[Deschler's Precedents, Volume 4, Chapters 15 - 17]
[Chapter 17. Committees]
[C. Committee Procedure]
[Â§ 19. Disposition of Committee Documents, Evidence, and Files]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[Page 2718-2723]
 
                               CHAPTER 17
 
                               Committees
 
                         C. COMMITTEE PROCEDURE
 
Sec. 19. Disposition of Committee Documents, Evidence, and Files

After Adjournment

Sec. 19.1 All documents referred to a committee, together with evidence 
    taken by the committee, must under House rules be delivered to the 
    Clerk of the House within three days after the final adjournment of 
    Congress.

    Shortly before the adjournment of the 78th Congress on Dec. 16, 
1944,(12) Mr. Joseph W. Martin, Jr., of Massachusetts, 
expressed concern over the disposition of the information accumulated 
by the so-called Dies committee; this committee, barring congressional 
action, was due to expire on Jan. 3, 1945. Formally known as the 
Special Committee on Un-American Activities, it had been created in the 
previous decade to investigate subversive activities and was continued 
annually by House resolution.
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12. 90 Cong. Rec. 9621, 78th Cong. 2d Sess.
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        Mr. Martin of Massachusetts: Mr. Speaker, a parliamentary 
    inquiry.
        The Speaker: (13) The gentleman will state it.
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13. Sam Rayburn (Tex.).
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        Mr. Martin of Massachusetts: Mr. Speaker, on January 3, unless 
    the

[[Page 2719]]

    House takes some other action, the so-called Dies committee will 
    expire. There is a growing concern all over the country that the 
    papers and information that the committee has gathered during its 
    years of investigation shall be adequately protected and that they 
    shall be available for public use. My inquiry is, What is the 
    procedure by which these papers will be disposed of if the life of 
    this committee is not renewed?
        The Speaker: The Chair will read rule XXXVII:

            Clerks of the several committees of the House shall, within 
        3 days after the final adjournment of a Congress, deliver to 
        the Clerk of the House all bills, joint resolutions, petitions, 
        and other papers referred to the committee, together with all 
        evidence taken by such committee under the order of the House; 
        and in the event of the failure or neglect of any clerk of a 
        committee to comply with this rule the Clerk of the House 
        shall, within 3 days thereafter, take into his keeping all such 
        papers and testimony.

        The Chair would hold that under the rule just read the 
    documents of the so-called Dies committee are in the control of 
    that committee and the House until 3 days after the 3d day of 
    January next.
        Mr. Martin of Massachusetts: That would permit the House, if it 
    so desired, to make any arrangement that it might make when we 
    return here on January 3?
        The Speaker: The gentleman is correct, and the Chair will 
    assure the gentleman and the House that nothing but that will 
    happen between now and the 3d of January.
        Mr. Martin of Massachusetts: I thank the Speaker.

Where Term of Special Committee Expires

Sec. 19.2 Unless otherwise provided by order of the House, when the 
    term of a special investigating committee expires, its records are 
    delivered to the Clerk of the House and not to a newly elected 
    standing committee created for the same purpose as the special 
    committee.

    On Jan. 3, 1945,(14~) the House having under 
consideration a resolution (H. Res. 5), providing that the rules of the 
78th Congress be adopted as the rules of the 79th Congress, Mr. John E. 
Rankin, of Mississippi, offered an amendment to the resolution 
providing for the creation of a permanent standing committee, to be 
known as the Committee on Un-American Activities. As Mr. Rankin 
explained:
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14. 91 Cong. Rec. 10, 79th Cong. 1st Sess.
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        Mr. Speaker, the object of this amendment is to extend the life 
    of the Committee on Un-American Activities, usually referred to as 
    the Dies committee, and to make it one of the standing committees 
    of the House. . . .
        . . . I submit it is no time to destroy the records of that 
    committee, it is no time to relax our vigilance. We should carry on 
    in the regular way and keep

[[Page 2720]]

    this committee intact, and above all things, save those records.

    The term of the Dies committee, whose formal name was the Special 
Committee on Un-American Activities, did not extend into the 79th 
Congress. Much concern was voiced by several Members regarding the 
prospective treatment of that committee's records and files. After the 
previous question was ordered on the Rankin amendment,(15) 
Mr. Francis H. Case, of South Dakota, initiated the following exchange 
with the Chair in the course of a parliamentary inquiry:
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15. 91 Cong. Rec. 14, 79th Cong. 1st Sess.
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        . . . What is the status of the records of the Dies committee 
    at the present time and what will be their status if this amendment 
    should be adopted?
        The Speaker: (16) This amendment does not change the 
    status of the papers of the Dies committee at all, unless further 
    action of the House is taken. For the information of the House the 
    Chair will read two rules.
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16. Sam Rayburn (Tex.).
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        First:

                          Rule XXXVII (17)
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17. Though the language remains unchanged, this rule has been 
        renumbered; see Rule XXXVI clause 1, House Rules and Manual 
        Sec. 932 (1979).
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                                     papers

            The clerks of the several committees of the House shall, 
        within 3 days after the final adjournment of a Congress, 
        deliver to the Clerk of the House all bills, joint resolutions, 
        petitions, and other papers referred to the committee, together 
        with all evidence taken by such committee under the order of 
        the House during the said Congress and not reported to the 
        House; and in the event of the failure or neglect of any clerk 
        of a committee to comply with this rule the Clerk of the House 
        shall, within 3 days thereafter, take into his keeping all such 
        papers and testimony.

        Also:

                          Rule XXXVIII (18)
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18. Though the language remains unchanged, this rule has been 
        renumbered; see Rule XXXVII, House Rules and Manual Sec. 933 
        (1979).
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                              withdrawal of papers

            No memorial or other paper presented to the House shall be 
        withdrawn from its files without its leave, and if withdrawn 
        therefrom certified copies thereof shall be left in the office 
        of the Clerk; but when an act may pass for the settlement of a 
        claim, the Clerk is authorized to transmit to the officer in 
        charge with the settlement thereof the papers on file in his 
        office relating to such claim, or may loan temporarily to an 
        officer or bureau of the executive departments any papers on 
        file in his office relating to any matter pending before such 
        office or bureau, taking proper receipt therefor.

        Those are the rules of the House. The law provides in title II, 
    United States Code, section 147,(19) as follows:
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19. Section 147 of title II of the United States Code was repealed on 
        Oct. 25, 1951. The present procedure, as governed by 44 USC 
        Sec. Sec. 2104, 2114, directs the Clerk to forward committee 
        records to the General Services Administration for 
        preservation, unless otherwise ordered by the House. See 
        Sec. 19.4. infra, for an instance in which the House authorized 
        making available for use certain records at the National 
        Archives.

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[[Page 2721]]

            The Clerk of the House of Representatives is authorized and 
        directed to deliver to the Librarian of Congress all bound 
        volumes of original papers, general petitions, printed matter, 
        books, and manuscripts. . . .

        The majority leader of the House, with the minority leader and 
    myself, held a conference about these papers and it was decided 
    that they would remain in the committee until today, and be 
    transferred as the rules and law provide unless the House should 
    take further action. So far as the preservation of the papers is 
    concerned, they are in the custody of the Clerk of the House. The 
    Clerk of the House is a sworn officer and he knows his duty.

Transfer of Records Between Select and Standing Committees

Sec. 19.3 The House adopted a resolution providing that the records and 
    files of a select committee be held intact and turned over to a 
    newly created standing committee with similar jurisdiction.

    On Jan. 4, 1945,(20) Mr. John E. Rankin, of Mississippi, 
sought unanimous consent for the immediate consideration of the 
following resolution (H. Res. 46):
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20. 91 Cong. Rec. 35, 79th Cong. 1st Sess.
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        Resolved, That the records and files of the former Committee on 
    Un-American Activities (1) be held intact in the rooms 
    formerly occupied by the said Committee on Un-American Activities 
    and turned over to the newly created Committee on Un-American 
    Activities.
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 1. This was the Special Committee on Un-American Activities, also 
        known by the name of its chairman as the Dies committee.
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    Reserving the right to object, Mr. John J. Cochran, of Missouri, 
was concerned with whether the proposed resolution might be violative 
of the duties imposed by statute (2) on the Clerk of the 
House. The following exchange ensued:
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 2. Under the Printing and Binding Act (Act of Jan. 12, 1895, ch. 23, 
        28 Stat. 601) records and files of former committees were sent 
        by the Clerk to the Library of Congress. Under 44 USC 
        Sec. 2114, the Clerk would now transfer such material to the 
        General Services Administration in the absence of any other 
        directive from the House.
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        Mr. Cochran: . . . [W]hile I have absolutely no objection, I 
    want to ask the gentleman from Mississippi [Mr. Rankin] whether he 
    has carefully read the statutes, not the Rules of the House, to see 
    if this is in any way in conflict with the statute.
        Mr. Rankin: It is not in conflict with the statute.
        Mr. Cochran: Is the gentleman sure of that?

[[Page 2722]]

        Mr. Rankin: Well, I have not read all the statutes of the 
    United States, but I have read the statute and the rules concerning 
    this proposition. This is within the power of the Congress, and it 
    is the duty of the Congress. As far as that is concerned, it is a 
    privileged resolution.
        Mr. Cochran: The statute provides that the Clerk of the House 
    shall place in the Library of Congress certain files.
        Mr. Rankin: I understand; but that is in the absence of any 
    action by the House of Representatives. If this action is taken it 
    will amount to a mandate that will be carried out.
        Mr. Cochran: Mr. Speaker, I withdraw my reservation of 
    objection.

    There being no objection, the resolution was considered and agreed 
to, shortly thereafter.

Making Available Certain Records at the National Archives

Sec. 19.4 In the 83d Congress, the House agreed to a resolution 
    authorizing the Clerk of the House to permit the Administrator of 
    General Services to make available for use certain records of the 
    House in the National Archives.

    On June 16, 1953,(3) by direction of the Committee on 
Rules, Mr. Karl M. LeCompte, of Iowa, offered the following privileged 
resolution (H. Res. 288), and asked for its immediate consideration:
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 3. 99 Cong. Rec. 6641, 83d Cong. 1st Sess.
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        Resolved, That the Clerk of the House is authorized to permit 
    the Administrator of General Services to make available for use--
        (1) any records of the House of Representatives, transferred to 
    the National Archives, which have been in existence for not less 
    than 50 years, except when he determines that the use of such 
    records would be detrimental to the public interest; and
        (2) any records of the House of Representatives, transferred to 
    the National Archives, which have previously been made public.
        Sec. 2. Such permission may continue so long as it is 
    consistent with the rights and privileges of the House of 
    Representatives.

    Immediately thereafter, the resolution was agreed to.
    Parliamentarian's Note: This resolution, though never enacted into 
permanent law, has served as guidance to the Clerk in subsequent 
Congresses to permit access to noncurrent papers in the Archives. 
Papers not 50 years old can only be retrieved by action of committees 
for committee use or by order of the House.

Transfer of Evidence to Department of Justice

Sec. 19.5 The House agreed to a resolution authorizing and directing 
    the Committee on

[[Page 2723]]

    Un-American Activities, upon the request of the Department of 
    Justice, to transfer to the latter's custody certain strips of film 
    and metal containers to be presented as evidence in a criminal 
    proceeding. The material had been obtained by the committee in the 
    course of an investigation.

    On May 10, 1949,(4) Mr. John S. Wood, of Georgia, called 
up and asked unanimous consent for the immediate consideration of the 
following resolution (H. Res. 209):
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 4. 95 Cong. Rec. 5978, 81st Cong. 1st Sess.
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        Resolved, That the Committee on Un-American Activities is 
    authorized and directed, upon requisition of the Department of 
    Justice, to transfer to its custody for presentation as evidence in 
    the Government case, United States v. Alger Hiss, five strips of 
    35-millimeter film and three metal containers uncovered by said 
    committee during the Eightieth Congress, such film commonly known 
    as the ``pumpkin film.''

    Shortly thereafter, the resolution was agreed to.