[Deschler's Precedents, Volume 1, Chapters 1 - 6]
[Chapter 4.  House Facilities and Capitol Grounds]
[B. House Galleries and Buildings]
[Â§ 6. Office Buildings]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[Page 291-296]
 
                               CHAPTER 4
 
                  House Facilities and Capitol Grounds
 
                    B. HOUSE GALLERIES AND BUILDINGS
 
Sec. 6. Office Buildings

    The House office buildings are under the control and supervision of 
the Architect of the Capitol, subject to the approval and direction of 
the House Office Building Commission.(1) The commission 
consists of the Speaker and two Members appointed by the 
Speaker.(2) The commission is authorized to prescribe rules 
and regulations governing the use and occupancy of rooms in the House 
office buildings.(3)
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 1. 40 USC Sec. 175 (1970).
 2. 40 USC Sec. 175 (1970). Under 40 USC Sec. 176 (1970), the Speaker 
        continues as a member of the commission until his successor as 
        Speaker is elected or his term as a Representative in Congress 
        expires.
 3. 40 USC Sec. 175 (1970). Section 183 of title 40 provides that the 
        assignment and reassignment of rooms and other space in the 
        House office buildings shall be subject to the control of the 
        House by rule, resolution, order, or otherwise, and that 
        nothing in sections 177-184 of title 40 (discussed below) shall 
        be construed to affect or repeal the provisions of section 175 
        of the same title, which places the House office buildings 
        under the control of the Architect of the Capitol, subject to 
        the approval and direction of the House Office Building 
        Commission.
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    The procedure for the assignment of rooms in the House office 
buildings is provided by statute(4) and by rules adopted by 
the House Office Building Commission.(5) Section 178 of 
title 40 provides that the assignment of vacant offices will be based 
on written requests filed by Members or Members-elect. If only one such 
request has been made for a particular vacant office, it will be 
assigned as requested. If two or more Members request the same vacant 
office, preference will be

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given to the one ``who has been longest in continuous service as a 
Member and Member-elect of the House.''(6) If two or more 
Representatives with equal periods of continuous service, or two or 
more Representatives-elect request the same vacant office, preference 
will be given to the one who first files a request.
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 4. 40 USC Sec. Sec. 177-184 (1970).
 5. House Rules and Manual Sec. 985 (1971).
 6. For an interpretation of the term ``continuous service,'' see 
        Sec. 6.1. infra.
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    A Representative or Representative-elect may not have pending at 
the same time more than one request under section 178 for a vacant 
room, but he may withdraw a request at anytime.(7) A Member 
will be deemed to have relinquished the room previously assigned to him 
when he is assigned a new room upon his request, or is appointed 
chairman of a committee having a committee room.(8) 
Representatives may exchange rooms with each other, but the exchange 
will be valid only so long as both remain Members or Members-elect of 
the House.(9) Records of room assignments, exchanges and 
requests, which are kept by the Architect of the Capitol, are open for 
the inspection of Members.(10)
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 7. 40 USC Sec. 179 (1970).
 8. 40 USC Sec. 179 (1970).
 9. 40 USC Sec. 180 (1970).
10. 40 USC Sec. 181 (1970).
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    The House Office Building Commission has adopted rules of procedure 
for the assignment of vacant offices that are designed to clarify the 
statutory procedures defined in section 178 of title 40.(11) 
Under these provisions, if an office becomes vacant during a session of 
Congress, applications for the vacancy will be received for a period of 
10 days. The system of priority established in section 178 is generally 
applicable, in addition to a provision that would establish priority by 
lot in the event that applications are received at the same time from 
Members with equal periods of service. Applications from re-elected 
Members and former Members who wish to change offices at the beginning 
of a new Congress are received between the Monday following election 
day on the even years and Dec. 1. The seniority provisions of section 
178 again establish priority. On Dec. 5, Members-elect without prior 
service, or their representatives, draw numbers to determine the order 
of se

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lection-of the remaining offices. Those who do not participate in the 
drawing must file written applications for the offices that remain 
unassigned after the conclusion of the drawing. Members of Congress who 
will not be Members of the succeeding Congress must vacate their 
offices by 12 o'clock noon on January 1 before the new Congress 
convenes.
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11. The rules are reprinted in House Rules and Manual Sec. 985 (1973). 
        In 1968 the commission promulgated a similar set of rules based 
        on seniority to govern the assignment of remodeled rooms in the 
        Cannon House Office Building. See 114 Cong. Rec. 22155, 90th 
        Cong. 2d Sess., July 18, 1968.
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    It is provided by statute that unoccupied space in the House office 
buildings shall be assigned by the Architect of the Capitol under the 
direction of the commission and subject to the control of the House of 
Representatives. 40 USC Sec. 184 (1970).

    The commission also adopts rules regulating conduct of persons 
within the House office buildings, House garages, and the Capitol power 
plant. For example, on Aug. 26, 1965, the commission promulgated rules 
which, among other things, regulated soliciting and the taking of 
photographs within the House office buildings and related 
facilities.(12)
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12. 111 Cong. Rec. 23926, 23927, 89th Cong. 1st Sess., Sept. 15, 1965. 
        The regulations make subject to arrest and prosecution those 
        persons who fail to comply with the above provisions, or with 
        those sections which prohibit damaging public property, 
        possessing weapons and explosives, creating disturbances, or 
        obstructing any area covered by the regulations.
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    At one time,(13) the seniority of a Member for the 
purpose of room assignment dated from the beginning of his last 
uninterrupted service regardless of previous terms of membership in the 
House. This interpretation of ``continuous service'', which was 
rendered on Feb. 8, 1930, by Speaker Nicholas Longworth, of Ohio, as 
Chairman of the House Office Building Commission, was changed by the 
commission on Feb. 27, 1967. Under this current ruling, a Member who 
has had more than one period of uninterrupted service is entitled to 
have his longest period of uninterrupted service used in determining 
room assignment priority, even if it is not his last such 
period.(14)
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13. 8 Cannon's Precedents Sec. 3651.
14. See Sec. 6.1, infra.                          -------------------
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Assignment of Office Suites to Members

Sec. 6.1 If two or more Members request the same office suite, 
    preference will be given to the Member with a longest period of 
    uninterrupted service, even if it is not his latest period of 
    service.

    On Mar. 2, 1967,(15) Speaker John W. McCormack, of Massa

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chusetts, as Chairman of the House Office Building Commission, 
announced the rule of the commission concerning the computation of 
seniority, as it relates to the selection and assignment of office 
space:
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15. 113 Cong. Rec. 5218, 90th Cong. 1st Sess.
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        Mr. McCormack: Mr. Speaker, for the information of the Members, 
    I include an action recently taken by the House Office Building 
    Commission:

                  Assignment of Rooms, House Office Buildings

        In connection with assignment of rooms to Members of the House 
    of Representatives in the House Office Buildings, 40 U.S.C. 178 
    provides, in part, as follows:
        If two or more requests are made for the same vacant room, 
    preference shall be given to the Representative making the request 
    who has been longest in continuous service as a Member and Member-
    elect of the House of Representatives.
        The question was raised before the House Office Building 
    Commission as to whether the wording ``longest continuous service'' 
    should refer to any period of continuous service whether or not 
    such continuous service occurred before or after a break in service 
    in the House.
        At a meeting of February 27, 1967, the House Office Building 
    Commission unanimously ruled on this point, as follows:
        ``The term `longest continuous service' as used in 40 U.S.C. 
    178, governing seniority in assignment of rooms in the House Office 
    Buildings, is held to refer to the longest period of uninterrupted 
    service as a Member and Member-elect of the House of 
    Representatives (not necessarily the last period of uninterrupted 
    service as held in Cannon's Precedents, Vol. 8, Page 981, Sec. 
    3651).''
        This ruling is effective February 27, 1967 and is being 
    submitted as a matter of record for the information of all Members 
    of the House of Representatives.

Visitors in House Office Buildings

Sec. 6.2 The House Office Building Commission has jurisdiction over 
    matters relating to the harassment of visitors in the House office 
    buildings.

    On May 3, 1935,(16) a parliamentary inquiry was raised 
concerning the jurisdiction of and the rules adopted by the commission:
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16. 79 Cong. Rec. 6894, 74th Cong. 1st Sess.
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        Mr. [Thomas L.] Blanton [of Texas]: Mr. Speaker, may I propound 
    a parliamentary inquiry?
        The Speaker:(17) The gentleman will state it.
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17. Joseph W. Byrns (Tenn.).
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        Mr. Blanton: The Speaker of the House of Representatives is the 
    Chairman of the House Office Building Commission in charge of the 
    House Office Building and which controls these office buildings.
        I would like to ask the Speaker if there are any means that a 
    Member

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    has, under the regulations prescribed by the Commission governing 
    these buildings, to prevent a Washington newspaper from installing 
    a snooper at his office to interrogate and harass every person that 
    goes in or comes out of a Member's office in that Government 
    building?
        The Speaker: The Commission is composed of 3 Members and the 
    Speaker is only 1 of the 3. I would be pleased if the gentleman 
    would take the matter up with the Commission as a whole. We will be 
    very pleased to give the gentleman a hearing and discuss the matter 
    with him.

Rules and Regulations as to Use

Sec. 6.3 Rules and regulations governing the House office buildings 
    have been adopted by the House Office Building Commission.

    On Mar. 5, 1973, the House Office Building Commission adopted the 
following rules:

        Pursuant to the authority conferred on the House Office 
    Building Commission by the act of March 4, 1907 (34 Stat. 1365, as 
    amended (40 U.S.C. 175)) the following rules and regulations are 
    promulgated governing the use and occupancy of rooms and spaces, 
    including all terraces, entrances, lobbies, foyers, corridors, 
    cafeterias, restaurants and areas appurtenant thereto, in the 
    Cannon, Longworth, and Rayburn House Office Buildings, in the House 
    Annex, the House of Representatives garages, and the Capitol Power 
    Plant:
        (1) Property damage: Willful destruction, damage, desecration 
    or removal of any Government property or part thereof is 
    prohibited.
        (2) Photographs: Photographing, televising, recording, or 
    broadcasting of committee proceedings is not permitted, except as 
    provided for by the Rules of the House. Visitors are permitted to 
    take photographs of the public areas in the House office buildings 
    with handheld cameras if the photographs are not intended for 
    commercial purposes. The use of flash equipment or other special 
    photolighting devices, tripods, or other bulky accessory equipment 
    is not permitted unless special permission is obtained from the 
    House Office Building Commission. Applications for such special 
    permission should be made to the Speaker.
        (3) Soliciting, commercial ventures, and other nongovernmental 
    activities: The soliciting of alms and contributions, commercial 
    soliciting, and vending of all kinds, the display or distribution 
    of commercial advertising, the collecting of private debts, or the 
    distribution of material such as pamphlets, handbills, and flyers, 
    in any of the areas covered by these regulations is prohibited. 
    This section does not apply to national or local drives for funds 
    for welfare, health, and other purposes sponsored or approved by 
    the House Office Building Commission, or to personal notices posted 
    by employees on authorized bulletin boards.
        (4) Weapons and explosives: No person, except members of the 
    Capitol Police and individuals authorized by law, shall enter any 
    of the areas covered by these regulations who has in his 
    possession, either openly or concealed, any dangerous or deadly 
    weapon, explosive,

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    incendiary, or electronic device, and the use or discharge thereof 
    is prohibited.
        (5) Disturbances: The making or any harangue, oration, or the 
    utterance of any loud, threatening, or abusive language or sound, 
    or the use of any device which emits any loud, threatening, or 
    abusive language or sound, is prohibited.
        (6) Obstruction: It is forbidden to parade, stand, or move in 
    processions or assemblages, or to obstruct the foyers, corridors, 
    rooms or other areas covered by these regulations, or to display 
    therein any flag, banner, or device designed or adapted to bring 
    into public notice any person, party, organization, or movement.
        (7) Compliance with regulations: Persons entering, in, or on 
    the areas covered by these regulations shall comply with all 
    official signs of a prohibitory or directory nature, and, during 
    emergencies, with directions of the Capitol Police or other 
    authorized authority.
        (8) Enforcement of regulations: It shall be the duty of all 
    persons employed in the service of the Governmcnt in the House 
    Office Buildings to prevent, as far as may be in their power, 
    violations of these regulations, and to aid the Capitol Police and 
    other authorized authority, by information or otherwise, in 
    securing the apprehension of persons violating these regulations.
        Any person who fails or refuses to comply with these 
    regulations, or who fails or refuses to comply with directives of 
    the Capitol Police or other authorized personnel, shall be subject 
    to arrest and prosecution.
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