II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 27 

To establish the Daniel Webster Congressional Clerkship Program. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 7, 2009 

Mr. SCHUMER (for himself, Mrs. CLINTON, and Mr. KENNEDY) 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 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

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

9 school graduates in the country begin their legal ca10 reers 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) The Congress is without a similar program. 

15 (6) At a time when our Nation faces consider16 able challenges, the Congress and the public would 

17 benefit 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 the ConVerDate Nov 24 2008 05:00 Jan 08, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S27.IS S27

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1 gress, to improve the business of the Congress and 

2 increase 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 the— 

7 (1) Committee on Rules and Administration of 

8 the Senate; and 

9 (2) Committee on House Administration of the 

10 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 any office of any Com24 mittee of the Senate, including any Joint Committee 


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1 or Select and Special Committee, or any office of 

2 any individual member of the Senate. 

3 (2) For a Congressional Clerk selected under 

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

5 interview for a position with any office of any Com6 mittee of the House of Representatives, including 

7 any Joint Committee or Select and Special Com8 mittee, or any office of any individual Member of the 

9 House of Representatives. 

10 (f) PLACEMENT REQUIREMENTS.—The Selection 

11 Committees shall ensure that Congressional Clerks se12 lected under this section are apportioned equally between 

13 majority party and minority party offices. 

14 (g) COMPENSATION OF CONGRESSIONAL CLERKS.— 

15 Each Congressional Clerk selected under this section shall 

16 receive the same compensation as would, and comparable 

17 benefits to, an individual who holds the position of a judi18 cial clerkship for the United States District Court for the 

19 District of Columbia within 3 months of graduating from 

20 law school. 

21 (h) REQUIRED ADHERENCE TO RULES.—Each Con22 gressional Clerk selected under this section shall be sub23 ject to all laws, regulations, and rules in the same manner 

24 and to the same extent as any other employee of the Sen25 ate or House of Representatives. 


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1 (i) EXCLUSION FROM LIMIT ON NUMBER OF POSI2 TIONS.—A Congressional Clerk shall be excluded in deter3 mining the number of employees of the office that employs 

4 the Clerk for purposes of— 

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

6 House of Representatives, section 104 of the House 

7 of Representatives Administrative Reform Technical 

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

9 (2) in the case of any other office, any applica10 ble provision of law or any rule or regulation which 

11 imposes a limit on the number of employees of the 

12 office. 

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

14 and promulgate rules regarding the administration of the 

15 Congressional Clerkship program established under this 

16 section. 

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

18 ‘‘Member of the House of Representatives’’ includes a Del19 egate or Resident Commissioner to the Congress. 

20 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

21 There are authorized to be appropriated for fiscal 

22 year 2010 and each succeeding fiscal year from the appli23 cable accounts of the House of Representatives and the 


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1 contingent fund of the Senate such sums as necessary to 

2 carry out the provisions of this Act. 

Æ 


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