The publication is reproduced in full below:
PUBLICATION OF COMMITTEE RULES
RULES OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE MODERNIZATION OF CONGRESS FOR THE
117th CONGRESS
Hon. Nancy Pelosi,Speaker of the House,House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Madam Speaker, pursuant to Rule XI, Clause 2(a) of the Rules of the House of Representatives, I respectfully submit the rules for the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress in the 117th Congress for publication in the Congressional Record. The Select Committee adopted these rules by voice vote, with a quorum being present, at our organizational meeting on Thursday, March 25, 2021.
Sincerely,
Derek Kilmer,
Chair.
RULE 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS
(a) The provisions of title II of H. Res. 6 (116th Congress) governing the proceedings of the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress (hereinafter referred to as the ``Committee'') are hereby incorporated by reference and nothing herein shall be construed as superseding any provision of that title. The Rules of the House of Representatives shall apply to the Committee to the extent that they are not inconsistent with that title.
(b) Pursuant to clause 2(a)(2) of rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the rules of the Committee shall be made publicly available in electronic form and published in the Congressional Record not later than 60 days after the Committee adopts its rules.
RULE 2. MEETINGS
(a)(1) The regular meeting date of the Committee shall be the first Tuesday of every month when the House is in session in accordance with clause 2(b) of rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives. If the House is not in session on the first Tuesday of a month, the regular meeting date shall be the third Tuesday of that month. A regular meeting of the Committee may be dispensed with if, in the judgment of the chair of the Committee, there is no need for the meeting and if notice is given pursuant to clause 2(b) of rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives.
(2) Additional meetings may be called by the chair of the Committee as the chair considers necessary, in accordance with clause 2(g)(3) of rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives.
(b) Meetings of the Committee shall be called to order and presided over by the chair or, in the chair's absence, by a member designated by the chair to carry out such duties.
(c)(1) The date, time, place, and subject matter of any meeting of the Committee (other than a hearing) shall be announced at least three calendar days (exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays except when the House is in session on such days) in advance of the commencement of such meeting.
(2) The agenda for each Committee meeting, setting out all items of business to be considered, shall be provided to each member of the Committee at least three calendar days
(exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays except when the House is in session on such days) in advance of the commencement of such meeting.
(3) At least 24 hours prior to the commencement of a meeting for the markup of a report, or at the time of an announcement under clause 2(g)(3)(B) of rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives made within 24 hours before such meeting, the chair of the Committee shall cause the text of such report to be made publicly available in electronic form.
(d) The requirements of paragraph (c) may be waived by a majority of those present and voting (a majority being present) of the Committee or by the chair with the concurrence of the vice chair, as the case may be.
RULE 3. HEARINGS
(a) The date, time, place, and subject matter of any hearing of the Committee shall be announced at least one week in advance of the commencement of such hearing, unless the chair, with the concurrence of the vice chair, determines that there is good cause to begin the hearing sooner.
(b) To the greatest extent practicable:
(1) Each witness who is to appear before the Committee shall file with the Committee, at least two business days in advance of his or her appearance, sufficient copies, as determined by the chair, of a written statement of his or her proposed testimony and shall limit his or her oral presentation to a brief summary thereof. The requirements of this subparagraph may be waived or modified by the chair when the chair, with the concurrence of the vice chair, determines it to be in the best interest of the Committee.
(2) Each witness appearing in a nongovernmental capacity shall include with the written statement of his or her proposed testimony a curriculum vitae and a disclosure of any Federal grants or contracts or foreign government contracts and payments related to the subject matter of the hearing received during the current calendar year or either of the two preceding calendar years by the witness or by an entity represented by the witness. The disclosure shall include (A) the amount and source of each Federal grant (or subgrant thereof) or contract (or subcontract thereof) related to the subject matter of the hearing; and (B) the amount and the country of origin of any payment or contract related to the subject matter of the hearing originating with a foreign government. Each witness shall file such disclosure with the Committee at least two business days in advance of his or her appearance.
(3) The right to question the witnesses before the Committee shall alternate between majority and minority members. Each member shall be granted, at minimum, five minutes in the questioning of witnesses until such time as each member who so desires has had an opportunity to question witnesses. All members will be permitted an additional questioning period after each member of the Committee present has been recognized once for their initial questioning period.
The chair shall recognize in order of appearance members who were not present when the meeting was called to order, after all members who were present when the meeting was called to order have been recognized, in the order of seniority on the Committee.
(4) Under House Rule XI, clause 2(j)(2)(B), the Committee may permit a specified number of its members to question a witness for longer than five minutes during their initial questioning period. Members may submit a request for extended questioning during a hearing to Committee staff. The chair will consider these requests and select up to two members of the Committee (one minority and majority member) for an extended questioning period in consultation with the vice chair.
(5) To the extent practicable, when seated at the dais during meetings or hearings of the committee, Members shall alternate by party. The Committee should also consider seating witnesses ``in the round'' or at a round-table setting with committee members.
(6) Each member may submit to the chair additional questions for the record to be answered by the witnesses who have appeared. Each member shall provide a copy of the questions in an electronic format to the Committee no later than 10 business days following a hearing. The chair shall transmit all questions received from members of the Committee to the appropriate witnesses and include the transmittal letter and the responses from the witnesses in the hearing record. After consultation with the vice chair, the chair is authorized to close the hearing record no earlier than 15 days from the date the questions were transmitted to the appropriate witnesses.
(c) At any hearing of the Committee, opening statements by members of the Committee shall be limited to 10 minutes in the aggregate. The chair shall control five minutes and recognize members in the chair's sole discretion. The vice chair shall control five minutes; the chair shall recognize members for such time according to the direction of the vice chair as communicated to the chair.
(d) Hearings of the Committee shall be called to order and presided over by the chair or, in the chair's absence, by a member designated by the chair to carry out such duties.
(e) For the purpose of taking testimony and receiving evidence, two members of the Committee shall constitute a quorum. A majority of the members of the Committee shall constitute a quorum for those actions for which the Rules of the House of Representatives require a majority quorum. For the purposes of taking any other action, one-third of the members of the Committee shall constitute a quorum.
rule 4. open proceedings
(a) Meetings and hearings of the Committee shall be open to the public, including to radio, television, and still photography coverage, unless closed in accordance with clause 2 of rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives.
(b) The audio and video coverage of Committee proceeding permitted under clause 4 of rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives shall apply to the Committee.
(c) In accordance with Sec. 4 of H. Res. 965 and pursuant to the section 3(s) of H. Res. 8, Remote Committee Proceedings Resolutions established by the House Rules Committee for the 117th Congress, the Committee may conduct remote proceedings for all official purposes, including member meetings, hearings, and recorded votes when appropriate. Committee members participating remotely shall be counted for the purpose of establishing a quorum under the rules of the House and Committee. Witnesses at Committee proceedings may also appear remotely. An oath may be administered to a witness remotely for purposes of clause 2(m)(2) of rule XL. Remote hearings shall abide by the regulations issued by the Committee on Rules with regard to remote deliberations.
(1) Copies of motions, amendments, measures, reports, or other documents may be submitted to the committee in electronic form. Any hearing conducted remotely shall be considered open to the public for purposes of section 4(a). When possible, the Committee should share live-video of the hearing, as well as uploaded, recorded video after the fact.
(3) Remote voting shall be conducted in accordance with H. Res. 965. Members attending remotely shall be counted for purposes of establishing a quorum for voting.
(4) Remote voting may be recorded by video for purposes of record-keeping. Recorded votes and video shall be made available on the Committee's website within 24 hours of the hearing conclusion.
(5) Members participating remotely in a committee proceeding must be visible on the software platform's video function to be considered in attendance and for purposes of establishing a quorum. Members participating remotely off-camera due to connectivity issues or other technical problems must inform committee majority and minority staff either directly or through staff.
rule 5. reports
(a) Except as provided by paragraph (b), it shall be the duty of the chair to submit or cause to be submitted promptly to the House any report approved by the Committee. Members shall have three days from the time of the approval of a report to submit supplemental, minority, or additional views, which shall be included as part of the report.
(b) Interim status reports of the Committee are not required to be submitted to the House.
(c) No report may be approved by the Committee unless:
(1) A majority of the Committee is actually present; and
(2) The text of such report was made publicly available in electronic form at least 24 hours prior to the commencement of a meeting for the markup of such report, or at the time of an announcement under clause 2(g)(3)(8) of rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives made within 24 hours before such meeting.
(d) The Committee may only submit any report, including the final report, to the House or any committee if the report receives the votes of not fewer than two-thirds of its members.
rule 6. committee records
Documents reflecting the proceedings of the Committee shall be made publicly available in electronic form on the Committee's website and in the Committee office for inspection by the public, as provided in rule XI, clause 2(e) of the Rules of the House of Representatives, not more than 24 hours after each meeting has adjourned, including a record showing those present at each meeting; and a record of the vote on any question on which a record vote is demanded, including a description of the motion, order, or other proposition, the name of each member voting for and each member voting against such motion, order, or proposition, and the names of those members of the Committee present but not voting.
rule 7. committee staff
(a) Professional and other staff of the Committee are subject to the provisions of clause 9 of rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives, as well as any written personnel policies the Committee may adopt.
(b)(1) Except as provided by subparagraph (2), the professional and other staff of the Committee shall be appointed, and may be removed by the chair, and shall work under the general supervision and direction of the chair.
(2) All professional and other staff of the Committee provided to the minority party members of the Committee shall be appointed, and may be removed, by the vice chair, and shall work under the general supervision and direction of the vice chair.
(3) It is intended that the skills and experience of all professional and other staff of the Committee staff be available to all members of the Committee.
(4) The chair shall fix the compensation of all professional and other staff of the Committee, after consultation with the vice chair regarding any professional and other staff provided to the minority party members of the Committee, within the budget approved for such purposes for the Committee.
rule 8. budget
(a) The chair shall prepare a budget providing amounts for staff, necessary travel, investigation, and other expenses of the Committee.
(b) From the amount provided to the Committee in the primary expense resolution adopted by the House of Representatives, the chair, after consultation with the vice chair, shall designate an amount to be under the direction of the vice chair for the compensation of the minority staff, travel expenses of minority members and staff, and minority office expenses. All expenses of minority members and staff shall be paid for out of the amount so set aside.
rule 9. travel
(a) The chair may authorize travel for any member and any staff member of the Committee in connection with activities or subject matters under the general jurisdiction of the Committee. Before such authorization is granted, there shall be submitted to the chair in writing the following:
(1) The purpose of the travel.
(2) The dates during which the travel is to occur.
(3) The names of the States or countries to be visited and the length of time to be spent in each.
(4) The names of members and staff of the Committee for whom the authorization is sought.
(b) Members and staff of the Committee shall make a written report to the chair and vice chair on any travel they have conducted under this subsection, including a description of their itinerary, expenses, and activities, and of pertinent information gained as a result of such travel.
(c) Members and staff of the Committee performing authorized travel on official business shall be governed by applicable laws, resolutions, and regulations of the House and of the Committee on House Administration.
rule 10. website
The chair shall maintain an official Committee website for the purpose of carrying out the official responsibilities of the Committee, including communicating information about the Committee's activities. The vice chair may maintain an official website. To the maximum extent feasible, the Committee shall make its publications available in electronic form on the official Committee website maintained by the chair.
rule 11. other procedures and regulations
The chair, with the concurrence of the vice chair, may establish such other procedures and take such actions as may be necessary to carry out the foregoing rules or to facilitate the effective operation of the Committee.
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SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 59
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