IV
104TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. RES. 480
Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to implement the rec-
ommendations of the Task Force on Committee Review regarding com-
mittee operations, procedures, and staffing, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 16, 1996
Mr. BASS (for himself, Mr. DREIER, Mr. WHITE, Mr. BROWNBACK, and Mr.
ALLARD) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the
Committee on Rules, and in addition to the Committee on House Over-
sight, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each
case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of
the committee concerned
RESOLUTION
Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to
implement the recommendations of the Task Force on
Committee Review regarding committee operations, pro-
cedures, and staffing, and for other purposes.
Resolved,
SECTION 1. COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT.
(a) OVERSIGHT SUBCOMMITTEES.—The third sen-
tence of clause 2(b)(1) of rule X of the Rules of the House
of Representatives is amended to read as follows: ‘‘Each
such committee having more than twenty members shall
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either establish an oversight committee or designate at
least three staff members to be solely responsible for over-
sight.’’.
(b) COMMITTEE FUNDING PROCEDURES RESPECT-
ING GAO OR EXECUTIVE BRANCH DETAILEES.—The
Committee on House Oversight is authorized and directed
to modify its committee funding policies to allow commit-
tees, subject to appropriate safeguards, to use General Ac-
counting Office and executive branch detailees, on a non-
reimbursable basis, in order to be in a position to effec-
tively undertake emerging or unexpected investigations.
(c) EFFECTIVE TRACKING AND CATEGORIZING OF
CASEWORK.—The Committee on House Oversight is au-
thorized and directed to develop an electronic program
such that Members may track and categorize their case-
work requests and report their findings to a central House
unit for evaluation.
(d) SENSE
OF
HOUSE
ON
INVESTIGATIVE
RE-
SOURCES OF COMMITTEES, ON SUBPOENAS, AND ON USE
OF CORRECTIONS DAY.—It is the sense of the House of
Representatives that—
(1) the Committee on House Oversight should
provide committees with sufficient investigative re-
sources, such as bates stamping technology, docu-
ment retrieval technology, software for the planning
•HRES 480 IH
of investigations, Lexis-Nexis and US Newswire
services, and other resources needed to professional-
ize the practice of systemic and coordinated over-
sight;
(2) the General Counsel should provide more
timely, proactive, and strategic advice to committees
respecting the issuance of subpoenas, and the lack of
compliance by executive branch or other officials;
and
(3) committees should better utilize the Correc-
tions Day process as a proactive tool for conducting
oversight and correcting wasteful and corrupt prac-
tices by the executive branch, and rules, regulations,
and laws that are inconsistent with legislative intent.
SEC. 2. AVAILABILITY OF MANAGEMENT AUDITS TO COM-
MITTEES.
The Committee on House Oversight is authorized and
directed to make resources available to the Chief Adminis-
trative Officer to perform management and technology au-
dits of committees.
SEC. 3. PARLIAMENTARY TRAINING PROGRAM FOR COM-
MITTEE STAFF.
The Parliamentarian shall establish a comprehensive
program to train selected committee staff to serve as par-
liamentary advisors to their respective committees. For
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the purpose of carrying out this section, the Parliamentar-
ian may utilize the services of personnel of congressional
support agencies.
SEC. 4. RECODIFICATION OF RULES OF THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES.
The Parliamentarian shall, at the beginning of the
105th Congress, commence to recodify the Rules of the
House of Representatives by clarifying conflicting defini-
tions, eliminating anachronisms, and reorganizing the
rules into a more coherent and logical structure. Such re-
codification shall be completed prior to the commencement
of the second session of the 105th Congress. For the pur-
pose of carrying out the recodification, the Parliamentar-
ian may utilize the services of personnel in the Congres-
sional Research Service and the Government Printing Of-
fice.
SEC. 5. ALTERNATIVE COMMITTEE HEARING FORMATS.
(a) AUDIOVISUAL PARTICIPATION
AT COMMITTEE
HEARINGS.—Clause 2(h)(1) of rule XI of the Rules of the
House of Representatives is amended by inserting ‘‘(A)’’
after ‘‘(1)’’ and by adding at the end the following new
subdivision:
‘‘(B) Any member who is not physically present at
the site of a committee hearing shall be considered present
and may fully participate if that member is in audiovisual
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contact with that committee hearing, but that member
shall not be counted for purposes of a quorum under sub-
division (A).’’.
(b) ENHANCED FLEXIBILITY FOR APPLICATION OF
FIVE-MINUTE RULE AT COMMITTEE HEARINGS.—Clause
2(j)(2) of rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representa-
tives is amended by inserting before the period at the end
the following: ‘‘, except to the extent that the rules of that
committee permit any member to pursue an uninterrupted
line of questioning of a witness without having to yield
to any other member because of the strict application of
the five-minute rule’’.
(c) SENSE OF THE HOUSE ON ALTERNATE COMMIT-
TEE HEARING FORMATS.—It is the sense of the House
of Representatives that committees are encouraged to uti-
lize alternative hearing formats, such as briefings, round
table discussions, and debates.
SEC. 6. MODERNIZATION OF COMMITTEE REPORTS.
(a) SUBSTANTIAL COMPLIANCE WITH VOTE ON RE-
PORTING.—Clause 2(l)(2)(B) of rule XI of the Rules of
the House of Representatives is amended by adding at the
end the following new sentence: ‘‘No point of order shall
lie against any committee report for failing to comply with
the preceding sentence if the report is in substantial com-
pliance with the requirements of that sentence.’’.
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INFRASTRUCTURE MAY HAVE.—Clause 6(d) of rule X of
the Rules of the House of Representatives is amended by
striking the first semicolon and all that follows and insert-
ing the following: ‘‘, and the Committee on Government
Reform and Oversight, which shall have no more than
six).’’.
(b) FURTHER CONSOLIDATION OF STAFF BUDGET
AND BIENNIAL FUNDING PROCESS.—Clause 5(a) of rule
XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives is amend-
ed by striking ‘‘(except the Committee on Appropria-
tions)’’.
(c) SENSE OF THE HOUSE ON ENFORCEMENT OF
SUBCOMMITTEE ASSIGNMENT LIMITS.—It is the sense of
the House of Representatives that the respective party
caucus and conference should enforcement the subcommit-
tee assignments limits set forth in clause 6(b)(2)(A) of
rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives.
(d) REPEAL OF LIMITATION ON COMMITTEES SIT-
TING DURING THE FIVE-MINUTE RULE.—Clause 2(i) of
rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives is
amended by striking subparagraph (1) and by striking
‘‘(2)’’.
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SEC. 8. STRENGTHENING OF ETHICS PROCESS.
(a) AMENDMENT.—Clause 4(e) of rule X of the Rules
of the House of Representatives is amended by adding at
the end the following new subparagraph:
‘‘(3)(A) If a complaint is filed with the Committee
on Standards of Official Conduct against a Member, offi-
cer, or employee of the House, the committee shall deter-
mine if it is properly filed and, if so, whether a preliminary
investigation is warranted. No preliminary investigation
shall occur unless approved by the affirmative vote of a
majority of the members of the committee. Whenever the
committee approves a preliminary investigation, the re-
spective party conference or caucus shall each hold a ran-
dom drawing from the names of its members (excluding
members of the Committee on Standards of Official Con-
duct and any Member deemed by the conference or caucus
to be exempt) and select 3 members to serve on an inves-
tigative panel respecting that complaint. If a member of
a party conference or caucus has served on the Committee
on Standards of Official Conduct or an investigative panel,
the name of that member shall not be included in a draw-
ing until all other members of that conference or caucus
have served.
‘‘(B) The Committee on Standards of Official Con-
duct shall adopt rules providing—
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‘‘(i) adequate staff and funding for each inves-
tigative panel;
‘‘(ii) a fixed date for the filing by each panel of
a final report to the committee and, if requested by
that panel, a vote by the committee to extend the
date for filing its final report;
‘‘(iii) that if an investigative panel has been
formed to consider a complaint against a Member,
officer, or employee of the House and a subsequent
complaint is filed with the committee before the
panel files its final report with the committee, then
the committee shall, by majority vote, determine
whether to merge the new complaint with the pend-
ing complaint;
‘‘(iv) that the proceedings of each investigative
panel be held in executive session and that no infor-
mation or testimony received shall be disclosed by
any panel member, staff member, or outside counsel
assisting that panel to any Member or other staff
member of the committee before the panel files its
final report with the committee;
‘‘(v) that each investigative panel shall deter-
mine if any count in the complaint it has been
formed to consider has been proved; and if it deter-
mines, by majority vote, that any such count has
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been proved it shall adopt a statement of alleged vio-
lation; and if it determines that no count in the com-
plaint has been proved it shall recommend dismissal
of the complaint;
‘‘(vi) that, if the committee, by majority vote,
determines that the work of the investigative panel
has been compromised by outside influence, the full
committee may disband the investigative panel and
request that a new panel be appointed;
‘‘(vii) that upon the completion of an investiga-
tion, an investigative panel shall report its findings
and recommendations to the committee;
‘‘(viii) that the committee shall, by majority
vote, determine disposition of the investigative pan-
el’s recommendations; and
‘‘(ix) that a statement of alleged violation and
any written response thereto shall be made public at
the first meeting or hearing on the matter which is
open to the public after the respondent has been
given full opportunity to respond to the statement in
accordance with committee rules, but, if no public
hearing or meeting is held on the matter, the state-
ment of alleged violation and any written response
thereto shall be included in the committee’s final re-
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port to the House as required by subparagraph
(1)(B).
‘‘(C)(i) The committee may, at any time, by a major-
ity vote, determine that a complaint is frivolous.
‘‘(ii) The committee may make such a determination
if it deems that the complaint has no basis in fact, the
alleged violation is of such a minor and technical nature
that it does not reflect discredit upon the House or its
Members, the complaint was filed for purely partisan rea-
sons and not out of concern for maintaining the ethical
standards of the House, or the complaint is part of a pat-
tern of abuse and misuse of the committee.
‘‘(iii) In the case of any complaint deemed frivolous,
the committee shall determine the costs of its inquiry and
report such costs to the Committee on House Oversight,
the Clerk of the House, and the public.
‘‘(iv) The committee may, by majority vote, rec-
ommend to the House that any Member who has filed a
frivolous complaint—
‘‘(I) repay the costs of the inquiry over a period
of greater than 1 year; or
‘‘(II) be fined an appropriate amount.’’.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Clause 4(e)(1)(B)
of rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives
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is amended by striking ‘‘subject to subparagraph (2)’’ and
inserting ‘‘subject to subparagraphs (2) and (3)’’.
SEC. 9. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This Act and the amendments made by it shall take
effect immediately prior to noon January 3, 1997. After
that date, subsections (c), and (d) of section 803 of the
Ethics in Government Act of 1989 shall have no force or
effect in the House.
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