II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1458 

To establish the Daniel Webster Congressional Clerkship Program. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 1, 2013 

Mr. HOEVEN (for himself and Mr. LEAHY) 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 2013’’. 

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. 


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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, 


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1 to improve the business of Congress, and increase 

2 the understanding of its work by the public. 

3 SEC. 3. DANIEL WEBSTER CONGRESSIONAL CLERKSHIP 

4 PROGRAM. 

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

6 the term ‘‘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 hereby 

12 established the Daniel Webster Congressional Clerkship 

13 Program 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.—Subject to the avail17 ability of appropriations, the Selection Committees shall 

18 select Congressional Clerks in the following manner: 

19 (1) The Committee on Rules and Administra20 tion of the Senate shall select not less than 6 Con21 gressional Clerks each year to serve as employees of 

22 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 to serve as 


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1 employees of the House of Representatives for a 1- 

2 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 shall 

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

21 (1) For a Congressional Clerk selected under 

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

23 interview for a position with— 


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1 (A) any office of any committee of the 

2 Senate, including any Joint Committee or Se3 lect and Special Committee; 

4 (B) any office of any individual member of 

5 the Senate; 

6 (C) any leadership office of the Senate; or 

7 (D) the Office of the Parliamentarian of 

8 the Senate, the Office of Senate Legal Counsel, 

9 or the Office of the Legislative Counsel of the 

10 Senate. 

11 (2) For a Congressional Clerk selected under 

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

13 interview for a position with— 

14 (A) any office of any committee of the 

15 House of Representatives, including any Joint 

16 Committee or Select and Special Committee; 

17 (B) any office of any individual Member of 

18 the House of Representatives; 

19 (C) any leadership office of the House of 

20 Representatives; or 

21 (D) the Office of General Counsel of the 

22 House of Representatives, the Office of the 

23 Parliamentarian of the House of Representa24 tives, or the Office of the Legislative Counsel of 

25 the House of Representatives. 


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1 (f) PLACEMENT REQUIREMENTS.—The Selection 

2 Committees shall ensure that Congressional Clerks se3 lected under this section are apportioned equally between 

4 majority party and minority party offices. 

5 (g) COMPENSATION OF CONGRESSIONAL CLERKS.— 

6 Each Congressional Clerk selected under this section shall 

7 receive the same compensation as would, and comparable 

8 benefits to, an individual who holds the position of a judi9 cial clerkship for the United States District Court for the 

10 District of Columbia within 3 months of graduating from 

11 law school. 

12 (h) REQUIRED ADHERENCE TO RULES.—Each Con13 gressional Clerk selected under this section shall be sub14 ject to all laws, regulations, and rules in the same manner 

15 and to the same extent as any other employee of the Sen16 ate or House of Representatives. 

17 (i) EXCLUSION FROM LIMIT ON NUMBER OF POSI18 TIONS.—A Congressional Clerk shall be excluded in deter19 mining the number of employees of the office that employs 

20 the Clerk for purposes of— 

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

22 House of Representatives, section 104 of the House 

23 of Representatives Administrative Reform Technical 

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


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1 (2) in the case of any other office, any applica2 ble provision of law or any rule or regulation which 

3 imposes a limit on the number of employees of the 

4 office. 

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

6 and promulgate rules regarding the administration of the 

7 Congressional Clerkship program established under this 

8 section. 

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

10 ‘‘Member of the House of Representatives’’ includes a Del11 egate or Resident Commissioner to Congress. 

12 (l) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

13 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

14 such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 2014 and 

15 each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years. 

Æ 


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