[Deschler's Precedents, Volume 1, Chapters 1 - 6]
[Chapter 6.  Officers, Officials, and Employees]
[C. House Officers]
[Â§ 17. Oath; Compensation]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[Page 579-583]
 
                               CHAPTER 6
 
                   Officers, Officials, and Employees
 
                           C. HOUSE OFFICERS
 
Sec. 17. Oath; Compensation

    Rule II of the House Rules and Manual provides that each person who 
is elected to the office of Clerk,(10) Sergeant at Arms, 
Doorkeeper, Postmaster, or Chaplain, ``. . . shall take an oath to 
support the Constitution of the United States, and for the true and 
faithful discharge of the duties of his office to the best of his 
knowledge and ability, and to keep the secrets of the House . . 
.''(11)
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10. Administration of the oath to the Clerk by the Speaker is required 
        by statute, 2 USC Sec. 25. Although the Speaker is not required 
        to administer the oath to any other officer, he does so in 
        practice (see 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 81).
11.  See 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 187, indicating that the requirement 
        that the officers be sworn to keep the secrets of the House is 
        obsolete.
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    The officers of the House take the following oath:

        I, AB, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and 
    defend the Con

[[Page 580]]

    stitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and 
    domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; 
    that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation 
    or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully 
    discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So 
    help me God. (5 USCA Sec. 3331.)

    The compensation of House officers is determined by statute, and 
adjustments thereto are sometimes effected by resolution. Statutes 
establish the compensation for the Clerk,(12) Sergeant at 
Arms,(13) Doorkeeper,(14) 
Postmaster,(1) and Chaplain.(2)
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12. See 2 USCA Sec. 60e-13, which provides that compensation of the 
        Clerk of the House of Representatives shall equal that of the 
        Secretary of the Senate and Sergeant at Arms of the Senate.
13. See 2 USCA Sec. 60e-13, which provides that compensation of the 
        Sergeant at Arms of the House shall equal that of the Secretary 
        of the Senate and Sergeant at Arms of the Senate.
            2 USCA Sec. 77 provides that the Sergeant at Arms shall 
        receive no compensation in addition to the salary prescribed by 
        law.
14. See 2 USCA Sec. 76-1, which provides that the compensation of the 
        House Doorkeeper shall equal that of the Clerk and Sergeant at 
        Arms of the House.
 1. 2 USCA Sec. 84-1.
 2. 2 USCA Sec. 84-2.
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    The House by resolution has established,(3) 
increased,(4) and adjusted the amount of an officer's 
compensation;(5) and it has by the same method suspended 
statutory salaries and replaced them with an administrative 
schedule.(6) Resolutions have also been passed to prevent 
payment of dual compensation to one person who held two offices 
concurrently.(7)
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 3. See Sec. 17.4, infra.
 4. See Sec. 17.5, infra.
 5. See Sec. 17.6, infra.
 6. See Sec. 17.7, infra.
 7. See Sec. 17.3, infra, for joint resolution and Sec. 16.3, supra, 
        for simple resolution disallowing dual compensation to the 
        clerk during the period he served concurrently as Sergeant at 
        Arms.                          -------------------
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Oath

Sec. 17.1 An officer elected to hold an additional office concurrently 
    takes a separate oath for the additional office.

    When he was chosen to serve concurrently as Sergeant at Arms on 
July 8, 1953,(8) Lyle O. Snader, of Illinois, appeared at 
the bar of the House to take the oath as Sergeant at Arms 
notwithstanding the fact that he had taken an oath when he was elected 
Clerk.
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 8. 99 Cong. Rec. 8242, 83d Cong. 1st Sess.
            See Sec. 16.3, supra, for a discussion of election of the 
        clerk as Sergeant at Arms.
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Sec. 17.2 A person elected as a permanent officer appears at

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    the bar of the House to take the oath administered by the 
    Speaker.(9)
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 9. See for example 96 Cong. Rec. 1311, 81st Cong. 2d Sess., Feb. 1, 
        1950, administration of oath to Rev. Bernard Braskamp after 
        election as Chaplain of the House.
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    Parliamentarian's Note: As a general rule, a person designated by 
the Speaker to act as a temporary officer pursuant to 2 USCA Sec. 75a-1 
does not appear at the bar of the House to take the oath but subscribes 
to it in writing when he accepts the appointment.(10)
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10. But see Sec. 22.3, infra, for a discussion of appointment of Zeake 
        W. Johnson, Jr., as temporary Sergeant at Arms following his 
        resignation as Sergeant at Arms. On that occasion, Mr. Johnson 
        appeared at the bar of the House to take the oath as acting 
        Sergeant at Arms from Speaker Carl Albert (Okla.).
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Compensation

Sec. 17.3 The House and Senate by joint resolution have prevented 
    payment of dual compensation to a person who held two offices.

    On July 8, 1953, the House(11) and Senate(12) 
passed the following joint resolution (H.J. Res. 292:(13)
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11. 99 Cong. Rec. 8242, 83d Cong. 1st Sess.
12. Id. at p. 8203.
13. Pub. L. No. 83-106, 83d Congress, approved July 9, 1953, 67 Stat. 
        141.
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            Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
        United States of America in Congress assembled, That Lyle O. 
        Snader, of the State of Illinois, be, and he is hereby, 
        authorized, notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, to 
        serve concurrently as Clerk and Sergeant-at-Arms of the House 
        of Representatives until another person is chosen by the House 
        of Representatives to be and duly qualifies as Sergeant-at-
        Arms; and while the said Lyle O. Snader is so serving the 
        compensation received by him as Clerk of the House of 
        Representatives shall be in full discharge for any services 
        rendered by him to the House of Representatives during such 
        period of concurrent service.

    Parliamenatarian's Note: Because a statute (5 USCA Sec. 58) 
prohibited anyone from receiving dual compensation from the government, 
the joint resolution was enacted to remove all doubt of the necessity 
to pay dual compensation, which if paid or required to be paid, might 
have made it illegal for one person to occupy two offices. A House 
resolution was also passed on this occasion.(14)
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14. See Sec. 16.3, supra, for a discussion of the clerk's election as 
        Sergeant at Arms and the House resolution offered on this 
        occasion.
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Sec. 17.4 The House has established a base rate of compensation for an 
    officer to be paid as long as the office is held by the present 
    incumbent.

[[Page 582]]

    On Feb. 2, 1961,(15) a Member, John W. McCormack, of 
Massachusetts, offered and the House agreed to the following resolution 
(H. Res. 138):
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15. 107 Cong. Rec. 1682, 87th Cong. 1st Sess.
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            Resolved, That effective February 1, 1961, the basic 
        compensation of the Deputy Sergeant at Arms (charge of pairs), 
        Office of the Sergeant at Arms, shall be at the rate of $7,000 
        per annum so long as held by the present incumbent. The 
        additional amounts necessary to carry out this resolution shall 
        be paid out of the contingent fund until otherwise provided by 
        law.

Sec. 17.5 The House has provided additional compensation for an officer 
    to be paid as long as the office is held by the present incumbent.

    On July 31, 1953,(16) a Member, Karl M. LeCompte, of 
Iowa, offered and the House agreed to the following resolution (H. Res. 
355):
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16. 99 Cong. Rec. 10671, 83d Cong. 1st Sess.
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            Resolved, That effective August 1, 1953, there shall be 
        paid out of the contingent fund of the House until otherwise 
        provided by law additional compensation at the gross rate of 
        $1,254 per annum to the Chaplain of the House of 
        Representatives so long as the position is held by the present 
        incumbent.

Sec. 17.6 The House by simple resolution has adjusted a salary 
    established by statute.

    On Mar. 31, 1965,(17) a Member, Carl Albert, of 
Oklahoma, offered and the House agreed to the following resolution (H. 
Res. 313):
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17. 111 Cong. Rec. 6412, 89th Cong. 1st Sess.
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            Resolved, That, effective April 1, 1965, the compensation 
        of the Chaplain of the House of Representatives shall be at a 
        gross per annum rate which is equal to the gross per annum rate 
        of compensation of the Chaplain of the Senate. The additional 
        sums necessary to carry out this resolution shall be paid out 
        of the contingent fund of the House until otherwise provided by 
        law.

    Parliamentarian's Note: This resolution was intended to remove the 
inequity in the Federal Employee's Salary Act of 1964 which increased 
the salary of the House Chaplain from $10,000 to $12,500 (2 USCA Sec.  
84-2) while at the same time raising the salary of the Chaplain of the 
Senate to $15,000 (2 USCA Sec.  61d).

Sec. 17.7 The House by simple resolution has suspended fixed salaries 
    for certain officers and substituted an administrative compensation 
    schedule.

    On Oct. 4, 1972,(18) a Member, Wayne L. Hays, of Ohio, 
on behalf of the Committee on House Administration, offered and the

[[Page 583]]

House passed the following resolution (H. Res. 890):
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18. 118 Cong. Rec. 33744, 92d Cong. 2d Sess.
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            Resolved, That, (a) until otherwise provided by law, the 
        per annum gross rate of compensation of the Clerk, the 
        Doorkeeper, the Sergeant at Arms, and the Chief of Staff of the 
        Joint Committee on Internal Revenue Taxation of the House of 
        Representatives, shall be equal to the annual rate of basic pay 
        fixed for level IV of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 
        of title 5, United States Code.
            (b) Until otherwise provided by law, such amounts as may be 
        necessary to carry out subsection (a) of this resolution shall 
        be paid out of the contingent fund of the House of 
        Representatives.
            (c) This resolution shall become effective on the effective 
        date of the first adjustment, following the effective date of 
        this resolution, in the annual rate of basic pay of offices and 
        positions under the Executive Schedule in subchapter II of 
        chapter 53 of title 5, United States Code.

    In offering the resolution, the Chairman of the Committee on House 
Administration, Mr. Hays, explained:

        . . . [T]he intent of the resolution is that if and when there 
    is another adjustment in salaries of Members of Congress that the 
    officers mentioned herein will be placed in a lower grade level so 
    that there will be a wider gap between the salary of the Doorkeeper 
    and that of a Member of Congress. At the present time the salary of 
    a Member of Congress, as the gentleman from Missouri well knows, is 
    $42,500. The Doorkeeper's salary is $40,000. There has been a lot 
    of criticism and comment. This does not do anything to him and the 
    others now. It does not do anything to him and others until and 
    unless there is an increase in the income of Members, and then it 
    puts them at a lower level.
        For example, if a Member of Congress say--and I am picking a 
    figure out of the air--went up to $47,500, the Office of Doorkeeper 
    would go up to something like $42,000 instead of $45,000.

    The provisions of this resolution relating to compensation of the 
Clerk, Sergeant at Arms, and Doorkeeper were enacted as Public Law No. 
92-607, Oct. 31, 1972, 86 Stat. 1509.