II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1604 

To establish the Daniel Webster Congressional Clerkship Program. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 20, 2017 

Mr. LEE (for himself, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. HOEVEN, and Mr. CRUZ) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on Rules and Administration 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Daniel Webster Con5 gressional Clerkship Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

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

9 school graduates in the United States begin their 

10 legal careers as judicial law clerks. 

mstockstill on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS

2 

•S 1604 IS

1 (2) The judicial clerkship program has given 

2 the judiciary access to a pool of exceptional young 

3 lawyers at a relatively low cost. 

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

5 leaders of their profession, where they serve a crit6 ical role in helping to educate the public about the 

7 judiciary and the judicial process. 

8 (4) The White House, the administrative agen9 cies of the executive branch, the Administrative Of10 fice of the United States Courts, the Federal Judi11 cial Center, and the United States Sentencing Com12 mission all operate analogous programs for talented 

13 young professionals at the outset of their careers. 

14 (5) Congress is without a similar program. 

15 (6) At a time when our Nation faces consider16 able challenges, Congress and the public would ben17 efit immeasurably from a program, modeled after 

18 the judicial clerkship program, that engages the 

19 brightest young lawyers in the Nation in the legisla20 tive process. 

21 (7) Accordingly, the Congress herein creates the 

22 Daniel Webster Congressional Clerkship Program, 

23 named after one of the most admired and distin24 guished lawyer-legislators ever to serve in Congress, 

mstockstill on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS

3 

•S 1604 IS

1 to improve the business of Congress and increase the 

2 understanding of its work by the public. 

3 SEC. 3. DANIEL WEBSTER CONGRESSIONAL CLERKSHIP 

4 PROGRAM. 

5 (a) SELECTION COMMITTEES.—In this Act, the term 

6 ‘‘Selection Committees’’ means— 

7 (1) the Committee on Rules and Administration 

8 of the Senate; and 

9 (2) the Committee on House Administration of 

10 the House of Representatives. 

11 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—There is estab12 lished the Daniel Webster Congressional Clerkship Pro13 gram for the appointment of individuals who are grad14 uates of accredited law schools to serve as Congressional 

15 Clerks in the Senate or House of Representatives. 

16 (c) SELECTION OF CLERKS.—The Selection Commit17 tees shall select Congressional Clerks in the following 

18 manner: 

19 (1) The Committee on Rules and Administra20 tion of the Senate shall select not less than 6 Con21 gressional Clerks each year for a clerkship with an 

22 office of the Senate for a 1-year period. 

23 (2) The Committee on House Administration of 

24 the House of Representatives shall select not less 

25 than 6 Congressional Clerks each year for a clerkmstockstill on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS

4 

•S 1604 IS

1 ship with an office of the House of Representatives 

2 for a 1-year period. 

3 (d) SELECTION CRITERIA.—In carrying out sub4 section (c), the Selection Committees shall select Congres5 sional Clerks consistent with the following criteria: 

6 (1) Each Congressional Clerk selected shall be 

7 a graduate of an accredited law school as of the 

8 starting date of his or her clerkship. 

9 (2) Each Congressional Clerk selected shall pos10 sess— 

11 (A) an excellent academic record; 

12 (B) a strong record of achievement in ex13 tracurricular activities; 

14 (C) a demonstrated commitment to public 

15 service; and 

16 (D) outstanding analytic, writing, and oral 

17 communication skills. 

18 (e) PROCESS.—After a Congressional Clerk is se19 lected under this section, such Congressional Clerk may 

20 then interview for a clerkship in an office, and accept the 

21 clerkship if offered, as follows: 

22 (1) For a Congressional Clerk selected under 

23 subsection (c)(1), the Congressional Clerk may inter24 view for, and accept if offered, a clerkship with— 

mstockstill on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS

5 

•S 1604 IS

1 (A) an office of any committee of the Sen2 ate, including a select or special committee; 

3 (B) an office of a joint committee of Con4 gress the pay of the employees of which is dis5 bursed by the Secretary of the Senate; 

6 (C) an office of any individual member of 

7 the Senate; 

8 (D) a leadership office of the Senate; or 

9 (E) the Office of the Parliamentarian of 

10 the Senate, the Office of Senate Legal Counsel, 

11 or the Office of the Legislative Counsel of the 

12 Senate. 

13 (2) For a Congressional Clerk selected under 

14 subsection (c)(2), the Congressional Clerk may inter15 view for, and accept if offered, a clerkship with— 

16 (A) an office of any committee of the 

17 House of Representatives, including any select 

18 or special committee; 

19 (B) an office of a joint committee of Con20 gress the pay of the employees of which is dis21 bursed by the Chief Administrative Officer of 

22 the House of Representatives; 

23 (C) an office of any individual Member of 

24 the House of Representatives; 

mstockstill on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS

6 

•S 1604 IS

1 (D) a leadership office of the House of 

2 Representatives; or 

3 (E) the Office of General Counsel of the 

4 House of Representatives, the Office of the 

5 Parliamentarian of the House of Representa6 tives, or the Office of the Legislative Counsel of 

7 the House of Representatives. 

8 (f) PLACEMENT REQUIREMENTS.—The Selection 

9 Committees shall, to the extent practicable, ensure that 

10 Congressional Clerks selected and placed under this sec11 tion are apportioned equally between majority party and 

12 minority party offices. 

13 (g) EXCLUSION FROM LIMIT ON NUMBER OF POSI14 TIONS.—A Congressional Clerk shall be excluded in deter15 mining the number of employees of the office that employs 

16 the Clerk for purposes of— 

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

18 House of Representatives, section 104 of the House 

19 of Representatives Administrative Reform Technical 

20 Corrections Act (2 U.S.C. 5321); or 

21 (2) in the case of any other office, any applica22 ble provision of law or any rule or regulation which 

23 imposes a limit on the number of employees of the 

24 office. 

mstockstill on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS

7 

•S 1604 IS

1 (h) FUNDING FOR POSITIONS; ADHERENCE TO

2 RULES.— 

3 (1) SENSE OF THE SENATE.—It is the sense of 

4 the Senate that— 

5 (A) the amount of financial assistance pro6 vided to a Congressional Clerk under paragraph 

7 (3) should, if practicable, be comparable to the 

8 compensation and benefits provided for similar 

9 clerkships offered through the Federal judiciary 

10 and executive branches; and 

11 (B) any financial assistance provided to a 

12 Congressional Clerk under such paragraph 

13 should not result in a net increase in the 

14 amounts appropriated for the legislative branch 

15 for any fiscal year. 

16 (2) DETERMINATION.—The amount of any fi17 nancial assistance provided under paragraph (3) for 

18 a Congressional Clerk shall be— 

19 (A) determined or approved by the office 

20 hiring the Congressional Clerk; and 

21 (B) based on the office’s determination of 

22 the duties and responsibilities for such Congres23 sional Clerk. 

24 (3) FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.— 

mstockstill on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS

8 

•S 1604 IS

1 (A) ELIGIBILITY FOR FELLOWSHIPS.—A 

2 Congressional Clerk that is placed with an of3 fice described in subsection (e) may accept a 

4 fellowship through an institution of higher edu5 cation (as defined in section 101(a) of the 

6 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

7 1001(a))) for the term of the clerkship with the 

8 approval of the office in accordance with para9 graph (2). 

10 (B) PAYMENT PROVIDED BY CONGRES11 SIONAL OFFICE.—An office described in sub12 section (e) may use amounts otherwise available 

13 to the office to provide compensation to a Con14 gressional Clerk of the office for the term of the 

15 clerkship. 

16 (4) REQUIRED ADHERENCE TO RULES.—A 

17 Congressional Clerk that obtains a clerkship under 

18 this section shall be subject to all laws, regulations, 

19 and rules in the same manner and to the same ex20 tent as an individual serving in a similar position in 

21 the Senate or the House of Representatives, as the 

22 case may be. 

23 (i) RULES.—The Selection Committees shall develop 

24 and promulgate rules regarding the administration of the 

mstockstill on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS

9 

•S 1604 IS

1 Congressional Clerkship program established under this 

2 section. 

Æ 

mstockstill on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS