I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3356

To amend chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, to establish the Joint 

Administrative Procedures Committee. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 21, 2003

Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida (for herself, Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART

of Florida, and Mr. FEENEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Rules, and in addition to the Committee on 

the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 

in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL

To amend chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, to 

establish the Joint Administrative Procedures Committee.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Joint Administrative 

5 Procedures Committee Act of 2003’’ or the ‘‘JAPC Act’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF A JOINT ADMINISTRATIVE 

2 PROCEDURES COMMITTEE. 

3 Section 802 of title 5, United States Code, is amend4 ed by redesignating subsection (g) as subsection (i) and 

5 by inserting before subsection (i) the following new sub6 section: 

7 ‘‘(h)(1) There is established a Joint Administrative 

8 Procedures Committee to be composed of 12 Members of 

9 the Senate to be appointed by the majority leader of the 

10 Senate and 12 Members of the House of Representatives 

11 to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Represent12 atives. In each instance, not more than 7 Members shall 

13 be members of the same political party. 

14 ‘‘(2) In carrying out its duties under this chapter, 

15 the joint committee, or any duly authorized subcommittee 

16 thereof, is authorized to—

17 ‘‘(A) hold such hearings, to sit and act at such 

18 places and times within the United States during the 

19 sessions, recesses, and adjourned periods of Con20 gress; 

21 ‘‘(B) require the attendance of such witnesses 

22 and the production of such books, papers, and docu23 ments, administer such oaths, take such testimony, 

24 procure such printing and binding as it deems nec25 essary; and 
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1 ‘‘(C) make such rules respecting its organiza2 tion and procedures as it deems necessary. 

3 ‘‘(3) The joint committee may selectively review exist4 ing major rules of any Federal agency and recommend—

5 ‘‘(A) to the committees of jurisdiction in each 

6 House of Congress that they take appropriate legis7 lative actions to amend or repeal laws within their 

8 jurisdictions sufficient to effectuate its recommenda9 tions; and 

10 ‘‘(B) to such Federal agency that it amend or 

11 repeal all or any part of such major rules. 

12 ‘‘(4) The joint committee shall periodically review the 

13 regulatory plan of each Federal agency of its most impor14 tant significant regulatory actions that the agency reason15 ably expects to issue in proposed or final form in the fiscal 

16 year in which such plan is submitted (or thereafter) to 

17 the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs of the 

18 Office of Management and Budget and may submit com19 ments to such Office respecting such plan. Within 10 cal20 endar days after receiving any such agency plan, such Of21 fice shall submit a copy of such plan to the joint committee 

22 for its comments. Upon completion of its review or waiver 

23 of its review of each such agency plan, the Office shall 

24 also submit to the joint committee a detailed summary of 

25 it recommendations. 
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1 ‘‘(5) The joint committee may selectively review exist2 ing rules of any Federal agency that were in effect before 

3 the enactment of chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, 

4 and that the joint committee finds would satisfy the cri5 teria of subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of paragraph (2) 

6 of section 804 of such title and recommend—

7 ‘‘(A) to the committees of jurisdiction in each 

8 House of Congress that they take appropriate legis9 lative actions to amend or repeal laws within their 

10 jurisdictions sufficient to effectuate its recommenda11 tions; and 

12 ‘‘(B) to such Federal agency that it amend or 

13 repeal all or any part of such major rules. 

14 ‘‘(6) The members of the joint committee who are 

15 Members of the Senate shall from time to time report to 

16 appropriate standing committees of the Senate, and the 

17 members of the joint committee who are Members of the 

18 House of Representatives shall from time to time report 

19 to appropriate standing committees of the House their rec20 ommendations with respect to matters within the jurisdic21 tion of their respective Houses which are referred to the 

22 joint committee or otherwise within the jurisdiction of the 

23 joint committee. 

24 ‘‘(7) Vacancies in the membership of the joint com25 mittee shall not affect the power of the remaining mem-
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1 bers to execute the functions of the joint committee, and 

2 shall be filled in the same manner as in the case of the 

3 original selection. The joint committee shall select a chair4 man and a vice chairman from among its members at the 

5 beginning of each Congress. The vice chairman shall act 

6 in place of the chairman in the absence of the chairman. 

7 The chairmanship shall alternate between the Senate and 

8 the House of Representatives with each Congress, and the 

9 chairman shall be selected by the Members from that 

10 House entitled to the chairmanship. The vice chairman 

11 shall be chosen from the House other than that of the 

12 chairman by the Members from that House. 

13 ‘‘(8) The joint committee may appoint and fix the 

14 compensation of such staff as it deems necessary. 

15 ‘‘(9)(A) Notwithstanding any law, rule, or other au16 thority, there shall be paid out of the applicable accounts 

17 of the House of Representatives such sums as may be nec18 essary for one-half of the expenses of the joint committee. 

19 Such payments shall be made on vouchers signed by the 

20 chairman or vice chairman of the joint committee who is 

21 a Member of the House of Representatives, as the case 

22 may be, and approved in the manner directed by the Com23 mittee on House Administration of the House of Rep24 resentatives. Amounts made available under this para25 graph shall be expended in accordance with regulations 
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1 prescribed by the Committee on House Administration of 

2 the House of Representatives. 

3 ‘‘(B) (To be supplied by the Senate).’’. 

4 SEC. 3. CONSIDERATION IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTA5 TIVES AND THE SENATE. 

6 Section 802 of title 5, United States Code, is amend7 ed by redesignating subsection (f) as subsection (g) and 

8 by inserting after subsection (e) the following new sub9 section: 

10 ‘‘(f)(1) In the House, after the third legislative day 

11 after the date on which the committee to which a joint 

12 resolution is referred has reported, it is in order for any 

13 Member of the House to move to proceed to consideration 

14 of the joint resolution. All points of order against the mo15 tion to proceed and against consideration of that motion 

16 are waived. The motion is privileged in the House and is 

17 not debatable. The motion is not subject to amendment, 

18 or to a motion to postpone, or to a motion to proceed to 

19 the consideration of other business. A motion to reconsider 

20 the vote by which the motion is agreed to or disagreed 

21 to shall not be in order. If a motion to proceed to the 

22 consideration of the joint resolution is agreed to, the 

23 House shall immediately proceed to consideration of the 

24 joint resolution without intervening motion (except one 

25 motion to adjourn), order, or other business. 
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1 ‘‘(2) In the House, debate shall be confined to the 

2 joint resolution and shall not exceed one hour equally di3 vided and controlled by a proponent and an opponent of 

4 the joint resolution. The previous question shall be consid5 ered as ordered on the joint resolution to final passage 

6 without intervening motion, except one motion to recom7 mit. A motion to reconsider the vote on passage of the 

8 joint resolution shall not be in order.’’. 

9 SEC. 4. CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW. 

10 (a) CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW.—Section 801(a) of 

11 title 5, United States Code, is amended—

12 (1) in paragraph (1)(A), by inserting ‘‘, the 

13 joint committee,’’ after ‘‘each House of the Con14 gress’’; 

15 (2) in paragraph (1)(B), by inserting ‘‘and the 

16 joint committee’’ after ‘‘each House of Congress’’; 

17 (3) in paragraph (1) by adding at the end the 

18 following new subparagraph: 

19 ‘‘(D) Within 30 days (excluding days either House 

20 of Congress is adjourned for more than 3 days during a 

21 session of Congress) after the date on which the report 

22 referred to in subparagraph (A) is received, the joint com23 mittee may report a committee resolution recommending 

24 that each standing committee with jurisdiction to which 

25 copies of the applicable report were provided under sub-
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1 paragraph (C) report a joint resolution pursuant to section 

2 802 disapproving the applicable rule.’’; and 

3 (4) in paragraph (2)(A), by inserting ‘‘the joint 

4 committee’’ after ‘‘committees of jurisdiction in each 

5 House of the Congress’’. 

6 (b) EFFECT OF DISAPPROVAL.—Section 801(b)(2) of 

7 title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting before 

8 the period at the end the following: ‘‘or the reissued or 

9 new rule carries out the recommendation, if any, set forth 

10 in the report submitted by the joint committee to the com11 mittees of jurisdiction pursuant to subsection (a)(1)(D) 

12 respecting the rule that did not take effect because it was 

13 the subject to an enacted resolution of disapproval’’. 

14 (c) DEFINITIONS.—Section 804 of title 5, United 

15 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol16 lowing new paragraph: 

17 ‘‘(4) The term ‘joint committee’ refers to the 

18 Joint Administrative Procedures Committee.’’. 

19 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

20 This Act and the amendments made by it shall take 

21 effect at noon on January 3, 2005.

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