1970 Legislative Reorganization Act - CQ Almanac

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House Committee ActionHouse Floor ActionSenate Committee ActionSenate Floor Action

Features

First Congressional Reform Bill Enacted since 1946

An article from CQ Almanac 1970

Congress Oct. 8 completed action on the first Congressional reform measure enacted since 1946, clearing for the WhiteHouse the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 (HR 17654PL 91-510). The bill was designed to improve theoperations of Congress, in committee and on the floor of both chambers, to provide Congress with better means ofevaluating the Federal Budget and to improve Congressional resources for research and information.

Most provisions of PL 91-510would become effective immediately before noon Jan. 3, 1971, in time for the convening othe 92nd Congress.

The product of a decade's effort by reform-minded Senators and Representativesmany of whom were no longerMembers of Congress by 1970HR 17654 was a more modest reform bill than that recommended by the 1966 report othe Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress. But it was a stronger measure than that reported by the HouseRules Committee in June 1970.

Although the bill did not touch upon the sensitive and controversial subjects of seniority, the Congressional Record,financial disclosure or lobbying regulation, it did make significant changes in Congressional procedures and resources.

HR 17654 opened to the public eye more ofthe operations of Congress and the positions of its Members by:

Encouraging more open committee meetings and hearings.

Requiring that all committee roll-call votes be made public.

Allowing broadcasting and television coverage of committee hearings.

Providing that House teller votes be recorded upon request, ending the secrecy surrounding Members' positions on importan

amendments.

The bill would expedite House proceedings by:

Allowing all Housecommittees to sit without special leave while the House was in session so long as it was not reading a bill

for amendment under the five-minute rule.

Dispensing with the reading of the Journal unless the Speaker or a majority of the Members present so ordered.

Allowing the call of the roll for a quorum to be ended after a quorum was obtained.

The bill would safeguard the rights of the ideological or political minority by:

Writing into the rules a specific time period for additional views to be added to a committee report.

Allowing minority members of a committee to select two of the committee's six permanent professional staff.

Stating that minority members could call witnesses of their choosing during at least one day of hearings on a measure or topi

Requiring that debate on a conference report be' evenly divided between the majority and minority sides.

Provisions which might slow Congressional proceedings but which provided more opportunity for Members to base theirvote on knowledge of a particular measure would:

Provide that the committee report on a bill (and committee hearings on an appropriations bill) be available for at least three

days before the House or Senate voted on the bill.

Provide that there be 10 minutes' debate on any amendment offered on the floor of the House which had been printed in the

Congressional Recordat least one day prior to consideration.
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Provide that a conference report be available for three days before the House voted on its adoption.

The bill also provided for a modernized data processing system for Federal fiscal and budgetary information, closerscrutiny by Congress of the current and projected costs of all Federal programs, increased staff assistance forCongressional committees, and a continuing study of the operations of Congress by a joint committee.

Enactment of the Congressional reorganization measure surprised Members and observers who were dubious about itschances for success.

The pessimism of Senate reformers was reflected in their decision not to consider any reform measure until the Houseacted first. In the 90th Congress the Senate had spent more than two weeks amending and approving such a measureonly to have it die neglected in the House Rules Committee.

The action of the House Rules Committee in reporting out a legislative reorganization bill in mid-1970 marked a turningpoint. But even after the House began consideration of the bill, hopes for its passage did not seem too bright. Threetimes the bill was laid aside to take up other business. In early August, as the House prepared to recess for severalweeks, Thomas M. Rees(D Calif.), a leader of the reform group, accused the House leadership of stalling considerationof the bill: It had become, he said, the ghost bill of 1970 and might become the ghost bill of the century. One momentsurfaces and then the next it silently disappears. We hear rumors of an appearance (on the floor), but at the appointedtime, it just never shows up.

But Majority Leader Carl Albert(D Okla.) replied that there was no attempt to stall action on the bill and set Sept. 1517for final House action on the bill.

Structure of HR 17654.HR 17654 contained six parts, the last five of whichfiscal controls (Title II), sources ofinformation (Title III), Congress as an institution (Title IV), the House Office of Legislative Council (Title V) and effectivedates (Title VI)applied primarily to matters outside the internal operations of the chambers.

All of Title I and some of Title II dealt with the rules of the House and the Senate which govern committee and floorprocedures. The Constitution gives each chamber the right to make its own rules.

Title I and the relevant parts of Title II thus followed a two-part style in HR 17654 to propose similar reforms in the rulesof both houses without one house seeming to infringe upon the other's prerogative. Each provision affecting the rules ofboth chambers had two sections: one amending the rules of the House directly the other, in language identical or similato that of the 1967 reform bill approved by the Senate, amending the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 to amendthe rules of the Senate indirectly.

Provisions

As cleared for the President, HR 17654:

Title IThe Committee System

The bill recognized the right of both the House and the Senate to change their own rules of procedure at any time. (TheConstitution, Article I, Section 5, states: Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings.)

House

It amended the rules of the House to:

Provide that the ranking majority member of the committee preside at any meeting from which the chairman is absent. (This

was already the custom in most committees.)

Provide that committee business meetings and hearings be open to the public unless the committee by majority vote decides

otherwise. (In 1969, 43 percent of all House committee meetings were closed to the public. The House AppropriationsCommittee held all its meetings behind closed doors only 10 percent of the 1969 meetings of the House Education and LaboCommittee were closed. 1969 Almanac p. 1031)

Require that all roll-call votes taken in committeeand each member's votebe made public and that committee reports on

bills contain the vote by which the committee ordered the bill reported. (Under existing rules, such votes were not necessarilymade public.)

Provide that committee reports on bills be filed within seven calendar days (excluding days the House was not in session)after a majority of the committee filed a written request that the report be submitted. This provision did not apply to the HouseRules Committee with regard to House rules and House business. (Under existing rules, the chairman had the duty to report bill and act to bring it to a vote on the floor.)

Prohibit proxy voting in committee except when the committee's written rules permit it, when the proxy is limited to a specific

matter, and is, in writing, designating the person to whom it is given. (Proxy votes were not mentioned in existing House rulesdifferent committees allowed them in different circumstances.)

Allow committee members (who indicate this intention) three days (excluding Saturday, Sunday and legal holidays) to file

supplementary, minority or additional views to be included with the committee report on a bill or other matter. This provisiondid not apply to the House Rules Committee. (There was no similar provision in existing rules generally, time was allowed fothe filing of such views.)

Prohibit the House from considering any bill or other matter (except from the Appropriations, House Administration, Standards

or Rules Committees) unless the committee report on the measure has been available for at least three days (excludingSaturday, Sunday and legal holidays) prior to consideration. This rule did not apply to declarations of war or emergency, or to

legislative veto procedures, or executive reorganization plans. (There was no such provision in existing rules.)
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Prohibit the House from considering any general appropriations bill until printed committee hearings and the report on the bill

have been available for at least three days (excluding Saturday, Sunday and legal holidays) prior to consideration. (A similarprovision in existing House rules did not exclude Saturdays, Sundays and holidays.)

Authorize the Speakerif no motion is offered for House consideration of a bill within seven days after a rule for its

consideration has been grantedto recognize a member of the committee that reported the bill to move for consideration, ifso authorized by the committee.

Specify procedures by which funds are provided to meet committee expenses. (Existing rules did not contain such provisions

but the procedures set forth were generally followed.)

Require that no less than one-third of a committee's funds be used for minority staff. (There was no such provision in existing

rules.)

Require committees to announce hearings at least one week in advance unless there is good reason that they begin earlier.

This provision did not apply to the House Rules Committee. (There was no such provision in existing rules.)

Provide that a majority of the minority party members of a committee are entitled to call witnesses during at least one day of

hearings on a matter. (Many committees by custom allowed minority members this opportunity.)

Allow any open hearing to be broadcast over radio or television if majority vote of the committee involved permits and if the

broadcast is carried out in accordance with rules specifying that coverage should be live, without commercial sponsorship nosubpoenaed witness be photographed, or the testimony broadcast, without his consent and equipment be limited so as not toobstruct the hearings. (Broadcasting was not permitted under existing House rules.)

Provide that all committees could sit without special leave while the House was in session except when a bill was being read

for amendment under the five-minute rule. The five-minute rule limitation would not apply to the Appropriations, GovernmentOperations, Internal Security, Rules, and Standards Committees. (Under existing rules, only the Government Operations,Rules, Standards, and Internal Security Committees could sit without special leave while the House was in session.)

Require each standing committee (except the Appropriations, House Administration, Rules, and Standards Committees) to

report annually on its activities reviewing the execution of laws enacted within its jurisdiction. (Committees already possessedthis review function, but had not been required to report on it.)

Allow 10 minutes' debate on any amendment offered on the flooreven if debate has been closed on the section to which th

amendment is proposedso long as the amendment has been printed in the Congressional Recordat least one day beforeconsideration. (Under existing rules, an amendment received no explanation at all during consideration of a bill when amajority of the Committee of the Whole agreed to cut off debate on a section before there had been any debate on theamendment.)

Provide that, upon request of one-fifth of a quorum, a teller vote be recorded by clerks or electronic devices that the vote be

taken in no less than 12 minutes and that the record include the names of Members voting for, against and not voting on thequestion. (Under existing rules, only the outcome of such votes was recorded, not the positions of Members voting. Allamendments were accepted or rejected in the Committee of the Whole by voice, standing, or teller votes, on which Memberspositions remained unknown.)

Provide that once a quorum is obtained, the call of the House for a quorum can be ended that for 30 minutes from the

beginning of the call Members may register their presence by signing in on tally sheets. (Under existing rules, once the call ofthe House for a quorum was begun, the entire roll had to be called, which took at least 3035 minutes.)

Provide for 10 minutes' debate on a motion to send a bill back to committee with instructions, with the time divided evenly

between the person making the motion and the persons opposed. (In existing practice, a resolution issued by the RulesCommittee for consideration of a bill usually specified that there would be no debate on a motion to recommit.)

Require that every conference report be printed as a House report and be accompanied by an explanatory statement

prepared jointly by House and Senate conferees. (In existing practice, the report was printed as a House report but onlyHouse conferees prepared such a statement.)

Divide debate on a conference report evenly between majority and minority. (In existing practice, such time was not formally

divided and was controlled by the chairman of the conferees.)

Forbid conferees to include any language in a conference version of a bill which concerns a topic which neither chamber sent

to conference or to modify any topic beyond the scope of the differing versions of the bill sent to conference. (Existing rulesstated that a conference report should not include matter not sent to conference by either chamber.)

Prohibit the House from considering a conference report unless the report and accompanying statement have been printed in

the Congressional Recordthree calendar days (excluding Saturday, Sunday and legal holidays) prior to consideration andcopies are available on the floor. This rule would not apply during the last six days of a session. (Existing rules provided onlythat the House might not consider a conference reportexcept in the last six days of a sessionuntil it had been printed inthe Congressional Record, and conference reports were often brought up for a vote with little or no notice.)

Allow a separate House vote, upon the request of any Member, on any nongermane amendment added by the Senate to a

House-passed bill (requiring only a majority vote to approve the amendment) prohibit House conferees from agreeing to anongermane Senate amendment unless authorized to do so by a vote on that amendment by the House. (In existing practicethe House had often been forced to vote on the bill as a whole, having to defeat the bill or accept the nongermaneamendment. This new rule applied the same rules to nongermane Senate amendments as were already applied to legislativeamendments to appropriations bills. In existing practice, conferees reported such amendments in disagreement and moved fa House vote to agree to them.)

Direct that the Journal not be read daily unless the Speaker or a motion supported by a majority of the Members present so

order. (Such reading was routinely omitted by unanimous consent under existing practice, but the objection of one Member


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was enough to require that the Journal be read in full, a tactic occasionally used to delay or to force action on some measure1968 Almanac p. 647)

Provide that the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico be elected to standing committees just as any elected Member of

the House and that he be allowed to vote in committee. (Under existing rules, the Commissioner was an additional, nonvotingmember of the Agriculture, Armed Services and Interior Committees.)

Senate

Amended the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 to amend the rules of the Senate to:

Allow a majority of a committee to call a meeting when the chairman does not call a meeting on request. (The House, but not

the Senate, had this procedure available.)

Provide that the ranking majority member of the committee preside at any meeting from which the chairman is absent. (This

was already the custom in most committees.)

Require that Senate committees adopt and publish rules of committee procedure. (Under existing rules, there was no such

requirement.)

Provide that committee business meetings be open to the public except during sessions to mark up bills, to vote or when the

committee by majority vote decides otherwise. (In 1969, 28 percent of all Senate committee meetings were closed to thepublic, a much lower percentage than in the House. 1969 Almanac p. 1031)

Provide that committee hearings be open to the public except when the committee decides that the testimony may relate to

national security, may reflect adversely on an individual's character or reputation or may contain confidential information.

Require that all roll-call votes taken in committee on a measure or amendmentand the positions of Senators votingbe

announced in the committee report on that measure unless previously made public.

Provide that committee reports on bills be filed within seven calendar days (excluding days the Senate is not in session) after

a majority of the committee files a written request that the report be filed.

Provide that no proxy vote may be cast on a motion to .report a bill if committee rules forbid the use of a proxy on such a

motion prescribe that proxies only be voted on such a motion upon the affirmative request of an absent member.

Allow committee members (who indicate this intention) three days to file supplementary, minority or additional views to be

included with the committee report on a bill or other matter. (There was no similar provision in existing rules generally, timewas allowed for the filing of such views.)

Prohibit the Senate from considering any bill or other matter reported from a standing committee unless the committee report

on the measure has been available for at least three days (excluding Saturday, Sunday and legal holidays) prior toconsideration. This rule did not apply to declarations of war or emergency, to legislative veto procedures or to executivereorganization plans, and could be waived by agreement of the Senate majority and minority leaders. (There was no suchprovision in existing rules.)

Specify procedures to govern procurement of funds for committees in excess of the annual 810,000 limit.

Require committees (except the Senate Appropriations Committee) to announce hearings at least one week in advance

unless there is good reason that they begin earlier. (There was no such provision in existing rules.)

Provide that a majority of the minority party members of a committee (except the Senate Appropriations Committee) are

entitled to call witnesses during at least one day of hearings on a matter. (Many committees by custom allowed minoritymembers this opportunity.)

Allow any open hearing to be broadcast over radio or television under whatever rules the committee may adopt.

Forbid Senate committees (except the Appropriations Committee) to sit while the Senate is in session unless special leave

has been obtained from the Senate majority and minority leaders.

Require each standing committee (except the Senate Appropriations Committee) to report annually on its activities reviewing

the execution of laws enacted within its jurisdiction. (Committees already possessed this review function but had not been

required to make reports.)

Require that every conference report be printed as a Senate report and be accompanied by an explanatory statement

prepared jointly by House and Senate conferees. (By existing custom, only House conferees prepared such a statement andconference reports were usually only printed as House reports.)

Divide debate on a conference report evenly between majority and minority. (By existing custom, such time was not formally

divided and was controlled by the chairman of the conferees.)

Require a quorum of the Senate Appropriations Committee to be present for a vote to report an appropriations bill from

committee. (This was Committee practice but existing rules exempted the Appropriations Committee from the requirement.)

Rename the Senate Banking and Currency Committee the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee.

Reduce the size of certain Senate committees provide that, in the future, Senators may be members of only two major

committees and one minor, select, or joint committee that no Senator may serve on more than one of the Armed Services,Appropriations, Finance or Foreign Relations Committees that no Senator may hold the chairmanship of more than one full
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committee and one subcommittee of a major committee. (This provision would not deprive any Senator of any committeeposition or chairmanship currently held, but would apply to all future assignments.)

Create a Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

Title IIFiscal Controls

Directed the Secretary of the Treasury and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to set up and maintain a

standardized data processing system for Federal budgetary and fiscal data.

Directed the Secretary and Director to furnish to Congressional committees, upon request, information on the location and

nature of available data on Federal programs, activities, receipts and expenditures.

Directed the Comptroller General to review and analyze the results of Government programs to make cost benefit studies of

the programs at the direction of Congress or on his own initiative or upon request of any Congressional committee to assistCongressional committees in analyzing cost benefit studies furnished by any Federal agencies or in conducting such studies(See story on bill expanding responsibilities of Comptroller General.)

Required that the President send Congressas part of the Budgetfive-year forecasts of the costs of every new or expande

Federal program.

Required that the President update the Budget for the next fiscal year and the five-year cost forecasts at midyear, beginning

with 1972, and transmit to Congress a supplemental summary of those revisions by June 1 each year.

Required the Comptroller General (or a designated employee of the General Accounting Office (GAO)) to explain to any

Congressional committee so requesting any GAO report relevant to legislation, appropriations or programs within thecommittee's jurisdiction.

Directed the Comptroller General to deliver copies of GAO reports to the Appropriations and Government Operations

Committees and to any other committees requesting them.

Limited to one year the period of time for which a GAO employee could be assigned fulltime to work with any Congressional

committee.

Required Federal agencies to report to the Government Operations Committeesno later than 60 days after a GAO report

made recommendations concerning that agencywhat action has been taken with respect to those recommendations.

Required the House Appropriations Committee, within 30 days after the President sent the Budget to Congress, to hold

hearings on the Budget and receive testimony from the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the Secretary of thTreasury, and the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers and that such hearings be open except when the nationalsecurity requires otherwise.

Required that committee reports on all measuresexcept revenue billsinclude cost estimates for the programs affected fo

that year and the next five years. This provision did not apply to the House Appropriations, Administration, Rules, andStandards Committees or the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Title IIISources of Information

Increased to six from four the number of permanent professional staff for each Congressional standing committee, two of

whom, in addition to one of the six permanent clerical staff members, might be selected by a majority of the committee'sminority party members. This provision did not apply to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees or to the HouseStandards Committee.

Authorized standing committeeswith the approval of the Senate Rules or House Administration Committeeto hire

temporary consultants.

Authorized standing committeeswith the approval of the Senate Rules or House Administration Committeeto provide sta

members with specialized training.

Authorized salaries of Senate committee staff personnel comparable to those of House committee staff personnel.

Redesignated the Legislative Reference Service the Congressional Research Service, redefining its duties to assist

Congressional committees by providing research and analytical services, records, documents and other information and dataincluding memoranda on proposed legislation and expanding its staff resources.

Authorized the House Parliamentarian, after the compilation of parliamentary precedents of the House currently under way

(the first since 1934) was completed, to compile such precedents every five years.

Title IVCongress as an Institution

Created a Joint Committee on Congressional Operations to continue the study of the operations and organization of Congres

and to recommend improvements, including possible uses of automatic data processing systems.

Abolished the Joint Committee on Immigration and Nationality Policy, which, established in 1952, had never met.

Created a Capitol Guide Service to provide free tours of the Capitol.


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Provided that Congress take a 30-day recess in August of every nonelection year, unless it had already adjourned or a state

of war existed.

Converted the House payroll system from the base pay standard using 1945 figures to a gross pay standard reflecting the 17

pay raises since 1945 and showing the actual amounts paid to House employees.

Provided that Senate pages be between 14 and 18 years old and that House pages be between 16 and 18 and authorized

the construction of the John W. McCormackResidential Page School.

Authorized the Speaker of the House to appoint a commission to plan and oversee the modernization of the House galleries

including the enclosure of the galleries with soundproof glass.

Title VOffice of the Legislative Counsel, House of Representatives

Established the Office of Legislative Counsel for the House of Representatives, expanding and defining its duties.

Title VIEffective Dates

Provided that most of the provisions of HR 17654, with a few exceptions, would become effective immediately before noon

Jan. 3, 1971.

Background

References.Congress and the Nation Vol. I p. 1408, 1412, 1418, 1422: Vol. II p. 894, 905, 907, 912, 919: 1969Almanac p. 483.

The first comprehensive reorganization of Congress its committees and its procedureswas in 1946. The LegislativeReorganization Act of 1946 (PL 79-601) reduced the number of standing committees, defined their jurisdiction, set certarules for committee functioning, authorized a legislative budget, increased committee staff, set July 31 as theadjournment date for each year, increased salaries of Senators and Representatives, and required lobbyists to registerand report their expenditures.

PL 79-601was the result of a report and study by the Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress, set up in 1945.and headed by Sen. Robert M. LaFollette Jr. (Prog. Wis. 19251947) and Rep.A.S. Mike Monroney (D Okla. 19391951,Senate 19511969).

The reform effort which produced the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 began early in the 1960s, led by Sen.Joseph S. Clark (D Pa. 19571969).

Congress in 1965 set up a Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress, the first large-scale effort to reformCongressional operations since 1946. The Joint Committee was headed by Monroney, then a Senator, and by Rep. RaJ. Madden(D Ind.).

The Joint Committee filed its report in 1966, recommending a wide-ranging set of reforms which included tightened

committee procedures to curtail the powers of chairmen, limited committee assignments, increased committee staffresources, stronger fiscal controls, an improved Legislative Reference Service, a revised Congressional Recordandstronger lobbying regulation.

1967 Bill.The Senate March 7, 1967, approved a bill (S 355) containing most of the Committee's recommendations, bya roll-call vote of 75-9. Passage of the bill came after 17 days of debate and 31 roll-call votes. The Senate considered 7amendments to the bill, accepting 36.

S 355 did not deal with floor procedure, the Congressional Recordor the seniority system, but its provisions concernincommittee procedures aroused stubborn opposition in the House. Speaker John W. McCormack(D Mass.) referred thebill to the Rules Committee where it died at the end of the 90th Congress. The Committee held one day of hearings buttook no further action. A late-session attempt by reform-minded Representatives to pry the bill out of Committee by usinparliamentary stalling tactics failed.

1969 Action.Karl E. Mundt(R S.D.) introduced a bill (S 844) early in the 91st Congress, which incorporated, with theexception of certain lobbying and housekeeping provisions, the provisions of S 355. The Senate Government OperationCommittee reported S 844 without amendment May 23, 1969, but the bill was never brought up for floor action. Mundtreportedly was waiting for the House to act first on such reform legislation.

A special subcommittee of the House Rules Committee was set up in April 1969 to consider legislative reform. Thesubcommittee was chaired by B.F. Sisk(D Calif.) and was composed of Richard Boiling(D Mo.), John Young(D Texas),

Allen Smith(R Calif.) and Delbert L. Latta(R Ohio).

House Committee Action

The House Rules Committee June 17 reported a clean bill (HR 17654H Rept 911215). the Legislative ReorganizatioAct of 1970.

The first major Congressional reform legislation to emerge from a House committee in 24 years, HR 17654 did notpropose any change in the seniority system, nor did it include provisions for electronic voting or reform of theCongressional Record.

The Rules Committee, unable to agree on reforms in two other controversial areas, approved a separate resolution (H
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Res 1031) turning tighter lobbying restrictions and better regulation of campaign spending over to the House Committeeon Standards of Official Conduct. (See House hearings on campaign spending bill.)

The bill was sent to the floor under a rule permitting any germane amendment to be offered. The only exception was thano amendments to change the jurisdiction of committeessuch as splitting the Education and Labor Committeewereto be considered.

Hearings. The House Rules Special Subcommittee held hearings on a draft bill incorporating numerous proposedCongressional reforms in October, November and December 1969. (1969 Almanac p. 483)

PROVISIONS.As reported by the Committee, the major provisions of HR 17654:


Wrote into the House rules certain committee practices and improvements in floor procedures:

Required committee meetings and hearings to be open to the public unless the committee voted to close them.

Allowed broadcasting and television coverage of committee hearings under certain regulations.

Required committees to announce votes taken in committee upon a motion to report a bill.

Limited the use of proxy votes in committee.

Required committee reports on bills to be available for three days before the bill was considered by the House.

Required a two-thirds vote by the House to accept nongermane amendments added by the Senate to House-passed bills.


Provided for the Executive Branch to furnish Congress more extensive budgetary information.


Increased the size of professional committee staffs.

Provided Congress with new sources of information and research.

Expanded the Legislative Reference Service into the Congressional Research Service.


Created a committee to develop an automatic data processing system for Congress.

Provided for a new Capitol Guide Service.

Required that Congressional pages be of college age.

Rule.The House Rules Committee sent HR 17654 to the floor for consideration under a rule (H Res 1093) whichspecified that no amendment could be added to the bill to change the jurisdiction of any committee of the House.

House Floor Action

The House Sept. 17 by a 326-19 roll-call vote passed HR 17654, the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970. The Houseaccepted 36 amendments to the bill and rejected 29. The bill then was sent to the Senate. (Vote 171, p. 32-S)

HR 17654 contained provisions applying to the Senate which were in most cases identical to those in S 844, reported inthe Senate in May 1969, and to S 355, which the Senate had approved in 1967.

The House had, during debate, cleared away a major obstacle to Senate acceptance of the bill by amending it to modifya provision which required a two-thirds vote of the House to approve any nongermane amendment added by the Senate

to a House-passed bill.

During eleven days of debateJuly 1316, 20, 2729, Sept. 1517the House considered 65 amendments to the bill.Chief among the 36 amendments accepted were those requiring that all roll-call votes taken in committee be madepublic, that teller votes occurring during floor consideration of a bill be recorded upon request in the same manner as rocall votes, and that there be a three-day period during which a conference report would be available before the Housevoted on the final version of a bill. (Major amendments rejected, box this page)

Debate

Before debate began July 13, a bipartisan group of Members announced they would attempt to add a series ofamendments to HR 17654 to require more record votes in the House, to open more committee proceedings to the publito provide more time and information for debate and to streamline House operations further. Nine of the group's tenmajor amendments were accepted by the House.

Barber B. Conable Jr.(R N.Y.) and Sam M. Gibbons(D Fla.), the group's spokesmen, said that they were seeking to endsecrecy in the House: Secrecy undermines the democratic process and saps public confidence in the House as a
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responsive and effective legislative body.

July 13

As debate began, B.F. Sisk(D Calif.), chairman of the special Rules subcommittee which wrote the bill, said that it wasnot all I would like, but that the best reform proposals in the world were of no importance if there were not the votes toapprove them in the House.

George H. Mahon(D Texas), chairman of the Appropriations Committee, said he feared that reform-mindedRepresentatives were seeking to ease the rules to facilitate passage of liberal legislation. Fred Schwengel(R Iowa)replied that the reformers only were looking for more efficient and wise handling of business.

July 14

The House adopted two reform amendments and defeated two others in the first day of floor action on amendments.

By a teller vote of 71-54, the House agreed to an amendment proposed by Schwengel to abolish voting by proxies incommittee. By voice vote, the House also agreed to an amendment proposed by Dante B. Fascell(D Fla.)and backedby the bipartisan reform groupwhich required that all record votes taken in committee be made public along with theposition taken by each voting Member.

The House rejected an amendment proposed by William D. Hathaway(D Maine) which called for an open session roll-cavote by committee members to determine, day-by-day, whether a committee meeting or hearing for the day would beopen or closed to the public. This amendmentendorsed by the bipartisan groupwas rejected by a teller vote of 102132.

The House also rejected by voice vote an amendment by Fascell to dilute the power of committee chairmen by providingthat the majority of a committee could elect a temporary chairman if they determined that the chairman was unable tocarry out his duties.

July 16

The House adopted an amendment proposed by Frank Thompson Jr.(D N.J.) to provide that no less than one-third of acommittee's funds for personnel be used to furnish the minority members of the committee with investigatory staff. Theamendment was adopted by a teller vote of 105-63. A number of committee and subcommittee chairmen opposed theamendment, which was supported by the bipartisan reform group.

July 20

House reformers narrowly won a major battle, defeating an amendment which would have struck from the bill theprovisions allowing broadcasting of committee hearings. Proposed by David W. Dennis(R Ind.)who objected to thephysical disruption of committee proceedings which broadcasting would entailthe amendment was defeated by ateller vote of 9396.

July 27

Supporters of House reform won a major victory with adoption, by voice vote, of an amendment allowing votes ofMembers on a teller vote during consideration of a bill in the Committee of the Whole to be recorded at the request ofone-fifth of a quorum.

Under existing rules, tellers tally the total number of Members voting for and against a question, reporting the total butnot the names of who voted and how. Under the amended rules, one-fifth of a quorum of the Committee of the Whole(20) could ask that clerks record the names of Members voting on teller votes, how they voted, and the names ofMembers who did not vote.

The amendment, cosponsored by Thomas P. O'Neill Jr.(D Mass.), Charles S. Gubser (R Calif.) and 182 other Members,included a provision stating that Members would have at least 12 minutes from the beginning of the teller vote to reachthe floor and be counted. (Teller votes usually were taken in five minutes or less.) The amendment had been rejected bya 6-6 vote in the Rules Committee.

O'Neill pointed out that the House disposed of many of its crucial and. controversial issues by teller vote, thus concealinthe positions which Representatives took on those questions. If we were recording these votes, if the people at homeknew how we actually voted, I believe we probably would have had some different results, he said. Probably we wouldhave passed more pieces of legislation. (Box., p. 454)

Majority Whip Hale Boggs(D La.) said that adoption of the O'Neill-Gubser amendment marked an historic daywhichwill make the House of Representatives truly relevant. The existing system of nonrecorded teller votes, he said, was amajor reason for absenteeism of Members.

Prior to its adoption, the O'Neill-Gubser amendment was modified by amendments which required that the names ofMembers not voting also be recorded and which provided that votes might be recorded by clerks or by electronicdevices.

The House by voice vote rejected an amendment to the O'Neill-Gubser amendment which would have provided that arecorded teller vote could not be demanded on an amendment unless the amendment had been printed in theCongressional Recordat least 24 hours before its consideration. This amendment was proposed by James C. Cleveland(R N.H.), who explained that it was needed to ensure that a Member knew on what amendment he was voting.

Though stating that he sympathized with the problem presented by Cleveland, Donald M. Fraser(D Minn.) said that theimplication of arguments supporting the amendment was that it was OK to be ignorant of what the amendment is aslong as you are not on the record and only when you are going on the record is it essential that you understand what is
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being voted upon.

After lengthy debate on the use of electronic devices to record votes, the House by voice vote rejected a substituteamendment proposed by H. Allen Smith(R Calif.) which provided for electronic recording of teller votes. The House thenaccepted an amendment allowing the House to adopt an electronic system for recording roll-call votes.

The House accepted by voice vote an amendment proposed by John N. Erlenborn(R Ill.), as amended by a substituteproposed by Tom Railsback(R Ill.), to provide for at least 10 minutes of debate upon any amendment offered on the flooprovided the amendment had been printed in the Congressional Recordat least one day prior to floor consideration. Thpurpose of the amendment was to guarantee some time for explanation of any proposed amendment even after theCommittee of the Whole, by a majority vote, cut off debate on a paragraph or a section of a bill. This amendment wasone of those backed by the bipartisan reform group.

The House rejected by voice vote an amendment proposed by Paul G. Rogers(D Fla.) to require that all votes onpassage of appropriations bills be by roll call. Barber B. Conable Jr.(R N.Y.) pointed out that in the last four years theHouse had approved 30 of 72 appropriations bills by nonrecord votes.

July 28

The House defeated a major challenge to the seniority system through which committee chairmen are chosen, rejectingtwo amendments which attempted to modify the system.

The primary amendment was offered by Henry S. Reuss(D Wis.) and defeated by a teller vote of 73160. It would haveprovided that seniority need not be the sole consideration in the selection of committee chairmen.

Reuss said that a wooden application of the seniority custom is a luxury we can no longer afford. The amendment, hesaid, would leave to the partieseach of which had appointed a committee to study the seniority rulethe final decisionon a particular method for selecting chairmen. (Box, p. 456)

The House also rejected, by a teller vote of 28196, an amendment proposed by Schwengel as a substitute for the

Reuss amendment. The substitute amendment provided that the majority party committee members should select theirchairman from the three senior majority members of the committee.

Opponents of the Reuss and Schwengel amendments warned that campaigns for chairmanships would provide theopportunity for pressure groups to wheel and deal in support of their candidate for chairman of certain committees.

Ken Hechler(D W.Va.) said that the longer I serve in the Congress, the more evils I see in the seniority system, whichputs a premium on those who can survive election after election, regardless of their ability, their responsiveness to publattitudes and their philosophy as it relates to the policies of their political party.

July 29

The House accepted an amendment proposed by Richard C. White(D Texas) to allow a quorum call to be dispensed wiafter a quorum had been obtained and to allow Members to answer the call by signing tally sheets for 30 minutes afterthe call had begun. The amendment, endorsed by the bipartisan reform group, would shorten considerably the timeconsumed by the House in such calls. It was approved by a standing vote, 68-20. (Box, this page)

A point of order was sustained against an amendment proposed byAndrew Jacobs Jr.(D Ind.) to bar the RulesCommittee from reporting bills under a closed rule, which forbade any amendments from being offered on the floor.

The point of order was raised against the amendment because it limited the jurisdiction of the House Rules Committee.The rule for consideration of HR 17654 had specifically prohibited the changing of any jurisdiction of any committee.

The House also rejected by voice vote an amendment proposed by William A. Steiger(R Wis.) to require that the Recordbe a verbatim account of proceedings on the floor of the House. The amendment would have restricted extensions andrevisions of remarks delivered on the floor to corrections of grammatical and typographical errorswith no changes inmeaning or content of remarks. The proposed amendment allowed insertions in the Record of remarks not actuallydelivered on the floor but provided that they be printed in a different typeface from that used for the verbatim remarks.

An amendment offered by Lloyd Meeds(D Wash.) and supported by the bipartisan reform group to allow 10 minutes ofdebate on a motion to recommit a bill to committee with instructions was accepted by a standing vote of 43-16.

Sept. 15

The House resumed debate on HR 17654 after a six-week lag. It removed a major obstacle to Senate approval byagreeing to a compromise version of the controversial provision requiring a two-thirds vote to accept any non-germaneamendment added by the Senate to a House-passed bill. The compromise was offered by James G. O'Hara(D Mich.)and accepted by voice vote.

The House had a strict germaneness rule barring adoption of any amendment to a bill unless it was relevant to the bill'ssubject matter. The Senate did not have such a rule and frequently added nongermane amendments to measures whichthe House had passed.

The O'Hara version provided that the House, upon request of any Member, would vote separately on any nongermaneamendment with only a majority vote needed for approval.

The compromise amendment made it possible for the House to vote upon the nongermane amendment apart from thebill itself and effectively substituted majority approval for two-thirds approval.

The House also accepted by voice vote two amendments concerning conference reports. The first, proposed by Sisk,provided that conferees could not insert into their verson of a bill any language on a topic which neither chamber had
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sent to conference or modify any bill sent to conference beyond the scope of the provisions contained in the House andSenate versions.

The House then accepted an amendment proposed by John Brademas(D Ind.) which provided that the House would noconsider a conference report until copies were available on the floor and unless the report and accompanying statemenhad been printed in the Congressional Recordat least three calendar days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legalholidays, prior to floor consideration. The rule would not apply during the last six days of a Congressional session. Thisamendment had been endorsed by the bipartisan reform group.

Another amendment accepted by voice vote provided that the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico would beappointed by the Speaker to standing committees as were all elected Members and that he would be able to vote incommittee meetings. Under existing rules, the Resident Commissioner was a nonvoting member of the Agriculture,

Armed Services and Interior Committees.

An amendment by Jonathan B. Bingham(D N.Y.) to limit the tenure of committee chairmen to four terms, unless theHouse agreed by a two-thirds vote to make an exception to that rule, was rejected by voice vote.

Sept. 16

The House agreed by voice votes to amendments providing for an annual 30-day August recess for Congress andcontinuing the use of high school boys as pagesrather than college-age boys as the Committee bill had provided.

The House also amended HR 17654 to delete provisions raising the salary of a Representative's top aide to that of aSenator's administrative assistant. Another amendment was adopted converting the House salary structure from a baseto a gross pay standard. This latter amendment, proposed by Joel T. Broyhill (R Va.) and amended by Gibbons, was firsrejected on a standing vote, 2026, and then accepted by a teller vote of 84-73. The base pay was established by a1945 pay act. Since then, 17 staff pay increases had been enacted, which were reflected in the gross pay standard.

Sept. 17

On the last day of debate on HR 17654, the House reversed its earlier action barring proxy voting in committee.

The House July 14, sitting as the Committee of the Whole where all amendments are first considered, adopted anamendment to prohibit the use of proxy votes in committee. The amendment, offered by Schwengel, had been acceptedby a standing vote of 71-54.

Just before the final vote on the bill, B.F. Sisk, floor manager of the bill, asked for a separate vote on the Schwengelamendment, which then was rejected by a roll-call vote of 156187. (Vote 169, p. 62-H)

Earlier, the House by voice vote agreed to an amendment deleting the section in the bill creating a joint committee to seup a coordinated automatic data processing and information retrieval system for the Congress.

The amendment to delete the section was proposed by Joe D. Waggonner Jr.(D La.), chairman of the HouseAdministration Subcommittee on Electrical and Mechanical Office Equipment. The Subcommittee had been workingindependently for more than a year to develop an information retrieval system for the House.

Creation of a joint committee, Waggonner said, would mean that his Subcommittee's work would be wasted.

Sisk opposed deletion of the section which was, he said, the most important single provision in the bill.

Before passing HR 17654, the House by voice vote also adopted amendments authorizing construction of the John W.McCormack Residential Page School and creating a Joint Committee on Congressional Operations to carry out acontinuing study of the Congress, including consideration of Congressional use of automatic data processing systems.The bill then passed by a 326-19 roll-call vote. (Vote 171, p. 32-S)

PROVISIONS.As passed by the House, HR 17654:


The provisions of Title I as approved by the House concerning House committee and floor procedure were the same asthe final provisions of Title I. (p. 448)


The provisions of Title II as approved by the House were the same as the final provisions of Title II, except that theHouse approved a provision requiring the Appropriations Committees of both chambers to hold hearings on the Budgetwithin 30 days of its transmission to Congress, (p. 450)


The provisions of Title in as approved by the House were the same as the final provisions of Title III, except that theHouse approved a provision creating a Joint Committee on the Library and Congressional Research.


The provisions of Title IV as approved by the House were the same as the final provisions of Title IV except that theHouse approved a provision requiring a Congressional recess of 30 days in August of every year, and the House did noact on a provision concerning the salaries paid to Senate committee staff personnel, (p. 451)

Title VOffice of the Legislative Counsel
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The provisions of Title V as approved by the House were the same as the final provisions of Title V. (p. 451)


The provisions of Title VI as approved by the House were the same as the final provisions of Title VI. (p. 451)

Amendments Accepted

July 14Thomas M. Rees(D Calif.)Provide that three committee members may file a written request with the chairmafor a meeting, specifying business to be considered if the chairman did not set a meeting within three days, it could bescheduled by majority vote of the committee. Voice vote.

Jonathan B. Bingham(D N.Y.)Amendment to Hathaway amendment (below)Omit requirements of quorum and roll-

call vote from provision requiring day-by-day votes to determine whether each day's committee meeting is open orclosed. Standing vote, 85-72. (Later nullified by defeat of Hathaway amendmentbelow)

Dante B. Fascell(D Fla.)Require that all roll-call votes taken in committee be made public, including each Member'sposition. Voice.

H. Allen Smith(R Calif.)Amendment to Fascell amendment (above)Provide for inclusion in committee report of voteby which a bill was reported from committee. Voice.

Fred Schwengel(R Iowa)Prohibit proxy voting in committee. Standing, 71-54. (Later defeated by roll-call votebelow)

July 15William A. Steiger(R Wis.)Exclude Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays in computing three calendar daysfor the filing of supplemental, minority or additional views for inclusion in committee reports. Voice.

July 16Frank Thompson Jr.(D N.J.)Require that not less than one-third of committee funds be used for investigatorystaff for minority members. Teller vote, 105-63.

July 27Tom Railsback(R Ill.)Amendment in the nature of a substitute for Erlenborn amendment (below)Provide foat least 10 minutes' debate on an amendment offered on the floor, so long as the amendment was printed in theCongressional Recordat least one day before floor consideration. Voice.

John N. Erlenborn(R Ill.)(As amended)Same as Railsback amendment. Voice.

James A. Burke(D Mass.)Amendment to O'Neill amendment (below)Provide that names of Members not voting, onrecorded teller votes be recorded. Standing, 52-22.

James G. O'Hara(D Mich.)Amendment to O'Neill amendment (below)Provide that recorded teller votes be recordedby clerks or electronic devices. Voice.

Thomas P. O'Neill Jr.(D Mass.)(As amended) Provide that teller votes shall be recorded when requested by one-fifthof a quorum and allow at least 12 minutes for the vote. Voice.

Robert McClory(R Ill.)Allow adoption of an electronic system for recording roll-call and quorum-call votes. Voice.

July 29Richard C. White (D Texas)Provide that the quorum-call can be dispensed with once a quorum has beenobtained and that Members might then, for a period of 30 minutes after the call has begun, answer the call by signingtally sheets. Standing, 68-20. (Perfecting Smith amendment below)

Lloyd Meeds(D Wash.)Provide for 10 minutes' debate on motions to send a bill back to committee with instructions, thtime being equally divided between the sponsor of the motion and the opposition to the motion. Standing, 43-16.

Fletcher Thompson(R Ga.)Require that five copies of an amendment offered in the Committee of the Whole be madeavailable to each of the minority and the majority committee tables and one copy in each cloakroom. Voice.

Sept. 15B.F. Sisk(D Calif.)Provide that the conference version of a bill may not contain any language on a topic notsent to conference or any modification of any topic beyond the scope of the differing provisions sent to conference.Voice.

John Brademas(D Ind.)Require that the conference report and statement on a conference version of a bill be printed ithe Congressional Recordat least three calendar days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, before theHouse considered the report, and that copies of the report be available on the floor before consideration. (This rulewould not apply during the last six days of a Congressional session.) Voice.

O'HaraDelete the requirement of a two-thirds House vote to adopt a conference report or a bill to which the Senatehad added a nongermane amendment, and provide that, on request of one Member, the House vote separately on thenongermane amendment with only a majority vote needed for approval. Voice.

SiskPerfecting amendment to update the language of rules concerning radio and television. Voice.

Jorge Luis Cordova (New Prog. P.R.)Provide that the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico be elected to serve ostanding committees of the House in the same manner as Representatives and that he be allowed to vote in committeeVoice.

Charles E. Bennett(D Fla.)Provide that the doors of the House not be closed during a roll call, unless the Speaker soorders. Voice.

George H. Mahon(D Texas)Provide that the President, not the Secretary of the Treasury or the Director of the Office oManagement and Budget, update the Budget at midyear. Voice.


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Sept. 16John D. Dingell(D Mich.)Require an audit of the books of any private organization doing business on theCapitol grounds. Voice.

James H. Scheuer(D N.Y.)Provide for an annual 30-day Congressional recess in August, unless Congress adjournsearlier or a state of war exists. Voice.

Andrew Jacobs Jr.(D Ind.)Delete provisions raising salary of a Representative's top aide to that of a Senator's top aideVoice.

Sam M. Gibbons (D Fla.)Amendment to Broyhill amendment (below)Limit to $27,343.27 the top salary for aRepresentative's employee. Voice.

Joel T. Broyhill (R Va.)(As amended)Convert House payroll system from a basic salary (using 1945 figures) to a

gross (actual) pay standard and limit the total salary of an employee on more than one payroll to the amount which hewould be entitled to on a single payroll. First rejected by a standing vote, 20-26 accepted by teller vote, 84-73.

DingellLower the age of page boys from college age to age 1618, as in existing law. Standing, 53-33.

Sept. 17Edith Green(D Ore.)Amendment in the nature of a substitute for Bennett amendment (below)Authorizeconstruction of a combined dormitory and school facility for pages, to be called the John W. McCormackResidential PagSchool. Voice.

Bennett(As amended)Authorize acquisition of land for and construction of the John W. McCormack Residential PageSchool. Voice.

Ken Hechler(D W.Va.)Direct commission to study modernizing House galleries to consider changes to facilitatereading of legislative materials and note-taking by visitors in the galleries. Standing, 32-23.

Joe D. Waggonner Jr.(D La.)Delete section creating Joint Committee on Data Processing. Voice.

Durward G. Hall(R Mo.)Create a Joint Committee on Congressional Operations. Voice.

ReesExpand and define-the Office of Legal Counsel for the House of Representatives. Voice.

Smith (R Calif.)Perfecting amendment to White amendment (above)Provide that motion to dispense with call of rollafter quorum has been obtained is a privileged motion and shall be decided without debate. Voice.

Amendments Rejected

July 14Dante B. Fascell(D Fla.)Provide for election of a temporary committee chairman by majority vote ofcommittee if majority determines that chairman is unable to carry out his responsibilities. Voice vote.

James G. O'Hara(D Mich.)Authorize a temporary chairman to sign vouchers and perform administrative duties inabsence of permanent chairman if approved by majority of committee. Voice.

Garry E. Brown(R Mich.)Amendment in the nature of a substitute for Hathaway amendment (below)Provide that asingle vote would determine whether a series of committee meetings on the same subject would be open or closed tothe public. Voice.

William D. Hathaway(D Maine)Require a daily open session roll-call vote by a quorum of committee members todetermine whether the committee meeting for that day would be open or closed. Teller vote, 102132.

July 16John D. Dingell (D Mich.)Amendment to Thompson (N.J.) amendment (above)Provide that not less thanone-third of committee funds be used for majority staff. Voice.

July 20James Harvey (R Mich.)Amendment to Dennis amendment (below)Allow committees discretion to decidewhether to permit broadcasting of hearings so long as witnesses were allowed to refuse to testify during broadcastingand there was no broadcasting under commercial sponsorship except for use in news programs. Voice.

David W. Dennis(R Ind.)Delete authorization for broadcasting of committee meetings. Teller, 9396.

July 27Paul G. Rogers(D Fla.)Require that all votes on passage of appropriations bills be roll-call votes. Voice.

James C. Cleveland(R N.H.)Amendment to O'Neill amendment (above)Specify that no Member could demand arecorded teller vote on an amendment which had not been printed in the Congressional Recordprior to its consideratio

Voice.

Leslie C. Arends(R Ill.)Amendment to O'Neill amendment (above)Provide for reconsideration by the House of anamendment defeated by teller vote in the Committee of the Whole if a motion for reconsideration was approved by one-third of a quorum. Voice.

Wayne L. Hays (D Ohio)Amendment to Smith (Calif.) amendment (below)Provide a 12-minute period for taking arecorded teller vote in order to allow Members time to get to the floor to vote. Voice.

H. Allen Smith(R Calif.)Amendment in the nature of a substitute for O'Neill amendment (above)Provide for electronrecording of teller votes. Voice.

July 28Fred Schwengel(R Iowa)Amendment in the nature of a substitute for the Reuss amendment (below)Provide that committee members should elect committee chairman from among the three most senior majority memberof the committee. Teller, 28160.

Henry S. Reuss(D Wis.)Provide that seniority need not be the only consideration in selection of committee chairmen.


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Teller, 73160.

July 29Neal Smith (D Iowa)Amendment to White amendment (above)Provide that call of the roll for a quorumautomatically be dispensed with after a quorum is established. Voice.

Bob Eckhardt(D Texas)Amendment to Steiger (Wis.) amendment (below)Delete requirement that remarks notactually delivered on the floor be printed in a different typeface from remarks actually spoken. Voice.

William A. Steiger(R Wis.)Provide that the Congressional Recordbe a verbatim account of House proceedings thatchanges in remarks be restricted to corrections of grammar and typographical errors that no changes in meaning orcontent be allowed that insertion of remarks not actually delivered be allowed if they were printed in typeface differentfrom that used for verbatim remarks. Voice.

ArendsRequire semiannual reports in the Congressional Recordlisting the staff employees of each Member and thetotal gross salary paid to each. Standing, 2849.

Sept. 15Durward G. Hall(R Mo.)Delete the provision eliminating the reading of the House Journal unless the Speakeor a majority of the Members present so desired. Standing, 1225.

H.R. Gross(R Iowa)Provide that Congressional mail be delivered at rates which taxpayers could afford to pay. Voice.

Jonathan B. Bingham(D N.Y.)Limit the tenure of committee chairmen to four terms (eight years) unless the House, bytwo-thirds vote, made an exception to the rule in an individual case. Voice.

Ken Hechler(D W.Va.)Allow visitors in the House galleries to consult legislative materials and take notes. Voice.

J.J. Pickle(D Texas)Change the fiscal year from July 1-June 30 to Oct. 1-Sept. 30. Voice.

Sept. 16Andrew Jacobs Jr.(D Ind.)Provide that parliamentary precedents which have not been printed and distributeto the Members cannot be used as the basis of any parliamentary ruling. Voice.

Jeffery Cohelan(D Calif.)Require that each chamber establish a legislative budget to guide its action on authorizationand appropriations bills. Voice.

Sept. 17JacobsState that no one should be denied the position of Congressional page because of sex, race, coloror religion. Standing, 1626.

Donald M. Fraser(D Minn.)Delete mandatory direction (to commission to study modernization of House galleries) thatpublic House galleries be enclosed in glass. Voice.

William S. Moorhead(D Pa.)Clarify language creating Joint Committee on Data Processing to make clear that provisiodoes not impair the authority of the House Administration Committee or the Senate Rules Committee to acquire and useautomatic data processing equipment after consultation with the Joint Committee. Standing, 2050.

Schwengel(On call for separate vote in House on Schwengel amendment previously accepted in Committee of theWhole by standing vote, 71-54, above)Prohibit proxy voting in committee. Roll-call vote, 156187.

Senate Committee Action

The Senate Government Operations Committee May 23, 1969, reported a Congressional reorganization bill (S 844S91202). (1969 Almanac p. 483)

S 844 incorporated the provisions of the Congressional reform bill (S 355) which the Senate had approved in 1967except for provisions of S 355 dealing with lobbying. (Passage of S 355, 1967 Almanac p. 507)

Almost all of the provisions of HR 17654 which affected the operations or the rules of the Senate were similar toprovisions of S 844. HR 17654 did not go to a Senate committee after House passage, but was placed on the Senatecalendar Sept. 23.

After the Senate passed HR 17654, it agreed unanimously to postpone indefinitely consideration of S 844.

Senate Floor Action

The Senate Oct. 6 by a 59-5 roll-call vote passed HR 17654, the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970. (Vote 333, p.58-S)

The Senate version of the bill was essentially the same as that approved by the House Sept. 17 except for provisionswhich pertained only to the Senate.

As in the House, all attempts to revise the seniority system were soundly rebuffed, but the Senate did agree toamendments which limited the number of committees on which Senators might serve in the future and the number ofchairmanships which they might hold.

The Senate also amended HR 17654 to rename the Committee on Banking and Currency, the Committee on Banking,Housing and Urban Affairs, and to create a standing Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

Debate Oct. 5

The Senate approved a series of amendments to include in HR 17654 the provisions of S 844.
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Lee Metcalf(D Mont.), who had served as a member of the Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress, was floormanager of HR 17654. He said there were very few differences between the provisions of HR 17654, S 844 and S 355.

Metcalf pointed out that some provisions, pertaining only to the Senate, were not considered by the House and had to badded to HR 17654 the Senate would not act on any provisions of the bill which dealt solely with the procedures of theHouse. Any major addition to or change in the bill, Metcalf warned, might mean the death of Congressional reform in the91st Congress.

The Senate Oct. 5 and 6 by voice vote accepted 13 amendments offered by Metcalf, including one which made theAugust recess for Congress mandatory only in nonelection years. Metcalf said the House did not object to that change.

Jacob K. Javits(R N.Y.) proposed and then withdrew an amendment to establish a 30-day appropriations session foreach chamber every year and to change the fiscal year to conform with the calendar year. Javits said he would introduc

these proposals as a separate bill.

Oct. 6

The Senate defeated an attempt to eliminate the seniority system of selecting committee chairmen, and then passed HR17654 by a 59-5 roll-call vote.

The Senate rejected by a roll-call vote of 2246 an amendment by Robert W. Packwood(R Ore.) to replace the senioritysystem (under which the entire Senate approved the selection of committee chairmen) with a new system under whichthe majority members of each committee would select the committee chairman (and the minority members would selectthe ranking minority member). (Vote 328, p. 57-S)

Before voting to reject the Packwood amendment, the Senate by a 2344 roll-call vote refused to allow the majority partcaucus to select the committee chairmen. This alternate proposal was made by Charles McC. Mathias Jr.(R Md.) as anamendment to the Packwood amendment. (Vote 326, p. 57-S)

The Senate agreed by voice vote to create a Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee after defeating, by a 2937 roll-call

vote, a motion by Russell B. Long(D La.) to table the amendment. The Senate later agreed, on a 37-25 roll call, to amotion by Metcalf to table another motion by Alan Cranston(D Calif.) to reconsider the amendment. (Votes 330, 332, p.58-S)

The Senate Finance Committee, of which Long was chairman, the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, and the SenaLabor and Public Welfare Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee, of which Cranston was chairman, had jurisdiction over Senatmeasures concerning veterans. The House established a Veterans' Affairs Committee in 1947.

The Senate also amended HR 17654 to require Senate committees to establish and publish certain rules of procedure,to retain the existing Joint Committee on the Library instead of substituting a new Joint Committee on the Library andCongressional Research, to rename the Senate Committee on Banking and Currency the Committee on Banking,Housing and Urban Affairs, and to provide that Senate pages be between 14 and 18 years old.

The Senate by voice vote approved an amendment by Metcalf to include in HR 17654 provisions of S 844 and S 355which limited the work load that one Senator might assume. The new provisions limited future work loads to membershion two major committees and one minor, select or joint committee to membership on only one of the following:

Appropriations, Armed Services, Finance or Foreign Relations Committees and to the chairmanship of one full

committee and one subcommittee. No Senator would be deprived of any chairmanship or membership by thisamendment which would apply only to future assignments.

PROVISIONS. As passed by the Senate, HR 17654:


The provisions of Title I as approved by the Senate concerning Senate committee and floor procedure were the same athe final provisions of Title I. (p. 449)


The provisions of Title II as approved by the Senate were the same as the final provisions of Title II. (The Senateapproved an amendment which deleted from the House version of the bill the requirement that the Senate as well as theHouse Appropriations Committee hold hearings on the Budget within 30 days of its transmission to Congress.) (p. 450)


The provisions of Title III as approved by the Senate were the same as the final provisions of Title III. (The Senateapproved an amendment which deleted from the House version of the bill the section recreating the Joint Committee onthe Library as the Joint Committee on the Library and Congressional Research.) (p. 450)


The provisions of Title IV as approved by the Senate were the same as the final provisions of Title IV. (The Senateamended the House version of the bill to make the annual 30-day recess for Congress in August mandatory only innonelection years and to increase the salaries of Senate Committee staff members to a level comparable with that ofHouse Committee staff.) (p. 451)

Title VOffice of the Legislative Counsel

The provisions of Title V as approved by the Senate were the same as the final provisions of Title V. (p. 451)
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The provisions of Title VI as approved by the Senate were the same as the final provisions of Title VI. (p. 451)

Amendments Accepted

Oct. 5Lee Metcalf(D Mont.)Change from Jan. 2 of every second year to March 31 of every second year the date bywhich each standing committee should submit a report of its review activities. Voice vote.

MetcalfRequire Federal agencies to report to Congress on their actions in response to recommendations by theGeneral Accounting Office. Voice.

MetcalfLeave to committees the decision on the amount of travel time included in the per diemcompensation paid to

consultants. Voice.

MetcalfRequire August recess only in nonelection years. Voice.

MetcalfDelete Senate Postmaster from list of officers of the Congress. Voice.

MetcalfEliminate the two minority-appointed employees on the Capitol Guide Board. Voice.

Oct. 6Jacob K. Javits(R N.Y.)Require that Senate committees establish and publish rules for committeeproceedings. Standing vote. (Breakdown not tabulated).

Robert C. Byrd(D W.Va.)for B. Everett Jordan(D N.C.)Delete provisions creating a new Joint Committee on theLibrary and Congressional Research in place of the present Joint Committee on the Library. Voice.

John L. McClellan(D Ark.)Include Senate Appropriations Committee in various committee rules revised in Title I deletmandatory requirement that the Senate Appropriations Committee hold hearings on the Budget each year require aquorum of the Senate Appropriations Committee for a vote to report an appropriations bill. Voice.

Marlow W. Cook(R Ky.)Provide that Senate pages be between 14 and 18 years of age, instead of 16 to 18 as in theHouse. Roll-call vote, 48-19. (Vote 325, p. 57-S)

MetcalfEnsure that pages remain on payroll through August recess. Voice.

MetcalfRename the Senate Committee on Banking and Currency the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing andUrban Affairs and add to its jurisdiction the general area of urban affairs. Voice.

MetcalfLimit the committee memberships and chairmanships which Senators might assume in the future. Voice.

MetcalfAuthorize salaries of Senate committee staff personnel comparable with salaries of House committee staffpersonnel. Voice.

MetcalfChange effective date of salary increases for Senate committee staff personnel. Voice.

MetcalfCreate a standing Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Voice. (Motion by Russell B. Long(D La.) defeated by a 2937 roll-call voteAlan Cranston(D Calif.) motion to reconsider Metcalf amendment tabled by adoption of Metcalf motion

on 37-25 roll-call vote.)

Amendments Rejected

Oct. 6Charles McC. Mathias Jr. (R Md.)Amendment to Packwood (R Ore.) amendment (below)Provide for electionof Senate committee chairmen by majority vote of the members of the majority party. Roll-call vote, 2344.

Howard H. Baker Jr. (R Tenn.)Amendment to Packwood amendment (below)Provide that the amendment not applyto current Senate committee chairmen. Roll call, 2148. (Vote 326, p. 57-S)

Robert W. Packwood(R Ore.) Eliminate seniority system for electing Senate committee chairmen by providing that thechairman of each committee be elected by the majority party members of that committee. Roll call, 2246.

Allen J. Ellender(D La.)Delete provisions increasing salaries of Senate committee staff personnel. Roll call, 3234.(Vote 329, p. 58-S)

Russell B. Long(D La.)Allow Senators who are parties to a live pair (a contract between two Senators who take

opposing stands on an issue that if one is to be absent when a vote on that issue occurs the other will withhold his voteon that issue) to be recorded upon request of the Senator who is present. Roll call, 1154. (Vote 331, p. 58-S)

Final Action

Final action on the bill came Oct. 8 when the House by voice vote approved the version of the bill which the Senate hadapproved Oct. 6.

Features

Reform Amendments Rejected

Although the Legislative Reorganization Act was strengthened in the House by the addition of numerous flooramendments, a number of major reform proposals were rejectedor failed to be voted onduring House debate on HR17654.

Major amendments which failed to pass included those to:
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Modify the seniority system by requiring that each committee elect its own chairman from the three most senior majority party

members of the committee.

State that seniority not be the sole consideration in the selection of committee chairmen.

Limit the tenure of committee chairmen to eight years.

Bar all proxy voting in the committee.

Require committees to decide by roll-call vote in open session whether each day's meeting would be open or closed.

Prohibit the Rules Committee from sending a bill to the floor with a closed rule forbidding or limiting amendments to the bill.

Proposed byAndrew Jacobs Jr.(D Ind.) a point-of-order was sustained against it.

Require the Congressional Record to be a verbatim account of House proceedings, with changes allowed to correct only

grammatical and typographical errors, not content or meaning, and with any remarks inserted but not actually delivered printein a typeface distinct from that used for remarks actually spoken on the floor.

Make mandatory by the beginning of the Second Session of the 92nd Congress the use of electronic machinery to record

votes. Proposed by Robert L. Leggett (D Calif.) later withdrawn.

Allow a roll-call vote by the House on any amendment defeated by teller vote in the Committee of the Whole. Proposed by

Thomas P. O'Neill Jr.(D Mass.) a point-of-order was sustained against it.

Provide that no parliamentary precedent could be used as the basis of a parliamentary ruling until the precedent had been

printed and distributed to the Members.

Require that each chamber establish by resolution a legislative budget to set its priorities in considering authorization and

appropriations bills.

Members Vote in Anonymity on Many Crucial Issues

Bells ring throughout the House of Representatives and its environsfrom the chamber where Henry Clay presided asSpeaker to the handball court in the basement of the Rayburn Office Buildingto summon Representatives to vote on apiece of legislation or to answer a call for a quorum.

Privately owned restaurants and bars on Capitol Hill even announce the number of rings and one clangs a dinner bell,thanks to quick phone calls from obliging House doorkeepers.

One ring of the bells often will not budge a House Member, even though the vote may be on an important issue such asthe antiballistic missile (ABM) system or American troops in Cambodia.

For two or three bells, though, the same Members may vote for the same or lesser issues on an empty stomach or withtennis shoes on.

The difference is, one bell means only total numbersnot namesof Representatives will be recorded. For two or threebells, Members' names become a matter of record for constituents to see.

Issues Affected. Members voted in anonymity during the 1970 session of Congress on issues ranging from a measureto exempt potatoes for processing from Federal marketing orders to American troops in Cambodia, the antiballisticmissile system and school desegregation.

An analysis by Congressional Quarterly showed that legislation upon which Representatives voted in 1970 without thescrutiny of name-recording votes included:

Eight amendments concerning the use of funds for American forces in Cambodia, Laos and Thailand, (p. 380)

Two amendments offered April 30 by Rep. Robert L. Leggett(D Calif.) to cut funds for the antiballistic missile system which

were defeated by teller and standing (Members stand and are counted but names are not recorded also called division vote)votes. Amendments to cut funds for the C-5A plane, the MIRV missile, B-1 bomber, F-14 fighter plane and other militaryprojects were defeated by nonrecord teller and standing votes. (p. 380)

Amendments Feb. 19 to water down or knock out provisions in the Labor and Health, Education and Welfare Departments

appropriations bill limiting the ability of the Federal Government to seek further school desegregation, (p. 133)

Twenty-two amendments to the District of Columbia Court Reform and Criminal Procedures Act of 1970 which passed March

19. The amendments included votes on such subjects as pretrial detention, no-knock search warrants, wiretapping andmandatory jail sentences, (p. 208)

Amendments April 23 concerning the reduction of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration authorization for

research and development for the Apollo program and for space flight operations, (p. 200)

An amendment May 27 to the Department of Transportation appropriation to delete funds for the development of the

supersonic transport (SST) defeated by an 86102 teller vote. (See Transportation appropriations story.)

Committee of the Whole.Senate rules permitted record votes on every issue. But the House took most of its voteswhile sitting as a Committee of the Whole House (all Members of the House sat as a committee rather than as theHouse of Representatives), where record votes were prohibited to speed action by the large body.
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The House's nonrecord vote practice was patterned after a centuries-old English system whereby members ofParliament could hide their individual votes from the king. In 1832, the English system was reformed to provide for apublic record of votes. The House reform came 138 years later.

The Continental Congress frequently used the Committee of the Whole and in 1789 the first Congress adopted a systemof rules for the House which provided for a Committee of the Whole. In 1840, a Speaker ruled that record votes could nbe taken in the Committee of the Whole and the ruling has been reaffirmed since. The rules provided that onlyamendments approved in the Committee of the Whole could be voted on by the full House. Amendments rejected in theCommittee of the Whole and not reported to the House by the Committee were not considered by the full body and thusno roll-call vote could be taken.

The Committee of the Whole procedure had the advantage of allowing the House to conduct its business with fewerMembers present and more quickly since time-consuming roll calls were prohibited. A quorum was made in the

Committee of the Whole with only 100 Members present as opposed to a majority of the membership required totransact business for the House (218 Members when there were no vacancies).

Technically, the Committee of the Whole considered only bills directly or indirectly appropriating money, authorizingappropriations or involving taxes or charges on the public, but actually it frequently had considered other types oflegislation, often in form of amendments. When the full House resolved itself into the Committee of the Whole, itsupplanted the Speaker with a chairman. Measures were debated or amended, with non-record votes as needed. Thevotes could be voice (ayes and nays aloud), division (Members stood and were counted), or teller (Members filed pastthe tellers who counted those favoring and opposing a question but did not record names. It was almost impossible forobservers to get an accurate list of Members votingand how they votedon teller votes because the Members passeby the tellers facing away from the press gallery and toward the public gallery where note-taking was forbidden.).

Committee of the Whole action was tentative. Official and final approval of amendments and actual passage of billsoccurred when the Committee completed its work and resolved itself into the House of Representatives. For final Houseaction on a bill, record votes could be requested by one-fifth of the Members present on amendments that were adoptedin the Committee of the Whole. Teller votes in the full House required a demand by one-fifth of the House quorum of 21Members (44 Members). Division votes were ordered on the demand of any Member.

Roll Calls

It takes about 30 minutes to complete a roll-call vote in the House but only about 10 minutes for a teller vote. The fullHouse in 1969 spent more than seven full days calling the roll of its Members (for 177 roll-call votes and 176 quorumcalls which took an approximate 176 1/2 hours to record). According to the House Clerk's office, 99 roll calls and 80quorum calls had been taken in 1970 through June 21. At 30 minutes per roll call, this totals 88 1/2 hours, 22 times theamount of time (four hours) the House spent debating the $20.2-billion defense procurement authorization bill for fiscal1971 (HR 17123), which included discussion of U.S. troop use in Cambodia and spending for the ABM, MIRV and otherweapons systems. (p. 380)

Seniority Reform

A House Republican study group Oct. 13 recommended that House Republicans adopt a plan by which the top-rankingRepublican on each committee would be chosen by a secret vote of. all GOP Representatives. Nominations for theseposts would be made by the Republican Committee on Committees.

Barber B. Conable Jr.(R N.Y.), chairman of the study groups, said that a survey of House Republicans showed that amajority of them favored the plan. A vote on the plan was set for early in 1971 after the 92nd Congress convened.

If the Republicans were a majority in the House they would choose the committee chairmen in this way. If not, theywould choose the ranking minority member.

A Democratic group, headed by Julia Butler Hansen(D Wash.), also was considering changes in the seniority system.

Document Citation"First Congressional Reform Bill Enacted since 1946." In CQ Almanac 1970, 26th ed., 05-447-05-461. Washington, DC:Congressional Quarterly, 1971. http://library.cqpres

1970 Legislative Reorganization Act - CQ Almanac

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Transcript of 1970 Legislative Reorganization Act - CQ Almanac