation: The committees of jurisdiction 
        should examine the support agencies' authorities and 
        determine if they are sufficient or need to be updated 
        so that the agencies can better serve an evolving 
        Congress.
    Specifically . . . As Congress continues to examine whether 
the agencies are meeting the needs of an evolving Congress, it 
would be helpful to examine whether the underlying authorities 
are effectively serving the purposes envisioned and to consider 
potential reforms. By regularly reviewing and assessing these 
agencies, Congress and the committees of jurisdiction can 
identify areas where agencies could expand or revise services, 
policies, and/or operations to better serve Congress. In the 
116th Congress, the Committee recommended that GAO, CBO, and 
CRS evaluate their missions, how they have evolved over time, 
and if there is a further need to modernize, and incorporate 
the results of this review in their budget justifications to 
the Legislative Branch Subcommittee on Appropriations and other 
relevant committees. This information, and the perspectives 
provided by the agencies, should be helpful to the committees 
of jurisdiction as they examine the underlying statutes and 
consider potential reforms.
          (24) Recommendation: The Science, Technology 
        Assessment, and Analytics program (STAA) should be 
        authorized by Congress and made a permanent part of 
        GAO.
    Specifically . . . The Committee strongly supports the 
STAA's mission and the important services it provides to 
Congress. Through the authorization process, Congress can 
clarify and strengthen the support the STAA provides to meet 
the needs of an evolving Congress.

                 Encourage Evidence-Based Policymaking

          (25) Recommendation: Congress should establish a 
        bipartisan, bicameral Commission on Evidence-Based 
        Policymaking to encourage and facilitate better use of 
        data in the legislative process.
    Specifically . . . A commission could assist Congress in 
determining how to best incorporate evidence-based approaches 
into its policymaking, policy evaluation, and oversight work. 
The commission should make recommendations on how to 
incorporate outcomes measurement, rigorous impact analysis, and 
implementation aligned language into the lawmaking process; for 
how Congress can access and incorporate real-time, structured, 
and machine-readable data into the lawmaking process; evaluate 
the need for and potential duties of a Chief Data Officer, 
including whether the officer should be located in a stand-
alone office or housed within another existing agency, and how 
such an office would function with existing data and 
information units in the House (e.g. CAO, Bulk Data Taskforce); 
assess ways to increase data expertise in Congress through the 
incorporation of technologists, data scientists, and engineers 
to assist in policy evaluation and legislative drafting; and, 
examine how Congress may encourage federal agencies to produce 
evidence on effectiveness for major new programs and 
reauthorizations.

                  V. COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION AND VOTES


                             Consideration

    On December 8, 2021, the Select Committee held a Business 
Meeting, a quorum being present, and reported favorably the 
recommendations contained in this report.

                                 Votes

    In compliance with clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, recommendations 1-12 and 15-25 
herein contained in this report were adopted by voice vote, 
two-thirds being in the affirmative.
    In compliance with clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, recommendations 13 and 14 herein 
contained in this report were adopted by roll call vote, with 
Reps. Kilmer, Timmons, Cleaver, Perlmutter, Davis, Joyce, 
Phillips, and Williams voting aye and Reps. Reschenthaler and 
Van Duyne voting no.
    In compliance with clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, a recommendation to expand 
primary sponsor designations to two members of different 
parties for bipartisan bills failed on a roll call vote, with 
Reps. Kilmer, Timmons, Cleaver, Perlmutter, Phillips, and 
Williams voting aye and Reps. Reschenthaler, Davis, Joyce, and 
Van Duyne voting no. Due to unforeseen circumstances, Reps. 
Lofgren and Latta were unable to participate in this vote. The 
Appendix contains letters submitted for the record by Reps. 
Lofgren and Latta, respectively, that explain their positions 
on this recommendation.
    A motion by Chair Derek Kilmer of Washington to report the 
recommendations herein contained in this report to the House of 
Representatives was adopted by voice vote, two-thirds being in 
the affirmative.


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