Remote Proceeding Pioneers
By: Marci Harris
Tags: Remote Proceedings, Congress, Virtual Hearing, Remote Voting

First online: House Natural Resources Majority (April 17)

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Raúl Grijalva [D, NM] and majority members were pioneers when it comes to virtual proceedings, holding the first virtual forum back on April 17 on the topic of “Coronavirus Response in Indian Country,” with three more since then (though only with majority members participating, rather than a full committee event).

As you can see in the video below, things went very smoothly. The committee used Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) to create its own “skin” around a Zoom speaker displays. (Check out the impressive committee full committee display at 14:15!)

Director of Public Engagement, Chris Espinosa, explained that the Natural Resources majority spent considerable time in the past year experimenting with events and technology — including an in-person “EJConvening” in July that launched a months-long public feedback process for the drafting of its Environmental Justice bill. Espinosa said that these experiences helped members feel less reticent when the need arose to take their work online. And the tech staff was happy to shared their work (like the OBS display trick) with colleagues.

First live full committee proceeding: House Veteran’s Affairs (April 28)

On April 28, the House Veteran’s Affairs Committee became the first to conduct the a live, bipartisan virtual forum, on the topic of “Coronavirus Pandemic Response: The Impact Of Economic and Healthcare Services on Homeless Veterans in America.” In a promising sign (and a nod to the fact that virtual proceedings are still something other than actual “hearings” or “markups”) the VA staff added a “Virtual Forums” page to the committee website.

The forum was broadcast live on YouTube and later carried by C-SPAN. Yuri Beckelman, Senior Advisor to Chairman Takano [D, CA], said that the committee built on the Natural Resources playbook — using the same OBS/Zoom setup — and learned many of their own lessons, including clear roles for the *many* staffers it takes to make a live remote proceeding run well, including:

One staffer as a “body man” for the chair, who is physically present with the chair and receiving all incoming messages

One staffer in charge of maintaining speaker order, to keep track of who is present and who speaks next

One staffer checking sign-ins and “promoting” members to “panelists” (Yuri noted that it would be helpful to have a list ahead of time of *any* phone numbers a member might use if they decide to call in instead of connecting in a browser or app)

One staffer in the role of timer who, in the case of HVAC, actually held up cards alerting speakers to time remaining at 1 minute, 30 seconds, and “stop”

ALSO: two minority committee staffers were present in Zoom so that they could see the member view and chat (though the Zoom chat was not used)

The committee created a separate backchannel in Microsoft Teams for all committee liaisons from members’ personal offices to handle logistics: mics, speaking order, videos, etc.

Yuri noted that members are increasingly comfortable with various videoconference technology thanks to experience in other contexts –– using Zoom or Google Meet for meetings with constituents and, increasingly, holding caucus meetings on Microsoft Teams.

First Senate virtual proceeding: Homeland Security and Government Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (April 30)

The first virtual committee proceeding in the Senate was a “roundtable” on the topic of remote voting, chaired by Sen. Rob Portman [R, OH], in the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Portman is a leading proponent of remote voting in times of crisis, introducing a bipartisan resolution with Sen. Durbin [D, IL]. Just before the event, the committee released a comprehensive staff report covering the history, legal basis, and technical requirements for secure remote voting. It was all part of what Senior Advisor, Sam Mulopulos, called the “three Rs” of the committee’s strategy: (1) resolution, (2) report, and (3) roundtable.

The committee staff worked to prepare members for the first virtual proceeding with several practice sessions, sending technical guides a few days before, and preparing scripts for the chair and vice chair. The staff prepared technically to conduct the Cisco WebEx meeting by:

Having a list of committee members’ phone numbers at the ready

Establishing staff members as “hosts” (and several alternate co-hosts just in case)

Loreli Kelly “testifying” from New Mexico

The HSGAC SCI proceeding also offered a chance for witness, lorelei kelly, of the Georgetown Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation to make the case for rural broadband, as she “testified” from the cabin of a pickup truck in rural New Mexico!

Meta Member Roundtable: House Select Committee on Modernization (May 1)

The bipartisan House Select Committee the Modernization of Congress “went meta” with a remote proceeding on the topic of remote proceedings. Chairman Derek Kilmer [D, WA], Vice Chairman Graves [R, GA], and committee members invited The GovLab director Beth Simone Noveck (and me) to discuss committee continuity & best practices for remote work.

As Digital Director, Alyssa Innis, shared in the staff roundtable, the Modernization Committee (ever on brand) contributed a few innovations to the remote proceeding evolution. Namely: they figured out an elegant solution to the need for a visable “speaker timer” (check it out below). They also allowed witnesses to share slides and backgrounds in their presentations.

One ModCom staffer joined the Zoom, renamed himself “Timer” and set the timer as his background. Genius!

The first “Hybrid” Committee Proceeding: Senate Banking (May 5)

On May 5, with little fanfare, the Senate Banking Committee held what is the first official “hearing” to be conducted (at least partially) remotely. In a socially distanced 106 Dirksen, Sen. Crapo [R, ID], presided over the first hearing conducted with several members participating remotely (on the nominations of Brian D. Miller to be Treasury’s Special Inspector General For Pandemic Recovery Designate and Dana T. Wade to be Assistant Secretary of HUD). To maintain safe distancing, the committee staff and Architect of the Capitol set the room up with four monitors and cameras allowing members the option to participate by teleconference.