[Deschler's Precedents, Volume 4, Chapters 15 - 17]
[Chapter 17. Committees]
[D. Jurisdiction of Committees]
[Â§ 39. Committee on House Administration]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[Page 2893-2905]
 
                               CHAPTER 17
 
                               Committees
 
                         C. COMMITTEE PROCEDURE
 
Sec. 39. Committee on House Administration

    Owing its creation to the Legislative Reorganization Act of 
1946,(8) the Committee on House Administration was assigned 
jurisdiction formerly accorded the six standing Committees on 
Elections,(9) Accounts, and Memorials,
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 8. 60 Stat. 812.
 9. At one time, there were four standing Committees on Elections. The 
        original Committee on Elections was established in the early 
        days of the first Congress and subsequently divided into three 
        committees about a century later [4 Hinds' Precedents 
        Sec. 4019], because of a demanding workload; concerned 
        exclusively with matters pertaining to the election of Members, 
        the three committees historically dealt with the adjudication 
        of election contests. The Committee on Election of [The] 
        President, Vice President, and Representatives in Congress 
        became a standing committee in 1893 [id. at Sec. 4299], and 
        reported bills on such subjects as the direct election of 
        Senators [id. at Sec. 4300], the necessary and proper expenses 
        of candidates for the House and the Senate [id. at Sec. 4301], 
        and the time and manner of holding federal elections.
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[[Page 2894]]

as well as the four Joint Committees on the Library, Printing, Enrolled 
Bills, and the Disposition of Executive Papers.

    In 1973, the committee maintained eight subcommittees of which the 
principal four were the Subcommittees on Accounts, Elections, Library 
and Memorials, and Printing. The remaining four Subcommittees on 
Electrical and Mechanical Office Equipment, Contracts, Police, and 
Personnel were regarded as special (10) subcommittees.
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10. The ``special'' subcommittees were largely nonlegislative, met 
        infrequently, and were concerned principally with the 
        administrative functions assigned to the Committee on House 
        Administration.
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    The jurisdiction of the Committee on House Administration pursuant 
to the 1973 rules (11) read as follows:
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11. Rule XI clause 9, House Rules and Manual Sec. 693 (1973). See Rule 
        X clause 1(j), House Rules and Manual Sec. 679 (1979).
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        (a) Appropriations from the contingent fund.
        (b) Auditing and settling of all accounts which may be charged 
    to the contingent fund.
        (c) Employment of persons by the House, including clerks for 
    Members and committees, and reporters of debates.
        (d) Except as provided in clause 16(d),(12) matters 
    relating to the Library of Congress and the House Library; statuary 
    and pictures; acceptance or purchase of works of art for the 
    Capitol; the Botanic Garden; management of the Library of Congress; 
    purchase of books and manuscripts; erection of monuments to the 
    memory of individuals.
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12. In 1973, Rule XI clause 16(d) [Rule X clause 1(p)(4), House Rules 
        and Manual Sec. 685 (1979)] referred to the jurisdiction of the 
        Committee on Public Works as consisting of ``measures relating 
        to the construction or reconstruction, maintenance, and care of 
        the buildings and grounds of the Botanic Gardens, the Library 
        of Congress, and the Smithsonian Institute.''
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        (e) Except as provided in clause 16(d), matters relating to the 
    Smithsonian Institution and the incorporation of similar 
    institutions.
        (f) Expenditure of contingent fund of the House.
        (g) Matters relating to printing and correction of the 
    Congressional Record.
        (h) Measures relating to accounts of the House generally.
        (i) Measures relating to assignment of office space for Members 
    and committees.
        (j) Measures relating to the disposition of useless executive 
    papers.
        (k) Measures relating to the election of the President, Vice 
    President, or Members of Congress; corrupt prac

[[Page 2895]]

    tices; contested elections; credentials and qualifications; and 
    Federal elections generally.
        (l) Measures relating to services to the House, including the 
    House Restaurant and administration of the House Office Buildings 
    and of the House wing of the Capitol.
        (m) Measures relating to the travel of Members of the House.
        (n) Such committee shall also have the duty of--
        (1) arranging a suitable program for each day observed by the 
    House of Representatives as a memorial day in memory of Members of 
    the Senate and House of Representatives who have died during the 
    preceding period, and to arrange for the publication of the 
    proceedings thereof;
        (2) examining all bills, amendments, and joint resolutions 
    after passage by the House; and in cooperation with the Senate, of 
    examining all bills and joint resolutions which shall have passed 
    both Houses, to see that they are correctly enrolled; 
    (13) and when signed by the Speaker of the House and the 
    President of the Senate, shall forthwith present the same, when 
    they shall have originated in the House, to the President of the 
    United States in person, and report the fact and date of such 
    presentation to the House;
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13. Enrollment is the procedure by which a bill passed in identical 
        form by both houses is printed on parchment, and certified to 
        by the appropriate officer of the body of origin (i.e., the 
        Clerk of the House or the Secretary of the Senate). The 
        enrolled bill is signed first by the Speaker of the House, then 
        by the President of the Senate, and into law by the President 
        of the United States.
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        (3) reporting to the Sergeant at Arms of the House the travel 
    of Members of the House.

    As the precedents reveal, the jurisdiction of the committee and of 
its predecessors has also extended to such subjects as the printing of 
pamphlets explaining House operations,(14) the announcement 
of personnel policies affecting House employees,(15) the 
fixing of pay rates for employees of the Government Printing 
Office,(16) the provision of wiretap checks on Members' 
telephones,(17) and the designation of a national 
flower.(18)
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14. Sec. 39.8, infra.
15. Sec. 39.7, infra.
16. Sec. 39.6, infra.
17. Sec. 39.9, infra.
18. Sec. 39.5, infra.
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    Under the Committee Reform Amendments of 1974, the Committee on 
House Administration obtained jurisdiction over parking facilities of 
the House, and the additional duty of providing through the House 
Information Systems a scheduling service to eliminate committee 
scheduling conflicts (Rule X clause 4(d)(3), House Rules and Manual 
Sec. 697 (1979),(19) but was relieved of the duty to arrange 
memorial services for Members.
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19. H. Res. 988, 120 Cong. Rec. 34447-70, 93d Cong. 2d Sess., Oct. 8, 
        1974, effective Jan. 3, 1975.
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    In the 94th Congress, the committee also obtained jurisdiction

[[Page 2896]]

over campaign contributions to candidates for the House (formerly 
within the jurisdiction of the Committee on Standards of Official 
Conduct), and over compensation, retirement, and other benefits of 
Members, officers, and employees of Congress, a subject area shared 
with the Committee on Post Office and Civil Service (1) 
under Rule X clause 1(o)(5).
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 1. H. Res. 5, 121 Cong. Rec. 20-22, 94th Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 14, 
        1975.
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    In the 92d Congress, the provisions of House Resolution 457 of that 
Congress, authorizing the Committee on House Administration to adjust 
allowances of Members and committees without further action by the 
House, were enacted into permanent law (85 Stat. 636; 2 USC Sec. 57), 
but the 94th Congress enacted into permanent law House Resolution 1372 
of that subsequent Congress, stripping the Committee on House 
Administration of that authority and requiring House approval of the 
committee's recommendations, except in cases made necessary by price 
changes in materials and supplies, technological advances in office 
equipment, and cost-of-living increases (90 Stat. 1448; 2 USC 
Sec. 57a). The Committee on House Administration retains authority 
under 2 USC Sec. 57 to independently adjust amounts within total 
allowances (123 Cong. Rec. 8227, 95th Cong. 1st Sess., Mar. 21, 
1977).                          -------------------

Contingent Fund of the House

Sec. 39.1 Language in a Rules Committee amendment to a resolution 
    creating a special committee, reported as privileged from that 
    committee, pertaining to the employment of assistants on behalf of 
    an investigating committee and to the payment of expenses from the 
    contingent fund for such investigation was held not germane as 
    properly within the jurisdiction of the Committee on Accounts [now 
    the Committee on House Administration], and not the Committee on 
    Rules.

    On June 21, 1944,(2) Speaker Sam Rayburn, of Texas, 
recognized Mr. Joe B. Bates, of Kentucky, who called up a resolution 
(H. Res. 551), reported from the Committee on Rules and asked for its 
immediate consideration. The resolution called for the Speaker to 
appoint a special committee of seven members to investigate and report 
to the House on campaign
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 2. 90 Cong. Rec. 6393, 78th Cong. 2d Sess.
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[[Page 2897]]

expenditures of all House candidates and on possible violations of 
state or federal law, among other things. The Clerk having previously 
read the resolution, itself,(3) the Chair directed him to 
read the committee amendment in the nature of a substitute.
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 3. Id. at p. 6392.
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    Section 7 of the amendment contained the following language, in 
part: (4)
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 4. Id. at p. 6393.
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        For the purpose of this resolution, the committee, or any duly 
    authorized subcommittee thereof, is authorized to hold such public 
    hearings, to sit and act at such times and places during the 
    sessions, recesses, and adjourned periods of the Seventy-eighth 
    Congress, to employ such attorneys, experts, clerical, and other 
    assistants, to require by subpena or otherwise the attendance of 
    such witnesses and the production of such correspondence, books, 
    papers, and documents, to administer such oaths, to take such 
    testimony, and to make such expenditures, as it deems advisable. 
    The cost of stenographic services to report such hearings shall not 
    be in excess of 25 cents per hundred words. The expenses of the 
    committee shall be paid from the contingent fund of the House of 
    Representatives upon vouchers approved by the chairman of the 
    committee or the chairman of any duly authorized subcommittee 
    thereof and approved by the Committee on Accounts.

    The amendment having been read in its entirety, Mr. John J. 
Cochran, of Missouri, rose to a point of order and initiated the 
ensuing exchange: (5)
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 5. Id. at pp. 6393, 6394.
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        Mr. Speaker, I make a point of order against the amendment on 
    the ground that the Rules Committee has exceeded its authority, and 
    I respectfully request to be heard on the point of order.
        The Speaker: The Chair will hear the gentleman.
        Mr. Cochran: Mr. Speaker, I invite your special attention to 
    the language on page 6, beginning in line 15.

            The expenses of the committee shall be paid from the 
        contingent fund of the House of Representatives upon vouchers 
        approved by the chairman of the committee and the chairman of 
        any duly authorized subcommittee thereof and approved by the 
        Committee on Accounts.

        Also to the words on page 6, lines 12 and 13, ``and to make 
    such expenditures.''
        Mr. Speaker, the Committee on Accounts was set up by this House 
    in 1803; long before the Rules Committee was ever heard of. This 
    all-powerful Rules Committee takes it upon itself to assume 
    jurisdiction over the contingent fund of the House. Not only do the 
    rules of the House place that jurisdiction in the Committee on 
    Accounts,(6)
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 6. At the time, Rule XI clause 36, provided that the jurisdiction of 
        the Committee on Accounts extended to subjects ``Touching the 
        expenditure of the contingent fund of the House, the auditing 
        and settling of all accounts which may be charged therein by 
        order of the House, the ascertaining of the travel of Members 
        of the House and the reporting the same to the Sergeant at Arms 
        [H. Jour. 699, 78th Cong. 2d Sess. (1944)].'' Presently such 
        jurisdiction is vested in the Committee on House Administration 
        [see Rule X clause 1(j), House Rules and Manual Sec. 679 
        (1979)].
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[[Page 2898]]

    but your Committee on Accounts is subject to several statutes, 
    specifically referring to the activities of the Committee on 
    Accounts, and the contingent fund. . . .

        If this precedent that the Rules Committee seeks to establish 
    is adopted by the House, the House will lose control over its 
    contingent fund. The language that I have read places absolutely no 
    limitation upon the amount this select committee can spend. 
    Vouchers are to be signed by the chairman of the select committee 
    or any subcommittee thereof, and the only jurisdiction the 
    Committee on Accounts has is to put its signature on the voucher 
    and pass it along for payment.
        Now, if you can do that with this select committee, you can do 
    it with every select committee and every special committee that 
    this House sets up. . . .
        . . . This is not the first time that the Committee on Rules 
    tried to assume the jurisdiction of the Committee on Accounts.
        The House rules provide that the Committee on Accounts shall 
    control resolutions providing for expenditures from the contingent 
    fund.
        The Committee on Accounts looks at these questions from the 
    standpoint of the committee being the agent of the House. When the 
    House passes a resolution setting up a select committee, regardless 
    of whether the members of the Committee on Accounts are for that 
    resolution or not, the members take it that it is their duty to 
    provide money to carry out the purposes of the resolution. . . .
        The practice has always been for the Accounts Committee to hold 
    hearings and require the select or special committee to state its 
    needs and justify its request. . . .
        I submit, Mr. Speaker, that the Committee on Rules having taken 
    jurisdiction which did not belong to it, the language I object to 
    is subject to a point of order; and I hope the Chair will so hold.

    During debate, Mr. Earl C. Michener, of Michigan, a member of the 
Committee on Rules, stated:

        I realize there is much truth in what the gentleman from 
    Missouri says. This amendment would bypass the Committee on 
    Accounts. To my knowledge that has never been done in the setting 
    up of an investigating committee. The Rules Committee has 
    jurisdiction over investigating committee resolutions, but the 
    Accounts Committee has jurisdiction over the funds with which the 
    committee operates. I have often said it is a good bit like when my 
    little boy used to ask his mother for a new football. She would 
    say: ``Yes, John, you may have the football, but you must go to 
    daddy and get the money.'' That is the way these investigations are 
    controlled; and, personally, I could not speak in opposition to the 
    point of order.

    Shortly thereafter, the Speaker announced his decision, as follows:

        The Chair has before it a case exactly in point, and the 
    interesting

[[Page 2899]]

    thing about it is that it begins with the statement: On May 3, 
    1933, Mr. Howard W. Smith of Virginia, by direction of the 
    Committee on Rules, and so forth, presented a rule.
        A point of order was made against the rule and the Chair held 
    as follows--and it is exactly on all fours with the instant case:

            The Chair thinks that the provision incorporated in section 
        5 of the resolution authorizing the committee to employ 
        suitable counsel, assistants, and investigators in the aid of 
        its investigation, and also the provision authorizing all 
        necessary expenses of the investigation to be paid on vouchers 
        approved by the chairman of the committee, is a matter properly 
        within the jurisdiction of the Committee on Accounts.

        That is exactly the proposition that is before the Chair at 
    this time. The Chair could cite other precedents.
        The point of order, therefore, is sustained as against the 
    committee amendment.

    Parliamentarian's Note: This point of order against the amendment 
did not destroy the privilege of the resolution. This was a germaneness 
ruling against the amendment. Mr. Howard W. Smith, of Virginia, then 
offered another substitute the same as the original amendment but 
without the language about the contingent fund. Compare this situation 
with those contained in 4 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 4623, where it was 
held that a bill containing nonprivileged matter in the original text 
cannot be considered as privileged merely based on a committee 
amendment removing the nonprivileged matter, and in 8 Cannon's 
Precedents Sec. 2300, where a funding resolution reported from the 
Committee on Accounts and also containing legislative provisions within 
the jurisdiction of other committees was held not to be privileged.

Employment of Persons by the House

Sec. 39.2 The Committee on House Administration, and not the Committee 
    on Rules, has jurisdiction of propositions authorizing committees 
    of the House to employ additional professional and clerical 
    personnel.

    On Feb. 7, 1966,(7) Howard W. Smith, of Virginia, 
Chairman of the Committee on Rules, stated that House Resolution 640, 
relating to the employment of House personnel, had been referred to his 
committee inadvertently; accordingly, he sought and obtained unanimous 
consent to have the measure rereferred to the Committee on House 
Administration.(8)
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 7. 112 Cong. Rec. 2373, 89th Cong. 2d Sess.
            For discussion of House employees generally, see Ch. 6, 
        supra.
 8. The jurisdiction of the Committee on House Administration expressly 
        [see Rule X clause 1(j)(3), House Rules and Manual Sec. 679 
        (1979)] includes the following: ``Employment of persons by the 
        House, including clerks for Members and committees, and 
        reporters of debates.''

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[[Page 2900]]

Sec. 39.3 To a bill amending the rules of the House being considered 
    pursuant to a resolution prohibiting amendments to the bill ``which 
    would have the effect of changing the jurisdiction of any committee 
    of the House listed in Rule XI,'' an amendment directing the 
    Committee on House Administration to prepare and implement a plan 
    to eliminate the political patronage employment system in the House 
    was ruled out of order as an attempt to change the jurisdiction of 
    the Committee on House Administration.

    On Sept. 16, 1970,(9) the House resolved itself into the 
Committee of the Whole for the further consideration of a bill (H.R. 
17654), to improve the operation of the legislative branch of the 
federal government, and for other purposes.
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 9. 116 Cong. Rec. 32204, 91st Cong. 2d Sess.
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    In the course of the bill's consideration, Mr. Joel T. Broyhill, of 
Virginia, offered the following amendment: (10)
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10. Id. at p. 32216.
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        Amendment offered by Mr. Broyhill of Virginia: On page 126, 
    after line 14 and before line 15, insert the following:

            Part--Limitations on Employment in the House Under the 
                           Political Patronage System

        ``limitations on employment on the basis of political patronage 
                        in the house of representatives

        ``Sec. 463. (a) The Committee on House Administration of the 
    House of Representatives is authorized and directed to--
        ``(1) review the application, operation, and administration of 
    the system of appointment, employment, and removal, on the basis of 
    political patronage, of employee of the House of Representatives, 
    including pages of the House of Representatives and employees under 
    the Architect of the Capitol performing services for the House, but 
    excluding employees paid out of the clerk hire allowances of 
    Representatives and the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico, 
    employees on the professional and clerical staffs of the standing 
    committees of the House, and officers and employees of the House 
    whose positions, in the Judgment of the Committee on House 
    Administration, should be filled with regard to political 
    affiliation because of the nature and implications of their duties 
    and responsibilities or of their employment generally; and
        ``(2) prepare a plan to eliminate such political patronage 
    system in the House of Representatives.
        ``(b) Such plan shall include--
        ``(1) a procedure for the appointment and employment, on and 
    after the date such plan becomes effective, without

[[Page 2901]]

    regard to political affiliation and solely on the basis of fitness 
    to perform the duties concerned, of persons to fill vacancies in 
    positions within the purview of such political patronage system on 
    the date of enactment of this Act, subject to the exceptions 
    contained in subparagraph (1) of subsection (a) of this section;
        ``(2) a provision extending the appointment and employment 
    procedure referred to in subparagraph (1) of this subsection to 
    positions in categories similar to those included in subparagraph 
    (1) of subsection (a) of this section which are created on or after 
    the date of enactment of this Act; and
        ``(3) a provision for periodic review by appropriate authority 
    of the application, operation, and administration, of such plan.
        ``(c) The Committee on House Administration is authorized and 
    directed to submit such plan to the appropriate authority or 
    authorities in the House of Representatives and place such plan in 
    effect at the earliest practicable date not later than the 
    beginning of the second session of the Ninety-second Congress.''

    Shortly thereafter, Chairman William H. Natcher, of Kentucky, 
recognized Mr. B. F. Sisk, of California, who had reserved a point of 
order as to Mr. Broyhill's amendment when it was initially offered. Mr. 
Sisk pressed his point of order and argued, as follows: (11)
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11. Id. at p. 32217.
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        . . . [T]he amendment is obviously in contravention of the rule 
    under which we are operating and which rule, adopted back at the 
    beginning of the debate, said on line 11 no amendment to this bill 
    shall be in order which would have the effect of changing the 
    jurisdiction of any committee of the House listed in rule 
    XI.(12)
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12. H. Res. 1093, agreed to on July 13, 1970 [116 Cong. Rec. 23901, 
        23902, 91st Cong. 211 Sess.], prescribed the special rule under 
        which H.R. 17654 was to be considered.
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        In the very beginning of the proposed amendment it starts out 
    with the House Committee on House Administration, and goes into a 
    considerable amount of detail as to the jurisdiction and 
    responsibilities of the committee, and, therefore, would be in 
    violation of the rule under which this bill is being considered.

    The Chairman then inquired as to whether Mr. Broyhill desired to be 
heard on the point of order, and the gentleman from Virginia responded:

        Mr. Chairman, it is my understanding that the Chair has 
    sustained a similar point of order on the bill prior to this, but I 
    would say that the amendment does not change the jurisdiction of 
    the House Committee on House Administration, but merely instructs 
    the House Committee on House Administration to change the patronage 
    procedures.
        This is a committee that we organized in the House of 
    Representatives, and this merely seeks to do just that.

    Announcing that he was prepared to rule, the Chairman stated:

[[Page 2902]]

        House Resolution 1093, adopted on July 13, 1970, as the Members 
    of the Committee will remember, provides in part as follows:

            No amendment to the bill shall be in order which would have 
        the effect of changing the jurisdiction of any committee of the 
        House listed in rule XI.

        It is the opinion of the Chair that the amendment offered by 
    the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Broyhill) affects the jurisdiction 
    of the Committee on House Administration, and, therefore, the point 
    of order must be sustained.
        The Chair therefore sustains the point of order.

Federal Elections

Sec. 39.4 A Presidential communication proposing a comprehensive 
    amendment of the federal election laws, including amendments to the 
    Federal Corrupt Practices Act (Title 18, United States Code), and 
    the Internal Revenue Code (Title 26, United States Code), was 
    referred to the Committee on House Administration.

    On May 26, 1966,(13) pursuant to the 
rules,(14) House Document No. 444, a Presidential 
communication, was taken from the Speaker's table and referred to the 
Committee on House Administration.
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13. 112 Cong. Rec. 11686, 89th Cong. 2d Sess.
14. The applicable provision, in pertinent part, reads [Rule XXIV 
        clause 2, House Rules and Manual Sec. 882 (1973)] as follows: 
        ``2. Business on the Speaker's table shall be disposed of as 
        follows: Messages from the President shall be referred to the 
        appropriate committees without debate.''
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    Parliamentarian's Note: The draft bill accompanying the President's 
letter was discussed by the Chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means 
and the Chairman of the Committee on House Administration. Title VII of 
the bill, pertaining to income tax deductions for political 
contributions, amended the Internal Revenue Code and was clearly within 
the jurisdiction of the Committee on Ways and Means. It was agreed that 
while the communication would be referred to the Committee on House 
Administration, that committee would delete title VII before 
introducing the bill. The Committee on Ways and Means would then 
consider title VII as a separate proposition.

National Flower

Sec. 39.5 The Committee on House Administration and not the Committee 
    on the Judiciary has jurisdiction of a joint resolution designating

[[Page 2903]]

    the rose as the national flower of the United States.

    On Feb. 26, 1958,(1) Emanuel Celler, of New York, 
Chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary, obtained unanimous consent 
to have his committee discharged from further consideration of House 
Joint Resolution 465 and to have it rereferred to the Committee on 
House Administration.
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 1. 104 Cong. Rec. 2925, 2926 85th Cong. 2d Sess.
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    Parliamentarian's Note: Following adoption of the Committee Reform 
Amendments of 1974, which conferred jurisdiction upon the Committee on 
Post Office and Civil Service over holidays and celebrations, bills 
such as this designating national symbols have consistently been 
referred to the Committee on Post Office and Civil Service. See, for 
example, rereferrals of resolutions proposing national songs and dances 
from the Committee on the Judiciary to the Committee on Post Office and 
Civil Service. 121 Cong. Rec. 10345, 94th Cong. 1st Sess., Apr. 16, 
1975.

Pay Rates for GPO Employees

Sec. 39.6 In the 87th Congress, the Committee on House Administration, 
    and not the Committee on Post Office and Civil Service, had 
    jurisdiction of bills amending the act to regulate and fix rates of 
    pay for employees of the Government Printing Office.

    On Apr. 19, 1961,(2) Thomas J. Murray, of Tennessee, 
Chairman of the Committee on Post Office and Civil Service, obtained 
unanimous consent to have his committee discharged from further 
consideration of H.R. 919 and to have it rereferred to the Committee on 
House Administration.(3)
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 2. 107 Cong. Rec. 6284, 87th Cong. 1st Sess.
 3. See 44 USC Sec. 305.
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Personnel Policies

Sec. 39.7 The Committee on House Administration, pursuant to its 
    jurisdiction, occasionally announces personnel policies or general 
    information affecting House employees.

    On Oct. 19, 1966,(4) Speaker John W. McCormack, of 
Massachusetts, recognized Wayne L. Hays, of Ohio, who, acting in his 
capacity as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Accounts, Committee on 
House Administration, obtained unanimous consent to
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 4. 112 Cong. Rec. 27653, 89th Cong 2d Sess.
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[[Page 2904]]

make the following announcements:
        Mr. Speaker, I have an announcement which I think will be of 
    general interest to all Members, and of special interest to some:
        Today the House Committee on Administration passed unanimously 
    a motion ordering and directing the chairman to notify all Members 
    that, as of the 15th of November, any employee put on a Member's 
    payroll, or a committee payroll, shall not be put on for a period 
    of less than 1 month, except that if the person put on does not 
    work out, and they desire to terminate his employment in less than 
    a month, he may not reappear on the Member's payroll for a period 
    of 6 months.
        Mr. Speaker, this is done to prevent what has happened to 
    excess in some committees, and I must say in some Members' offices 
    of having people on the payroll for a day or two at a time.
        This has caused an impossible situation in the Clerk's office 
    with regard to writing payroll checks. There was no desire to work 
    a hardship, and the membership now knows that this will be in 
    effect as of the 15th of November.

    Parliamentarian's Note: The rules provide that the jurisdiction of 
the Committee on House Administration extends to ``employment of 
persons by the House, including clerks for Members and committees, and 
reporters of debates,'' (5) as well as ``expenditure of 
[the] contingent fund of the House,'' (6) among other 
matters. Accordingly, members of this committee occasionally take the 
floor to make brief announcements pertaining to personnel 
matters.(7)
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 5. See Rule X clause 1(j)(3), House Rules and Manual Sec. 679 (1979).
 6. See Rule X clause 1(j)(6), House Rules and Manual Sec. 679 (1979).
 7. See, for example, 112 Cong. Rec. 1399, 89th Cong. 2d Sess., Jan. 
        27, 1966, where Omar T. Burleson, of Texas, who chaired the 
        committee, was granted unanimous consent to extend his remarks 
        and to insert tables in the Record depicting salary levels of 
        the House employee schedule. See also 111 Cong. Rec. 15501, 
        15502, 89th Cong. 1st Sess., July 1, 1965, where Mr. Hays, by 
        direction of the committee, called up a resolution (H. Res. 
        261), directing the Clerk of the House to furnish 
        identification cards to certain House employees; the measure 
        provided that the expenses of carrying out the resolution were 
        to be paid out of the contingent fund.
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Pamphlets Explaining House Operations

Sec. 39.8 The Committee on Printing [now the Committee on House 
    Administration], had jurisdiction of a resolution directing the 
    Sergeant at Arms to have printed for occupants of the galleries of 
    the House pamphlets explaining how the House conducts its business.

    On June 3, 1935,(8) after Mr. Thomas O'Malley, of 
Wisconsin,
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 8. 79 Cong. Rec. 8604, 74th Cong. 1st Sess.
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[[Page 2905]]

introduced House Resolution 238, it was referred to the Committee on 
Printing [now the Committee on House Administration].

Services Relating to House Telephone; Wiretap Checks

Sec. 39.9 The Chairman of the Committee on House Administration 
    announced to the House his intention to contract with an 
    appropriate firm to determine, on a Member's request, whether that 
    Member's phone was being tapped.

    On Apr. 7, 1971,(9) as the House met in the Committee of 
the Whole, Chairman Chet Holifield, of California, recognized Wayne L. 
Hays, of Ohio, Chairman of the Committee on House Administration, who 
obtained unanimous consent to speak out of order:
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 9. 117 Cong. Rec. 10097, 92d Cong. 1st Sess.
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        Mr. Chairman, in my capacity as chairman of the Committee on 
    House Administration and after consultation with the Speaker, I am 
    going to enter into a contract with a reputable electronics firm to 
    provide a check on any committee phone or any Member's phone who 
    may request it to find out if there is any electronic surveillance 
    on their phone lines. I am sure, if there is any, by the FBI or by 
    anybody else, they will take them off so that when the check is 
    made none will be found, but I propose to keep this service on an 
    irregular basis at any time in the future that any Member may 
    request it. . . .
        And, if any Member feels his phone is being tapped, if he will 
    let the Committee on House Administration know within a few days we 
    will provide the service with which to find out whether his phone 
    is, in fact, bugged.