[Deschler's Precedents, Volume 4, Chapters 15 - 17]
[Chapter 17. Committees]
[B. Committee Chairmen, Members, and Employees]
[Â§ 13. Appointment, Employment, and Compensation of Employees]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[Page 2658-2672]
 
                               CHAPTER 17
 
                               Committees
 
             B. COMMITTEE CHAIRMEN, MEMBERS, AND EMPLOYEES
 
Sec. 13. Appointment, Employment, and Compensation of Employees

    Employment of staff by committees is covered by the House rules 
(20) or by committee funding resolutions with respect to 
investigative personnel.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
20. Rule XI clause 6, House Rules and Manual Sec. 733 (1979).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Provisions affecting committee staffing have undergone significant 
changes between 1973 and 1979. The passage of House Resolution 
988,(21) for example, effected changes [as of Jan. 3, 1975], 
with respect to the maximum number of professional staff members [from 
six to 18],(22) the maximum number of professional staff 
members available to the minority [from two to six],(23) the 
maximum number of clerical staff [from six to 12],(24) and, 
similarly, the maximum number of clerical staff available to the 
minority [from one to four].(25) Other changes include the 
relevant United States Code provisions setting permissible rates of 
staff pay,(26) the elimination of the requirement that 
professionals be
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
21. 120 Cong. Rec. 34470, 93d Cong. 2d Sess., Oct. 8, 1974.
22. Rule XI clause 6(a)(1), House Rules and Manual Sec. 733(a) (1979).
23. Rule XI clause 6(a)(1), House Rules and Manual Sec. 733(c) (1979).
24. Rule XI clause 6(b)(1), House Rules and Manual Sec. 734(a) (1979).
25. Rule XI clause 6(b)(2), House Rules and Manual Sec. 734(b) (1979) .
26. Rule XI clause 6(e), House Rules and Manual Sec. 735 (1979).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Page 2659]]

appointed without regard to political affiliation coupled with the 
prohibition against consideration of race, creed, sex, or age with 
respect to such appointments,(27) and the elimination of the 
requirement of semiannual reports to the Clerk for the printing in the 
Record of the names, salaries, and professions of committee 
employees.(28)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
27. Rule XI clause 6(a)2, House Rules and Manual Sec. 733(c) (1979).
28. House Rules and Manual Sec. 739 (1979).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Each standing committee, subject to two provisions, may appoint, by 
majority vote of the committee up to 18 professional staff 
members.(1) Each such staff member is assigned to the 
chairman and the ranking minority party member of the committee, as the 
committee deems advisable.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Rule XI clause 6(a)(1), House Rules and Manual Sec. 733(a) (1979).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    One of the two aforementioned provisions, which pertains to 
minority staffing rights, provides:(2)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 2. Rule XI clause 6(a)(2), House Rules and Manual Sec. 733(c) (1979).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Subject to paragraph (f) of this clause, whenever a majority of 
    the minority party members of a standing committee (except the 
    Committee on Standards of Official Conduct) so request, not more 
    than six persons may be selected, by majority vote of the minority 
    party members, for appointment by the committee as professional 
    staff members from among the number authorized by subparagraph (1) 
    of this paragraph. The committee shall appoint any persons so 
    selected whose character and qualifications are acceptable to a 
    majority of the committee. If the committee determines that the 
    character and qualifications of any person so selected are 
    unacceptable to the committee, a majority of the minority party 
    members may select other persons for appointment by the committee 
    to the professional staff until such appointment is made. Each 
    professional staff member appointed under this subparagraph shall 
    be assigned to such committee business as the minority party 
    members of the committee consider advisable.

    Paragraph (f), which will be examined shortly, is the other 
relevant provision affecting the appointment of professional staff 
members (as well as clericals) and deals with the problem of the 
minority's authorization to appoint staff where the committee is 
already fully staffed.
    A provision significantly affecting the appointment of committee 
staff, paragraph (d) of clause 5 of Rule XI, was adopted on Jan. 14, 
1975 (H. Res. 5, 121 Cong. Rec. 20, 94th Cong. 1st Sess.). The 
paragraph, relating to appointment of subcommittee staff, replaced the 
requirement of House Resolution 988 (93d Cong. 2d Sess.), that the 
minority party of a standing committee was enti

[[Page 2660]]

tled, upon request of a majority of such minority, to one-third of the 
funds provided for the appointment of committee staff pursuant to each 
primary or additional expense resolution. The requirement of House 
Resolution 988 had become effective Jan. 3, 1975, and had superseded 
the provision originally added to the rules on Jan. 22, 1971 (H. Res. 
5, 117 Cong. Rec. 144, 92d Cong. 1st Sess.), which required ``fair 
consideration'' to the minority party of such standing committees in 
the appointment of committee staff personnel. Under clause 5 (d) (5) of 
Rule XI, staff positions made available to subcommittee chairmen and 
ranking minority members pursuant to the clause must be provided from 
staff positions available under clause 6 unless provided in a primary 
or additional expense resolution. (Additional investigative staff, 
including attorneys, clerks, and consultants, of committees are 
authorized by the Committee on House Administration and agreed to by 
the House in annual committee expense resolutions.)
    As for the appointment and work assignments of committee 
professionals, the rules mandate that: (3)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3. Rule XI clauses 6(a)(3)-(5), House Rules and Manual 
        Sec. 733(d)(1979).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        (3) The professional staff members of each standing committee--
        (A) shall be appointed on a permanent basis, without regard to 
    race, creed, sex, or age, and solely on the basis of fitness to 
    perform the duties of their respective positions;
        (B) shall not engage in any work other than committee business; 
    and
        (C) shall not be assigned any duties other than those 
    pertaining to committee business.
        (4) Services of the professional staff members of each standing 
    committee may be terminated by majority vote of the committee.
        (5) The foregoing provisions of this paragraph do not apply to 
    the Committee on Appropriations and to the Committee on the Budget.

    With respect to committees' clerical staffing (including minority 
party staffing), nature of work and method of termination, the rules 
(4) state:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4. Rule XI clauses 6(b) (1)-(b)(4), House Rules and Manual 
        Sec. Sec. 734(a) 734(b) (1979).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        (b) (1) The clerical staff of each standing committee shall 
    consist of not more than twelve clerks, to be attached to the 
    office of the chairman, to the ranking minority party member, and 
    to the professional staff, as the committee considers advisable. 
    Subject to subparagraph (2) of this paragraph and paragraph (f) of 
    this clause, the clerical staff shall be appointed by majority vote 
    of the committee, without regard to race, creed, sex, or age. 
    Except as provided by subparagraph (2) of this paragraph, the 
    clerical staff shall han

[[Page 2661]]

    dle committee correspondence and stenographic work both for the 
    committee staff and for the chairman and the ranking minority party 
    member on matters related to committee work.
        (2) Subject to paragraph (f) of this clause, whenever a 
    majority of the minority party members of a standing committee 
    (except the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct) so request, 
    four persons may be selected, by majority vote of the minority 
    party members, for appointment by the committee to positions on the 
    clerical staff from among the number of clerks authorized by 
    subparagraph (1) of this paragraph. The committee shall appoint to 
    those positions any person so selected whose character and 
    qualifications are acceptable to a majority of the committee. If 
    the committee determines that the character and qualifications of 
    any person so selected are unacceptable to the committee, a 
    majority of the minority party members may select other persons for 
    appointment by the committee to the position involved on the 
    clerical staff until such appointment is made. Each clerk appointed 
    under this subparagraph shall handle committee correspondence and 
    stenographic work for the minority party members of the committee 
    and for any members of the professional staff appointed under 
    subparagraph (2) of paragraph (a) of this clause on matters related 
    to committee work.
        (3) Services of the clerical staff members of each standing 
    committee may be terminated by majority vote of the committee.
        (4) The foregoing provisions of this paragraph do not apply to 
    the Committee on Appropriations and to the Committee on the Budget.

    Paragraph 6(f),(5) as heretofore mentioned, addresses 
the problem of a request for the appointment of a minority professional 
or clerical staff member where no vacancy exists. The rule provides:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 5. Rule XI clause 6(f), House Rules and Manual Sec. 737 (1979).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        (f) If a request for the appointment of a minority professional 
    staff member under paragraph (a), or a minority clerical staff 
    member under paragraph (b), is made when no vacancy exists to which 
    that appointment may be made, the committee nevertheless shall 
    appoint, under paragraph (a) or paragraph (b), as applicable, the 
    person selected by the minority and acceptable to the committee. 
    The person so appointed shall serve as an additional member of the 
    professional staff or the clerical staff, as the case may be, of 
    the committee, and shall be paid from the contingent fund, until 
    such a vacancy (other than a vacancy in the position of head of the 
    professional staff, by whatever title designated) occurs, at which 
    time that person shall be deemed to have been appointed to that 
    vacancy. If such vacancy occurs on the professional staff when 
    seven or more persons have been so appointed who are eligible to 
    fill that vacancy, a majority of the minority party members shall 
    designate which of those persons shall fill that vacancy.

    Furthermore, paragraph (d) of clause 5 of Rule XI provides for 
appointment of subcommittee staff professionals in certain cases:

        From the funds provided for the appointment of committee staff 
    pursuant

[[Page 2662]]

    to primary and additional expense resolutions--
        (1) The chairman of each standing subcommittee of a standing 
    committee of the House is authorized to appoint one staff member 
    who shall serve at the pleasure of the subcommittee chairman.
        (2) The ranking minority party member of each standing 
    subcommittee on each standing committee of the House is authorized 
    to appoint one staff person who shall serve at the pleasure of the 
    ranking minority party member.

    Two other rules' provisions affect minority staff members. For one, 
they must be accorded equitable treatment with respect to the fixing of 
rate of pay, assignment of work facilities, and accessibility of 
committee records.(6) In addition, the provisions which 
allow a majority of the minority party to request certain minority 
staffing are expressly clarified to indicate that where the maximum 
number of minority professional and clerical staff allotted (i.e., six 
and four, respectively) has already been met, the minority is not 
entitled to any additional appointments.(7)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 6. Rule XI clause 6(g), House Rules and Manual Sec. 737 (1979).
 7. Rule XI clause 6(h), House Rules and Manual Sec. 737 (1979).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Committees, of course, are not obliged to appoint staff on the 
basis of partisan considerations. Upon an affirmative vote of the 
majority of the members of each party, they may choose to employ 
nonpartisan staff in lieu of or in addition to committee staff 
designated exclusively for the majority or minority 
party.(8)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 8. Rule XI clause 6(i), House Rules and Manual Sec. 738 (1979).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    As noted above, clause 5(d) of Rule XI removed the entitlement of 
one-third investigative funds for minority staff contained in House 
Resolution 988 (93d Cong. 2d Sess.), and substituted the provisions 
entitling the ranking minority member of each subcommittee to appoint 
one minority employee to be assigned and paid out of the statutory 
entitlement under clause 6 unless funded separately in an investigative 
resolution reported by the Committee on House Administration. The 
following resolution (H. Res. 237, 121 Cong. Rec. 5979, 94th Cong. 1st 
Sess., Mar. 11, 1975), reported by the Committee on House 
Administration, is typical of those providing for the appointment of 
investigative personnel:

        Resolved, That, effective January 3, 1975, the expenses of the 
    investigations and studies to be conducted by the Committee on 
    Merchant Marine and Fisheries, acting as a whole or by 
    subcommittee, not to exceed $477,500, including expenditures for 
    the employment of investigators, attorneys, individual consultants, 
    or organizations

[[Page 2663]]

    thereof, and clerical, stenographic, and other assistants, shall be 
    paid out of the contingent fund of the House on vouchers authorized 
    by such committee, signed by the chairman of such committee, and 
    approved by the Committee on House Administration. However, not to 
    exceed $100,000 of the amount provided by this resolution may be 
    used to procure the temporary or intermittent services of 
    individual consultants or organizations thereof pursuant to section 
    202 (i) of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (2 U.S.C. 
    72a(i)); but this monetary limitation on the procurement of such 
    services shall not prevent the use of such funds for any other 
    authorized purpose.
        Sec. 2. No part of the funds authorized by this resolution 
    shall be available for expenditure in connection with the study or 
    investigation of any subject which is being investigated for the 
    same purpose by any other committee of the House, and the chairman 
    of the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries shall furnish the 
    Committee on House Administration information with respect to any 
    study or investigation intended to be financed from such funds.

        Sec. 3. Funds authorized by this resolution shall be expended 
    pursuant to regulations established by the Committee on House 
    Administration under existing law.

    Salary considerations regarding committee staffers are set by 
clause 6(c) of Rule XI (9) which states that:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 9. Rule XI clause 6(c), House Rules and Manual Sec. 735 (1979).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Each employee on the professional staff, and each employee on 
    the clerical staff, of each standing committee, is entitled to pay 
    at a single per annum gross rate, to be fixed by the chairman, 
    which does not exceed the highest rate of basic pay, as in effect 
    from time to time, of level V of the Executive Schedule in section 
    5316 of Title 5, United States Code, except that two professional 
    staff members of each standing committee shall be entitled to pay 
    at a single per annum gross rate to be fixed by the chairman, which 
    does not exceed the highest rate of basic pay, as in effect from 
    time to time, of level IV of the Executive Schedule in section 5315 
    of Title 5, United States Code.

    It should be noted that no committee may appoint any experts or 
personnel detailed or assigned from any department or agency of the 
government, except with the written permission of the Committee on 
House Administration.(10)
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10. Rule XI clause 6(e), House Rules and Manual Sec. 737 (1979).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Finally, the lack of applicability to the Committees on 
Appropriations and on the Budget of the provisions regarding the 
numbers and party makeup of their staff has heretofore been noted. With 
respect to these specific committees, the rules provide: 
(11)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
11. Rule XI clause 6(d), House Rules and Manual Sec. 736 (1979). The 
        provision affecting the Committee on the Budget had been 
        omitted from the rule by H. Res. 988, 120 Cong. Rec. 34470, 93d 
        Cong. 2d Sess., but was reinserted by H. Res. 5, 121 Cong. Rec. 
        20, 94th Cong. 1st Sess., on Jan. 14, 1975.

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[[Page 2664]]

        Subject to appropriations hereby authorized, the Committee on 
    Appropriations and the Committee on the Budget may appoint such 
    staff, in addition to the clerk thereof and assistants for the 
    minority, as it determines by majority vote to be necessary, such 
    personnel, other than minority assistants, to possess such 
    qualifications as the committee may 
    prescribe.

                          -------------------

Resolutions Authorizing Committee Approval of Continued Employment in 
    New Congress

Sec. 13.1 Authorization for committees to approve employment and 
    compensation of employees held over from a previous Congress was 
    provided for by resolution.

    On Jan. 3, 1961,(12) Speaker Sam Rayburn, of Texas, 
recognized Majority Leader John W. McCormack, of Massachusetts, who 
offered a resolution by unanimous consent:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
12. 107 Cong. Rec. 27, 87th Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Mr. Speaker, I offer a resolution (H. Res. 16) and ask for its 
    immediate consideration.
        The Clerk read the resolution as follows:

            Resolved, That standing committees of the House shall have 
        authority to approve the employment and compensation of 
        committee employees (other than special and select committee 
        employees) from the effective date of the beginning of each 
        Congress, or such subsequent date as their service commenced.

    The resolution was agreed to.(13)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
13. For a similar instance, see 105 Cong. Rec. 16, 86th Cong. 1st 
        Sess., Jan. 7, 1959.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sec. 13.2 Doubt having been expressed as to the House's legal authority 
    to compensate committee employees held over from the 82d Congress 
    prior to the election of the standing committees of the 83d 
    Congress, the House adopted a resolution authorizing its standing 
    committees to approve the employment and compensation of committee 
    employees.

    On Jan. 22, 1953,(14) Speaker Joseph W. Martin, Jr., of 
Massachusetts, recognized Majority Leader Charles A. Halleck, of 
Indiana, who offered the following resolution (H. Res. 107) and asked 
for its immediate consideration:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
14. 99 Cong. Rec. 498, 83d Cong. 1st Sess.
            The Congressional Record and the House Journal (p. 126) 
        indicate that this resolution was called up as privileged, 
        although not reported by committee.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Resolved, That standing committees of the House shall have 
    authority to

[[Page 2665]]

    approve the employment and compensation of committee employees from 
    January 3, 1953, or such subsequent date as their service 
    commenced.

    The resolution was then agreed to.(15)
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15. See the Parliamentarian's Note at Sec. 13.3, infra.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Parliamentarian's Note: Mr. Clare E. Hoffman, of Michigan, sought 
to have the House consider a more detailed resolution (H. Res. 108) 
(16) regarding ``holdover'' committee employees, and had 
obtained consent from the House to speak for five minutes on the 
subject. House Resolution 107, however, was agreed to prior to the 
Chair's recognition of Mr. Hoffman; so he did not offer his 
resolution.(17)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
16. 99 Cong. Rec. 500, 83d Cong. 1st Sess.
17. For an insight into the legal views of the Comptroller General's 
        Office regarding the ``holdover'' employee issue, see id. at p. 
        501.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sec. 13.3 The House has approved a resolution authorizing committees to 
    approve the employment and compensation of employees held over from 
    the previous Congress until committees were elected in the new 
    Congress.

    On Jan. 3, 1957,(18) Speaker Sam Rayburn, of Texas, 
recognized Majority Leader John W. McCormack, of Massachusetts, who 
offered the following resolution (H. Res. 13):
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
18. 103 Cong. Rec. 50, 85th Cong. 1st Sess.
            The Congressional Record and the House Journal (p. 18) 
        indicate that this resolution was called up as privileged, 
        although not reported by committee.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Resolved, That standing committees of the House shall have 
    authority to approve the employment and compensation of committee 
    employees from January 3, 1957, or such subsequent date as their 
    service commenced.

    Immediately thereafter, the resolution was agreed 
to.(19)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
19. A similar resolution was approved in the preceding Congress, see 
        101 Cong. Rec. 13, 84th Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 5, 1955.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Parliamentarian's Note: Under modern practice, ``continuing 
resolutions'' for committee investigative staff are considered by 
unanimous consent unless reported from the Committee on House 
Administration (see detailed discussion at footnote 20 in the 
introduction to section 4, ``Committee Expenses; Use of Contingent 
Fund,'' supra).

Use of Contingent Fund to Compensate Investigative Personnel Pending 
    Separate Funding Resolutions for Each Committee

Sec. 13.4 The House agreed to a privileged resolution pro

[[Page 2666]]

    viding for payment out of the contingent fund of amounts necessary 
    to compensate investigative personnel of House committees pending 
    the adoption of resolutions authorizing the reconstitution of such 
    investigative committees in the 89th Congress.

    On Jan. 28, 1965,(20) by direction of the Committee on 
House Administration, Mr. Samuel N. Friedel, of Maryland, called up the 
following privileged resolution (H. Res. 146):
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
20. 111 Cong. Rec. 1427, 89th Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Resolved, That there shall be paid out of the contingent fund 
    of the House of Representatives such sums as may be necessary to 
    pay the compensation for services performed during the thirty-day 
    period beginning January 3, 1965, by each person (1) who, on 
    January 2, 1965, was employed by any standing committee or any 
    select committee of the Eighty-eighth Congress and whose salary was 
    paid under authority of a House resolution adopted during the 
    Eighty-eighth Congress, and (2) who is certified by the chairman of 
    the appropriate committee as performing such services for such 
    committee during such thirty-day period. Such compensation shall be 
    paid such person at a rate not to exceed the rate he was receiving 
    on January 2, 1965.

    The resolution was agreed to immediately.
    Parliamentarian's Note: While House Resolution 146 is more broadly 
worded than its purpose would require, the resolution was intended to 
cover only the committees' investigative staffs, since funds for the 
payment of the standing committees' professional and clerical personnel 
are carried in the annual legislative appropriation acts. Thus, there 
is no gap in the payment of these individuals' salaries once the rules 
are adopted and the committees established in a new Congress and their 
continued employment approved by those committees at their 
organizational meetings in accordance with Rule XI clause 6. The 
salaries of investigative personnel, on the other hand, are dependent 
upon the passage of resolutions authorizing the committees to make 
investigations and providing funds therefor.

Sec. 13.5 A resolution not formally reported by the Committee on House 
    Administration, providing for payment from the contingent fund of 
    salaries of investigative personnel of standing and select 
    committees for a three-month period (pending adoption of annual 
    committee funding resolutions) was called up by unanimous consent 
    and agreed to.

[[Page 2667]]

    On Jan. 15, 1973,(21) Wayne L. Hays, of Ohio, Chairman 
of the Committee on House Administration, offered the following 
resolution (H. Res. 130), and sought unanimous consent to have it 
considered immediately:
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21. 119 Cong. Rec. 1057, 93d Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Resolved, That there shall be paid out of the contingent fund 
    of the House of Representatives for the period beginning January 3, 
    1973, and ending at the close of March 31, 1973, such sums as may 
    be necessary for the continuance of the same necessary projects, 
    activities, operations, and services, by contract or otherwise 
    (including payment of staff salaries for services performed). and 
    for the accomplishment of the same necessary purposes, undertaken 
    by each standing or select committee of the House in the calendar 
    year 1972 on the same basis and at not to exceed the same rates 
    utilized in 1972. Payments of salary for services performed in the 
    period beginning January 3, 1973, and ending at the close of March 
    31, 1973, shall be made to each person--
        (1) (A) who, on January 2, 1973, was employed by a standing or 
    select committee in the Ninety-second Congress and whose salary was 
    paid under authority of a House resolution adopted in that Congress 
    or (B) who was appointed after January 2, 1973, to fill a vacancy, 
    existing on or occurring after that date, in a position created 
    under authority of such House resolution; and
        (2) who is certified by the chairman of such committee as 
    performing such services for such committee in such period.
    Such salary shall be paid to such person at a rate not to exceed 
    the rate he was receiving on January 2, 1973 (or, in the case of a 
    person appointed after January 2, 1973, to fill any such vacancy, 
    not to exceed the rate applicable on January 2, 1973, to the vacant 
    position), plus any increase in his rate of salary which may have 
    been granted for periods on and after January 3, 1973, pursuant to 
    section 5 of the Federal Pay Comparability Act of 1970.

        Sec. 2. Funds authorized by this resolution shall be expended 
    pursuant to regulations established by the Committee on House 
    Administration in accordance with law.

    Mr. H. R. Gross, of Iowa, cast light on the purpose and effect of 
House Resolution 130 in the course of the following exchange: 
(1)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Id. at pp. 1057, 1058.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Mr. Gross: . . . I understand that this is an interim 
    resolution which would expire effective as of March 31.
        Mr. Hays: This is a resolution, if not identical, certainly 
    similar to other resolutions that we introduced at the beginning of 
    Congress to allow committee staffs to be paid until such time as 
    committee chairmen and the ranking members have had a chance to 
    appear before the Accounts Subcommittee on House Administration and 
    justify appropriation, which would then be brought to the floor of 
    the House.
        Mr. Gross: Do I understand that while vacancies on committee 
    staffs

[[Page 2668]]

    may be filled during the interim period, it is not the intention of 
    the Committee on House Administration in bringing this resolution 
    to the floor that committee staffs be augmented or increased 
    pending the submission of justifications for committee staffs?
        Mr. Hays: The gentleman is exactly right. They can fill 
    vacancies but not add to. I might go further and state that in the 
    case of select committees these will not apply until they have been 
    reconstituted by, first, the Committee on Rules and then brought 
    before the House to be reconstituted.
        It is my understanding some of them may be reconstituted very 
    shortly. In that case this will cover them on the same prorated 
    basis as they had in the previous Congress.

    Parliamentarian's Note: Mr. Hays was obliged to offer the 
resolution by unanimous consent inasmuch as the Committee on House 
Administration had not been elected and therefore had not formally met 
and ordered the resolution reported.

Resolutions Effecting Temporary Staff Salary Payments From Contingent 
    Fund During Second Session

Sec. 13.6 A resolution providing for the payment from the contingent 
    fund of salaries of committee personnel, pending adoption of the 
    regular committee funding resolutions, is reported and called up as 
    privileged by the Committee on House Administration.

    On Jan. 27, 1972,(2) by direction of the Committee on 
House Administration, Mr. Frank Thompson, Jr., of New Jersey, called up 
and obtained immediate consideration of the following privileged 
resolution (H. Res. 769):
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 2. 118 Cong. Rec. 1532, 92d Cong. 2d Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Resolved, That there shall be paid out of the contingent fund 
    of the House of Representatives such sums as may be necessary to 
    pay the compensation for services performed during the period 
    beginning January 3, 1972, and ending at the close of January 31, 
    1972, by each person (1) who, on January 2, 1972, was employed by a 
    standing committee or any select committee of the Ninety-second 
    Congress and whose salary was paid under authority of a House 
    resolution adopted during the Ninety-second Congress, or who was 
    appointed after January 2, 1972, to fill an existing vacancy or a 
    vacancy occurring subsequent to January 2, 1972, and (2) who is 
    certified by the chairman of the appropriate committee as 
    performing such services for such committee during such period.

    As Mr. Thompson explained, the purpose of the resolution was to 
allow all of the committees of the House to expend moneys at the level 
which the House authorized them to spend during the previous year for a 
period of one month.

[[Page 2669]]

Thus, committee chairmen would have time to prepare their budgets for 
the coming year while the Subcommittee on Accounts [of the Committee on 
House Administration] would have an opportunity to schedule hearings on 
the committee's budgetary needs for 1972.(3)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3. For a similar example, see H. Res. 96 at 115 Cong. Rec. 1075, 91st 
        Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 16, 1969.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Parliamentarian's Note: The rules provide (4) that 
certain committees ``shall have leave to report at any time'' on 
certain matters. The Committee on House Administration enjoys such a 
privilege regarding ``all matters of expenditure of the contingent fund 
of the House [among other subjects].''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4. H. Jour. 1602, 92d Cong. 2d Sess. (1972); see also Rule XI clause 
        4(a), House Rules and Manual Sec. 726 (1979).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sec. 13.7 A resolution from the Committee on House Administration, 
    providing for payment from the contingent fund of salaries of 
    investigative personnel of standing and select committees for a 
    three-month period (pending adoption of annual committee funding 
    resolutions) is reported and called up as privileged.

    On Jan. 26, 1971,(5) Wayne L. Hays, of Ohio, Chairman of 
the Committee on House Administration, submitted a privileged report 
(6) on the following resolution (H. Res. 17), as to which he 
obtained immediate consideration:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 5. 117 Cong. Rec. 480, 92d Cong. 1st Sess.
 6. In the 92d Congress, the three-day layover rule on committee 
        reports was not applicable to the Committee on House 
        Administration [Rule XI clause 27(d)(4), House Rules and Manual 
        Sec. 735 (1971)]. The one-day rule in clause 32 was not 
        applicable to a resolution of this type, it not being a primary 
        funding resolution.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Resolved, That there shall be paid out of the contingent fund 
    of the House of Representatives such sums as may be necessary to 
    pay the salary for services performed in the period beginning 
    January 3, 1971, and ending at the close of March 31, 1971, by each 
    person--
        (1)(A) who, on January 2, 1971, was employed by a standing or 
    select committee in the Ninety-first Congress and whose salary was 
    paid under authority of a House resolution adopted in that Congress 
    or (B) who was appointed after January 2, 1971, to fill a vacancy, 
    existing on or occurring after that date, in a position created 
    under authority of such House resolution; and
        (2) who is certified by the chairman of such committee as 
    performing such services for such committee in such period.
    Such salary shall be paid to such person at a rate not to exceed 
    the rate he

[[Page 2670]]

    was receiving on January 2, 1971 (or, in the case of a person 
    appointed after January 2, 1971, to fill any such vacancy, not to 
    exceed the rate applicable on January 2, 1971, to the vacant 
    position), plus any increase in his rate of salary which may have 
    been granted for periods on and after February 1, 1971, pursuant to 
    section 5 of the Federal Pay Comparability Act of 
    1970.(7)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 7. For an explanation of why H. Res. 17 and similar resolutions would 
        pertain solely to the salary needs of committees' investigative 
        personnel, see the Parliamentarian's Note to Sec. 13.4, supra.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Parliamentarian's Note: The privileged status of the resolution (H. 
Res. 17) in the instant case was derived directly from the rules. For 
more than 150 years,(8) House rules have granted privilege 
to certain reports of specified committees. In 1971, the Committee on 
House Administration had ``leave to report at any time on . . . all 
matters of expenditure of the contingent fund of the House,'' 
(9) among other subjects.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 8. See House Rules and Manual Sec. 727 (1973).
 9. H. Jour. 1656, 92d Cong. 1st Sess. (1971); see also Rule XI clause 
        4(a), House Rules and Manual Sec. 726 (1979).
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Sec. 13.8 A resolution providing for payment for two months from the 
    contingent fund of salaries of staff of a select committee of the 
    previous Congress pending possible reconstitution of that committee 
    is reported and called up as privileged by the Committee on House 
    Administration.

    On Feb. 7, 1973,(10) Wayne L. Hays, of Ohio, Chairman of 
the Committee on House Administration, called up, by direction of that 
committee, the following privileged resolution (H. Res. 195):
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
10. 119 Cong. Rec. 3678, 93d Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Resolved, That there shall be paid out of the contingent fund 
    of the House of Representatives such sums as may be necessary to 
    pay the salary, for services performed in the period beginning 
    January 3, 1973, and ending at the close of February 28, 1973, of 
    each person performing such services who is certified by that 
    Member who was Chairman of the Select Committee on Crime in the 
    Ninety-second Congress as being on the staff of that committee on 
    January 2, 1973. Such salary shall be paid to each such person at a 
    rate not to exceed the rate he was receiving on January 2, 1973, 
    plus any increase in his rate of salary which may have been granted 
    for periods on and after January 3, 1973, pursuant to section 5 of 
    the Federal Pay Comparability Act of 1970.
        Sec. 2. Funds authorized by this resolution shall be expended 
    pursuant to regulations established by the Committee on House 
    Administration in accordance with law.(11)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
11. See the Parliamentarian's Note to Sec. 13.6, supra, regarding the 
        privileged nature of such resolutions.

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[[Page 2671]]

    In the course of the ensuing discussion, Minority Leader Gerald R. 
Ford, of Michigan, initiated an exchange with Mr. Hays which pinpointed 
the intent of the proposal:

        Do I understand the gentleman to say that this is a temporary 
    expedient as far as he is concerned, that this is a very unusual 
    situation where the committee actually went out of existence with 
    the termination of the last Congress, and this Congress has taken 
    no affirmative action to extend its life?
        Mr. Hays: That is correct. I am told that there is a good deal 
    of hardship since the staff was not told that its tenure was over. 
    This is an attempt to pay them after the 3d of January, and allow 
    them to terminate in an orderly fashion this month unless the House 
    in its wisdom decides to reconstitute that committee.

Authorizing Staff of Expired Committee to Compile Report

Sec. 13.9 The House by unanimous consent considered and adopted a 
    resolution authorizing designated staff members of the Select 
    Committee on Research and Development (which expired with the 88th 
    Congress) to compile in the 89th Congress a summary report of the 
    work of the committee, authorizing funds for the payment of the 
    personnel (out of the contingent fund of the House), and giving the 
    Committee on House Administration certain supervisory 
    responsibilities over the personnel so employed.

    On Jan. 7, 1965,(12) Speaker John W. McCormack, of 
Massachusetts, recognized Mr. Richard Bolling, of Missouri, who 
thereupon sought unanimous consent for the immediate consideration of 
House Resolution 87. The resolution read as follows:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
12. 111 Cong. Rec. 411, 89th Cong. 1st Sess.
            The resolution was called up by unanimous consent, since 
        the Committee on House Administration had not been constituted.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Resolved, That, during the period beginning January 3, 1965, 
    and ending February 28, 1965, inclusive, there shall be paid out of 
    the contingent fund of the House of Representatives on vouchers 
    approved by the Committee on House Administration such sums as may 
    be necessary to pay the compensation and other expenses of 
    assimilating data, compiling a summary report which shall be 
    printed as part II of House Report Numbered 1941 of the Eighty-
    eighth Congress, and otherwise closing the work of the Select 
    Committee on Government Research established under authority of 
    House Resolution 504, as amended, of the Eighty-eighth Congress. 
    Such work shall be completed by the following persons under the 
    direction of the Committee on House Administration, and they shall 
    receive compensation at

[[Page 2672]]

    the basic rate set forth following their name: Robert L. Hopper, 
    staff director, $8,835; Stephen P. Strickland, chief clerk, $6,600; 
    Edward T. Fogo, staff assistant, $6,600; Harry L. Selden, editor, 
    $6,600; Russell Saville, staff assistant, $4,020; Rowena G. 
    Lovette, administrative assistant, $3,780; Catherine S. Cash, 
    secretary, $2,940.
        The Committee on House Administration is authorized to employ a 
    substitute for any such person not available to serve.

    Reserving the right to object, Mr. Clarence J. Brown, of Ohio, 
pointed out that the Select Committee on Government Research had ``died 
with the 88th Congress at noon on January 4. . . .'' (13) He 
additionally stated that: (14)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
13. For the original resolution creating what was then known as the 
        Select Committee on Research and Development, see Sec. 5.2, 
        supra.
14. 111 Cong. Rec. 411, 412, 89th Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        . . . What this resolution really does, if adopted, is to 
    permit the Committee on House Administration to spend some, $16,000 
    or $18,000 I believe to conclude the work of mailing out the final 
    reports of the select committee, itself, to the various 
    universities and colleges of the country, and to the research 
    organizations that are very much interested in it, during January 
    and February, only. Also, I understand that the select committee . 
    . . has turned back to the contingent funds of the House, under the 
    jurisdiction of the Committee on House Administration, some 
    $250,000, from which these particular funds would be taken to 
    maintain this small staff in order to wrap up, or to conclude, the 
    work of the select committee and to send out the final reports. Is 
    that correct?

    Mr. Bolling replying in the affirmative, discussion proceeded 
briefly, after which the Speaker inquired as to whether there was any 
objection to the unanimous-consent request. No objection was heard, and 
the resolution was agreed to.