CHAPTER VII – CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS

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CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS 

The Chairman, as official spokesman for the agency, or his designee, is responsible for 

presenting the agency’s testimony for Congressional hearings. Commissioners will testify 

at Congressional hearings when invited to do so by the Congress and may elect to attend 

at other times. 

PREPARATION OF TESTIMONY AND SUPPORTING INFORMATION 

1. Planning Meetings

 Upon learning of a potential Congressional hearing where NRC may be 

asked to testify, either informally or through a letter of invitation, OCA will 

immediately notify the Commission and an initial planning meeting will be 

set up by the Director of Congressional Affairs with the Chairman or his/her 

designee. Attendees may also include the Executive Director for 

Operations (EDO) and the General Counsel (or their designees), as well as 

other office directors or their designees, as appropriate. A representative 

from each Commissioner’s office may also be invited to attend. 

 The purpose of the initial planning meeting is to identify and discuss: (1) the 

objective(s) of and key topics for the hearing; (2) who should testify for the 

NRC; (3) NRC’s role in the hearing and key messages to be incorporated 

into the testimony; (4) what backup material is required (questions and 

answers, plant information summaries, etc.); (5) the role of other hearing 

panel participants, if applicable; and (6) relevant supporting documents 

(GAO reports, etc.) that might provide insight as to the scope and purpose 

of the hearing. 

 Additional meetings may be scheduled by the Chairman and/or OCA to 

prepare the witness for the hearing. The topics to be covered at these 

briefings include: any last minute intelligence and logistics, questions the 

witness may be asked, and discussion of the oral statement by the witness. 

Typically attendance should be kept to a minimum subject to the needs of 

the witness, and may include the heads of OCA, OPA, EDO, OGC, CFO, or 

their designee, and a representative from the Chairman’s Office (if he/she 

is not the NRC witness) should attend. Other office directors may be invited 

depending on the Congressional entity conducting the hearing and the 

subject matter. As a recommended collegial practice, a representative from 

each Commissioner’s office may be invited to such a meeting for hearings 

at which the entire Commission will testify. OCA will also keep 

Commissioner offices informed through the Chiefs of Staff meetings. 
CHAPTER VII – CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS

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2. Preparation of Testimony and Supporting Information

 The Director of OCA should establish, based on the outcome of the initial 

planning meeting, and with input from OEDO/OGC, the expected products 

and overall schedule, with specific milestones, to ensure the timely delivery 

of a high quality product to the Commission for review and approval and to 

the Congress for presentation. 

 OCA and the staff shall designate the lead individuals for each hearing who 

will be responsible for coordinating preparation of the testimony and hearing 

materials utilizing NRC staff input. The EDO and/or General Counsel, as 

appropriate, will assign one staff individual (at the OEDO level) the 

responsibility, authority, and accountability for facilitating preparation of 

input materials for the hearing and providing them to OCA. This staff person 

must remain cognizant of the status of the prepared materials and assist 

OCA in the timely delivery of the required materials to the Commission for 

review and approval and to Congress, and any pre-hearing and posthearing agency follow-up work. The final draft testimony must be timely so 

that the Chairman will be afforded enough time to review the document and 

allow the Chairman’s Office to forward the testimony to the Commissioners 

for comment and approval at least 3 business days prior to the scheduled 

deadline for submittal to Congress. Time must also be provided for OMB 

review of draft testimony addressing budgetary needs (e.g., appropriations 

or authorization bills). 

 OCA will provide information for the hearing as appropriate. The Questions 

and Answers (Q’s and A’s) must be concise; contain messages consistent 

with the testimony; address key areas of Congressional concern as we 

understand them; and address related GAO, IG, or other report findings. 

Any new information should be brought to the specific attention of the 

Commission. The information should be provided to the Chairman and 

Commissioner offices at least one week in advance of the hearing or earlier 

if directed by the Chairman. 

 If a Commissioner wishes to have his or her separate views noted in the 

Chairman’s testimony, he or she is urged to provide input to the Chairman 

and the other Commissioners when his or her comments are provided on 

the draft testimony. A Commissioner may provide his or her own written 

testimony or an oral statement at the hearing when the Commission is 

invited to testify in accordance with the committee’s invitation letter. In 

general, the Commission submits only one written testimony that has been 

coordinated among all Commission offices. 

 Under the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921 and implementing guidance 

issued by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), budget-related 
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testimony must be submitted to OMB for clearance prior to its submission 

to Congress. Submission to OMB occurs after the Commission has 

reviewed and approved the testimony. 

COMMITMENTS AND POST-HEARING QUESTIONS 

During the course of a Congressional hearing, officials who testify on behalf of the NRC 

occasionally make commitments to provide additional information at a later date. 

Witnesses are also frequently asked to supply documents or information for the hearing 

record. In other situations, witnesses may promise to examine a particular matter and 

report back to an individual Member of Congress. Specific guidelines and procedures for 

tracking commitments made in Congressional hearings and forwarding responses to 

Congress are as follows: 

 Typically OCA will receive correspondence from the Committee with the 

Questions for the Record (QFRs). These QFRs are directed typically to the 

Chairman for response on behalf of the Commission but may be directed to 

the Chairman for response in his or her individual capacity. Other members 

of the Commission may receive QFRs requesting their individual response. 

These QFRs will be assigned by SECY to the EDO, CFO, or the appropriate 

Commission-level office to develop responses to the QFRs. A suspense 

date is negotiated with the EDO or appropriate Commission-level office 

depending on the requested due date. Draft QFR responses will be 

circulated to the Commission for review and approval at least 5 business 

days before delivering them to Congress. For QFRs directed to the 

Chairman for response on behalf of the Commission, Commissioners note 

their approval, or comments and changes, if any, on the proposed 

responses and transmit them to OCA with information copies to other 

Commissioner offices. Comments and changes suggested by 

Commissioners are considered by OCA in consultation with the Chairman 

for incorporation. Comments or changes supported by a majority of the 

Commission will be incorporated into the responses. QFR responses with 

substantive changes (i.e., changes other than grammar or syntax) will be 

promptly recirculated to the Commission for a 3-business-day period prior 

to dispatch to ensure that a majority view of the Commission is reflected. If 

it is not possible to meet the 3-business-day deadline, OCA will promptly 

inform the Commission that the recirculated responses will be delayed and 

the Commission may determine, by majority, whether to seek an extension 

from Congress or to review the recirculated responses on a shortened time 

frame. Commissioners may provide views on the recirculated version of the 

responses to the Chairman and OCA. OCA distributes to Commissioner 

offices a copy of the final QFR responses transmitted to Congress. 

 

 QFRs directed to an individual member of the Commission will be 

responded to by that member. Staff will provide draft responses and 

technical assistance as requested. 
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 If information requested during the hearing is to be provided in a form other 

than signed correspondence (e.g., documents intended as inserts for the 

hearing record), OCA will track the commitment and provide it to the 

Commission for information 5 business days before delivering it to 

Congress. 

 Post-hearing communications with the Senate or House Appropriations 

Committees are handled jointly by the CFO and OCA and response time 

schedules are set by the CFO in coordination with the Chairman and OCA. 

 Documents for Congress that are publicly available do not have to be 

cleared with the Commission before they are provided to Congress. 

 Copies of hearing transcripts where the Commission has testified will be 

distributed to Commissioners by OCA for the purpose of each 

Commissioner editing his or her own testimony. OCA will compile 

Commissioner edits into the final edited transcript. 

 Copies of hearing transcripts where the Staff has testified will be distributed 

to the appropriate EDO, CFO, and Commission-level offices by OCA for 

editing. OCA will prepare the final edited transcript. 

 OCA will transmit inserts for the hearing record along with the edited hearing 

transcript. All items will be transmitted promptly to Congress.