IV

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. RES. 125

Providing for reform of the House of Representatives.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 10, 1993

Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota submitted the following resolution; which was

referred jointly to the Committees on Rules and House Administration

RESOLUTION

Providing for reform of the House of Representatives.

1 Resolved,

2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

3 This resolution may be cited as the ‘‘House of Rep4 resentatives Reform Resolution of 1993’’.

5 SEC. 2. SELECTION OF SUBCOMMITTEE CHAIRMEN IN THE

6 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

7 Clause 6(a) of rule X of the Rules of the House of

8 Representatives is amended by inserting at the end the

9 following new subparagraph:

10 ‘‘(3) As soon as practicable after the commencement

11 of each Congress, the chairman of each committee shall

12 appoint members of that committee to serve as chairmen
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1 of its subcommittees. A vacancy in any subcommittee

2 chairmanship shall be filled in the manner in which the

3 original appointment was made.’’.

4 SEC. 3. REDUCTION IN COMMITTEE STAFFING.

5 The number of staff positions and the amount of

6 funding for such positions for each committee of the

7 House of Representatives in the One Hundred Sixth Con8 gress and each succeeding Congress may not exceed 50

9 percent of the number and amount for such committee in

10 the One Hundred Third Congress. The reductions re11 quired by the preceding sentence shall be carried out incre12 mentally, with approximately equal reductions to be imple13 mented for each of the 5 sessions of Congress beginning

14 with the first session of the One Hundred Fourth Con15 gress.

16 SEC. 4. REDUCTION IN CLERK HIRE STAFFING.

17 The number of clerk hire positions and the amount

18 of funding for such positions for each Member of the

19 House of Representatives in the One Hundred Sixth Con20 gress and each succeeding Congress may not exceed 50

21 percent of the number and amount for each Member in

22 the One Hundred Third Congress. The reductions re23 quired by the preceding sentence shall be carried out incre24 mentally, with approximately equal reductions to be imple25 mented for each of the 5 sessions of Congress beginning
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1 with the first session of the One Hundred Fourth Con2 gress.

3 SEC. 5. ELIMINATION OF JOINT REFERRALS OF LEGISLA4 TION.

5 Clause 5(c) of rule X of the Rules of the House of

6 Representatives is amended to read as follows:

7 ‘‘(c) In carrying out paragraphs (a) and (b) with re8 spect to any matter, the Speaker shall initially refer the

9 matter to one committee which he shall designate as the

10 committee of principal jurisdiction.’’.

11 SEC. 6. LIMITATION ON LENGTH OF SERVICE ON ANY COM12 MITTEE.

13 Clause 6 of rule X of the Rules of the House of Rep14 resentatives is amended by inserting at the end the follow15 ing:

16 ‘‘(i)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of these

17 rules, no Member shall serve as a member of any commit18 tee for more than 8 years or as chairman of any committee

19 for more than 4 years.

20 ‘‘(2) For purposes of paragraph (1)—

21 ‘‘(A) any service performed as a member or

22 chairman of any committee for less than a full ses23 sion in any Congress shall be disregarded; and
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1 ‘‘(B) previous service on any committee before

2 the One Hundred Fourth Congress shall be dis3 regarded.’’.

4 SEC. 7. ELIMINATION OF SPECIAL-ORDER AND ONE5 MINUTE SPEECHES ON THE FLOOR OF THE

6 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

7 Clause 2 of rule XIV of the Rules of the House of

8 Representatives is amended by adding at the end the fol9 lowing new sentence: ‘‘The Speaker shall not recognize

10 any Member for the purpose of making a special-order or

11 one-minute speech.’’.

12 SEC. 8. ELIMINATION OF EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS.

13 Rule XXXIV of the Rules of the House of Represent14 atives is amended by adding at the end the following:

15 ‘‘4. Extensions of remarks by Members may not be

16 inserted in the Congressional Record, except as they per17 tain to legislative matters before the House of Representa18 tives, its committees or subcommittees.’’.

19 SEC. 9. APPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN LAWS TO THE HOUSE.

20 (a) It is the policy of the House that the laws of the

21 United States set forth in subsection (b) should be amend22 ed to apply to the House of Representatives in the same

23 or similar manner as such laws apply to the Executive

24 Branch.
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1 (b) Not later than September 15, 1993, the standing

2 committees of the House with subject matter jurisdiction

3 over the following laws of the United States shall report

4 to the House legislation to implement subsection (a):

5 (1) The National Labor Relations Act.

6 (2) The Occupational Safety Act and Health

7 Act of 1970.

8 (3) The Equal Pay Act of 1963.

9 (4) The Age Discrimination in Employment Act

10 of 1967.

11 (5) Section 552 of title 5, United States Code

12 (popularly known as the Freedom of Information

13 Act).

14 (6) Section 552a of title 5, United States Code

15 (popularly known as the Privacy Act of 1974).

16 (7) Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

17 (relating to equal employment opportunity).

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