[Deschler's Precedents, Volume 4, Chapters 15 - 17]
[Chapter 17. Committees]
[F. Committee Reports]
[Â§ 62. Time for Filing Report]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[Page 3173-3180]
 
                               CHAPTER 17
 
                               Committees
 
                          F. COMMITTEE REPORTS
 
Sec. 62. Time for Filing Report

    Under the rules, committee reports on a bill or other measure 
reported to the House by a committee must accompany the reported 
measure.(2) However, Members may obtain unanimous consent to 
file their minority or separate views as part II of a 
report.(3)
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 2. Rule XVIII clause 2, House Rules and Manual Sec. 821 (1979).
 3. Sec. 64.4, infra (late filing of minority report).
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[[Page 3174]]

Unanimous consent of the House may also be obtained to file a committee 
report after adjournment.(4)
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 4. Sec. 62.3, infra.
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Filing After Sine Die Adjournment

Sec. 62.1 A standing committee may be authorized, by unanimous consent, 
    to have its investigative reports printed if filed after the sine 
    die adjournment.

    On Oct. 5, 1962,(5) Speaker John W. McCormack, of 
Massachusetts, recognized Mr. Chet Holifield, of California, who made 
the following request:
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 5. 5 108 Cong. Rec. 22618, 87th Cong. 2d Sess.
            For other examples, see 104 Cong. Rec. 19699, 85th Cong. 2d 
        Sess., Aug. 23, 1958; 103 Cong. Rec. 16759, 85th Cong. 1st 
        Sess., Aug. 30, 1957; 102 Cong. Rec. 15268, 84th Cong. 2d 
        Sess., July 27, 1956; and 94 Cong. Rec. 9348. 80th Cong. 2d 
        Sess., June 19, 1948.
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        Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that reports filed with 
    the Clerk, following the sine die adjournment,(6) by the 
    Committee on Government Operations or its subcommittees may be 
    printed by the Clerk as reports of the 87th Congress.
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 6. For the rules pertaining to adjournment in general, see Ch. 40, 
        infra.
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    Unanimous consent was granted.
    Parliamentarian's Note: In recent Congresses, the form of this 
request has been expanded to permit all committees authorized by the 
House to conduct investigations to file reports with the Clerk 
following sine die adjournment and to print those reports. Such general 
form was also used in some past Congresses, as indicated in Sec. 62.14, 
infra.

Sec. 62.2 A select committee may be authorized, by unanimous consent, 
    to have its investigative reports printed if filed after the sine 
    die adjournment.

    On Oct. 5, 1962,(7) Mr. Chet Holifield, of California, 
sought and obtained unanimous consent that reports filed after sine die 
adjournment with the Clerk by the Committee on Government Operations or 
its subcommittees could be printed by the Clerk as reports of the 87th 
Congress. Then Mr. A. Paul Kitchin, of North Carolina, obtained 
unanimous consent that reports filed with the Clerk following the 
adjournment by the Select Committee on Export Control could likewise be 
printed by the Clerk as records of the 87th Congress.
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 7. 108 Cong. Rec. 22618, 22619, 87th Cong. 2d Sess.
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Sec. 62.3 By unanimous consent, the Committee on Govern

[[Page 3175]]

    ment Operations was permitted to file a report on a bill subsequent 
    to a projected sine die adjournment but on a day prior to 
    expiration of the first session of the 93d Congress under the 20th 
    amendment (Jan. 3).

    On Dec. 20, 1973,(8) the day before the expiration of 
the first session of the 93d Congress, Mr. Chet Holifield, of 
California, obtained unanimous consent that the House Committee on 
Government Operations have until midnight, Jan. 2, 1974, to file a 
report on H.R. 11793, a bill to create a new Federal Energy 
Administration.
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8. 119 Cong. Rec. 42916, 93d Cong. 1st Sess.
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Leave to File Before Midnight

Sec. 62.4 Leave was granted to a committee to file a privileged report, 
    on a bill for admission of a new state, after adjournment for the 
    day but before midnight.

    On Feb. 11, 1959,(9) Mr. Wayne N. Aspinall, of Colorado, 
obtained unanimous consent that the Committee on Interior and Insular 
Affairs have until midnight of that day to file a privileged report on 
the bill H.R. 4221, providing for the admission of the State of Hawaii 
into the Union.
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 9. 105 Cong. Rec. 2178, 86th Cong. 1st Sess.
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    Parliamentarian's Note: The authority conferred upon the Committee 
on Interior and Insular Affairs to report statehood bills as privileged 
was removed from the rules effective Jan. 3 1975.

Sec. 62.5 The Committee on Banking and Currency was granted permission 
    by unanimous consent to have until midnight to file a report and an 
    accompanying document showing changes in existing law as required 
    by the Ramseyer rule.

    On July 13, 1966,(10) Mr. Wright Patman, of Texas, 
obtained unanimous consent that the Committee on Banking and Currency 
have until midnight to file an accompanying document to the report on 
the bill H.R. 15890, a housing bill, in order to comply with the 
requirements of the Ramseyer rule. Later that same day, Mr. Carl 
Albert, of Oklahoma, stated that some of the material which should have 
been in the report accompanying the housing bill was still not 
available. Therefore, Mr. Albert sought and obtained unanimous consent 
that the Committee
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10. 112 Cong. Rec. 15403, 15476, 89th Cong. 2d Sess.
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[[Page 3176]]

on Banking and Currency have until midnight on Friday, July 15, 1966, 
to file the supplemental report.

Sec. 62.6 The Committee on Appropriations was given until midnight to 
    file a privileged report.

    On June 3, 1963,(11) Mr. William H. Natcher, of 
Kentucky, sought and obtained unanimous consent that the Committee on 
Appropriations have until midnight of that day to file the report on 
the bill making appropriations for the Department of Agriculture for 
the fiscal year ending June 30, 1964.
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11. 109 Cong. Rec. 9916, 88th Cong. 1st Sess.
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    Parliamentarian's Note: Where such permission is granted on a 
general appropriation bill, points of order under Rule XXI clause 2 
must be reserved at that time, before the bill is placed on the Union 
Calendar, to permit points of order under that clause to be later made 
against provisions in the bill during consideration in Committee of the 
Whole. Absent such a reservation, the Committee of the Whole would have 
no authority to remove provisions from bills referred to it by the 
House other than by amendment.

Sec. 62.7 A Member from the minority party, acting at the behest of a 
    committee chairman, asked and secured unanimous consent that the 
    committee have until midnight to file a report.

    On June 2, 1966,(12) Mr. Howard H. Callaway, of Georgia, 
a member from the minority party, acting at the behest of the committee 
chairman, obtained unanimous consent that the Committee on Agriculture 
have until midnight of that day to file a report on H.R. 15089, an 
agriculture bill.
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12. 112 Cong. Rec. 12191, 89th Cong. 2d Sess.
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Filing After Expiration of Select Committee

Sec. 62.8 Where a special investigating committee expires on a 
    specified date, it is not in order seven months later to file a 
    report as a matter of privilege.

    In the 76th Congress, on July 19, 1939,(13) Mr. Ralph E. 
Church, of Illinois, objected to a unanimous-consent request by Mr. 
Adolph J. Sabath, of Illinois, to file the report of the Select 
Committee to Investigate Bondholders' Reorganizations, which had been 
established by House Resolution 412 of the 73d Congress. In response
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13. 84 Cong. Rec. 9531, 76th Cong. 1st Sess.
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[[Page 3177]]

to an inquiry submitted by Mr. Everett M. Dirksen, of Illinois, as to 
whether the report could be filed by a committee which had ceased to 
exist several months previously, Speaker William B. Bankhead, of 
Alabama, declared that such filing would be unauthorized. The Speaker 
stated:

        The Chair is of the opinion that the gentleman [Mr. Sabath] 
    would not have the legal authority to file this as a report of the 
    committee because, as the Chair understands, the functions of the 
    committee expired on January 1, 1939.

    Mr. Sabath withdrew his request to file the report.

Where Filing Date Falls on Non-legislative Day

Sec. 62.9 Where an investigative report from a joint committee was due 
    to be filed on a date that fell on a Saturday when the House was 
    not in session, the report was filed on the following Monday with 
    the Clerk.

    On Apr. 3, 1939,(14) Mr. R. Ewing Thomason, of Texas, 
called to the attention of the House the fact that the report of the 
joint committee appointed to investigate the Tennessee Valley Authority 
had been due on a day [Saturday, Apr. 1] when Congress was not in 
session. Mr. Thomason stated that the report was therefore filed with 
the Clerk on Apr. 3, and that there would also be minority views. Mr. 
Thomason explained that his remarks were intended to inform the Members 
why the report had not been filed earlier.
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14. 84 Cong. Rec. 3727, 3728, 76th Cong. 1st Sess.
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Joint Economic Committee

Sec. 62.10 The Joint Economic Committee may be granted additional time 
    in which to file a report.

    On Feb. 26, 1959,(15) Mr. Wright Patman, of Texas, 
sought unanimous consent that the Joint Economic Committee be given 
eight additional days to file its report. Under the Employment Act of 
1946 [15 USC Sec. Sec. 1021 et seq.; 60 Stat. 23 (1946)], the Joint 
Economic Committee was required to file its report on the economic re
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15. 105 Cong. Rec. 3049, 86th Cong. 1st Sess. For other extensions, see 
        109 Cong. Rec. 3231, 88th Cong. 1st Sess., Feb. 28, 1963 [two 
        additional weeks]; 108 Cong. Rec. 2948, 87th Cong. 2d Sess., 
        Feb. 26, 1962 [one additional week]; 107 Cong. Rec. 2935, 87th 
        Cong. 1st Sess., Mar. 1, 1961 [two additional months]; and 101 
        Cong. Rec. 2029, 84th Cong. 1st Sess., Feb. 24, 1955 [115 
        additional days].
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[[Page 3178]]

port of the President on Mar. 1. The committee had voted unanimously to 
request that it be given until Mar. 9 to file its report. Without 
objection, the House granted the additional time.

Sec. 62.11 Instance where the House, by unanimous consent, considered 
    and passed a Senate joint resolution extending the date for 
    transmission to Congress of the report of the Joint Economic 
    Committee.

    On Feb. 7, 1972,(16) Mr. Wright Patman, of Texas, sought 
and obtained unanimous consent for the immediate consideration of 
Senate Joint Resolution 196, extending the date for the transmission to 
the Congress of the report of the Joint Economic Committee. The Clerk 
read the Senate joint resolution, which provided that the dates for the 
transmission of the economic report of the Joint Economic Committee, 
approved Dec. 22, 1971 (Pub. L. No. 92-216; 85 Stat. 778), be extended 
from Mar. 10, 1972, to Mar. 28, 1972. The Senate joint resolution was 
then read a third time and passed, and a motion to reconsider was laid 
on the table.
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16. 118 Cong. Rec. 2915, 92d Cong. 2d Sess.
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    Parliamentarian's Note: Since this reporting requirement is, in 
effect, a joint rule of the House and Senate, unanimous consent of both 
Houses for an extension of time is all that is required and not the 
enactment of a law.

Form of Resolution Authorizing Filing During Adjournment

Sec. 62.12 The House has by resolution authorized a committee to 
    conduct an investigation and to submit a report to the Clerk if the 
    House is not in session.

    On June 20, 1936,(17) Mr. James M. Mead, of New York, 
sought and obtained unanimous consent for the immediate consideration 
of House Resolution 551, which provided that the Committee on the Post 
Office and Post Roads could conduct an investigation and submit its 
report to the Clerk if the House were not in session. The resolution 
was agreed to. It provided:
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17. 80 Cong. Rec. 10619, 74th Cong. 2d Sess.
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        Resolved, That the Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads, 
    as a whole or by subcommittee, is authorized and directed to 
    conduct an investigation to determine (1) the fair and proper basis 
    of compensation for postmasters of the fourth class, and (2) the 
    fair and proper basis of compensation for carrying mail on star 
    routes. . . .

[[Page 3179]]

        The committee shall report to the House (or to the Clerk of the 
    House if the House is not in session) as soon as practicable the 
    results of its investigation, together with such recommendations 
    for legislation as it deems advisable.

Sec. 62.13 A resolution authorized the appointment of a special 
    committee to investigate old-age pension plans and empowered the 
    committee, in the event the House was not in session, to file its 
    report with the Speaker.

    On Mar. 10, 1936,(18) Mr. C. Jasper Bell, of Missouri, 
sought and obtained unanimous consent for the immediate consideration 
of House Resolution 443, which provided for establishment of a select 
committee to investigate pension plans and authorized the committee to 
submit its report after the adjournment. Specifically, the resolution 
provided:
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18. 80 Cong. Rec. 3506, 3507, 74th Cong. 2d Sess.
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        Resolved, That the Speaker appoint a select committee of eight 
    Members of the House and that such committee be instructed to 
    inquire into old-age-pension plans with respect to which 
    legislation has been submitted to the House of Representatives, and 
    particularly that embodied in H.R. 7154. . . . And the committee 
    shall have the right to report to the House at any time the results 
    of its investigations and recommendations for other or additional 
    legislation upon said bill or any other proposed legislation 
    relative to old-age pensions.  . . .
        Resolved further, That in the event the committee transmits its 
    report to the Speaker at a time when the House is not in session, 
    as authorized in House Resolution No. 418, current session, a 
    record of such transmittal shall be entered in the proceedings of 
    the Journal and Congressional Record of the House on the opening 
    day of the next session of Congress and shall be numbered and 
    printed as a report of such Congress.

Form of Request Authorizing Filing and Printing After Sine Die 
    Adjournment

Sec. 62.14 By unanimous consent, special and standing committees may be 
    authorized, notwithstanding sine die adjournment, to file their 
    reports with the Speaker for printing as public documents.

    On Dec. 15, 1942 (1) the following exchange took place:
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 1. 88 Cong. Rec. 9602, 77th Cong. 2d Sess.
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        Mr. [John W.] McCormack [of Massachusetts]: Mr. Speaker, I ask 
    unanimous consent that notwithstanding the sine die adjournment of 
    the House, special and standing Committees of the House authorized 
    to make investigations may file their reports with the Speaker not 
    later than noon, January

[[Page 3180]]

    3, 1943, for printing as public documents.
        The Speaker: (2) Is there objection to the request 
    of the gentleman from Massachusetts?
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 2. Sam Rayburn (Tex.).
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        There was no objection