Daniel Webster Congressional Clerkship Act of 2016

Summary: Daniel Webster Congressional Clerkship Act of 2016 This bill establishes the Daniel Webster Congressional Clerkship Program for the appointment of individuals who are graduates of accredited law schools to serve as congressional clerks in the Senate or House of Representatives. The Senate Committee on Rules and Administration and the House Committee on House Administration must each select at least six individuals for a one-year term to serve for a clerkship with an office in their respective chambers. The committees shall ensure that congressional clerks selected under this bill are apportioned equally between majority and minority party offices.   The bill expresses the sense of the Senate that: (1) the amount of financial assistance provided to a congressional clerk should, if practicable, be comparable to the compensation and benefits provided for similar clerkships offered through the federal judiciary and executive branches; and (2) any financial assistance provided to a clerk should not result in a net increase in the amounts appropriated for the legislative branch for any fiscal year.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Daniel Webster Congressional 
Clerkship Act of 2016''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Each year, many of the most talented law school 
        graduates in the United States begin their legal careers as 
        judicial law clerks.
            (2) The judicial clerkship program has given the judiciary 
        access to a pool of exceptional young lawyers at a relatively 
        low cost.
            (3) These same lawyers then go on to become leaders of 
        their profession, where they serve a critical role in helping 
        to educate the public about the judiciary and the judicial 
        process.
            (4) The White House, the administrative agencies of the 
        executive branch, the Administrative Office of the United 
        States Courts, the Federal Judicial Center, and the United 
        States Sentencing Commission all operate analogous programs for 
        talented young professionals at the outset of their careers.
            (5) Congress is without a similar program.
            (6) At a time when our Nation faces considerable 
        challenges, Congress and the public would benefit immeasurably 
        from a program, modeled after the judicial clerkship program, 
        that engages the brightest young lawyers in the Nation in the 
        legislative process.
            (7) Accordingly, the Congress herein creates the Daniel 
        Webster Congressional Clerkship Program, named after one of the 
        most admired and distinguished lawyer-legislators ever to serve 
        in Congress, to improve the business of Congress and increase 
        the understanding of its work by the public.

SEC. 3. DANIEL WEBSTER CONGRESSIONAL CLERKSHIP PROGRAM.

    (a) Selection Committees.--In this Act, the term ``Selection 
Committees'' means--
            (1) the Committee on Rules and Administration of the 
        Senate; and
            (2) the Committee on House Administration of the House of 
        Representatives.
    (b) Establishment of Program.--There is established the Daniel 
Webster Congressional Clerkship Program for the appointment of 
individuals who are graduates of accredited law schools to serve as 
Congressional Clerks in the Senate or House of Representatives.
    (c) Selection of Clerks.--The Selection Committees shall select 
Congressional Clerks in the following manner:
            (1) The Committee on Rules and Administration of the Senate 
        shall select not less than 6 Congressional Clerks each year for 
        a clerkship with an office of the Senate for a 1-year period.
            (2) The Committee on House Administration of the House of 
        Representatives shall select not less than 6 Congressional 
        Clerks each year for a clerkship with an office of the House of 
        Representatives for a 1-year period.
    (d) Selection Criteria.--In carrying out subsection (c), the 
Selection Committees shall select Congressional Clerks consistent with 
the following criteria:
            (1) Each Congressional Clerk selected shall be a graduate 
        of an accredited law school as of the starting date of his or 
        her clerkship.
            (2) Each Congressional Clerk selected shall possess--
                    (A) an excellent academic record;
                    (B) a strong record of achievement in 
                extracurricular activities;
                    (C) a demonstrated commitment to public service; 
                and
                    (D) outstanding analytic, writing, and oral 
                communication skills.
    (e) Process.--After a Congressional Clerk is selected under this 
section, such Congressional Clerk may then interview for a clerkship in 
an office, and accept the clerkship if offered, as follows:
            (1) For a Congressional Clerk selected under subsection 
        (c)(1), the Congressional Clerk may interview for, and accept 
        if offered, a clerkship with--
                    (A) an office of any committee of the Senate, 
                including a select or special committee;
                    (B) an office of a joint committee of Congress the 
                pay of the employees of which is disbursed by the 
                Secretary of the Senate;
                    (C) an office of any individual member of the 
                Senate;
                    (D) a leadership office of the Senate; or
                    (E) the Office of the Parliamentarian of the 
                Senate, the Office of Senate Legal Counsel, or the 
                Office of the Legislative Counsel of the Senate.
            (2) For a Congressional Clerk selected under subsection 
        (c)(2), the Congressional Clerk may interview for, and accept 
        if offered, a clerkship with--
                    (A) an office of any committee of the House of 
                Representatives, including any select or special 
                committee;
                    (B) an office of a joint committee of Congress the 
                pay of the employees of which is disbursed by the Chief 
                Administrative Officer of the House of Representatives;
                    (C) an office of any individual Member of the House 
                of Representatives;
                    (D) a leadership office of the House of 
                Representatives; or
                    (E) the Office of General Counsel of the House of 
                Representatives, the Office of the Parliamentarian of 
                the House of Representatives, or the Office of the 
                Legislative Counsel of the House of Representatives.
    (f) Placement Requirements.--The Selection Committees shall, to the 
extent practicable, ensure that Congressional Clerks selected and 
placed under this section are apportioned equally between majority 
party and minority party offices.
    (g) Exclusion From Limit on Number of Positions.--A Congressional 
Clerk shall be excluded in determining the number of employees of the 
office that employs the Clerk for purposes of--
            (1) in the case of the office of a Member of the House of 
        Representatives, section 104 of the House of Representatives 
        Administrative Reform Technical Corrections Act (2 U.S.C. 
        5321); or
            (2) in the case of any other office, any applicable 
        provision of law or any rule or regulation which imposes a 
        limit on the number of employees of the office.
    (h) Funding for Positions; Adherence to Rules.--
            (1) Sense of the senate.--It is the sense of the Senate 
        that--
                    (A) the amount of financial assistance provided to 
                a Congressional Clerk under paragraph (3) should, if 
                practicable, be comparable to the compensation and 
                benefits provided for similar clerkships offered 
                through the Federal judiciary and executive branches; 
                and
                    (B) any financial assistance provided to a 
                Congressional Clerk under such paragraph should not 
                result in a net increase in the amounts appropriated 
                for the legislative branch for any fiscal year.
            (2) Determination.--The amount of any financial assistance 
        provided under paragraph (3) for a Congressional Clerk shall 
        be--
                    (A) determined or approved by the office hiring the 
                Congressional Clerk; and
                    (B) based on the office's determination of the 
                duties and responsibilities for such Congressional 
                Clerk.
            (3) Financial assistance.--
                    (A) Eligibility for fellowships.--A Congressional 
                Clerk that is placed with an office described in 
                subsection (e) may accept a fellowship through an 
                institution of higher education (as defined in section 
                101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
                1001(a))) for the term of the clerkship with the 
                approval of the office in accordance with paragraph 
                (2).
                    (B) Payment provided by congressional office.--An 
                office described in subsection (e) may use amounts 
                otherwise available to the office to provide 
                compensation to a Congressional Clerk of the office for 
                the term of the clerkship.
            (4) Required adherence to rules.--A Congressional Clerk 
        that obtains a clerkship under this section shall be subject to 
        all laws, regulations, and rules in the same manner and to the 
        same extent as an individual serving in a similar position in 
        the Senate or the House of Representatives, as the case may be.
    (i) Rules.--The Selection Committees shall develop and promulgate 
rules regarding the administration of the Congressional Clerkship 
program established under this section.