U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office

Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800

Fax: (202) 512–2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402–0001

21–196 2005

MARKUP OF OMNIBUS COMMITTEE FUNDING 

RESOLUTION AND A COMMITTEE RESOLUTION 

MARKUP 

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON HOUSE 

ADMINISTRATION 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS 

FIRST SESSION 

HEARING HELD IN WASHINGTON, DC, APRIL 21, 2005 

Printed for the use of the Committee on House Administration 

( 

(II) 

COMMITTEE ON HOUSE ADMINISTRATION 

BOB NEY, Ohio, Chairman 

VERNON J. EHLERS, Michigan 

JOHN L. MICA, Florida 

CANDICE S. MILLER, Michigan 

JOHN T. DOOLITTLE, California 

THOMAS M. REYNOLDS, New York 

JUANITA MILLENDER-MCDONALD, 

California 

Ranking Minority Member 

ROBERT A. BRADY, Pennsylvania 

ZOE LOFGREN, California 

PROFESSIONAL STAFF

PAUL VINOVICH, Staff Director 

GEORGE SHEVLIN, Minority Staff Director 

(1) 

MARKUP OF OMNIBUS COMMITTEE FUNDING 

RESOLUTION AND A COMMITTEE RESOLUTION 

THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2005 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 

COMMITTEE ON HOUSE ADMINISTRATION, 

Washington, DC. 

The committee met, pursuant to call, at 2:30 p.m., in room H– 

326, the Capitol, Hon. Robert W. Ney (chairman of the committee) 

presiding. 

Present: Representatives Ney, Ehlers, Miller, Millender-McDonald, Brady and Lofgren. 

The CHAIRMAN. The Committee is now in order for the purpose 

of considering the 109th Congress Omnibus Committee Funding 

Resolution and a Committee Resolution establishing the 109th 

Congress franked mail allocation for committees. In February this 

year, the chairmen and ranking members of all the committees 

came before us and requested their budgets, the resolution along 

with the committee resolution setting the franked mail allocations 

to fully fund committees for the 109th Congress. 

This mark is an amendment in the nature of a substitute outlining each committee’s authorized spending levels for 2005 and 

2006. I am pleased to put before the Committee a chairman’s mark 

that can be supported, I believe, by a majority of members on both 

sides of the aisle. This is a great way for this institution to operate, 

with members and the ranking members. And this agreement, 

which has been in the works for the last two months, has finally 

been sanctified in the 11th hour and a half, and allows us to move 

forward with a bona fide resolution for committee funding. 

I feel that both the chairmen and ranking members will agree 

that this resolution provides sufficient funding for them to carry 

out the duties and responsibilities with which they are charged. As 

I said many times, we are in the world of the Internet and a world 

of information. And that is a wonderful thing, but it also creates 

a lot of work that none of the members mind doing or the staff, but 

we have an obligation to people to do the work for the people in 

the country. And so that is why this funding measure is so important. 

At the beginning of Congress, the Committee on Homeland Security was made a permanent standing committee, which made 

things tougher this year. But I think we have done a good job allocating our resources, because we have, for the first time in a long 

time, funded another full committee. The Committee will continue 

2 

to provide important oversight functions, overseeing the Homeland 

Security Department and ensuring that the combined agencies are 

doing their job. As a result of its new standing within the House, 

the budget for Homeland Security that has been engrossed by this 

resolution no longer stands alone, so I feel it is important to note 

that although it would appear that the overall budget for committees has increased dramatically because of the inclusion of that 

committee, this is really not the case. This was again a tough task, 

but I believe that we have all handled it in the correct way. 

So this budget is in line with past committee funding resolutions, 

and represents a percent increase similar to that of the United 

States Senate. I believe it will have good bipartisan support on the 

floor. The Committee has requested a total of 273 million in spending for the 109th. This is approximately 39 million more than what 

was authorized in the 108th Congress, and also represents a 17 

percent request increase. That is a request. Removing Homeland 

Security from the equation, the request by committees total 257 

million, approximately a 35 million increase over the 108th authorized levels. This mark reduces the amount requested by all committees to 162 million, or a 5.9 percent increase. So 5.9 percent is, I 

feel, responsible and meets the obligations of the Chairs and ranking members and the staffs so they can carry out their business. 

The amendment in the nature of a substitute providing expenses for all committees other than Homeland Security authorizes $243 

million, a 9.2 percent increase, and this is a $20 million increase 

over the 108th. 

It should be noted that the 109th Congress funding level of $243 

million, excluding Homeland Security, is still lower than the funding levels of the 103rd Congress in both costs and actual dollars. 

So I am proud of the numbers we are putting forward with this 

mark, and look forward to passing a resolution out of the Committee today and then passing the House floor. 

I want to thank our Ranking Member, Congresswoman 

Millender-McDonald, all the members of this Committee, and the 

staffs who have worked very, very hard. We haven’t always had bipartisan votes on these resolutions, as those who have been around 

for a while remember. This will mark the third round where we 

have had bipartisan support. I am proud of the fact that both sides 

of the aisle are coming together. Also, a lot of kudos and credit to 

our ranking member and the other minority members of the Committee who pushed to make sure that their ranking members had 

the one third and the things that they needed, as we did in consulting our Chairs. 

And, with that, I will yield to our Ranking Member. And thank 

you, once again, publicly, for all your help, concern, and your caring of the system of the institution of the House. 

Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD. Mr. Chairman, I want to, again, 

thank you for your tireless efforts to bring this funding resolution 

before this committee. This chairman has worked vehemently on 

the floor. He would either find me or I would find he on the floor, 

and we worked through this whole process. And you have worked 

to ensure that the fairness principle espoused by Speaker Hastert, 

former chair Thomas, and yourself is being followed by all committee chairs. I would like to also thank my lead staff person, 

3 

George Schefland, and also your lead person, Paul, in helping to 

craft this and constantly talking to us about the nuances of getting 

to this point. 

The principle that you are following in the footsteps of your predecessor, first articulated by the Republican leadership and signed 

on to by every Republican ranking member was the Republicans, 

and when the Republicans were in the minority, is simply straightforward and straightforward—and forward. 

The minority of each committee is entitled to one third of the 

staff, one third of the funds, and control of those funds. The current 

Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Senator Pat Roberts, 

who in 1994 was on this committee, best articulated this principle 

with language he offered to the omnibus funding. 

Mr. Chairman, the minority has not had to resort to such specific 

language largely because of you and your predecessor and Speaker 

Hastert believe in this fairness principle and lived it each day. The 

House Administration Committee is one of only five House committees which operate on this principle with no strings attached, and 

virtually all other committees have found a way to satisfactorily 

apply the principle with some conditions to the mutual satisfaction 

of the chairman and ranking member. I cannot tell you how 

pleased I am, Mr. Chairman, that the one committee which appears to be at an impasse has found a way to apply the fairness 

principle to the mutual satisfaction of the chairman and the ranking member. 

We have come a long way in a decade, and you have demonstrated this fairness principle and how it works. It has governed 

our committee for over 10 years without compromising your capacity and your integrity, Mr. Chairman, and I thank you so much for 

that. Because of your leadership, we have arrived at a point where 

I can honestly represent that the fairness principle is at work on 

every committee. You ought to be congratulated on navigating this, 

and at the proper time I will be offering an amendment to your 

chairman’s mark. This amendment is intended to limit mass mailers by committees and to ensure that any self-initiated mass mailers are reviewed and that they are directly related to the ordinary 

and necessary responsibilities of the committee. Last year, just 

prior to the general election we recognize what went on, and this 

amendment will fix this problem and hope that every member of 

the committee will give it serious consideration. We hope to resolve 

this franking problem, and I will be offering limitations to this second resolution that will act upon—we act upon today, and that 

amendment will give each standing committee 5,000 per session in 

franking authority. 

And, Mr. Chairman, that amendment will require that each committee to come back to this committee for supplemental authorization if the need arises. These two committee amendments taken together will assure taxpayers that their franking tax dollars will not 

be subject to any future waste, fraud, or abuse in mass mailing 

franking transitions in furtherance of this committee’s business. I 

am hopeful that my amendments will be adopted so that we have 

to take this resolution to the floor and we will take it to the floor 

with broad support of the resolution. 

4 

In closing, again, I want to say what a pleasure it is to work with 

you, Mr. Chairman, and to express my hope that, working together, 

we can get the entire House behind the funding resolution when 

we take it up on the floor next week. Thank you, sir. 

[The statement of Ms. Millender-McDonald follows:] 

5 


Insert graphic folio 11 21196A.001
6 


Insert graphic folio 12 21196A.002
7 


Insert graphic folio 13 21196A.003
8 


Insert graphic folio 14 21196A.004
9 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you. 

Other comments by other members? 

Ms. LOFGREN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just a question in 

making sure that I am understanding the ranking member’s comments. And with a great deal of gratitude both to you and to the 

chairman for the heavy lifting that I am sure is involved in getting 

agreement. But when we left the hearings unresolved in terms of 

the chairman and ranking members seem to be the agriculture and 

small business committees. Those have now been resolved to their 

satisfaction? 

Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD. Those have both have been resolved. 

Ms. LOFGREN. That is good. Congratulations. 

The CHAIRMAN. We thought we would go on the road and negotiate. A couple of countries are having disputes and are having disputes with each other, too. 

Ms. LOFGREN. Well, if I may, and I will quickly close. I would 

certainly like to support the work of the chairman and ranking 

member. There is at least one question outstanding, but it should 

not stand in the way of supporting this. So good work. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you. 

Mr. EHLERS. Mr. EHLERS. I notice the Science Committee is just about the 

very lowest in percentage increase. They submitted a modest increase, but I hope they weren’t given the lowest increase because 

they submitted a modest increase. Rules, which also submitted a 

fairly modest increase, got the entire amount, and the Science 

Committee got substantially less. I wondered what the reason was 

for that. The Science Committee, I know from being on it, runs a 

very tight ship, and a much tighter ship with less spending and 

waste than any of the other committees, and I would hate to see 

them penalized because they are frugal. 

The CHAIRMAN. The one thing on Rules. At least since I have 

been here, and when Mr. Thomas was chairman, the Rules Committee was almost a flat-line committee. And this time we talked 

to Mrs. Slaughter and also Mr. Dreier. They needed to do something to modernize their system. 

Mr. EHLERS. I am not questioning theirs. I am just saying 

why—— 

The CHAIRMAN. And Science. There is, of course, a limited 

amount to the entire picture. But we did transmit the numbers to 

the Science Committee, and to the best of my knowledge, they had 

no objection. We didn’t hear objection from them. 

Mr. EHLERS. Did they see what other committees got? 

The CHAIRMAN. We gave them the numbers. Correct? 

Mr. EHLERS. For every committee? Did they see that other committees were getting substantially more than they? 

The CHAIRMAN. If you start that—— 

Mr. EHLERS. No. Then it is immaterial. You can’t expect them to 

comment on the amount if they don’t know what they are getting 

compared to other committees. I mean. 

Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD. Government Reform is getting a 4.5 

increase. 

Mr. EHLERS. I understand that. 

Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD. So it is not the lowest. 

10 

Mr. EHLERS. No. There is one more. 

Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD. Two, really. 

Mr. EHLERS. Well, Budget generally gets standardized. You can’t 

count them. 

The CHAIRMAN. Committees will always look and see that one 

committee got more or less. Ways and Means, for example, might 

have a lower percentage increase, but has a larger dollar figure 

than some committees. But I do know we transmitted these numbers and did not hear an objection back. 

Mr. EHLERS. Well, at least you could have transmitted it to the 

members of this committee, too. It is awfully tough to come in a 

meeting and get it cut and dry and say, okay, take it or leave it. 

And the point is this is one committee—I serve on three committees; I know how many use their money. This committee uses it 

very wisely and judiciously. And just because they request a modest amount, I don’t think they should be given one of the lowest 

figures. It is not a very expensive committee to begin with compared to many of the others. 

The CHAIRMAN. Let me ask this question of our staff. What was 

the total dollar figures Science had requested? 

Mr. EHLERS. I am just looking for equity. When I see 18 percent 

increases, 10 percent increases, 12 percent, 22 percent, et cetera. 

Then why not request a huge amount? I mean, this committee is 

supposed to make judicious judgments. 

Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD. When we were going through the 

whole process—— 

Mr. EHLERS. I never saw it. 

The CHAIRMAN. We did transmit the dollar figures to all the 

chairs and the ranking members. Heard back from some that they 

weren’t happy and we couldn’t accommodate them. Some people 

came back and said, ‘‘well, you know, we need a bit more,’’ and 

gave a rationale, and we considered it. But, like I said, these numbers were given and we didn’t hear back. 

One thing I would argue is that a committee has to function by 

what they need. If a committee starts to say well, ‘‘Ways and 

Means got more and we should have got more,’’ then this whole 

thing would be another 70 million dollars. 

Mr. EHLERS. I understand that. But I don’t understand why we 

are asked, just present the material and supposed to, in 5 minutes, 

make the decision when we don’t know what the factors were in 

the decisions. 

Ms. LOFGREN. Would the gentleman yield? 

Mr. EHLERS. Yes. 

Ms. LOFGREN. Which committee, either chairman or ranking 

members, raised objections to this that remain unresolved? 

Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD. There aren’t any. 

Ms. LOFGREN. So everybody has—— 

Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD. I called many and the Chairman 

spoke with many. So there aren’t any others on—— 

The CHAIRMAN. We actually provided these—I personally provided these numbers to most of the Chairs and our staff went 

through the process providing numbers in the last week. This has 

just been formulated, frankly, and I apologize for that. We normally get things in time; this was just put together because there 

11 

were going to be votes and we would have to pass continuing resolutions. But I just never heard back from anybody on that Committee to say this is just not—— 

Mr. EHLERS. I understand. I am just frustrated. 

Mr. BRADY. Mr. Chairman, I mean, I am on the Armed Services 

Committee. I know what committee I am on. I know what committee comes in front, I know what request they make. I vote on 

my ranking member and I vote on my chairman. I say, are you 

guys okay? That is the part of being on this committee that I 

thought was supposed to happen, and we are okay with this. And 

if I was on Science, I would have done that too. So this is like 

the—— 

Mr. EHLERS. If you knew the numbers had been prepared. 

Mr. BRADY. They know the numbers. They do. Your ranking 

member and your chairman. I take it that it is my responsibility 

being on the committee that is going to have any kind of financing 

of their committee to go to them and say, are you guys okay? I 

didn’t just go to the ranking member, I went to the chairman. And 

they said, well, we would like more, but we could live with this. 

And I said fine. And and I checked back with the chairman and 

the Ranking Member and I said, look, they are okay. 

So I thought maybe that was what I was supposed to do. I mean, 

I can’t imagine walking in and letting everybody see these numbers, because then you get into a bidding war. But that is what I 

did. I took that upon myself to do that. 

Mr. EHLERS. So you are saying the members of this committee 

shouldn’t see the numbers before? 

Mr. BRADY. No. I am saying the members of this committee 

should see the numbers. 

Mr. EHLERS. That is my point. 

Mr. BRADY. That is well taken. But my chairman and my ranking member of the committee saw the numbers and they shared 

with me they were fine. But I think that maybe you are right, you 

should have them a little sooner. 

The CHAIRMAN. I would say, Mr. Ehlers, your office was informed 

if they would like to convey these numbers and chose to let us do 

that. I hesitate to mention that, but that is what happened. 

Mr. EHLERS. I will talk to them about that. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you. Any other questions? 

Ms. LOFGREN. I just want to make sure that Chairman Sensenbrenner is not going to be angry. 

The CHAIRMAN. He will probably always be angry, about something else, though, probably not this. 

Mr. BRADY. When they get happy, they should get happy with us. 

When they get angry, they should get angry with the chairman. 

The CHAIRMAN. And there is one thing. I went to the other 

chairs, and I gave them a number, I tried personally to get to all 

I could, but I believe the staff got to the rest. But every once in 

a while, I would have somebody say, let me see the list. And I 

would say, no. You tell me whether you are happy with your number. Because they are going to see the list and they are going to 

say, ‘‘Well, they got a 15 percent increase.’’ Well, actually, if you 

look at raw dollar figures, some of the 15 percents are not as high 

12 

in raw dollars as the lower increases. So if you get into that, it is 

an unwinnable situation. 

Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD. Mr. Chairman, the one thing, we 

have spoken with both Chairman Sensenbrenner and also the 

ranking member. They have come to their own agreement which 

they said is fine with them. So the same as with the small business 

and the same as with agriculture. 

Ms. LOFGREN. Good work. 

The CHAIRMAN. There are still some slot issues that will be dealt 

with that we don’t make a mark on. That is decided at the leader’s 

level, above our pay grades, with the Speaker and the leader. 

Other questions? The Chair lays before the Committee bill H.R. 

224 open to amendment, and the Chair offers an amendment in the 

nature of a substitute. Is there any discussion or amendments? The 

clerk will report the amendment. And we will recognize the ranking member. 

[The information follows:] 

13 


Insert graphic folio 23 21196A.005
14 


Insert graphic folio 24 21196A.006
15 


Insert graphic folio 25 21196A.007
16 


Insert graphic folio 26 21196A.008
17 

Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As I indicated in my opening statement, I have this amendment to the 

funding resolution. The amendment limits overall mass mailers by 

committees and ensures that each mass mailer is reviewed by the 

franking commission. It also requires that committee mass mailers 

pertain directly to the normal and regular business of the committee. Last year, just prior to the general election and earlier in 

the 108th Congress just prior to some primary elections we saw 

some self-initiated committee mass mailers, which I can only characterize as deeply troubled. If unchecked, and if this trend were to 

expand or continue, I believe that the frank would be placed in 

jeopardy for the entire House, and taxpayers would be rightly critical of our stewardship on this important communication. 

My amendment will fix this problem, and I hope that every member of the committee will consider it. I thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

The CHAIRMAN. I support the amendment. We have Jack Dail 

here. We have franking people who have a tough job, but they sit 

down and go over everything. And they will be able to more than 

adequately handle this end from the committees; I think it has the 

blackout date in it. These are some changes to existing law, and 

no problem to support. 

Ms. MILLER. Could you expand a little bit on what the changes 

are? 

Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD. The changes will be that all members, irrespective of committee chairs and all regular members, 

come under the 90-day rule before elections; and, secondarily, that 

they do get an advisory opinion by the franking commission before 

that material goes out. 

The CHAIRMAN. Also, a very good provision in this amendment 

enables us to plan for certain scenarios. Let us say there is some 

type of crisis in the country and these committees need to communicate, we can always come back. And if we need to add something 

on, in a unique situation, we can come back and discuss it and 

make a decision. I think that is a good provision. And again, they 

will go into franking just as all Members currently do. 

Ms. MILLER. Have the committee chairs been made aware of this 

amendment as well? 

The CHAIRMAN. Yes. And there is no one that disagrees with it. 

Any questions on the amendment? Those in favor of the amendment will say aye. Those opposed will say nay. The question is now 

on the substitute as amended. Those in favor will say aye. Those 

opposed say nay. The bill is adopted as amended. 

Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD. Mr. Chairman, pursuant to Clause 

2(l) of Rule 911, I am providing notice that I am requesting not less 

than 2 additional calendar days as provided by the rules to submit 

additional views to accompany the committee’s report on this resolution. 

The CHAIRMAN. Without objection. And I would also like to recognize our ranking member for the purpose of offering a motion. 

Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD. Mr. Chairman, I move that H.R. 224 

as amended be reported favorably to the House. 

The CHAIRMAN. The question is on the motion. Those in favor say 

aye. Those opposed nay. And the motion is agreed to, and H.R. 224 

as amended is reported favorably to the House. 

18 

Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

The CHAIRMAN. And now we lay before the Committee a Committee Resolution establishing the 109th Congress franked mail allocation for the committees. Is there a discussion? 

Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD. Mr. Chairman, you and I have discussed this and we have discussed it with our leadership, and they 

are in agreement with that. And I move that we adopt this substitute motion. 

The CHAIRMAN. I recognize the gentlelady for the purpose of offering the motion. And it has been moved that the Committee Resolution establishing 109th Congress franked mail allocation be 

adopted. The question is on the motion. Those in favor will say aye. 

Those opposed will say nay. The motion is agreed to, and the Committee Resolution establishing 109th Congress franked mail allocation for the committees is adopted. 

As is technical, I ask unanimous consent that members be given 

7 legislative days for statements and materials to be entered into 

the appropriate place in the record. Without objection, the material 

will be entered. 

I ask unanimous consent that staff be authorized to make technical and conforming changes on all matters considered by the 

Committee at today’s meeting. Without objection, so ordered. 

Again, I want to thank all the members for your time and your 

concern with the funding resolution, and also the franking resolution. We are therefore adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 2:59 p.m., the Committee was adjourned.]