Reform in the House of Representatives

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DEMOCRATIC STUDY GROUP • u.s. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 221·115• • 1.22 HOUlE OFFICE BUILDING. WASHINGTON,D.C. 20515

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RICHARD P. CONlON-StlIf Director u;~

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SPECIAL REPORT

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This DSG Special Report summarizes the reform movement in the House of Representatives which broke the iron grip of seniority, opened the legislative process to public scrutiny, and gave junior Members. ,a voice in legislative decision-making.

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The reforms also played a key role in enactment of legislation that terminated u.S. involvement in the Indochina war, eliminated the oil depletion allowance, and abolished the House Un-American Activities Committee.

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This report contains the following sections:

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Background & Summary . • . 3

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Impact of Reforms..

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the D~~obra~i~Study Group ,:ha~ transf?rmed the House of Representa tives an.d has . sparked a, sim:i,lar movemel1t,in the U.S. Senate. The Ho'use reforms were not a'ccomplishedall at once, but rather a step at a time. over the past eight'ye~rs, ~ith the . support of various outside groups, such as' the UAW, the AFL-CIO, Common CauSe ,ADA~Public Ci tizerii ,and 'various other environmental, con~umer and education groups .. '!'heir overall ':'~:rrmact, however, has been to dramatically alter how the House' flmctions, who wields power, and the role of the average' Merriber. Up until afewyears'ago, the House was ruled by an oligarchy of committee chairmen and other senior Members ,.,ho, by beina repeatedly re-electeq from safe one-party districts, aca,uired . immense power through' the seniority syst.em. They were accountable to np one. They held vlrtllally all of the powerposi tions in the House; several Members ,for example, 'chaired' as many as foUr supcommittees each. And they made all'of the impoitantdecisions regarding legislative policy. If a chairman was opposed to a particular measure , it simply would not. . be reported regardless of. how 'many Members . may have favored . i t.

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The.most dramatic illustration of the power of committee [. chairmen was the late Jud;geHoward Smith of" Vir<;dnia, acknowledged ~ leader,of.the Dixiecrat-Republican "conservative coalition" and ~ . Chairman .. cf the ,House' Rules Committee. from 1955 to 1967. burinq !! the early 1960s, Judge 'Smithvirtuaiiythumbed his nose at the' ~ Democratic majority in the House, ..at the. Speaker (Sam Rayburn), ~ and at. the President of the United States (John Kennedy) by" ~. ,bottling.up the Democratic Administration is legis'lative program Q.. in the .House Rules Cammi ttee. Sm:i.. th "and his allies either· refused :l>to grant rules. on. Dembcrat:i..c 'leaisUition reported from House g.. committees. or, if '. i tappeared that: the D.emocr~tic majority. might have sufficient. votes to ge,t a .. rule ,: .. Chairman Smith simply refused~ to calla meeting of the Rules Committee. So accepted was the ~. right of .a chairman to' exercis.esuch. arbi.trary power that the ~ President., . the Speaker, and the Democratic Inajor~ ty were helpless. ~

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. Committee. chairmen also had immense. power'to influence 6 Members' votes, both in 'committee and on the Floor. Because of ~ the chairman's. automatic' control. over leqislation, 'corrrini ttee . ~ activities and the individual Members'. subcommittee 'assign..lllents, ~ and because there were no public records of how Members voted in ~ commi ttee or on Floor amendments, a Hernber could be pressured to vote with" the' chairman, even if this meant 'votihq aaainst the '" Member's' ~onvictions,or the best interests of his or her district.§ Tl1e chairman, who would' know how' the i.i1ember voted while the ~ Member's ,consti t~entswould not" coul~ reward or Duilish accordingl::¥.

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. ~s :for junior and .even mi~dle-:J::ai1kinq ~.emRers,· their main funct10n, was to.ratify 'the decisions o~ thes~nior elite and wait -- if they could surVIve long 'enough .;.;- until,the' seni<;:>ri ty system eventually gave them a say in the decisions of the House. •

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power in the House is spread mor~ equitably arid those who have power are held accc>un~abJ,e. E:evival of the long-dormant Democratic Caucus, .election 'of' committee chairmen, strengthening of the Speakership,. crea:tion of the caucuse~wi thiilcommitt,ees, establishment of more democFatic ptocedures~ and recording of votes on amendmen.ts on. th.e .House Floor have curbec1 .. the arbitrary power of corr.unittee ch~irmen and 'have made it:possiple for even the most junior Members to par'ticipate in cOllgressiona,l decJsionmaking. Today, Members, . rather i;-han an automatic .senio;"ity. system, decide who will chair House committees; and all Members, rather than, only ihe chairmen arid .his allies, deter~ine peticy and the content of legislation. . ,

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The reforms which have so dramatically. transform~d the House ;. in recent years emanated from a. series of qSG meetings: in November [ , and December 1968. Foliowing. the election .of ~ichard ,N:ixcm, DSG () made reform its top priority at that time .arid .launched. a :l;on'gg range effort to accomplish two primary objectives': 1) revive the ~ Democratic Caucus as the'basic determinant of Demqcratic policy ~ and organization in the House and . use it to democratiz~ House and £. Caucus proceduI:"es and. achieve other refo.rms, and 2) ,assure. account- !r ability and responsiveness .of those who gain pow.er via theseniority~ system by requiring an automatic secret ballot v,ote' on committee g... chairmen at the start of each Congress. ~ Ul

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Revival of the Caucus was the key to the refotmfuovem~nt. ~ Following the era of liKing Caucus" from 1910 to 1920, . the 'Caucus ~ gradually fell into disuse and the seniciritysyst~m took:hcild. g Thus, during the 1950s and 1960s the Caucus m~tonly £6ra'brief ~ pro forma session at the beginning of each COllgresst.o·ele6~ the g Democratic leadership .andother House offi¢eisand )tq pass a l resoluiion designating the De,mocratic'ItlernI::>.ers Of the Ways . & Means 5' Committee as the Committee on Commi'ttees. The Committee on Committee~ would then fiil committeevacanciesandtakecommfttee 'membership ~. lists -- with .the senior-most Member designat:.ed·aschairm~n·-fdirectly to the House FlcioI:" for proforma Qfficialratifica~ion. -~ .

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Thris, in january 1969,DSG ~ressed for and wonapprov~l of ;;: -z rules 'changes requiring.morithlymeetings of' ~he'Caucus, ~iving individual Members the right to bring matters before the Caucus .' 0 for debate and acti,on, and re-establishing Caucuscqntrol over C committee assignments by requil::~ ing .that the Committee onCommi ttees o3::r _0 receive Caucus approval of committee assignments before taking ~ . them to the Ho~se rloor fo~ official ratificatiori~" o

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These changes were fundamental for ,they permi tteq,tisebf the Caucus to win many off.he other reforms which altered the power structure, opened co~ittee meetings, 'and gav~ rank-and-file Members a greater voice in the legislative process. For example, after a 'difficult struggle in early ,1970, the Cauci,ls approved a DSG proposal to establish a Comfuit.tee on Organiza:tion, Study, & Review to study the seniority system and other party and House procedures. This. committee recommended: seve:ta:1. signific~nt reforms which wer~ approVed in January 197i 'at tl1e start of the 92nd Congre~s. . .' 0 .

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DSG's goal of requiring an automatic secret ballot vote on committee chairmen at the start of each Congress was finally won in January 1973 and the first votes on committee chairmen were held in February of that year. No effort was made to defeat any chairmen at that time for fear it would jeopardize institutionalization of the reform. Nonetheless, it had an immediate impact. Previously impervious chairmen were suddenly responsive' and even solicitous, not only to members, of their own committees but to Members general.ly. A few chairmen, howeve'r, continued to run their committees as ,autocrats and two years later, at the start of the 94th Congress, the Caucus replaced three veteran chairmen.

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The autocratic powers of committee chairmen also were curbed by reform of committee operations and procedures. For example, instead of the chairman arbitrarily deciding who would be subcommittee chairmen, a new procedure was established providing for election of subcommittee chairmen by the Democratic members of each committee. Similarly, instead of the chairman deciding what subcommittees individual Members could serve on, a procedure was established permitting Members to pick their own subcommittee assignments. In addition, the committee caucuses consisting of all Democratic members of the committee, were given a say in the organization and operation of the committee, and a so-called "bill of rights" was adopted to secure the power and authority of subcommittees and subcommittee chairmen, assuring them of a staff member of their own choosing and adequate budget to carry out their responsibilities.

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Other DSG reforms were designed to strengthen the leadership. ~ These included creating a Steering & Policy Committee chaired by ~ the Speaker, giving the Steering & Policy Committee the power to ~,' nominate committee chairmen and make committee assignment nomina- ~ tions, and giving the Speaker sole power to nominate the Democratic~ members and the chairman of the Rules Committee so that they ~ would be fully responsive to the leadership.

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~ The reform effort has been aimed not only at Democratic o Caucus procedures but at House Rules as well. In May 1970, DSG ~, led the fight against unnecessary secrecy in the House, opening I" committee meetings to the public and making committee votes ~ ,0 available to the public. The record teller reform, which allowed o 3 votes, on amendments in Committee of the Whole to be recorded, was I'V one of the most significant rule changes in the history of the o ,I'V House. Prior to its adoption, votes on amendments -- usually far 0w more significant than votes on final passage of legislatiori -o were basically secret votes. How a Member voted was not recorded,• ~ Thus, a Member's constituents could not know how he or she voted 0' on key issues. :::J :::J

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In addition to reforms designed to democratize House and [ Caucus procedures, assure accduntability, eliminate s~crecy, and ~ give junior Members an opportunity to participate in the legislati~ process, there was one other far-reaching change approved by both ~ the House and the Senate -- establishment of the congressional ~ budget process. This process made the Congress co-equal with the ~ executive branch in setting budget priorities. In the past,. ~ Congress deait piedemeal with the f~deral budget, often rubber[ stamping or making insignificant changes in the Administration's () budget which had been developed with little or no consultation ~ with Congress. The budget process was seen by both Members and ~ the public as confusing, contradictory, and irresponsible. Now, 6' however, the House and Senate, through their Budget Committees, ~ establish their own budget and economic goals and relate spending ~. and taxing actions to these goals. ~ :l

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IMPACT OF REFORMS The impa ct of refor ms adop ted over the eigh s has been overw helm ing. As an insti tutio n, the Hous e todayt year is virtu ally unre cogn izabl e from what exis ted a decad e ago. 3

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The most dram atic chan ge, obvi ously , is the alter Hous e comm ittee chair men. No long er are they the all-ped role of baro ns of a decad e ago, exer cisin g powe r arbi trari ly ower ful and acco untable to no one. The refor m requ iring an autom atic secr et ball ot vote on comm ittee chair men at the star t of each Cong ress has had a profo und impa ct since it was firs t insti tute d four year s ago. This refor m has not abol ished the seni ority syste m ~- it was neve r inten ded to do so -- but it and othe r chan ges most of the wors t abus es of the seni ority syste m by have elim inate d maki ng those who hold, powe r respo nsive and· acco untab le to thei r colle ague s who give them that powe r.

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Also dram atic has been the impa ct of refor ms limi ting the numb er of comm ittees on whic h a Member may serv e, guar antee ing that every Member, inclu ding fresh men, be assig ned to eith er an excl usiv e or majo r comm ittee, and perm ittin g Memb ers to thei r own subco mmit tee assig nmen ts in orde r of seni ority pick . ., The effec tiven ess 0:E' these refor ms in sprea comm ittee assig nmen ts equi tably and givin g juni or Members ding an oppo rtuni ty to part icipa te in the legi slati ve proc ess is illus trate d by surve ys of fresh men Members of two Cong resse s, one befo re the (the 89th -- 1965 -66) and one afte r (the 94th -- 1975 refor ms surve y of fresh men Members of the 89th Cong ress indic -76). * The the two grea test sourc es of disco nten t were the lack ated that comm ittee assig nmen ts and the lack of oppo rtuni ty to of good part icipa te in the work of thei r comm ittees . By cont rast, an overw helm ing majo rity of the fresh men Members of the 94th Cong ress. expr essed satis facti on with both thei r comm ittee and subco mmit tee assig nmen ts and the oppo rtuni ty to part icipa te in comm ittee and subco mmit tee delib erati ons 90% said they were satis fied with thei r comm ittee and •.. Near ly assig nmen ts (67% "hig hly satis fied " and 20% "som ewha subco mmit tee t satis fied ") whil e near ly 80% said they were sati~fied with the oppo part icipa te in comm ittee and subcomm;~tee delib erati ons rtuni ty to . "high ly satis fied " and 14% "som ewha t ·'sat isfie d"). Simi (64% larly , 94% said they had offer ed amendment's in comm ittee subco mmit tee whil e 83% said they had offer ed Floo r amen dmenand ts; 90% indic ated succ, ess in offe ring comm ittee and subco mmit tee amen dmen 67% ·said they had Floo r amen dmen ts acce pted . . Fina lly, ts whil e than two- third s of the 94th Cong ress fresh men indic ated bett er they had been given an oppo rtuni ty to serve on a Hous e-S·e nate conf erenc e comm ittee.

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surve y of 89th Cong ress fresh men was cond ucted by Prof esso r Jeff Fish el of India na Univ ersit y. The surve y of new Memb ers of the 94th Cong ress. was· cond ucted byPr ofess oJr Fish el and Prof esso r Burd ett Loom is of Knox Coll ege. . .

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In the 89th Congress, not a single freshmen Member was appointed to serve on a House-Senate conference committee. Similarly, only one new Member served on an exclusive committee in the 89th Congress. In the 94th Congress, on the other hand, a total of nine new Members were appointed to the three exclusive committees and the prestigious and powerful House Budget Committee.

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An.other reform designed to "spread the action" prohibited Members from chairing more than one 'subcommittee, except for a few special cases. This reform has nearly tripled the number of Members chairing subcommittees, and it has given subcommittee gavels to many middle-rank and junior Members -- including freshmen in one or two instances.

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Anti-secrecy reforms requiring committee and conference meetings to be open unless a specific vote is taken to close them, also have been highly effective. Prior to the reforms nearly half of all House committee meetings and all House-Senate conferences were closed. By comparison, in'1975, 97% of all committee meetings and 43% of all House-Senate conferences were open.

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The reform permitting Members' votes on Floor amendments to be recorded has had major impact on policy. In one of the first u~es of this reform, in early 1971, the House refu~ed to continue funding the supersonic transport (SST). It is generally agreed that if Members' votes had not been recorded, the House would have continued funding this unpopular and controversial program. Overall, the record teller reform has made Floor amendments one of the most important parts of the legislative process in the House and has made committee and subcommittee chairmen more responsive to the views of all Members, regardless of whether or not they are on their committees.

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DSG reforms also made possible other major policy changes. For example, Caucus action finally rid the nation of the infamous House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) which had been renamed House Internal Security Committee a few years ea~lier; and the closed rule reform arid the record teller reform made possible elimination of the oil depletion allowance. The most important policy impact of the reforms, however, was on the issue of the Indochina war. Caucus instruction of the Democratic members of the Foreign Affairs Committee, adoption of a Caucus ~olicy position against further funding of the Vietnam War, use of the Steering & Policy Committee, and the record teller reform all played a role in winning House approval in May 1973 of an amendment which cutoff funds for the bombing of Cambodia. ' This was the key congressional action which led, to termination of U.S. military involvement in the Indochina war in August of that year. Eighteen months later a "sense of the Caucus" resolution put an end to Ford Administration efforts to continue providing mili tary and 'economic assistance to Cambodia and South Vietnam in the last weeks of the Thieu regime.

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Section III

CHRO~IOLOGV

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OF CA,UCUS AND HOUSEREFORr1 ACTIONS

This section provides a chronology of mOre than 6D House and Caucus rules changes and other major reform activities from 1960 through 1976. All but a few were DSG initiatives or the result of DSG reforms.

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Enlargement of Rules Committee -- At the start of the 87th Congress the Rules Committee was enlarged from 12 to 15. Members (10 Democrats and'S Republicans) in an effort to break the conservative stranglehold on the committee which was blocking the Kennedy Administration program. The in-:crease in size was made permanent in 1963. The'move was only partially successful.

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() Seniority Removal -- The Caucus directed the CD ~~crllrd,:tb2e-' 01:'). e,:r:nmit.'!:ee~ to strip Reps. Williams (Miss.) and !! () Watson (S.C.) of their ranking on committees (Williams at the o co time. was next in line for the Commerce Committee chairmanship) en and placed them at the bottom of committee lists. This ''I1as '"'" 0' a disciplinary action for their open support of GOP Presidential 9nominee Barry Goldwater in the 1964 . election. It was a first » step in establishing the authority of the Caucus over a Hember's n:::r ~' position on a committeejand served notice that those who ,'" flagrantly opposed the party. would .,not be . rewarded with. positions .of power.and prestige. :::l

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-- The House adopted a rule. which provided that if the Rules Committee had not acted ona .. measure within 21 days, the Speaker, with majority vote approval, could bring that measure up for consideration. This permitted the overwhelmingly Democratic 89th Congress to bypass the conservativedominated Rules Comm:ittee which often blocked legislation supported by the Administration and the majority of House Democrats.

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Sending Legislation to Conference -- The House adopted a . rule to permit the Speaker, by majority vote, to send legislation to conference committee. Previously, any ,one Hember could object to coriference referral, thereby'requiring action by the Rules Committee to ·send a bill to conference~ This rule change took away the' Rules Committee power 'to bottle up legislation everi after it had ~assed the Bouse.

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Caucus Approval of Committee Lists ;- The ..Caucus' re~st.ablished the rule that the Committee on Comml.ttees must recel.ve Caucus approval of its list of committee chairmen and committee members prior to taking it to the House floor for proforma consideration. This established the precedent .. forCaucus .authori ty over. commi.ttee assignments and .commit.tee c.hairmen.

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Rarick Seniority Removal -- The Caucus stripped, ·Rep. Rarick (La.) of his ranking on committees in a disciplinary a'ction' for his open suppprt of a candidate other than the Democratic nominee for President in the 1968 election . . This reinforced the precedent, set in the cases of Reps. Williams and Watson, that the Caucus has authority to discipline Members by removing them from committee positions which they have. reached by virtue of seniority. ()

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AFDC Freeze Resolution A mo.tion.was.of.fered and approved . " -..... by . the ... Caucus . urging. the .. Ways. & Aeans:Cortmrittee to···report· ..... ........ legislation removing. the .. fr..e.eze.on.federal payments to the states for the AFDC program. This was the first time in decades that the Caucus was used to prod a committee to report legislation. The effort was successful.

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'* 1970 Seniority Study Committee . ~- The .. Caucus. Committee on ... Organiza tion, Study, and Review was. es.tablished: to study the. seniority system and ... other.party .and .House procedures and. to make. recommend.a tions . This committee 'playedan important role in helping,to legitimize reform efforts in the ... Hous.e .. Mo.st of the .rul.es . chan.ges._adopted_.-in .. 197l were ..recommended by this c.ommitt.ee. .

* Recprd Teller .:Reform. -- This important House Rule::cliange:":':' provided. for_ . the firs.t. time ... that.vo.tes... on amendments in Commi ttee of the Whole. could. be record.edshowing how each Member voted. Previous ly, a Member's v.ote on an amendment was not recorc;l~d. This was one of the most. significant' reforms of House Rules.· in this century. It forced Members to state publicly tpeir positions on important issues such as the SST. whose defeat is credited to this rule change.

* Availability. of Committee Votes

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Calling Committee Meetings -- This House Rule· change provided that three members of a committee could· file a written request for a meeting of the committee and, if. the chairman'

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* Guaranteed Debate Time -- This House Rule change quarante.ed 10 minutes of Floor debate '. time. on_ any amendment published in the Congressional Record at least one day in advance of F.loor cons.ideration. This prevented the House from arbitrarily closing off debate with important amendments pending. * Proxy Voting'-- This House Rule change limited the use of proxies to the.specific matter before a committee. This end.ed. the previous practice of. authorizing proxies for unlimited use.

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* Seniority Modification -- This Caucus Rule provided that the Commi ttee on Committees" need ~not· follow' seniori 1::y '"Wh~n recommending chai¥~en for committees. This was the first Caucus statment-that seniority was not the only basis by . which committee' 'chairmansnips,,'cQu.ld be . determined . ..

* Separate Vote on Committee Chairmen ,The Caucus adopted a new rule which permitted a· separate vote on any committee chairman on demand of ten Me)11bers. Otherwise, the only Caucus action woulci be to approve the memberShip list for all House committees en bloc~:. and the senior Member on each committee would automatically become chairman.

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* Subcommittee Staff -- This Caucus Rule change permitted each subc.ommittee._chairman . to,.selectHand. de.s.ignate at least one .. staff.,person.for his ,or .her . . subcommitte.e •.. This increased the power of subcommittee chairmen by permitting" them their own staff , whereas previo.usly. the only. committee staff available . to, .them. was con.troll.ed .. by .. the...fulL .commi.ttee chairman.

* Party Ratios on Conrrnittees. -- This.. Caucus Rule required ratios

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* Committee Membership Nominations -- This Caucus Rule change required that a Member be nominated for a partIcular committee assignment if 50% of his or her state delegation supported the nominee, and required the.chairman of the Committee onC.om~ mi ttees to place the Member's name in nominati.on. This provided an alternative procedure for securing~nomination to a committee. Previously, only a Member on the· Committee on Committees could nominate a Member to serve on a committee.

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* Caucus Instruction Action -- The Caucus directedt,he Den'loc,ratic members of the House Foreign. Affairs, Commi ttee to. prepar.e..,and report.within 30 days, legislation to terminate· U.S. military involvement in Indochina, subject only to release of U.S. POWs. This was the first use in recent years·· of the power to instruct committee members. The legislation reported by thecomm:ittee was defective and, therefore, was rejected by the House.

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* Committee Designations & Memberships Limitations -- This Caucus Rule change designated all House committees (except Ethics) as either exclusive, major or non-major. It required Members serving on exclusive committees to relinquish other committee assignments, and permitted Members to serve on either one major and one non-major committee or two non-major committees. This spread service on the more important committees among a greater number of Members.

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0:1; Major Committee Assignment --This Caucus Rule guaranteed all Members, including freshmen, assignment to either an exclusive or major committee. This insured that all Members had important committee assignments and increased the influence of junior Members.

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* Subcommittee Chairmen -- This Caucus Rule established a bidding process for subcommittee chairmen and required that they be approved by the Democratic Caucus on the committee. Previously, committee chairmen appointed whomever they wished as subcommittee chairmen.

* Subcommittee Membership -- This new Caucus Rule established a process whereby all" Democratic given an opportunity to bid in mittee vacancies. Previously, had sole appointive power over

members of a . committee are order of seniority for subcomthe full committee chairman all subcommittee assignments.

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Closed Rule Restriction -- This new Caucus Rule required a layover of four legislative days before a closed rule could ,be granted. If, during that time, 50 Democratic Members ' i ' serve written notice that they wish to offer a particular I'; amendment, a Caucus must be called to decide whether the Democratic members of the Rules Co'mmittee should be instructed to make the amendment in order. This new rule was particularly aimed at the Ways & Means Committee which almost always sought a closed rule for the legislation it reportedi' This reform made possible the 1975, House vote which abolished the oil depletion allowance.

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Term Limit on Caucus Chairman --,This Caucus Rule limited the CauCus Chairman and other Caucus officials to two terms each.

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End the War Legislation -- In January 1~73, the Caucus adopted as Democratic policy "that no further public funds be autli.o-:rized, appropriated or expended for UiS. military combat operations in or over Indochina, and that such operations be terminated imIriediately subject only' to arrangements nec:::essary to insure safe withdrawal ,of American troops and the return of American POWs." ·In'April the Steering & Policy Committee and then the Caucus endorsed an amendment to cut off funds for continuation of u.S. military activities in Cambodia. This amendment was subsequently adopted by the, full House marking the first time' that the House had passed legislation limiting u.S. involvement in the Indochina War. House approval of this,anti-war amendment was the key to terminating, u.S. military involvement in Indochina in August 1973. R~ghts
Dele'Jat7s -- ThisI:I0use Rule change extended full voting r~ghts and sen~or~ty on comm~ttees to the delegates from the District of' Columbia, 'Guam, "and the Virgin- Islands," and the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico. In 1975 a House Rule was adopted which also permi ts.,delegatesand' the Commissioner to be appointed to conference committees.

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* Referral ef Legislatien -- This' Heuse Rule change autherized the Speaker to. refer bills to. mbre than ene cemmitteefer jeint er sequential censideratienef legislatien. It was part ef the Cemmittee Referm Amendments ef1974. The rule allews two. cemmittees which each claim jurisdictien ever a bill to have an equal rele in the legislative precess.

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Cemmittee oversi~ht ,;,.- The Cemmittee Referm Amendments strengthened the eversig t respensibilities ef Heuse standing cemmittees. The cemmittees were given greater freedem with respect to. their investigative activity, charged with cenducting futures research and ferecasting, and directed to. assess the impact ef tax policies which affect matters within their jurisdictien. Also., the Gevernment Operatiens Cemmittee received autherity to. loek into. any subject area whether er net it is under the cemmittee's jurisdictien.

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* Cemmittee en Cemmitte'es Transfer

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Ways & Means Conunittee Enlargement --.The Caucus enlarged the Ways & Means Committee from 25 members to 37 members. This' shifted the balance of power on the committee and enhanced the chances for progressive legislation which had languished in the committee for the past several years. The increase in size also insured adequate representation on the newlycreated Ways & Means subcommittees. Modification of Chairman Election Procedure -- The rule requiring an automatic Caucus vote on 'Committee chairmen was amended to allow nominations from the ftoor of the Caucus as well as from the Committee on Committees if a committee's first nominee is rejected by the Caucus. This rule change resulted in two real elections for committee chairmen (Patman vs. Reuss and Hays vs. Thompson). .

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Rules Committee Nominations -- This new Caucus Rule gave the Speaker sole authority to nominate the chairman and Democratic members of the Rules Committee. This increased the Speaker's power and control of the Rules Committee to make sure it would be responsive to the leadership.

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Subcommittee Membership Rule -- The subcommittee membership selection procedure adopted in 1973 was clarified and strengthened to prevent committee chairmen, from thwarting Members' chances of assignment to a. particular subcommittee. The new process assured junior Members, including freshmen, choice subcommittee assignments and, in some instances, subco~ittee ranking ahead of,more senior Members.

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Chairmanship Limitations -- The following additional limitations on committee service of full committee chairmen were adopted :1;.) chairmen of exclusive or major, committees are prohibited from serving as the chairman of another full, select orj.oint committee, and 2) chairmen. of exclusive or major committees are prohibited from serving as a member of another exclusive major or non-major committee. The new ruies also prevent the chairmen of exclusive ,and major committees from serving as chairmen or members of other committees.

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open conference committee meetings vote of either the House or Senate reform of congressional procedures scrutiny one of the most important process.

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* Subcommittee Jurisdictions -- Caucus Rules were amended to give the Democratic Caucus on each House committee control over the number and jurisdiction of subcommittees on the .committee. ' Such questions previously were decided by the full committee, which frequently gave control to a conservative coalition of Republicans and a minority of Democratic Members.

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NOTDCIE: lPIo-aOT~COIPIBlEro MATERIALS MAV laIE IPIROYIECYIEIO IV COIPIVI,'UGo-aT II.AW (YI11'LIE.1', U.S. CODIE). -I'

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SUPPLEMENT TO DSG SPECIAL REPORT NO. 94-28 REFORM IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

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The Democratic Caucus will meet again in January at which time additional rules changes may be proposed.

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NOYB(IE: PH01l'O(OPIIED MATIEL'WU.S MAY IaIE

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Ways & Means and Al;propriations Vacancies --.Th~ special ~lection procedure adopted 1n the 94th Congress for f1111ng vacanC1es on the Ways & Means Committee was made permanent for that committee and extended to cover vacancies on the Appropriations Committee. The procedure, which is similar to the Budget Committee election procedure, permits nominations of Members in addition to those nominated by the Steering & Policy Committee, and provides for Caucus election by written ballot. The renomination-ratification pr~cedure for sitting members of the committees remains unchanged. Budget Committee Nominations -- This rule change .centralizes in the Steering & Policy Committee the authority to make nominations for the Budget Committee. This is a change from previous practice under which the chairmen of the Appropriations and Ways eSc Means committees nominated three members each from their respective Committees and the chairman of the Steering & Policy Committee nominated members from all other committees. (Three members each from the Appropriations and Ways & Means Committees, must be nominated by the Steering & Policy Committee.) The new nominating procedure does not affect: .the leadership member of the committee who is appointed by the Speaker nor does it affect the way in which Budget Committee m~mbers are elected.

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Appointment of Conferees -- An existing· rule was modified to Q require that in naming conferees, the Speaker shall name those ~ Members who are primarily responsible for the legislation and, ~ to the fullest extent feasible, include the principal proponents cE of the major provisions ~f the bill as it· passed the House. ~ The existing r~le states that the Speaker shall appoint a [ majority who generally supported the House position 'as deter~ mined by the Speaker. ~ I

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Ethics Committee Jurisdiction -- This rule change eliminated the Ethics Committee jurisdiction over financial disclosure and lobbying legislation. The Judiciary Committee has jurisdiction over both those matters.

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Time Limits on Concurrent C'onsideratibn -- This rule change modified existing rules to provide that when the Speaker refers a matter to two or more committees he may put time' limits on all committees involved.· Current rules permit time limits only in the case of committees after the first one ~o which a bill is referred.

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Staff on the Floor -- This new rule permits Members to have one staff member on the Floor of the House when the Member has an amendment under consideration.

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Members may not be excluded from attending any committee or subcommittee hearing, with the exception of the Ethics Committee, even if the hearing is closed to the public. Members can be barred from committee hearings only by a vote of the full House. .

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Committee Quorums -- This rule change reduces the quorum requirements of committees and subcommittees from one-half to one-third of the membership in order to conduct business ~her than the reporting of legislation.

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Suspension Days -- This rule 'change· doubled the number of days in a month on which bills-may be brought up under suspension of the rules. Previously,susp~nsions were limit~d to every other Monday and Tuesday. Under the new rule, suspensions are in order every Monday and Tuesday.

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Quorum Calls in the House and in the Cotnmittee of the Whole -In order to reduce .the number of quorum calls new rules were adopted to limit quorum calls in Comrrii-etee of -the Whole and in the House. Once a quorum has been established in the Committee of the Whole, other points of no quorum are not in order except when the Chairman has called for a vote on an amendment or motion. Thus, quorum calls would not be permitted during general debate or debate on amendments until a vote was reached. In the House, except when the Speaker recognizes a Member for the purpose of moving a call of the House, it is not in order to make or entertain a pOint of no quorum unless the Speaker has put a pending motion to a vote.

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Committee Expenses -- Existing rules were modified to require that all committees (except Budget and Appropriations), commissions,and other entities can receive funds only when an expense resolution is reported by the House .Administration Committee and approved by the HO.use. Under existing rules, non-standing committees and other entities were able to receive funding authority without going through the normal expense re~olution process.

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Dis ualification from Ethics Committee TnV'e'sti ation -- This new rule perm1ts a member of the Et 1CS Comm1ttee to disqualify himself from participating in an investigation on grounds that he cannot render an ~mpartial and unbiased decision. The Speaker is authorized to designate another Member of the same political party as the disqualifying member of the committee to serve on the committee during the investigation.

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Committee Subpoenas -- An existing rule was clarified-to provide that subpoenas may be issued by committees or subcommittees by majority vote, a.quorum being present. (Current rules permit issuance of a subpoena by a vote o~ a majority of the members of the committee.)

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