    [Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and the Rules of the House of Representatives, 109th Congress]
    [109th Congress]
    [House Document 108-241]
    [Jeffersons Manual of ParliamentaryPractice]
    [Pages 152-155]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 152]]

                               sec. xi--committees

    Sec. 317. Appointment of standing committees; and
    designation and duties of chairmen thereof.

      Standing  committees, as of
    Privileges and Elections, &c., are usually appointed at the first
    meeting, to continue through the session. The person first named is
    generally permitted to act as chairman. But this is a matter of
    courtesy; every committee having a right to elect their own chairman,
    who presides over them, puts questions, and reports their proceedings to
    the House. 4 inst., 11, 12; Scob., 9; 1 Grey, 122.

      Before the 62d Congress, standing as well as select committees and
    their chairmen were appointed by the Speaker, but under the present form
    of rule X, adopted in 1911, continued as a part of the Legislative
    Reorganization Act of 1946, and revised under the Committee Reform
    Amendments of 1974 (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470),
    standing committees and their respective chairmen are elected by the
    House (IV, 4448; VIII, 2178). Owing to their number and size, committees
    are not usually elected immediately, but resolutions providing for such
    elections are presented by the majority and minority parties pursuant to
    clause 5 of rule X as soon as they are able to perfect the lists. A
    committee may order its report to be made by the chairman, or by some
    other member (IV, 4669), even by a member of the minority party (IV,
    4672, 4673), or by a Delegate, July 1, 1958 (Burns of Hawaii) p. 12871;
    and the chairman sometimes submits a report in which he has not
    concurred (IV, 4670). Clause 2 of rule XIII requires that a report which
    has been approved by the committee must be filed with the House within
    seven calendar days after a written request from a majority of the
    committee is submitted to the committee clerk.

    [[Page 153]]

    Sec. 318. Parliamentary law as to debate in standing and
    select committees.

      At  these committees the members are to speak standing,
    and not sitting; though there is reason to conjecture it was formerly
    otherwise. D'Ewes, 630, col. 1; 4 Parl. Hist., 440; 2 Hats., 77.

    Sec. 319. Secrecy of committee procedure.

      Their  proceedings
    are not to be published, as they are of no force till confirmed by the
    House. Rushw., part 3, vol. 2, 74; 3 Grey, 401; Scob., 39.* * *

      In the House it is entirely within rule and usage for a committee to
    conduct its proceedings in secret (IV, 4558-4564; see also clause 2(g)
    of rule XI), and the House itself may not abrogate the secrecy of a
    committee's proceedings except by suspending the rule (IV, 4565). The
    House has no information concerning the proceedings of a committee not
    officially reported by the committee (VII, 1015) and it is not in order
    in debate to refer to executive session proceedings of a committee which
    have not formally been reported to the House (V, 5080-5083; VIII, 2269,
    2485, 2493; June 24, 1958, pp. 12120, 12122; Apr. 5, 1967, p. 8411).
    However, a complaint that certain remarks that might be uttered in
    debate would improperly disclose executive-session material of a
    committee is not cognizable as a point of order in the House where the
    Chair is not aware of the executive-session status of the information
    (Nov. 5, 1997, p. 24648). On one occasion a Member was permitted to
    refer to the unreported executive session proceedings of a subcommittee
    to justify his point of order that a resolution providing for a select
    committee to inquire into action of the subcommittee was not privileged
    (June 30, 1958, p. 12690). In one case the House authorized the clerk of
    a committee to disclose by deposition its proceedings (III, 2604). Where
    a committee takes testimony it is sometimes very desirable that the
    proceedings be secret (III, 1694), as in the investigation in the Bank
    of the United States in 1834, when the committee determined that its
    proceedings should be confidential, not to be attended by any person not
    invited or required (III, 1732). It is for the committee, in its
    discretion, to determine whether the proceedings of the committee shall
    be open or not (clause 2(g) of rule XI). Clause 2(k) of rule XI
    establishes the procedure for closing a hearing because of defamatory,
    degrading, or incriminating testimony. Clause 11(d) of rule X
    establishes special rules governing the closing of hearings of the
    Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

    [[Page 154]]

    Sec. 320. Reception of petitions by committees.

      Under clause 2 of rule XI, all hearings and business meetings
    conducted by standing committees shall be open to the public, except
    when a committee, in open session, by record vote, with a majority
    present, determines to close the meeting or hearing for that day for the
    reasons stated in that clause.
       * * * Nor
    can they receive a petition but through the House. 9 Grey, 412.

    Sec. 321. Parliamentary law of procedure when a committee
    inquiry involves a Member.

      When  a committee is charged with an inquiry, if
    a Member prove to be involved, they can not proceed against him but must
    make a special report to the House; whereupon the Member is heard in his
    place, or at the bar, or a special authority is given to the committee
    to inquire concerning him. 9 Grey, 523.

    Sec. 322. Practice of House when a committee inquiry
    involves a Member.

      While  the authority of this principle has not been
    questioned by the House, there have in special instances been deviations
    from it. Thus, in 1832, when a Member had been slain in a duel, and the
    fact was notorious that all the principals and seconds were Members of
    the House, the committee, charged only with investigating the causes and
    whether or not there had been a breach of privilege, reported with their
    findings recommendations for expulsion and censure of the Members found
    to be implicated. There was criticism of this method of procedure as
    deviating from the rule of Jefferson's Manual, but the House did not
    recommit the report (II, 1644). In 1857, when a committee charged with
    inquiring into accusations against Members not named found certain
    Members implicated, they gave them copies of the testimony and
    opportunities to explain to the committee, under oath or otherwise, as
    they individually might prefer (III, 1845), but reported recommendations
    for expulsion without first seeking the order of the House (II, 1275;
    III, 1844). In 1859 and 1892 a similar procedure occurred (III, 1831,
    2637). But the House, in a case wherein an inquiry had incidentally
    involved a Member, evidently considered the parliamentary law as
    applicable, since it admitted as of privilege and agreed to a resolution
    directing the committee to report the charges (III, 1843). And in cases
    wherein testimony taken before a joint committee incidentally impeached
    the official characters of a Member and a Senator, the facts in each
    case were reported to the House interested (III, 1854). A select
    committee, appointed to report upon the right of a Member-elect to be
    sworn (H. Res. 1, 90th Cong., pp. 14-27, Jan. 10, 1967), invited him to
    appear, to testify, and permitted him to be accompanied by counsel (see
    H. Rept. 90-27).

    [[Page 155]]

    Sec. 323. Inquiries involving Members of other
    House.

      And  where one House, by its committee, has found a Member of the
    other implicated, the testimony has been transmitted (II, 1276; III,
    1850, 1852, 1853). Where such testimony was taken in open session of the
    committee, it was not thought necessary that it be under seal when sent
    to the other House (III, 1851).

    Sec. 324. Duty of chairman of a committee when the House
    sits.

      So  soon as the House sits, and a committee is notified of it, the
    chairman is in duty bound to rise instantly, and the members to attend
    the service of the House. 2 Nals., 319.

      For the current practice of the House, see the annotation following
    clause 2(i) of rule XI (Sec. 801, infra).

    Sec. 325. Action of joint committees.

      It  appears that on
    joint committees of the Lords and Commons each committee acted
    integrally in the following instances: 7 Grey, 261, 278, 285, 338; 1
    Chandler, 357, 462. In the following instances it does not appear
    whether they did or not: 6 Grey, 129; 7 Grey, 213, 229, 321.

      It is the practice in Congress that joint committees shall vote per
    capita, and not as representatives of the two Houses (IV, 4425),
    although the membership from the House is usually, but not always (IV
    4410), larger than that from the Senate (III, 1946; IV, 4426-4431). But
    ordinary committees of conference appointed to settle differences
    between the two Houses are not considered joint committees, and the
    managers of the two Houses vote separately (V, 6336), each House having
    one vote. A quorum of a joint committee seems to have been considered to
    be a majority of the whole number rather than a majority of the
    membership of each House (IV, 4424). The first named of the Senate
    members acted as chairman in one notable instance (IV, 4424), and in
    another the joint committee elected its chairman (IV, 4447).