IV 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 28 
Establishing a Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 16, 2017 
Mr. LAHOOD (for himself, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Mr. KIND, 
Mr. MOULTON, Mr. WALZ, Mr. O’HALLERAN, Mrs. MURPHY of Florida, 
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. SIRES, Mr. PETERS, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. 
HUFFMAN, Mr. VEASEY, Mr. LOEBSACK, Mr. REED, Mr. HULTGREN, Mr. 
MOOLENAAR, Mr. YOUNG of Iowa, Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana, Mr. 
DENHAM, Mr. KINZINGER, Mr. BYRNE, Mr. BERGMAN, Mr. CURBELO of 
Florida, Mr. GRIFFITH, Mr. RENACCI, Mr. BOST, Mr. ROSKAM, Mr. ROD-
NEY DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. THOMAS J. ROONEY of Florida, Mr. MESSER, 
Mr. COFFMAN, Mr. GALLAGHER, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. O’ROURKE, Mr. 
COOPER, Mr. COSTA, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Ms. SINEMA, Mr. 
SMUCKER, Mr. JOYCE of Ohio, Mr. DONOVAN, Mr. ROUZER, and Mr. 
BACON) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred 
to the Committee on Rules 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Establishing a Joint Committee on the Organization of 
Congress. 
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), 
SECTION 1. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMITTEE. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT AND MEMBERSHIP.—There is 
established an ad hoc Joint Committee on the Organiza-
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•HCON 28 IH 
tion of the Congress (referred to as the ‘‘Committee’’) to 
be composed of— 
(1) 12 members of the Senate— 
(A) 6 to be appointed by the majority lead-
er; and 
(B) 6 to be appointed by the minority lead-
er; and 
(2) 12 members of the House of Representa-
tives— 
(A) 6 to be appointed by the Speaker; and 
(B) 6 to be appointed by the minority lead-
er. 
(b) EX OFFICIO MEMBERS.—The majority leader 
and the minority leader of the Senate and the majority 
leader and the minority leader of the House of Represent-
atives shall be ex officio, voting members of the Com-
mittee, but shall not be counted for the purpose of 
ascertaining the presence of a quorum of the Committee. 
(c) ORGANIZATION OF COMMITTEE.—(1) A chairman 
from each House shall be designated from among the 
members of the Committee by the majority leader of the 
Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
(2) A vice chairman from each House shall be des-
ignated from among the members of the Committee by 
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the minority leader of the Senate and the minority leader 
of the House of Representatives. 
(3) The Committee may establish subcommittees 
comprised of only members from one House, who may con-
sider only matters related solely to that House. 
(4)(A) No recommendation shall be made by the 
Committee except upon a majority vote of the members 
representing each House, respectively. 
(B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), any rec-
ommendation with respect to the rules and procedures of 
one House which only affects matters related solely to that 
House may only be made and voted on by the members 
of the committee from that House, and upon its adoption 
by a majority of such members shall be considered to have 
been adopted by the full Committee as a recommendation 
of the Committee. Once such recommendation is adopted, 
the full Committee may vote to make an interim or final 
report containing any such recommendation. 
SEC. 2. STUDY OF ORGANIZATION AND OPERATION OF THE 
CONGRESS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Committee shall make a full 
and complete study of the organization, operations, func-
tions, and relevant interactions of the Members of Con-
gress and make recommendations that serve the following 
objectives: 
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(1) Making the operations and the organization 
of the Congress more effective and more efficient. 
(2) Making the Congress and its members more 
accountable to the citizens they serve. 
(3) Improving the relationships between the 
Houses of Congress. 
(4) Improving the relationships between and 
among other branches of the Government, particu-
larly relative to the congressional oversight of those 
branches. 
(5) Improving the orderly, timely, and effective 
consideration and disposal of legislation. 
(6) Improving the relationships among both 
elected Members of the Congress and the staff of 
those Members, particularly relating to relationships 
between the minority and majority Members. 
(7) Improving the relationship between mem-
bers and the citizens they serve, especially in the op-
portunities citizens have to participate in the process 
of governing. 
(b) ADDITIONAL MATTER TO BE STUDIED.—The 
Committee shall also include in its study the role of the 
standing, select, and special committees and their effec-
tiveness in addressing legislative responsibilities, particu-
larly those involving the authorization of Federal pro-
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grams and agencies and the future fiscal impact of entitle-
ment programs. 
SEC. 3. AUTHORITY AND EMPLOYMENT AND COMPENSA-
TION OF STAFF. 
(a) AUTHORITY OF COMMITTEE.—The Committee or 
any of its subcommittees may— 
(1) sit and act at such places and times as the 
Committee, or any duly authorized subcommittee 
thereof, determines are appropriate during the ses-
sions, recesses, and adjourned periods of Congress; 
and 
(2) require the attendance of witnesses and the 
production of books, papers, and documents, admin-
ister oaths, take testimony, and procure printing and 
binding. 
(b) APPOINTMENT AND COMPENSATION OF STAFF.— 
(1) The Committee may appoint and fix the compensation 
of such experts, consultants, technicians, and clerical per-
sonnel as it deems necessary, but shall utilize existing staff 
to the extent possible. Staff shall be compensated and re-
imbursed in accordance with current rules, statutes, prac-
tices, and procedures under which congressional staff are 
currently compensated and reimbursed for their official 
expenses. 
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(2) The Committee may utilize such voluntary and 
uncompensated services as it deems necessary and may 
utilize the services, information, facilities, and personnel 
of other agencies of the legislative branch. 
(c) WITNESSES.—Witnesses requested to appear be-
fore the Committee shall be reimbursed for travel, subsist-
ence, and other necessary expenses incurred in traveling 
to and from Committee proceedings. 
(d) EXPENSES.— 
(1) SENATE.—(A) The Senate members of the 
Committee shall submit a budget of expenses allo-
cable to the Senate to the Committee on Rules and 
Administration of the Senate. The Committee may 
expend for expenses allocable to the Senate not to 
exceed $lll from the contingent fund of the 
Senate subject to approval by the Committee on 
Rules and Administration until a Committee funding 
resolution is approved by the Senate or, if no fund-
ing resolution is approved, until the conclusion of 
the 115th Congress. 
(B) The expenses of the Committee allocable to 
the Senate shall be paid from the contingent fund of 
the Senate, upon vouchers signed by the Senate 
chairman. 
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(2) HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.—There shall 
be paid out of the applicable accounts of the House 
of Representatives such sums as may be necessary 
for one-half of the expenses of the Committee. Such 
payments shall be made on vouchers signed by the 
chairman or vice chairman of the Committee who is 
a Member of the House of Representatives, as the 
case may be, and approved in the manner directed 
by the Committee on House Administration of the 
House of Representatives. Amounts made available 
under this paragraph shall be expended in accord-
ance with regulations prescribed by the Committee 
on House Administration of the House of Represent-
atives. 
SEC. 4. COMMITTEE REPORT. 
The Committee shall report its findings to the House 
of Representatives and the Senate not later than the con-
clusion of each session of Congress during which the Com-
mittee is authorized. The report at the conclusion of each 
session shall include recommendations of the Committee 
for its continuation or designation of a similar entity to 
continue the pursuit of improvements in the congressional 
process. 
Æ 
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