IV

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. RES. 54

To amend the Rules of the House of Representatives to provide for reform

of the House of Representatives, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 27, 1993

Mr. HEFLEY (for himself, Mr. INGLIS, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. GOSS,

Mr. MCHUGH, Mr. ZELIFF, Mr. BAKER of Louisiana, Mr. PORTER, Mr.

WALSH, Mr. STUMP, Mr. HANCOCK, Mr. DOOLITTLE, and Mr.

ROHRABACHER) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to

the Committee on Rules

RESOLUTION

To amend the Rules of the House of Representatives to

provide for reform of the House of Representatives, and

for other purposes.

1 Resolved,

2 SECTION 1. TASK FORCE TO REDUCE THE NUMBER OF

3 COMMITTEES IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENT4 ATIVES.

5 Not later than 10 days after the date on which this

6 resolution is agreed to, the Speaker shall appoint a task

7 force for the purpose of restructuring the committee sys8 tem in order to reduce the number of standing committees
2

•HRES 54 IH

1 to not more than 15 and to establish their jurisdictions.

2 The task force shall—

3 (1) be composed of 10 Members of the House,

4 of whom 5 Members shall be appointed upon the

5 recommendation of the majority leader and 5 Mem6 bers shall be appointed upon recommendation of the

7 minority leader; and

8 (2) report its recommendations to the House

9 not later than the end of the One Hundred Third

10 Congress.

11 SEC. 2. SUBCOMMITTEE LIMITS.

12 Clause 6(d) of rule X of the Rules of the House of

13 Representatives is amended to read as follows:

14 ‘‘(d)(1) Each standing committee of the House (ex15 cept the Committee on the Budget which shall have no

16 subcommittees and the Committee on Rules which shall

17 have 2 subcommittees) shall establish not more than 4

18 subcommittees, except the Committee on Appropriations

19 (which may have the same number of subcommittees that

20 it had in the One Hundred Second Congress).

21 ‘‘(2) For the purposes of this paragraph, the term

22 ‘subcommittee’ includes any panel, task force, special sub23 committee, or any subunit of a standing committee, or any

24 select committee which is established for a period of longer

25 than 6 months in any Congress.’’.
3

•HRES 54 IH

1 SEC. 3. COMMITTEE STAFFING.

2 Clause 5 of rule XI of the Rules of the House of Rep3 resentatives is amended by redesignating paragraphs (a)

4 through (f) as paragraphs (b) through (g), respectively,

5 and by inserting at the beginning the following new para6 graph:

7 ‘‘(a)(1) It shall not be in order to consider any pri8 mary expense resolution until the Committee on House

9 Administration has reported, and the House has adopted,

10 a resolution establishing an overall ceiling for House com11 mittee staff personnel for that year, and any such resolu12 tion shall be privileged.

13 ‘‘(2) In developing any primary expense resolution,

14 the Committee on House Administration shall specify in

15 the resolution the number of staff positions authorized by

16 the resolution. The committee shall verify in the report

17 accompanying any such primary expense resolution that

18 the number of staff positions authorized by such resolution

19 is in conformity with the overall ceiling on such positions

20 established by the House.

21 ‘‘(3) In no event shall the total number of additional

22 staff positions authorized by all such primary expense res23 olutions, taken together with the number of staff positions

24 authorized by clause 6 of this rule (providing for profes25 sional and clerical staff), exceed the ceiling established by

26 the House for that year.
4

•HRES 54 IH

1 ‘‘(4) In allocating staff positions pursuant to the

2 overall ceiling established by the House, the committee

3 shall take into account the past and anticipated legislative

4 and oversight activities of each committee.

5 ‘‘(5) In any supplemental expense resolution, and in

6 any amendment thereto, the committee shall specify the

7 number of additional staff positions, if any, authorized by

8 such resolution, and shall indicate in the report accom9 panying any such resolution whether the additional staff

10 positions are in conformity with or exceed the overall ceil11 ing established by the House.

12 ‘‘(6) It shall not be in order to consider any supple13 mental expense resolution, or any amendment thereto, au14 thorizing additional staff positions in excess of the overall

15 ceiling established by the House except by a vote of two16 thirds of the Members voting, a quorum being present.

17 ‘‘(7) It shall not be in order to consider any primary

18 or supplemental expense resolution for one or more com19 mittees unless the report on such resolution includes a

20 statement verifying that each such committee has adopted

21 and complied with a committee rule entitling the minority

22 party on such committee, upon the request of a majority

23 of such minority, to not less than one-third of the funds

24 provided for committee staff pursuant to each primary or

25 supplemental expense resolution.
5

•HRES 54 IH

1 ‘‘(8) For the purposes of the One Hundred Third

2 Congress, the overall ceiling for committee staff in a reso3 lution reported by the committee pursuant to subpara4 graph (1), or contained in any amendment thereto, shall

5 not exceed 50 percent of the total committee staff person6 nel employed at the end of the One Hundred Second

7 Congress.’’.

8 SEC. 4. PROXY VOTING BAN.

9 Clause 2(f) of rule XI of the Rules of the House of

10 Representatives is amended to read as follows:

11 ‘‘(f) No vote by any member of any committee or sub12 committee with respect to any measure or matter may be

13 cast by proxy.’’.

14 SEC. 5. COMMITTEE RATIOS.

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

16 of Representatives is amended by adding at the end the

17 following new subparagraph:

18 ‘‘(3) The membership of each committee (and each

19 subcommittee, task force, or other subunit thereof) shall

20 reflect the ratio of majority to minority party Members

21 of the House at the beginning of the Congress. This sub22 paragraph shall not apply to the Committee on Standards

23 of Official Conduct or the Committee on House Adminis24 tration. For the purposes of this clause, the Resident

25 Commissioner from Puerto Rico and the Delegates to the
6

•HRES 54 IH

1 House shall not be counted in determining the party ratio

2 of the House.’’.

3 (b) Clause 6(f) of rule X of the Rules of the House

4 of Representatives is amended by inserting after the sec5 ond sentence the following: ‘‘The membership of each such

6 select committee (and of any subcommittee, task force, or

7 subunit thereof), and of each such conference committee,

8 shall reflect the ratio of the majority to minority party

9 Members of the House at the time of its appointment.’’.

10 (c) Effective at the beginning of the One Hundred

11 Third Congress, except as provided by clause 6(a)(3) of

12 rule X, the ratio of majority party to minority party staff

13 positions, consultants, details, and funding for each com14 mittee of the House of Representatives shall be the ratio

15 of majority party to minority party Members of the House

16 of Representatives.

17 SEC. 6. ELIMINATION OF JOINT REFERRALS OF LEGISLA18 TION.

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

20 Representatives is amended to read as follows:

21 ‘‘(c) In carrying out paragraphs (a) and (b) with re22 spect to any matter, the Speaker shall initially refer the

23 matter to one committee which he shall designate as the

24 committee of principal jurisdiction.’’.
7

•HRES 54 IH

1 SEC. 7. LIMITATION ON LENGTH OF SERVICE ON ANY COM2 MITTEE.

3 Clause 6 of rule X of the Rules of the House of Rep4 resentatives is amended by inserting at the end the

5 following:

6 ‘‘(j)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of these

7 rules, no Member shall serve as a member of any commit8 tee for more than 8 years or as chairman of any committee

9 for more than 4 years.

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

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

12 chairman of any committee for less than a full ses13 sion in any Congress shall be disregarded; and

14 ‘‘(B) previous service on any committee before

15 the One Hundred Third Congress shall be dis16 regarded.’’.

17 SEC. 8. MAKING THE COMMITTEE ON HOUSE ADMINISTRA18 TION BIPARTISAN.

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

20 Representatives (as amended by section 5) is amended by

21 adding at the end the following:

22 ‘‘(4)(A) One-half of the members of the Committee

23 on House Administration shall be from the majority party

24 and one-half shall be from the minority party.

25 ‘‘(B) In the case of the Committee on House Admin26 istration, subpoenas may be authorized and issued as pro-
8

•HRES 54 IH

1 vided by clause 2(m) of rule XI, except that either the

2 chairman or ranking minority party member of that com3 mittee may authorize and issue subpoenas under that

4 clause.’’.

5 SEC. 9. PERMITTING INSTRUCTIONS IN MOTIONS TO RE6 COMMIT.

7 The second sentence in clause 4(b) of rule XI of the

8 Rules of the House of Representatives is amended by

9 striking ‘‘nor’’ and all that follows and inserting the fol10 lowing: ‘‘nor shall it report any rule or order which would

11 prevent the motion to recommit from being made as pro12 vided in clause 4 of rule XVI, including a motion with

13 amendatory instructions (except in the case of a Senate

14 measure for which the language of a House-passed meas15 ure has been substituted).’’.

16 SEC. 10. TWO-THIRDS VOTE REQUIRED TO WAIVE POINTS

17 OF ORDER.

18 Clause 4 of rule XI of the Rules of the House of Rep19 resentatives is amended by adding at the end the following

20 new paragraph:

21 ‘‘(e) It shall not be in order to consider a resolution

22 which waives any point of order, except by a vote of two23 thirds of those Members voting.’’.
9

•HRES 54 IH

1 SEC. 11. APPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN LAWS TO THE HOUSE.

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

3 United States set forth in subsection (b) should be amend4 ed to apply to the House of Representatives in the same

5 or similar manner as such laws apply to the Executive

6 Branch.

7 (b) Not later than September 15, 1993, the standing

8 committees of the House with subject matter jurisdiction

9 over the following laws of the United States shall report

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

11 (1) The National Labor Relations Act.

12 (2) The Occupational Safety Act and Health

13 Act of 1970.

14 (3) The Equal Pay Act of 1963.

15 (4) The Age Discrimination in Employment Act

16 of 1967.

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

18 (popularly known as the Freedom of Information

19 Act).

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

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

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

23 (relating to equal employment opportunity).

24 (c) The Committee on Rules shall, not later than 10

25 legislative days after any such legislation has been re26 ported, report a resolution providing for the consideration
10

•HRES 54 IH

1 of such measure in the Committee of the Whole House

2 on the State of the Union under an open amendment

3 process.

4 (d) If such legislation is not reported by all the com5 mittees named above by the date specified, the first bill

6 introduced which implements the policy referred to in sub7 section (a) and which encompasses all the laws referred

8 to in subsection (b) shall be considered as having been

9 discharged from all the committees to which it was re10 ferred. It shall be in order on any day after September

11 30, 1993, for any Member of the House (after consulta12 tion with the Speaker as to the most appropriate time for

13 consideration), as a matter of highest privilege, to move

14 to resolve into the Committee of the Whole House on the

15 State of the Union for its consideration, and the bill shall

16 be subject to four hours of general debate to be equally

17 divided and controlled by the majority and minority lead18 ers, or their designees, followed by consideration of the

19 measure for amendment under the five-minute rule.

Æ