[Deschler's Precedents, Volume 4, Chapters 15 - 17]
[Chapter 17. Committees]
[A. Creating and Organizing Committees]
[Â§ 1. In General]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[Page 2515-2519]
 
                               CHAPTER 17
 
                               Committees
 
                 A. CREATING AND ORGANIZING COMMITTEES
 
Sec. 1. In General



    There are three types of committees that are common to the House--
(1) standing committees, (2) special or select committees, and (3) 
joint committees. Standing committees which are usually, though not 
necessarily, established by amending the rules of the House, comprise 
the largest group. The jurisdiction of standing committees 
(1) is usually set out in the rules (2) and the 
Speaker refers (3) measures or matters to them pursuant to 
those provisions. Members of standing committees are elected and serve 
through the Congress for which elected. Special or select committees 
are established by a resolution setting forth the particular 
jurisdiction and the method of selection for membership.(4) 
Normally the Speaker appoints special or select committees, and they 
expire with their report or at the end of the Congress or as otherwise 
provided.(5) Joint committees are established by an act of 
Congress or concurrent resolution (6) which sets forth the 
particular subject matter of concern to both Houses.
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 1. See Sec. 2.1, infra. See also Sec. Sec. 30-51, 53, infra.
 2. In 1973, for example, the jurisdiction of the standing committees 
        was set forth in Rule XI. See Rule XI clauses 1-22, House Rules 
        and Manual Sec. Sec. 677-725 (1973). The Committee Reform 
        Amendments of 1974, H. Res. 988, 93d Cong. 2d Sess., 
        transferred the jurisdiction of the standing committees to Rule 
        X, effective Jan. 3, 1975.
 3. See Sec. 27, infra.
 4. See Sec. 5.2, infra, for example. As to subjects of investigation 
        by select or special committees, and the distinction between 
        such committees, see Sec. 6, infra.
 5. See Sec. 5.5, infra, for an instance in which a select committee 
        was reconstituted and given an express calendar day limitation 
        on the filing of its final report.
 6. See Sec. 7, infra.
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    The reader should note that citations to Rule X and Rule XI 
contained in the precedents sometimes referred to older sections of 
Rule X and Rule XI. Those rules were rewritten and redesignated by the 
adoption of House Resolution 988, the Committee Reform Amendments of 
1974.

[[Page 2516]]

Select Committee to Study House Committee System

Sec. 1.1 The House considered under a special rule and agreed to a 
    resolution reported from the Committee on Rules, creating a select 
    committee to study House committee jurisdiction, staffing, 
    procedures and facilities and to report to the House. Under the 
    resolution, committee membership and staff expenses were to be paid 
    from the contingent fund on vouchers approved by the Speaker.

    On Jan. 31, 1973,(7) the House agreed to a resolution 
(H. Res. 176) reported out by the Committee on Rules which provided 
that upon its adoption the House would consider in the House a 
resolution (H. Res. 132) to create a select committee to study the 
operation and implementation of Rules X and XI.
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 7. 119 Cong. Rec. 2804-12, 93d Cong. 1st Sess.
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    The Speaker (8) then directed the Clerk to read House 
Resolution 132, which stated:
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 8. Carl Albert (Okla.).
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        Resolved, That there is hereby created a select committee to be 
    composed of ten Members of the House of Representatives to be 
    appointed by the Speaker; five from the majority party and five 
    from the minority party, one of whom he shall designate as 
    chairman. Any vacancy occurring in the membership of the committee 
    shall be filled in the manner in which the original appointment was 
    made.
        The select committee is authorized and directed to conduct a 
    thorough and complete study with respect to the operation and 
    implementation of rules X and XI of the Rules of the House of 
    Representatives, including committee structure of the House, the 
    number and optimum size of committees, their jurisdiction, the 
    number of subcommittees, committee rules and procedures, media 
    coverage of meetings, staffing, space, equipment, and other 
    committee facilities.
        The select committee is authorized and directed to report to 
    the House by bill, resolution, or otherwise, with respect to any 
    matters covered by this resolution.
        For the purposes of this resolution, the select committee or 
    any subcommittee thereof is authorized to sit and act during 
    sessions of the House and during the present Congress at such times 
    and places whether or not the House has recessed or adjourned. The 
    majority of the members of the committee shall constitute a quorum 
    for the transaction of business, except that two or more shall 
    constitute a quorum for the purpose of taking evidence.
        To assist the select committee in the conduct of its study 
    under this resolution, the committee may employ investigators, 
    attorneys, individual consultants or organizations thereof, and 
    clerical, stenographic, and other assist

[[Page 2517]]

    ants; and all expenses of the select committee, not to exceed 
    $1,500,000 to be available one-half to the majority and one-half to 
    the minority, shall be paid from the contingent fund of the House 
    on vouchers signed by the chairman of the select committee and 
    approved by the Speaker.

    Following some debate on the measure, the vote was ultimately taken 
by electronic device,(9) and the resolution was agreed to--
yeas 282, nays 91.(10)
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 9. 119 Cong. Rec. 2815, 93d Cong. 1st Sess.
10. Id. at p. 2816.
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    Parliamentarian's Note: The provision authorizing the Speaker to 
approve the committee's vouchers was intended to bypass approval by the 
Committee on House Administration, which is required by House rules 
(11) and by law.(12) House Resolution 132 was not 
a privileged resolution because it contained this provision paying 
money from the contingent fund (a matter within the jurisdiction of the 
Committee on House Administration). Thus the Committee on Rules 
reported House Resolution 176 providing for consideration of House 
Resolution 132 in the House (in effect a ``closed'' rule).
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11. Rule XI clauses 9(a), 9(b), 9(c), 9(f), House Rules and Manual 
        Sec. 693 (1973).
12. 2 USC Sec. 95.
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Continuing Authority of Committees During Subsequent Congress

Sec. 1.2 The Senate being a ``continuing body,'' its committees remain 
    in existence from one Congress to the next, and may be authorized 
    by simple resolution to conduct investigations during the 
    subsequent Congress.

    On Dec. 31, 1970,(13) Senator Abraham Ribicoff, of 
Connecticut, was recognized by unanimous consent by the Presiding 
Officer (14) of the Senate. Senator Ribicoff submitted a 
resolution (S. Res. 504) which provided for the granting of authority 
to the Committee on Government Operations to continue its 
investigations, hearings, and reports on efficiency and economy in 
government pursuant to a previously agreed upon 
resolution.(15)
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13. 116 Cong. Rec. 44456, 91st Cong. 2d Sess.
14. William B. Saxbe (Ohio).
15. S. Res. 308. See 116 Cong. Rec. 3411, 3412, 91st Cong. 2d Sess., 
        Feb. 16, 1970.
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    Pursuant to the Chair's request, the legislative clerk read Senate 
Resolution 504, as follows:

[[Page 2518]]

                                 Resolution

        Continuing for 1 month certain authority for investigations by 
            the Committee on Government Operations into the efficiency 
            and economy of operations of all branches of Government

        Resolved. That the authority to make investigations conferred 
    upon the Committee on Government Operations by Senate Resolution 
    308, Ninety-first Congress, agreed to February 16, 1970, together 
    with any authority contained in section 7 of such resolution, is 
    extended until February 28, 1971. In carrying out investigations, 
    holding hearings, and reporting such hearings under the authority 
    of such resolution and this resolution, the Committee on Government 
    Operations is authorized to expend any part of the amount specified 
    in section 8 of such Senate Resolution 308 which remains unexpended 
    on January 31, 1970.

    When the Presiding Officer asked if there were any objections to 
the present consideration of the resolution, Senator Jacob Javits, of 
New York, reserving the right to object, proceeded to ask Senator 
Ribicoff two questions. Although the resolution was ultimately agreed 
to,(16) the discussion which ensued illustrates at once the 
``continuing nature'' of the Senate as a legislative body while 
underscoring Senatorial concern for those constitutional 
(17) safeguards designed to prevent usurpation of power by 
one Congress over a succeeding Congress.
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16. 116 Cong. Rec. 44457, 91st Cong. 2d Sess., Dec. 31, 1970.
17. U.S. Const. art. I, Sec. 5, clause 2. See also House Rules and 
        Manual Sec. 59 (1973).
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    The exchange, in pertinent part, took place as follows:

        Mr. Javits: Mr. President . . . I did want to ask two questions 
    for the Record.
        One, is it assumed that this resolution will mean, aside from 
    the continuance of the work of the committee, any change in 
    existing law respecting whether there is any authority to extend 
    the work, in view of the fact that we will have a new Congress?
        Mr. Ribicoff: Mr. President, not at all. My understanding is 
    that basically, until the new committees are constituted, the work 
    of the old committee will continue. The authority of this committee 
    to act extends until January 31, 1971. There are some 
    investigations now currently in process on which hearings are 
    slated to be held in January and February. There will be no need 
    for further funds. The committee has sufficient funds in its prior 
    authority. I do not conceive of any new authority being given to 
    the committee.
        Mr. Javits: Mr. President, if I may make the situation clear to 
    the Senate, will it be understood that if this resolution is 
    considered and acted on, whatever the law provides with respect to 
    the power to continue this authority will continue to be the law, 
    unchanged by this resolution; and will it also be understood that 
    this resolution represents no waiver of precedent or otherwise 
    adversely affects the right of Senators who will be sworn in or who 
    will continue as Senators in the new Congress to challenge the 
    continuance

[[Page 2519]]

    of the rules of the Senate under the Constitution which provides 
    that each body shall deal with its own rules in every new Congress.
        Mr. Ribicoff: That is my understanding of the situation.
        Mr. Javits: Mr. President, I thank my colleague. I have no 
    desire in any way to stand in the way of my own committee. However, 
    I did not wish by allowing this resolution to go through to yield 
    or compromise any of the rights in respect of the power of the 
    Senate to write new rules in the new Congress.

    Parliamentarian's Note: The Senate's status as a continuing body 
is, of course, directly attributable to the method by which it is 
constituted. ``So that one-third may be chosen every second year,'' 
(~l8) the Constitution divided the first group of Senators 
into three classes with terms of two, four, and six years; thereafter, 
each succeeding term was to last six years. The House, by contrast, has 
always been ``composed of Members chosen every second year.'' 
(l9) Because the Constitution provides that ``each House may 
determine the rules of its proceedings,'' (20) the 
committees of the House of Representatives may remain in existence only 
as long as the particular Congress which created them. While most of 
the House's standing committees are usually reconstituted when one 
Congress succeeds another, all House committees spring into existence 
only after a new House has adopted rules or other resolutions 
specifically creating them anew. The House also reconstitutes select 
committees from time to time;'' (1) however, in the absence 
of express authority from a new House, a select committee expires with 
the term of the Congress in which it was created. Joint committees 
(2) established by statute, of course, remain in existence 
beyond the Congress of their creation unless otherwise provided by the 
House; the House members of such joint committees, however, must be 
appointed or elected in each new Congress.
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18. U.S. Const. art. I, Sec. 3, clause 2.
19. U.S. Const. art. I, Sec. 2, clause 1.
20. U.S. Const. art. I, Sec. 5, clause 2.
 1. See Sec. 5.5, infra.
 2. See Sec. 7, infra.
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