[Deschler's Precedents, Volume 4, Chapters 15 - 17]
[Chapter 17. Committees]
[D. Jurisdiction of Committees]
[Â§ 43. Committee on the Judiciary]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[Page 2939-2957]
 
                               CHAPTER 17
 
                               Committees
 
                         C. COMMITTEE PROCEDURE
 
Sec. 43. Committee on the Judiciary

    The Committee on the Judiciary has been a standing committee of the 
House since 1813, when it was concerned exclusively with matters 
pertaining to judicial proceedings. The breadth of its jurisdiction 
grew considerably in the 20th century. In 1947,(1) the 
committee annexed most of the jurisdiction of the former Committees on 
Claims, Immigration and Naturalization, Patents, Revision of the Laws, 
and War Claims.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. This change in jurisdiction was the result of the Legislative 
        Reorganization Act of 1946, 60 Stat. 812.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The jurisdiction of the Committee on the Judiciary pursuant to the 
1973 rules read as follows: (2)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 2. Rule XI clause 13, House Rules and Manual Sec. 707 (1973). See Rule 
        X clause 1(m), House Rules and Manual Sec. 682 (1979).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        (a) Judicial proceedings, civil and criminal generally.
        (b) Apportionment of Representatives.
        (c) Bankruptcy, mutiny, espionage, and counterfeiting.
        (d) Civil liberties.
        (e) Constitutional amendments.
        (f) Federal courts and judges.
        (g) Holidays and celebrations.
        (h) Immigration and naturalization.
        (i) Interstate compacts generally.
        (j) Local courts in the Territories and possessions.
        (k) Measures relating to claims against the United States.
        (l) Meetings of Congress, attendance of Members and their 
    acceptance of incompatible offices.
        (m) National penitentiaries.
        (n) Patent Office.
        (o) Patents, copyrights, and trademarks.
        (p) Presidential succession.
        (q) Protection of trade and commerce against unlawful 
    restraints and monopolies.
        (r) Revision and codification of the Statutes of the United 
    States.

        (s) State and Territorial boundary lines.

    There were seven subcommittees in 1973, and the jurisdiction of 
each was specified in the committee's own Rule VIII:

        Rule VIII. Jurisdiction of Subcommittees.--The jurisdiction of 
    the seven standing Subcommittees shall, subject to alteration as 
    other Subcommittees are created, be as follows:

               Subcommittee on International Law and Citizenship

        (a) Immigration and naturalization.
        (b) Deportation, extradition, and crimes committed outside the 
    United States.

[[Page 2940]]

        (c) Passports, travel, and international compacts and 
    organizations.
        (d) Admiralty matters.
        (e) Amnesty.
        (f) Internal security matters, espionage, and mutiny.
        (g) Treaties.
        (h) Offshore mineral rights.
        (i) Other related matters.

            Subcommittee on Courts and the Administration of Justice

        (a) Oversight of the Department of Justice, except as otherwise 
    assigned by these rules.
        (b) Oversight of United States Attorneys and United States 
    Marshals.
        (c) Administrative Conference and administrative procedure 
    matters.
        (d) Judicial ethics and recompense.
        (e) The courts--their non-criminal rules; non-criminal 
    procedures; operation; number.
        (f) Jury matters.
        (g) Other related matters.

                Subcommittee on Claims and Government Relations

        (a) Claims against the United States.
        (b) Governmental relations, including boundaries, interstate 
    compacts, and state taxation of interstate commerce.
        (c) Conflicts of interest and conflicts of laws.
        (d) Compensation for individuals or groups.
        (e) Federal holidays and celebrations, and charters for non-
    business corporations.
        (f) Apportionment of Representatives, meetings of Congress, 
    attendance of Members and their acceptance of incompatible offices.
        (g) Contracts.
        (h) Revision and codification of the statutes of the United 
    States. excet tor the Federal Criminal Laws.
        (i) Other related matters.

              Subcommittee on Constitutional Amendments and Rights

        (a) Constitutional amendments-1. Presidential succession.
        (b) Civil liberties.
        (c) Privacy matters, including oversight; consideration of 
    wiretapping and electronic eavesdropping.
        (d) Civil rights and equal rights.
        (e) Separation of powers.
        (f) District of Columbia home rule.
        (g) Other related matters.

                        Subcommittee on Criminal Justice

        (a) Revision of the United States Criminal Code.
        (b) Law Enforcement Assistance Administration.
        (c) Oversight of the Department of Justice in criminal matters.
        (d) Criminal justice, including Federal Rules of Criminal 
    Procedure, bail, Criminal Justice Act of 1964.
        (e) Firearms legislation, counterfeiting, and other criminal 
    matters not otherwise specifically assigned by these rules.
        (f) Other related matters.

                     Subcommittee on Crime and Corrections

        (a) Oversight and investigation of criminal activities, 
    including organized crime, street crime, and crimes associated with 
    narcotics.
        (b) Corrections, including probation matters and pre- and post-
    release problems of criminal offenders.

[[Page 2941]]

        (c) National Penitentiaries.
        (d) Juvenile delinquency.
        (e) Other related matters.

                        Subcommittee on Economic Matters

        (a) Antitrust.
        (b) Monopolies.
        (c) Bankruptcy.
        (d) Patents, trademarks, and copyrights.
        (e) Insurance.
        (f) Federal chartering of business corporations.
        (g) Other related matters.

    The committee has exercised jurisdictional authority over related 
subjects. These include bills relating to local courts in the District 
of Columbia, Alaska, and the territories, the establishment of a court 
of patent appeals, claims of states against the United States, bills 
relating to the Office of President, to the flag, removal of political 
disabilities, and the prohibition of traffic in intoxicating liquors. 
Moreover, the committee also reports on important subjects of law 
relating to questions within the jurisdiction of other 
committees.(3)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3. All of the foregoing are cited in House Rules and Manual Sec. 708 
        (1973). See Rule X clause 1(m), House Rules and Manual Sec. 682 
        (1979).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    As the precedents reveal, the public jurisdiction of the committee 
and of those committees whose responsibilities it assumed has also 
extended to such subjects as authorization to modify a trust of which 
the Library of Congress is a contingent beneficiary,(4) 
establishment of a national motto, (5) provision of a legal 
defense for Members and employees sued for duty related 
action,(6) elimination of renewed oaths of office by 
civilians,(7) and the establishment of panels to encourage 
inventions.(8)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4. Sec. 43.10, infra.
 5. Sec. 43.18, infra.
 6. Sec. 43.17, infra.
 7. Sec. 43.19, infra.
 8. Sec. Sec. 43.15, 43.16, infra.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In terms of private jurisdiction, the committee has dealt with such 
matters as conferring or extending veterans' survivor,(9) 
medical,(10) educational,(11) or insurance 
(12) benefits, adjusting the annual leave account of a civil 
service employee,(13) exempting a certain annuity fund from 
taxation,(14) and providing tax relief to a charitable 
foundation and its contributors.(15)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 9. Sec. Sec. 43.24, 43.25, infra.
10. Sec. Sec. 43.26, 43.27, infra.
11. Sec. 43.28, infra.
12. Sec. 43.29, infra.
13. Sec. 43.20, infra.
14. Sec. 43.22, infra.
15. Sec. 43.23, infra. 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Celebration Proclamations

Sec. 43.1 Measures calling on the President to issue proclama

[[Page 2942]]

    tions establishing periods of celebration or commemoration were 
    within the jurisdiction of the Committee on the Judiciary.

    On Apr. 27, 1967,(16~) Speaker John W. McCormack, of 
Massachusetts, recognized Harley O. Staggers, of West Virginia, 
Chairman of the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, who made 
the following request:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
16. 113 Cong. Rec. 11062, 90th Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that House Joint 
    Resolution 117 authorizing and requesting the President to extend 
    through 1967 his proclamation of a period to ``See the United 
    States,'' and for other purposes, be rereferred to the Committee on 
    the Judiciary instead of the Committee on Interstate and Foreign 
    Commerce. The Committee on the Judiciary has handled this matter 
    before.

    Immediately thereafter, the House agreed to the rereferral by 
unanimous consent.(1~7)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
17. Effective Jan. 3, 1975, the Committee Reform Amendments of 1974 
        transferred jurisdiction over holidays and celebrations from 
        the Committee on the Judiciary to the Committee on Post Office 
        and Civil Service. See Rule X clause 1(o)(7), House Rules and 
        Manual Sec. 684 (1979).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Civil Liberties; Sex Discrimination

Sec. 43.2 The Committee on the Judiciary and not the Committee on 
    Education and Labor has jurist diction of proposals amending the 
    Civil Rights Act of 1957 [42 USC Sec. 1975c(a)], to include 
    discrimination on the basis of sex among the several forms of 
    discrimination to be investigated by the Civil Rights Commission.

    On Nov. 4, 1971,(1~8) the House resolved itself into the 
Committee of the Whole for the further consideration of a bill (H.R. 
7248), to amend and extend the Higher Education Act of 1965 and other 
acts dealing with higher education. As Chairman pro tempore Edmond 
Edmondson, of Oklahoma, noted:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
18. 117 Cong. Rec. 39248, 92d Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        When the Committee rose on yesterday, it was agreed 
    (19) that title X, ending on page 202, line 8, of the 
    committee substitute amendment would be considered as read and open 
    to amendment at any point.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
19. 117 Cong. Rec. 39099, 92d Cong. 1st Sess., Nov. 3, 1971.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary, Emanuel Cellar, of New 
York, made the following point of order: (20)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
20. 117 Cong. Rec. 39248, 92d Cong. 1st Sess., Nov. 4, 1971.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Mr. Chairman, I make a point of order with reference to section 
    1007 of

[[Page 2943]]

    the committee substitute,(21) the contents of which are 
    exclusively within the purview of the House Judiciary Committee. It 
    concerns the Civil Rights Act of 1957, and there are a number of 
    bills pending in our committee concerning that act. For that reason 
    a point of order made (22) to the provisions and a 
    motion is made to strike.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
21. Section 1007 was actually part of an amendment in the nature of a 
        substitute recommended by the Committee on Education and Labor 
        [see 117 Cong. Rec. 39099, 92d Cong. 1st Sess., Nov. 3, 1971]. 
        It read as follows: ``Paragraph (1) of subsection (a) of 
        section 104 of the Civil Rights Act of 1957 (42 USC 
        Sec. 1975c(a)) is amended by inserting immediately after 
        `religion,' the following: `sex,' and paragraphs (2), (3), and 
        (4) of subsection (a) of such section 104 are each amended by 
        inserting immediately after `religion' the following: `, 
        sex'.''
22. H. Res. 661, agreed to on Oct. 27, 1971 [117 Cong. Rec. 37769, 92d 
        Cong. 1st Sess.], prescribed the special rule by which H.R. 
        7248 was to be considered, and provided among other things [id. 
        at p. 37765], that ``all titles, parts, or sections of 
        [amendment in the nature of a substitute] the subject matter of 
        which is properly within the jurisdiction of any other standing 
        committee of the House of Representatives, shall be subject to 
        a point of order for such reason if such point of order is 
        properly raised during the consideration of H.R. 7248.''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Chair then recognized Mrs. Edith S. Green, of Oregon, a member 
of the Committee on Education and Labor, who was managing the Bill in 
the Committee of the whole. The following exchange took place:

        The Chairman Pro Tempore: Does the gentlewoman from Oregon wish 
    to be heard on the point of order?
        Mrs. Green of Oregon: Mr. Chairman, I concede the point of 
    order.
        The Chairman Pro Tempore: The point of order is conceded. The 
    Chair sustains the point of order and the language in section 1007 
    is stricken.

Claims Against the United States; Compensating Flood Victims

Sec. 43.3 The Committee on the Judiciary and not the Committee on 
    Public Works has jurisdiction of a bill to provide for determining 
    the compensation of certain persons whose lands have been flooded 
    and damaged by reasons of fluctuations in the water level of the 
    Lake of the Woods, Minnesota.

    On Mar. 17, 1954,(23) George A. Dondero, of Michigan, 
Chairman of the Committee on Public Works, obtained unanimous consent 
to have his committee discharged from further consideration of the bill 
(S. 215), and to
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
23. 100 Cong. Rec. 3418, 83d Cong. 2d Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Page 2944]]

have it rereferred to the Committee on the Judiciary.(24)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
24. H.R. 2098, which was identical to S. 215, was reported by the 
        Committee on the Judiciary on Aug. 4, 1954 (H. Rept. No. 2273).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Compensating Nonfederal Firemen for Civil Disorder Injuries

Sec. 43.4 The Committee on the Judiciary and not the Committee on 
    Education and Labor has jurisdiction of a bill providing for 
    compensation of firemen, not employed by the United States, who are 
    killed or injured in the performance of duty during a civil 
    disorder.

    On May 6, 1968,(1) Carl D. Perkins, of Kentucky, 
Chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor, obtained unanimous 
consent to have the bill (H.R. 16898), rereferred from that committee 
to the Committee on the Judiciary.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. 114 Cong. Rec. 11798, 90th Cong. 2d Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Compensating Certain U.S. Employees for Newly Assigned Duties

Sec. 43.5 The Committee on the Judiciary and not the Committee on Post 
    Office and Civil Service has jurisdiction of a bill to provide for 
    a claim for the payment of extra compensation for certain work 
    heretofore performed by customs officers and employees.

    On Mar. 23, 1950,(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 the bil1 (H.R. 7767), and to have it rereferred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 2. 96 Cong. Rec. 3989, 81st Cong. 2d Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Increasing Pensions for Certain Class of Persons

Sec. 43.6 The Committee on the Judiciary and not the Committee on 
    Veterans' Affairs has jurisdiction of a private bill amending an 
    omnibus pension act to increase the amount of pension granted a 
    certain class of persons.

    On Feb. 15, 1960,(3) Olin E. Teague, of Texas, Chairman 
of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, obtained unanimous consent to 
have his committee discharged from further consideration of the bill 
(H.R. 10380), and to have it
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3. 106 Cong. Rec. 2523, 86th Cong. 2d Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Page 2945]]

rereferred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Use of Contingent Fund as Reimbursement for Lost Cameras Entrusted to 
    the Capitol Police

Sec. 43.7 The Committee on Claims (now the Committee on the Judiciary), 
    and not the Committee on Accounts (now the Committee on House 
    Administration), had jurisdiction of a private resolution 
    appropriating money out of the contingent fund of the House to 
    reimburse visitors to the Capitol for cameras checked with the 
    Capitol Police and subsequently lost or stolen.

    On Dec. 10, 1943,(4) John J. Cochran, of Missouri, 
Chairman of the Committee on House Accounts (now the Committee on House 
Administration), obtained unanimous consent to have his committee 
discharged from further consideration of the resolution (H. Res. 194), 
and to have it rereferred to the Committee on Claims (now the Committee 
on the Judiciary).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4. 89 Cong. Rec. 10553, 78th Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Validating Additional Sea Duty Payments for Naval Personnel

Sec. 43.8 The Committee on the Judiciary and not the Committee on 
    Government Operations has jurisdiction of a bill to provide for 
    validation of additional sea duty payments to certain naval 
    personnel who served on vessels operating on the Great Lakes.

    On May 29, 1956,(5) William L. Dawson, of Illinois, 
Chairman of the Committee on Government Operations, obtained unanimous 
consent to have his committee discharged from further consideration of 
the bill (H.R. 11125), and to have it rereferred to the Committee on 
the Judiciary.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 5. 102 Cong. Rec. 9253, 84th Cong. 2d Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Criminal Justice Training and Research

Sec. 43.9 The Committee on the Judiciary and not the Committee on Un-
    American Activities had jurisdiction of a bill establishing an 
    academy of criminal justice and providing for training and research 
    in the administration of criminal justice.

[[Page 2946]]

    On Apr. 5, 1965,(6) Edwin E. Willis, of Louisiana, 
Chairman of the Committee on Un-American Activities, obtained unanimous 
consent to have his committee discharged from consideration of the bill 
(H.R. 6071), and to have it rereferred to the Committee on the 
Judiciary. As Mr. Willis pointed out in making his request, the 
original referral was inadvertent.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 6. 111 Cong. Rec. 6822, 89th Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Library of Congress Trust Fund

Sec. 43.10 The Committee on the Judiciary and not the Committee on 
    House Administration has jurisdiction of a bill authorizing the 
    Attorney General to consent, on behalf of the Library of Congress 
    Trust Fund Board, to a modification of a certain trust of which the 
    Library is a contingent beneficiary.

    On Aug. 17, 1959,(7) Omar T. Burleson, of Texas, 
Chairman of the Committee on House Administration, obtained unanimous 
consent to have that committee discharged from further consideration of 
the bill (H.R. 7415), and to have it rereferred to the Committee on the 
Judiciary. In so doing, Mr. Burleson noted:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 7. 105 Cong. Rec. 16051, 86th Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        . . . [I]f I may advise the Speaker,(8) the 
    gentleman from Vermont [Mr. Meyer] who introduced the bill and the 
    chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary, the gentleman from New 
    York [Mr. Celler], have agreed to accept the bill in the Judiciary 
    Committee. The reason the request is made is that the other body 
    has referred the companion bill to the Committee on the Judiciary.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 8. Carl Albert (Okla.), Speaker pro tempore.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Conflicts of Interest in the Executive Branch

Sec. 43.11 The Committee on the Judiciary and not the Committee on Post 
    Office and Civil Service has jurisdiction of a bill establishing 
    standards to govern possible conflicts of interest of employees of 
    the executive branch of the government, providing the Attorney 
    General with civil remedies for violations of these standards, and 
    supplementing and revising the criminal law (Title 18, United 
    States Code), prescribing restrictions against conflicts of 
    interest.

    On Feb. 25, 1960,(9) Speaker Sam Rayburn, of Texas, 
recog
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 9. 106 Cong. Rec. 3484, 86th Cong. 2d Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Page 2947]]

nized Emanuel Celler, of New York, Chairman of the Committee on the 
Judiciary, who sought unanimous consent that the bill (H.R. 10575), be 
rereferred from the Committee on Post Office and Civil Service to the 
Committee on the Judiciary. In presenting his request, Mr. Celler 
stated ``I have already arranged with the chairman of the Committee on 
Post Office and Civil Service [Thomas J. Murray (Tenn.) ] and there is 
no objection to the rereference of the bill.''

    Immediately thereafter, the House granted unanimous consent.

D.C. Code of Laws

Sec. 43.12 The Committee on Revision of the Laws (now the Committee on 
    the Judiciary), and not the Committee on the District of Columbia 
    had jurisdiction of a bill authorizing the appointment of a 
    commission to prepare a new Code of Laws for the District of 
    Columbia.

    On Mar. 13, 1940,(10) Jennings Randolph, of West 
Virginia, Chairman of the Committee on the District of Columbia, 
obtained unanimous consent to have his committee discharged from 
further consideration of the bill (H. R. 8891), and to have it referred 
to the Committee on Revision of the Laws (now the Committee on the 
Judiciary).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
10. 86 Cong. Rec. 2808, 76th Cong. 3d Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

D.C. Judges' Retirement Pay

Sec. 43.13 The Committee on the Judiciary and not the Committee on the 
    District of Columbia had jurisdiction of bills providing retirement 
    pay for the judges of the police court, the municipal court, and 
    the juvenile court of the District of Columbia.

    On June 26, 1939,(11) Mr. Jennings Randolph, of West 
Virginia, obtained unanimous consent to have the Committee on the 
District of Columbia discharged from further consideration of H.R. 
6651, and to have the bill referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. 
Unanimous consent had been obtained by Mr. Randolph for the similar 
rereferral of an identical bill (H. R. 6504), two weeks 
earlier.(1~2~)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
11. 84 Cong. Rec. 7904, 76th Cong. 1st Sess.
12. 84 Cong. Rec. 7050, 76th Cong. 1st Sess., June 12,1939.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Page 2948]]

Interstate Racketeering in Cigarette Distribution; Cigarette Taxes

Sec. 43.14 The Committee on the Judiciary, and not the Committee on 
    Ways and Means, has jurisdiction of bills to eliminate racketeering 
    in the interstate sale and distribution of cigarettes and to assist 
    state and local governments in the enforcement of cigarette taxes.

    On Feb. 9, 1972,(13) Wilbur D. Mills, of Arkansas, 
Chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, obtained unanimous consent 
to have that committee discharged from further consideration of the 
bills (H.R. 7050, H.R. 12184, H.R. 12688, H.R. 12689), and to have them 
rereferred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
13. 118 Cong. Rec. 3429, 3430, 92d Cong. 2d Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Invention Panels of the Military

Sec. 43.15 The Committee on Patents (now the Committee on the 
    Judiciary), and not the Committee on Military Affairs (now the 
    Committee on Armed Services), had jurisdiction of a bill to create 
    a National Defense Commission on Inventions.

    On Apr. 21, 1941,(14) Andrew J. May, of Kentucky, 
Chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs (now the Committee on 
Armed Services), obtained unanimous consent to have his committee 
discharged from further consideration of the bill (H.R. 3153), and to 
have it rereferred to the Committee on Patents (now the Committee on 
the Judiciary).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
14. 87 Cong. Rec. 3206, 77th Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sec. 43.16 The Committee on the Judiciary and not the Committee on 
    Armed Services has jurisdiction of a bill to authorize the 
    establishment of an Inventive Contributions Awards Board within the 
    Department of Defense.

    On June 25, 1953,(~15) Chauncey W. Reed, of Illinois, 
Chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary, obtained unanimous consent 
to have the Committee on Armed Services discharged from further 
consideration of the bill (H.R. 5889), and to have it rereferred to his 
committee.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
15. 99 Cong. Rec. 7328, 7329, 83d Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Legal Defense for Personnel of House Committees Where Official Duties 
    Prompt Lawsuits

Sec. 43.17 A resolution has been referred to and reported by

[[Page 2949]]

    the Committee on the Judiciary (and subsequently adopted on the 
    Consent Calendar) directing that committee to file general and 
    special appearances on behalf of, and to arrange for the defense 
    of, Members, former Members, and employees of the Committee on Un-
    American Activities with respect to any lawsuits brought against 
    such persons growing out of actions undertaken in the performance 
    of duties and obligations imposed upon them by the laws of Congress 
    and the rules and resolutions of the House of Representatives.

    On Sept. 6, 1961,(16) the House considered on the 
Consent Calendar House Resolution 417 which read as follows:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
16. 107 Cong. Rec. 18240, 87th Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Resolved, That effective from January 3, 1961, the provisions 
    of H. Res. 190, Eighty-third Congress, agreed to March 26, 1953, 
    and H. Res. 386, Eighty-third Congress, agreed to August 1, 1953, 
    are continued in effect.

    The first resolution (H. Res. 190),(17) referred to 
above, was a response to the service of subpenas upon six Members and 
two employees of the House, all of whom were commanded to testify and 
give depositions in the case of Michael Wilson et al. v Loew's 
Incorporated et al., an action pending in the Superior Court in and for 
the county of Los Angeles. The Members in question belonged to the 
Committee on Un-American Activities and the two employees had performed 
investigative work for that committee. The resolution noted that the 
complaint was directed, in part, at actions undertaken by the 
defendants ``both in their official capacity with relation to [the] 
House Committee on Un-American Activities and individually in 
nonofficial capacities.'' It further noted that the service of such 
process upon Members of the House while Congress remained in session 
``might deprive the district which each respectively represents of his 
voice and vote;'' that such service of process upon staff employees 
``will hamper and delay if not completely obstruct the work of such 
committee,'' and ``by reason of the said processes . . . the rights and 
privileges of the House of Representatives may be infringed.''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
17. 99 Cong. Rec. 2356, 2357, 83d Cong. 1st Sess., Mar. 26, 1953.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Accordingly, House Resolution 190 authorized and directed the 
Committee on the Judiciary to investigate and consider whether the 
service of aforementioned

[[Page 2950]]

processes constituted an invasion of ``the rights and privileges of the 
House'' and whether allegations contained in the case complaint 
``reflected upon Members, former Members, and employees of the House 
and their actions in their representative and official capacities'' 
thereby constituting an invasion of ``the rights and privileges of the 
House of Representatives.'' (18) To this end, the committee 
or any subcommittee thereof was authorized to sit and act at any time 
or place, to hold hearings, to require the attendance of witnesses, the 
production of documents, and the taking of whatever testimony deemed 
necessary. The committee was granted subpena power and authorized to 
incur all necessary expenses for the purposes described including:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
18. For further information on questions of privilege, see Ch. 11, 
        supra.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        . . . [E]mploy counsel to represent any and all of the Members, 
    former Members, and employees of the House of Representatives named 
    as parties defendant in the aforementioned action of Michael Wilson 
    et al. v. Loew's Inc. et al., and such expenses shall be paid from 
    the Contingent Fund of the House of Representatives on vouchers 
    authorized by said committee and signed by the chairman thereof and 
    approved by the Committee on House Administration. . . .

    The other resolution (H. Res. 386), incorporated by reference in 
House Resolution 417 was agreed to on Aug. 1, 1953,(1) and 
provided, in pertinent part, as follows: (2)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. 99 Cong. Rec. 10950, 83d Cong. 1st Sess.
 2. Id. at pp. 10949, 10950.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Resolved, That the Committee on the Judiciary, acting as a 
    whole or by subcommittee, is hereby authorized to direct the filing 
    in the case of Michael Wilson, et al. v. Loew's Incorporated, et 
    al. of such special or general appearances on behalf of any of the 
    Members, former Members, or employees of the House of 
    Representatives named as defendants therein, and to direct such 
    other or further action with respect to the aforementioned 
    defendants in such manner as will, in the judgment of the Committee 
    on the Judiciary, be consistent with the rights and privileges of 
    the House of Representatives; and be it further
        Resolved, That the Committee on the Judiciary is also 
    authorized and directed to arrange for the defense of the Members, 
    former Members, and employees of the Committee on Un-American 
    Activities in any suit hereafter brought against such Members, 
    former Members, and employees, or any one or more of them, growing 
    out of the actions of such Members, former Members, and employees 
    while performing such duties and obligations imposed upon them by 
    the laws of the Congress and the rules and resolutions of the House 
    of Representatives. The Committee on the Judiciary is authorized to 
    incur all expenses necessary for the purposes hereof, including but 
    not limited to expenses of travel and subsist

[[Page 2951]]

    ence, employment of counsel and other persons to assist the 
    committee or subcommittee, and if deemed advisable by the committee 
    or subcommittee, to employ counsel to represent any and all of the 
    Members, former Members, and employees of the Committee on Un-
    American Activities who may be named as parties defendant in any 
    such action or actions; and such expenses shall be paid from the 
    contingent fund of the House of Representatives on vouchers 
    authorized by the Committee on the Judiciary and signed by the 
    chairman thereof and approved by the Committee on House 
    Administration.

    Immediately after the Clerk read House Resolution 417, it was 
agreed to.(3)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3. 107 Cong. Rec. 18240, 87th Cong. 1st Sess., Sept. 6, 1961.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Parliamentarian's Note: While in this instance the Committee on the 
Judiciary reported a resolution referred to it by the Speaker, 
authorizing that committee to continue legal actions initially 
authorized by resolutions adopted in a prior Congress, such a 
resolution conferring such authority on a standing committee would 
ordinarily be referred to the Committee on Rules or to the Committee on 
House Administration where use of the contingent fund is involved.

National Motto

Sec. 43.18 The Committee on the Judiciary has jurisdiction of a joint 
    resolution to establish a national motto of the United States.

    On July 21, 1955,(4) after Mr. Charles E. Bennett, of 
Florida, introduced House Joint Resolution 396, it was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4. 101 Cong. Rec. 11193, 84th Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Oaths of Office by Executive Branch Civilians--Dispensing With Renewals

Sec. 43.19 The Committee on the Judiciary and not the Committee on 
    Expenditures in the Executive Departments (now the Committee on 
    Government Operations), had jurisdiction of a bill to dispense with 
    unnecessary renewals of oaths of office by civilian employees of 
    the executive departments and independent establishments.

    On Apr. 22, 1937,(5) by direction of the Committee on 
Expenditures the Executive Departments (now the Committee on Government 
Operations), Mr. John J. Cochran, of Missouri, obtained unanimous 
consent to have that committee discharged from further consideration of 
the bill (H.R. 6295), and
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 5. 81 Cong. Rec. 3740, 75th Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Page 2952]]

to have it rereferred to the Committee on the Judiciary. In so doing, 
Mr. Cochran noted that a similar bill had been reported by the 
Committee on the Judiciary in the previous Congress.

Private Bill Adjusting Federal Employee's Annual Leave

Sec. 43.20 The Committee on the Judiciary and not the Committee on Post 
    Office and Civil Service has jurisdiction of a private bill to 
    adjust the ``annual-leave account'' of an employee under the 
    Federal Civil Service.

    On Mar. 21, 1960,(~~6) 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 the private bill (H. R. 10432), and to have it 
rereferred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 6. 106 Cong. Rec. 6131, 86th Cong. 2d Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Excluding Employee From United States Code Section Affecting 
    Compensation

Sec. 43.21 The Committee on the Judiciary and not the Committee on Post 
    Office and Civil Service has jurisdiction of a private bill waiving 
    the applicability to an individual of section 3(b) of the Act 
    entitled ``An act to provide a method for payment in certain 
    Government establishments of overtime, leave, and holiday 
    compensation on the basis of night rates pursuant to certain 
    decisions of the Comptroller General, and for other purposes,'' 
    approved July 31, 1946 [5 USC Sec. 951(b)].

    On Oct. 11, 1949,(7) 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 the bill (H.R. 6284), and to have it referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 7. 95 Cong. Rec. 14258, 14259, 81st Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Providing Tax Relief

Sec. 43.22 The Committee on the Judiciary and not the Committee on Ways 
    and Means has jurisdiction over a private bill specifying that a 
    certain annuity fund is exempt from taxation under provisions of 
    the Internal Revenue Code.

[[Page 2953]]

    On Sept. 1, 1959,(8) Wilbur D. Mills, of Arkansas, 
Chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, obtained unanimous consent 
to have his committee discharged from further consideration of the bill 
(H.R. 7854), and to have it rereferred to the Committee on the 
Judiciary.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 8. 105 Cong. Rec. 17612, 86th Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (H.R. 7854 was intended to provide tax relief to the annuity fund 
of the electrical switchboard and panelboard manufacturing industry of 
New York and the contributors thereto.)

Sec. 43.23 The Committee on the Judiciary and not the Committee on Ways 
    and Means has jurisdiction of private bills to provide tax relief 
    to a charitable foundation and the contributors thereto.

    On Aug. 1, 1955,(9) Jere Cooper, of Tennessee, Chairman 
of the Committee on Ways and Means, obtained unanimous consent to have 
his committee discharged from further consideration of two identical 
bills (H.R. 7746, H.R. 7747), and to have the measures rereferred to 
the Committee on the Judiciary.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 9. 101 Cong. Rec. 12655, 84th Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Relating to Veterans' Survivor Benefits

Sec. 43.24 The Committee on the Judiciary and not the Committee on 
    Veterans' Affairs had jurisdiction of a private bill entitling the 
    parents of a serviceman who died in France to those veterans' 
    benefits to which they would have been entitled had their son's 
    application not been misplaced by the veterans' agency to which 
    delivered.

    On Apr. 8, 1948,(10) Edith Nourse Rogers, of 
Massachusetts, Chairwoman of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, 
obtained unanimous consent to have her committee discharged from 
further consideration of the bill (H.R. 5515), and to have it 
rereferred to the Committee on the Judiciary. In so doing, Mrs. Rogers 
noted that the Committee on Veterans' Affairs did not handle claims, 
and that the rereferral was satisfactory to the Chairman 
(11) of the Committee on the Judiciary as well as the author 
of the bill.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
10. 94 Cong. Rec. 4272, 80th Cong. 2d Sess.
11. Earl C. Michener (Mich.).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sec. 43.25 The Committee on the Judiciary and not the Committee on 
    Veterans' Affairs

[[Page 2954]]

    has jurisdiction of a private bill providing that a certain person 
    shall be considered the lawful widow of a World War I veteran and 
    authorizing the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs to pay such 
    benefits to which she is entitled as the lawful widow of such 
    veteran.

    On Apr. 5, 1950,(12) John E. Rankin, of Mississippi, 
Chairman of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, obtained unanimous 
consent to have his committee discharged from further consideration of 
the bill (13) (H.R. 743), and to have it rereferred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
12. 96 Cong. Rec. 4884, 81st Cong. 2d Sess.
13. An identical bill (H.R. 3276), pertaining to the same person was 
        similarly rereferred in a later Congress; see 99 Cong. Rec. 
        1566, 1567, 83d Cong. 1st Sess., Mar. 3, 1953.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Private Bill Entitling Veteran to Medical Care

Sec. 43.26 The Committee on the Judiciary and not the Committee on 
    Veterans' Affairs has jurisdiction of a private bill entitling an 
    American citizen who served in the Royal Canadian Air Force during 
    World War II to receive medical, hospital, and domiciliary care to 
    the same extent as those who served an equivalent period of time in 
    the U.S. Armed Forces and who were honorably discharged therefrom.

    On Mar. 3, 1953,(14) Edith Nourse Rogers, of 
Massachusetts, Chairwoman of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, 
obtained unanimous consent to have her committee discharged from 
further consideration of the bill (H.R. 3350), and to have it 
rereferred to the Committee on the Judiciary.(15)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
14. 99 Cong. Rec. 1566, 1567, 83d Cong. 1st Sess.
15. H.R. 3350 was reported by the Committee on the Judiciary on July 1, 
        1953 (H. Rept. No. 699).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sec. 43.27 The Committee on the Judiciary and not the Committee on 
    Veterans' Affairs has jurisdiction of a private bill authorizing 
    and directing the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs to furnish 
    domiciliary or hospital care in an appropriate Veterans' 
    Administration facility to a veteran of military engagements in the 
    Philippine Islands.

    On Mar. 9, 1953,(16) Edith Nourse Rogers, of 
Massachusetts,
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
16. 99 Cong. Rec. 1759, 1760, 83d Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Page 2955]]

Chairwoman of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, obtained unanimous 
consent to have her committee discharged from further consideration of 
the bill (H.R. 3723), and to have it rereferred to the Committee on the 
Judiciary.

Private Bill Extending Certain Veterans' Benefits

Sec. 43.28 The Committee on the Judiciary and not the Committee on 
    Veterans' Affairs has considered private bills extending the time 
    within which an educational program under veterans' benefits might 
    be initiated.

    On Apr. 29, 1959,(17) Olin E. Teague, of Texas, Chairman 
of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, obtained unanimous consent that 
his committee be discharged from further consideration of two private 
bills (H.R. 3244, H.R. 3991), and that they be rereferred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
17. 105 Cong. Rec. 7028, 86th Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sec. 43.29 The Committee on the Judiciary and not the Committee on 
    Veterans' Affairs has jurisdiction of a private bill directing the 
    Administrator of Veterans' Affairs to renew a veteran's insurance 
    policy.

    On May 16, 1956,(18) Laurence Curtis, of Massachusetts, 
obtained unanimous consent to have the Committee on Veterans' Affairs 
discharged from further consideration of the bill (H.R. 10890), and to 
have it rereferred to the Committee on the Judiciary. In so doing, he 
noted that the matter had been cleared with the chairmen of both 
committees.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
18. 102 Cong. Rec. 8268, 84th Cong. 2d Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Salary Claim Due Former Member's Estate

Sec. 43.30 The Committee on the Judiciary and not the Committee on 
    House Administration has jurisdiction of a resolution authorizing 
    the Speaker to certify the proper salary certificates and enabling 
    the Comptroller General to certify for payment the claim of a 
    former Member's estate for salary due that Member.

    On Aug. 5, 1954,(1) Speaker Joseph W. Martin, Jr., of 
Massachusetts, recognized Mr. Karl M. LeCompte, of Iowa, who noted that 
the resolution (H. Res. 301), ``seems to have the elements of a 
claim,'' and that the Committee on
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. 100 Cong. Rec. 13469, 83d Cong. 2d Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Page 2956]]

House Administration, which he chaired, voted to request that the 
measure be referred to the Committee on the Judiciary ``which has 
jurisdiction of claims.'' Mr. LeCompte added that such action was 
agreeable to the Chairman (2) of the Committee on the 
Judiciary.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 2. Chauncey W. Reed (Ill.).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Immediately thereafter, the resolution was rereferred by unanimous 
consent.(3)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3. A similar rereferral was obtained with respect to a resolution (H. 
        Res. 269), regarding the same subject in the next Congress; 101 
        Cong. Rec. 8757, 84th Cong. 1st Sess., June 20, 1955.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

State Taxation Prohibition

Sec. 43.31 The Committee on the Judiciary and not the Committee on Ways 
    and Means has jurisdiction of bills ``to provide that the several 
    States shall not impose taxes'' in respect of income derived from 
    certain interstate activities.

    On June 18, 1959,(4) Wilbur D. Mills, of Arkansas, 
Chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, obtained unanimous consent 
to have the bill (H.R. 7715), rereferred from that committee to the 
Committee on the Judiciary.(5) 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4. 105 Cong. Rec. 11317, 86th Cong. 1st Sess.
 5. For an instance where a bill adding a new section to the Internal 
        Revenue Code prohibiting states from taxing individual income 
        earned by persons not domiciled in that state or earned from 
        sources outside that state was rereferred from the Committee on 
        the Judiciary to the Committee on Ways and Means, see 120 Cong. 
        Rec. 29006, 93d Cong. 2d Sess., Aug. 19, 1974. 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Election Law Penalties

Sec. 43.32 The Committee on the Judiciary and not the Committee on the 
    Election of the President, Vice President, and Representatives in 
    Congress (now the Committee on House Administration), had 
    jurisdiction of a bill to amend 2 USC Sec. 251 in force Jan. 3, 
    1935, also adding thereto sections 251A and 251B, relating to 
    offenses in elections and providing penalties therefor.

    On Feb. 19, 1936,(6) Mr. Thomas Brooks Fletcher, of 
Ohio, obtained unanimous consent to have the Committee on the Election 
of the President, Vice President, and Representatives in Congress (now 
the Committee on House Administration), discharged from further 
consideration of the bill (H.R. 9481), and to have it rereferred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary. Mr. Fletcher noted that he had
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 6. 80 Cong. Rec. 2360, 74th Cong. 2d Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Page 2957]]

spoken to the chairmen of both committees.