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Union Calendar No. 29 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 151 

[Report No. 111–65] 

To establish the Daniel Webster Congressional Clerkship Program. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 6, 2009 

Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California (for herself and Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN

of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on House Administration 

MARCH 30, 2009 

Additional sponsors: Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. POMEROY, and Ms. MCCOLLUM

MARCH 30, 2009 

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union 

and ordered to be printed 

A BILL 

To establish the Daniel Webster Congressional Clerkship 

Program. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Daniel Webster Con3 gressional Clerkship Act of 2009’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) Each year, many of the most talented law 

7 school graduates in the country begin their legal ca8 reers as judicial law clerks. 

9 (2) The judicial clerkship program has given 

10 the judiciary access to a pool of exceptional young 

11 lawyers at a relatively low cost. 

12 (3) These same lawyers then go on to become 

13 leaders of their profession, where they serve a crit14 ical role in helping to educate the public about the 

15 judiciary and the judicial process. 

16 (4) The White House, the administrative agen17 cies of the Executive Branch, the Administrative Of18 fice of the United States Courts, the Federal Judi19 cial Center, and the United States Sentencing Com20 mission, all operate analogous programs for talented 

21 young professionals at the outset of their careers. 

22 (5) The Congress is without a similar program. 

23 (6) At a time when our Nation faces consider24 able challenges, the Congress and the public would 

25 benefit immeasurably from a program, modeled after 

26 the judicial clerkship program, that engages the 


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1 brightest young lawyers in the Nation in the legisla2 tive process. 

3 (7) Accordingly, the Congress herein creates the 

4 Daniel Webster Congressional Clerkship Program, 

5 named after one of the most admired and distin6 guished lawyer-legislators ever to serve in the Con7 gress, to improve the business of the Congress and 

8 increase the understanding of its work by the public. 

9 SEC. 3. DANIEL WEBSTER CONGRESSIONAL CLERKSHIP 

10 PROGRAM. 

11 (a) SELECTION COMMITTEES.—As used in this Act, 

12 the term ‘‘Selection Committees’’ means— 

13 (1) the Committee on Rules and Administration 

14 of the Senate; and 

15 (2) the Committee on House Administration of 

16 the House of Representatives. 

17 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—There is hereby 

18 established the Daniel Webster Congressional Clerkship 

19 Program for the appointment of individuals who are grad20 uates of accredited law schools to serve as Congressional 

21 Clerks in the Senate or House of Representatives. 

22 (c) SELECTION OF CLERKS.—Subject to the avail23 ability of appropriations, the Selection Committees shall 

24 select Congressional Clerks in the following manner: 


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1 (1) The Committee on Rules and Administra2 tion of the Senate shall select not less than 6 Con3 gressional Clerks each year to serve as employees of 

4 the Senate for a 1-year period. 

5 (2) The Committee on House Administration of 

6 the House of Representatives shall select not less 

7 than 6 Congressional Clerks each year to serve as 

8 employees of the House of Representatives for a 1- 

9 year period. 

10 (d) SELECTION CRITERIA.—In carrying out sub11 section (c), the Selection Committees shall select Congres12 sional Clerks consistent with the following criteria: 

13 (1) Each Congressional Clerk selected shall be 

14 a graduate of an accredited law school as of the 

15 starting date of his or her clerkship. 

16 (2) Each Congressional Clerk selected shall pos17 sess— 

18 (A) an excellent academic record; 

19 (B) a strong record of achievement in ex20 tracurricular activities; 

21 (C) a demonstrated commitment to public 

22 service; and 

23 (D) outstanding analytic, writing, and oral 

24 communication skills. 


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1 (e) PROCESS.—After a Congressional Clerk is se2 lected under this section, such Congressional Clerk shall 

3 then interview for a position in an office as follows: 

4 (1) For a Congressional Clerk selected under 

5 subsection (c)(1), the Congressional Clerk shall 

6 interview for a position with any office of any Com7 mittee of the Senate, including any Joint Committee 

8 or Select and Special Committee, or any office of 

9 any individual member of the Senate. 

10 (2) For a Congressional Clerk selected under 

11 subsection (c)(2), the Congressional Clerk shall 

12 interview for a position with any office of any Com13 mittee of the House of Representatives, including 

14 any Joint Committee or Select and Special Com15 mittee, or any office of any individual Member of the 

16 House of Representatives. 

17 (f) PLACEMENT REQUIREMENTS.—The Selection 

18 Committees shall ensure that Congressional Clerks se19 lected under this section are apportioned equally between 

20 majority party and minority party offices. 

21 (g) COMPENSATION OF CONGRESSIONAL CLERKS.— 

22 Each Congressional Clerk selected under this section shall 

23 receive the same compensation as would, and comparable 

24 benefits to, an individual who holds the position of a judi25 cial clerkship for the United States District Court for the 


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1 District of Columbia within 3 months of graduating from 

2 law school. 

3 (h) REQUIRED ADHERENCE TO RULES.—Each Con4 gressional Clerk selected under this section shall be sub5 ject to all laws, regulations, and rules in the same manner 

6 and to the same extent as any other employee of the Sen7 ate or House of Representatives. 

8 (i) EXCLUSION FROM LIMIT ON NUMBER OF POSI9 TIONS.—A Congressional Clerk shall be excluded in deter10 mining the number of employees of the office that employs 

11 the Clerk for purposes of— 

12 (1) in the case of the office of a Member of the 

13 House of Representatives, section 104 of the House 

14 of Representatives Administrative Reform Technical 

15 Corrections Act (2 U.S.C. 92); or 

16 (2) in the case of any other office, any applica17 ble provision of law or any rule or regulation which 

18 imposes a limit on the number of employees of the 

19 office. 

20 (j) RULES.—The Selection Committees shall develop 

21 and promulgate rules regarding the administration of the 

22 Congressional Clerkship program established under this 

23 section. 


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1 (k) MEMBER DEFINED.—In this section, the term 

2 ‘‘Member of the House of Representatives’’ includes a Del3 egate or Resident Commissioner to the Congress. 

4 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

5 There are authorized to be appropriated for fiscal 

6 year 2010 and each succeeding fiscal year from the appli7 cable accounts of the House of Representatives and the 

8 contingent fund of the Senate such sums as necessary to 

9 carry out the provisions of this Act. 


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Union Calendar No. 29 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 151 

[Report No. 111–65] 

A BILL 

To establish the Daniel Webster Congressional 

Clerkship Program. 

MARCH 30, 2009 

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 

State of the Union and ordered to be printed 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS