[House Report 115-1109]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Union Calendar No. 876
115th Congress } { Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session } { 115-1109
_______________________________________________________________________
THE REPORT ON THE ACTIVITIES
of the
COMMITTEE ON HOUSE ADMINISTRATION
during the
115TH CONGRESS
together with minority views
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
December 28, 2018.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on
the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
______
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
33-932 PDF WASHINGTON : 2018
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL
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House of Representatives,
Committee on House Administration,
Washington, DC, December 28, 2018.
Hon. Karen L. Haas,
Clerk of the House,
Washington, DC.
Dear Ms. Haas: Pursuant to clause 1, section (d)(1) of rule
XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives, I present
herewith the report on the activities of the Committee on House
Administration for the 115th Congress.
Sincerely,
Gregg Harper,
Chairman.
Union Calendar No. 876
115th Congress } { Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session } { 115-1109
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THE REPORT ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE COMMITTEE ON HOUSE ADMINISTRATION
DURING THE 115TH CONGRESS
_______
December 28, 2018.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on
the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Harper, from the Committee on House Administration,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
together with
MINORITY VIEWS
INTRODUCTION
The Committee on House Administration (``Committee'') is
charged with the day-to-day operations of the House of
Representatives and the oversight of federal elections.
The Committee on House Administration oversees accounts for
the salaries and expenses of all House committees (except for
the Committee on Appropriations); and accounts for the
allowance and expenses of House Members, officers, and
administrative offices; and the auditing and settling of these
accounts. The Committee further oversees the employment of
staff for House Members, committees, and other House employees.
In addition, the Committee approves personnel actions for the
Sergeant at Arms (``SAA''), Clerk of the House (``Clerk''), and
Chief Administrative Officer (``CAO''). The Committee has
jurisdiction over the House Library; the statuary and art in
the Capitol; the Commission on Congressional Mailing Standards;
the Congressional Record; accounts of the House; and the
assignment of office space for House Members and committees.
The Committee also oversees the SAA, the U.S. Capitol Police
(``USCP''), and security of the House office buildings and
grounds, in addition to overseeing House operations and
legislative operations undertaken by the CAO and Clerk,
respectively.
The Committee also oversees other services provided to the
House, including food service contracts, including the Members'
Dining Room, parking facilities, and administration of the
House office buildings and of the House wing of the Capitol.
The Committee also deals with the domestic travel of Members;
and the compensation, retirement and other benefits of Members,
officers and employees of Congress. Additionally, the Committee
has jurisdiction over the Library of Congress, the Botanic
Garden, and the Smithsonian Institution. Lastly, the
Committee's jurisdiction covers the election of the President
and Vice President, House Members, Delegates, the Resident
Commissioner, and Senators as well as House contested
elections, credentials and qualifications of candidates,
corrupt practices, and campaign finance matters in federal
elections.
COMMITTEE FUNDING
The Committee on House Administration reports a biennial
primary expense resolution by which standing and select
committees of the House (except the Committee on
Appropriations) are authorized operating funds for each
Congress. During the first three months of each new Congress,
House rule X, clause 7, provides a temporary authorization for
House committees to continue operations. This temporary
authorization is based on their funding authorizations from the
preceding session and allows committees to organize, adopt
legislative and oversight agendas, and seek spending authority
through the adoption of a primary expense resolution by the
House.
On March 15, 2017, the Committee reported H. Res. 173,
providing for the expenses of certain committees of the House
of Representatives for the 115th Congress. The amounts proposed
in H. Res. 173 reflect requests and justifications provided to
the Committee by the Chairs and Ranking Members of each of the
20 standing committees during their testimony to the Committee
on February 15 and 16, 2017. The Committee held a markup and
adopted H. Res. 173 by voice vote on March 8, 2017. On March
17, 2017, the House agreed to H. Res. 173 by voice vote.
On March 7, 2018, the Committee held a markup to adopt
Committee Resolution 115-9, allocating $200,000 from the
Committee Reserve Fund\1\ to the House Committee on Foreign
Affairs. The Committee on Foreign Affairs requested additional
funds to accommodate the staffing needs of the Tom Lantos Human
Rights Commission.
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\1\Established in H. Res. 173.
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On June 26, 2018, the Committee held a markup to adopt
Committee Resolution 115-19, allocating $200,000 from the
Committee Reserve Fund\2\ to the Veterans' Affairs Committee.
The Committee on Veterans' Affairs requested additional funds
to establish and staff a new Subcommittee on Technology
Modernization, which provides additional oversight of the VA's
Electronic Health Record Modernization program.
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\2\Id.
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MEMBERS' REPRESENTATIONAL ALLOWANCE
The Members' Representational Allowance (``MRA'') is the
annual authorization made to each Member of the House to
obligate U.S. Treasury funds not to exceed a certain amount.
These funds may be used by the Member to pay ordinary and
necessary business expenses incurred by the Member and his or
her congressional office employees in support of the Member's
official and representational duties. The Committee oversees
the use of appropriations from the accounts of the U.S. House
of Representatives for the MRA as well as official travel by
Members and staff. In addition, the Committee oversees the
compensation, retirement and administration of benefits of
Member office employees. The annual MRA is available for one
legislative year (i.e., January 3 of one year through January 2
of the following year).
The amount of each Member's MRA varies but is calculated
based on three components: the cost to lease federal office
space in a Member's district; the number of U.S. Postal Service
private delivery stops in a Member's district; and the distance
between a Member's district and Washington, D.C.
Expenditures from the MRA fall into one of three
categories: personnel compensation; official expenses; and
official (franked) mail expenses. Each Member has discretion
over expenditures from the MRA account as he or she determines
the official needs to support his or her office's operations,
subject to House rules and regulations in the Members'
Congressional Handbook. The use of funds in any expense
category is not limited by the amount factored into a
corresponding expense component, e.g., a Member may spend more
or less than the amount of the travel component in order to
travel to and from the district.
Federal law\3\ authorizes the Committee to fix and adjust
the amounts, terms, and conditions of, and other matters
relating to the MRA (including all aspects of official mail) by
reason of:
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\3\2 U.S.C. 4313.
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1. A change in the price of materials, services, or office
space;
2. A technological change or other improvement in office
equipment; or
3. An increase in rates of pay under the General Schedule,
e.g., a comparability and/or locality wage adjustment.
During the 115th Congress, the Committee took the following
actions pertaining to the Member's Representational Allowance:
1) The Committee set authorization amounts for each of the
441 Members of the House of Representatives for the legislative
year starting on January 3, 2017, until January 2, 2018. The
final amounts were authorized by letter on February 17, 2017.
MRAs were increased by $50,000 over the 2016 authorization
amounts.
2) On June 29, 2017, Members were authorized to receive an
additional $25,000 to their 2017 MRA. This increase was
intended to be used for security expenses in wake of the June
2017 active shooter incident (see infra).
3) The Committee set authorization amounts for each of the
441 Members of the House of Representatives for the legislative
year starting on January 3, 2018, until January 2, 2019. The
final amounts were authorized by letter on March 26, 2018. MRAs
again were increased by an additional $25,000 over the 2017
authorized amounts. Thus, the total individual MRA increased by
$100,000 over the amounts authorized in the 114th Congress.
In addition, the Committee considered and adopted updates
to the following manuals: House Administration Members'
Congressional Handbook and House Administration Committees'
Congressional Handbook.
Specifically, the Committee adopted Committee Resolution
115-7 on February 27, 2018, amending the Members' Congressional
Handbook as follows:
Adding restrictions on settlements or awards
in connection with conduct prohibited under the
Congressional Accountability Act of 1995,
Adding the authority to include security
expenses with respect to obligating prior year funds
expenses, and
Clarifying language pertaining to
permissible personal and district office security
expenses.
Additionally, the Committee adopted Committee Resolution
115-8 on February 27, 2018, amending the Committee Handbook as
follows:
Adding restrictions on settlements or awards
in connection with conduct prohibited under the
Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 and
Clarifying language on the deadline for
submitting the monthly activities reports by each
standing committee.
Finally, the Committee adopted Committee Resolution 115-20
on July 25, 2018, modifying and recognizing new categories of
Town Hall Meetings, including:
Physical Town Hall Meetings,
Joint Physical Town Hall Meetings,
Virtual Town Hall Meetings, and
Joint Virtual Town Hall Meetings.
COMMISSION ON CONGRESSIONAL MAILING STANDARDS
The Commission on Congressional Mailing Standards (also
known as the ``Franking Commission''), established by Public
Law 93-191, is composed of six Members appointed by the Speaker
of the House: three from the majority, and three from the
minority. The Speaker designates the Chairman of the Franking
Commission who must be: (1) one of the Members appointed to the
Commission, and (2) must also be a Member of the Committee on
House Administration. In the 115th Congress, the Commission was
chaired by Rep. Rodney Davis of Illinois, with Rep. Susan A.
Davis of California serving as Ranking Member. The Chairman and
Ranking Member were joined by Commission Members Rep. Robert E.
Latta of Ohio, Rep. Barbara Comstock of Virginia, Rep. Brad
Sherman of California, and Rep. Donald A. McEachin of Virginia.
Federal statute, House Rule and Regulation set out the
jurisdiction and related functions of the Franking Commission,
which are as follows:
1. To prescribe regulations governing the proper use of the
franking privilege by those entitled to use the privilege in
connection with the mailing or contemplated mailing of franked
mail under 39 U.S.C. sections 3210, 3211, 3212, 3213(2), 3218,
3219 or in connection with the operation of section 3215; in
connection with any other Federal law (other than any law which
imposes any criminal penalty), or in connection with any Rule
of the U.S. House of Representatives relating to franked mail
(2 U.S.C. 501(d)).
2. Upon the request of any person entitled to use the
franking privilege and other official communication resources,
to provide guidance, assistance, advice, and counsel, through
advisory opinions or consultations, in connection with the
distribution or contemplated distribution of franked mail or
official communications regarding the application and/or
compliance with applicable Federal statutes and House rules and
regulations. The staff assigned to the Commission are delegated
authority by the Commission to perform advisory and counseling
functions, subject to review by the Commission (2 U.S.C.
501(d), House rule XXIV, and the Regulations of the Committee
on House Administration). At the time of filing this report,
the Franking Commission had reviewed 14,208 requests for
advisory opinions and issued 11,115 final advisory opinions
during the 115th Congress. Staff of the Franking Commission
also delivered individual office briefings to over 150 Member
Offices.
3. To investigate, decide, and dispose of complaints
regarding the misuse of the franking privilege (2 U.S.C.
501(e)).
On June 22, 2017, the Franking Commission agreed
unanimously on three Commission Resolutions. The first
resolution fully digitized the Franking Submission process. The
resolution eliminated paper submissions and review processes
and made digital submission mandatory, effective October 2,
2017. The second resolution extended the length of use for a
template from one session of Congress to both sessions of
Congress. The third resolution added three new examples of
public distinctions: public education professionals, first
responders, and military service members.
On April 25, 2018, the Committee on House Administration
adopted Committee Resolution 115-10 which added three
advertising categories to the Members' Congressional Handbook
(enforced by the Franking Commission): Members'
Representational Programs; ``live'' social media town hall
meetings; and legislative updates. The Committee on House
Administration also adopted Committee Resolution 115-11 which
clarified the advertisement regulations in the Committee
Congressional Handbook to allow the use of subcommittee names
in advertisements.
On May 24, 2018, the Franking Commission received a
complaint filed pursuant to the Rules of Practice in
Proceedings before the House Commission on Congressional
Mailing Standards. On July 19, 2018, the Commission unanimously
issued an order to dismiss the complaint pursuant to Rule 3 of
the Rules of Practice in Proceedings before the House
Commission on Congressional Mailing Standards, determining
there was no reason to believe that a violation had occurred.
Since January 3, 1996, all communications required to
receive an Advisory Opinion from the Franking Commission are
publicly disclosed. Communications that require an Advisory
Opinion prior to distribution, publication, or dissemination
include mass mailings and mass communications (regardless of
medium) as defined by 39 U.S.C. section 3210(a)(6)(E) and the
Members Congressional Handbook. The Franking Commission
notifies a Member whenever his or her file has been reviewed
publicly whether in full or in part. On May 24, 2018, the
Franking Commission rolled out full digitization of the public
disclosure process through the use of a Franking Advisory
Opinion ``kiosk'' in the Legislative Resource Center.
OVERSIGHT AND LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITIES OF THE COMMITTEE
The Committee continues to work with House Leadership and
the Subcommittee on Legislative Branch Appropriations to reduce
overall costs and efficiently manage House operations,
including but not limited to financial, legislative, and
security operations undertaken by the House Officers.
Officers of the House
One of the primary responsibilities of the Committee is to
conduct oversight of the House Officers, whose organizations
serve lead roles in the legislative, day-to-day administrative,
and security operations in order to support the Members and
staff of the House. On February 7, 2017, each Officer
testified, during hearings titled ``Priorities of the House
Officers and Legislative Branch Entities for FY 2018 and
Beyond'', on their goals and expectations for the 115th
Congress.
During the hearings, the Clerk of the House outlined
several key priorities: the redesign of the Clerk's website;
the installation of an upgraded electronic voting system on the
House Floor; the implementation of a new comparative print
requirement; the updating and enhancement of the Congressional
Biography Directory; the effort to increase storage
capabilities for the vital and historic records of Congress;
the enhancement of the lobbying disclosure filing system; and
the effort to meet the demand for legislative materials used on
the House Floor and in committee hearings by transitioning to
an on-demand print and delivery operation. Likewise, the
Sergeant at Arms' highlighted: the coordination necessary to
facilitate the AOC's renovation of the Rayburn and Cannon
garages within the Rayburn Garage Rehabilitation Plan and the
Cannon Renewal Project; the manpower challenges at key exterior
entry points of House Office Buildings; the lifecycle
replacement challenges of post-9/11 physical security; the
ongoing reinforced windows initiative in the House Office
Buildings; the additional responsibilities affiliated with the
O'Neill Federal Office Building; and the vital issue of
District Office security. Lastly, the Chief Administrative
Officer focused on: solidifying its Strategic Plan;
implementing cybersecurity measures needed to protect the House
community; strengthening customer service through an enhanced
House Learning Center, Finance Office, and providing
technological services and enterprise solutions for Member's
Washington D.C. and District offices; maintaining the CAO's
collaborative role in the Cannon House Office Building Renewal
Project; and reforming its asset management system and life
cycle inventories. Each Officer subsequently updated the
Committee on these priorities in the spring of 2018.\4\
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\4\The Committee requested this update from each Officer on March
8, 2018. The Clerk of the House responded on March 21, 2018. The
Sergeant at Arms (SAA) and Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) both
responded on May 18, 2018.
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Clerk of the House
The Office of the Clerk is charged with overseeing eight
divisions in addition to the Clerk's Immediate Office: Office
of Legislative Operations, Office of Art and Archives, Office
of Official Reporters, Office of House Employment Counsel,
Legislative Resource Center, Legislative Computer Systems,
Office of Communications, and Capitol Service Groups. The
Clerk's primary responsibilities involve the legislative
activities of the House. This includes managing all legislation
originating in the House as well as overseeing implementation
and management of the electronic voting system.
The Committee conducted monthly oversight meetings with the
Clerk and the office's senior staff on all aspects of the
Clerk's operations and identified priorities, including
installation of the new electronic voting system on the House
Floor; implementation of a redesigned website; development of a
new online BioGuide (Biographical Directory of the United
States Congress) for past and present Members of Congress; and
ongoing construction of a new archival storage space located at
the Government Publishing Office to store the records of the
House.\5\
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\5\This initiative is a joint venture with the National Archives.
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In addition, the Committee worked with several of the
Clerk's divisions on projects over the last two years. This
included the release of Asian and Pacific Islander Americans in
Congress, 1900-2017, which was compiled by the Office of Art
and Archives in collaboration with the House Historian and GPO.
The book was launched by the Congressional Asian Pacific
American Caucus (CAPAC), House Leadership, and the Committee,
and was the fourth and final installation in the ``In
Congress'' series mandated by law in the 107th Congress.
In addition, as will be discussed infra, the Rules of the
House for the 115th Congress provided for greater transparency
and accessibility to legislative information. Specifically, the
Rules of the House were amended to provide comparative prints
for all legislation moving to the House floor, which includes
comparisons from existing law and for differing versions of
legislative text. The Clerk is the primary entity responsible
for implementing the initiative, which will be fully
operational in 2020.
The Clerk continued to co-chair the Bulk Data Task Force
and worked with Committee staff to strengthen transparency
through digitizing legislative material in the House. The Clerk
led and participated in the Committee sponsored Legislative
Data and Transparency Conferences held on June 27, 2017 and on
July 12, 2018. The events brought stakeholders together from
within and outside the House to discuss strengthening access to
the legislative process.
Sergeant at Arms
The House Sergeant at Arms (``HSAA'') is responsible for
maintaining the security of the House of Representatives,
including the buildings located on the House side of the
Capitol and its campus, and Members of Congress, congressional
employees, and visitors. The HSAA directs security for the
House Chamber, the parking garages, and district offices; and
directs emergency responses and continuity of government
operations for the House of Representatives. The Committee
ensures the HSAA's priorities are consistent with the security
needs of the Members, staff, and the public.
Following the active shooter incident in June 2017 and the
increase in Member-reported threats, the Committee and House
Leadership directed HSAA to create a program providing security
equipment to Members' District Offices. The district office
security equipment installation and enhancement program became
the Committee's main oversight focus during the latter part of
2017. The HSAA contracted with an outside vendor to provide
basic security systems for one district office per Member. The
Committee received weekly updates on the progress of the
equipment installations. In addition, the Committee, Leadership
staff, and the HSAA reviewed progress monthly from July to
December 2017 to ensure equipment installations were completed
in a timely manner. On February 27, 2018, the Committee adopted
Committee Resolution 115-7, which incorporated changes to the
Members' Congressional Handbook addressing the use of official
resources for district security purposes (see supra). In May
2018, the Committee's focus turned to the future of the program
and the development of policies for transitioning into the
116th Congress.
In 2018, the HSAA formally established the District
Security Service Center (``DSSC''), which is responsible for
continuing to implement the district office security equipment
enhancement program. The DSSC is district offices' point of
contact with the HSAA for district office security needs. The
Center also incorporates the HSAA's Law Enforcement Coordinator
Program as well as implements other district security
initiatives. The Committee continues to monitor the development
and effectiveness of the DSSC.
In addition to District Office Security meetings, the
Committee conducted biweekly oversight meetings with the House
Sergeant at Arms. The Committee received updates on campus-wide
security infrastructure enhancements, including garage
security; pre-screening; USCP manpower needs; special events
such as the State of the Union Address; Enhanced Screening
Portals; and securing the O'Neill House Office Building.
Additionally, the Committee directed the HSAA to develop a
comprehensive, campus-wide master security plan, the progress
of which the Committee continues to monitor.
On January 11, 2017, the Committee adopted its House
parking policy for the 115th Congress. In 2018, the Committee
oversaw renewed enforcement of the House parking policy.
Chief Administrative Officer
The Chief Administrative Officer (``CAO'') of the House
provides services and support for the House community,
including the Office of Financial Counseling, food services,
logistics and support, furniture, photography, and access to
the recording studio, among other internal House operations.
The Committee oversaw enhancements in the CAO's service
offerings and vision for the future during the 115th Congress.
Financial Operation
During the 115th Congress, the CAO and the Committee
focused on strengthening the financial operations of the House.
The CAO hired a new Chief Financial Officer of the House,
Leonard Puzzuoli, in the fall of 2018. Additionally, the
Committee emphasized the need for the CAO to improve the advice
provided by the Office of Financial Counseling (``OFC''). The
CAO took aggressive steps to improve the performance of
personnel in the office, as well as the timeliness and accuracy
of the office's work. Furthermore, the Committee has provided
oversight and assistance with the transition of the House
Finance Card Program, which includes the House's Purchase and
Travel credit cards. The Committee reviewed and approved the
Finance Card transition and assisted OFC with resolving
outstanding balances on the current Travel cards in order to
ensure a smooth transition into the new Finance Card Program.
Food Services
The Committee continues to oversee the administration of
the food service contracts. The Committee and CAO focused on
improving food services, options and delivery to Members and
staff. Of note, the Committee approved the opening of the
Bennett Room located in the Members' Dining Room to staff,
which will increase use of the facility.
Transition
During the 115th Congress, the Committee worked closely
with the CAO on transition policies and procedures for the
116th Congress. The Committee approved policies related to the
116th Congress transition, including but not limited to the
handling of equipment, furniture, and records. These policies
impact both incoming Members of Congress, as well as Departing
Members of Congress.
While the Committee organizes and hosts the New Member
Orientation for newly-elected Members of Congress, the
Committee also focuses its efforts on ensuring Departing
Members of Congress are supported in their transition. The
Committee worked with the CAO to setup 2044 RHOB, an outfitted
temporary space for outgoing Members of Congress who no longer
have office space, to be able to continue their office
operations through the end of the 115th Congress. The Committee
also coordinated a Member-level briefing for Departing Members
in November 2018 and followed the briefing with information to
respond to Departing Member inquiries regarding their
transition. Ongoing assistance for Departing Members will
continue through the duration of the 115th Congress.
Finally, the Committee worked with the CAO to provide
relevant information to House Committees regarding transitions
from Majority to Minority status and vice versa. The Committee
worked with the CAO to update operational information for
Committees to utilize as they start transitioning. The CAO made
this information available as part of its House Transition
website.
Workplace Rights and Responsibilities Education
The CAO, working with the Committee, implemented Workplace
Rights and Responsibilities Education Program in 2018.
Utilizing feedback and lessons learned from the first year of
the program, the CAO and the Committee are working to finalize
the curriculum for the 2019 training and update the network
systems that support the training program for the new year. See
infra on the Office of Compliance for additional information on
training program.
House Information Resources
Throughout the 115th Congress, the Committee worked with
House Information Resources (``HIR'') to improve technology
services for the House community. The Committee approved new
hardware and software standards; faster internet connectivity
for District Offices; and the use of cloud-based services
including Office 365 and district office telephone support. The
Committee worked with HIR to complete the House's Technology
Vendor Agreements for the 116th Congress.
The Committee conducted oversight over HIR's technology
support for Member offices, including the support for the over
900 district offices throughout the United States and
territories. At the direction of the Committee, HIR also
completed the transition in all district offices to internet-
based connections to improve speed. HIR has deployed cloud-
based telephone services to 105 district offices, with the goal
of deploying to all new Members of the 116th Congress. Office
365 has been deployed to 6,700 active users with mobile support
deployed to initial Leadership, Member, and CAO users with
broad scale deployment to the entire House community planned
for 2019. In addition, HIR is executing a plan to move over 300
HIR- managed publicly facing websites to the cloud in 2019
thereby reducing costs and simplifying cybersecurity
compliance.
The Committee continued to examine HIR's management of
various technology service vendors and approved incremental
improvements to policies and procedures governing these
vendors.
Like any governmental organization, the House must
continually evolve its cybersecurity capabilities to meet
changing threats. In consultation with the Committee, HIR
continued to review the House's security policies and
procedures and worked to make improvements where warranted. HIR
now monitors the commonly named Dark Web for House sensitive
information. HIR improved the security of mobile devices by
adding mobile security capabilities. HIR's use of a Risk
Management Framework and assessment methodology has improved
the security of both traditional and cloud applications.
Finally, the Committee continued to examine HIR's effort to
improve technology governance, including efforts to improve
strategic planning, service management and enterprise
architecture.
Shared Employees
Toward the end of the 114th Congress, issues were raised
with the Committee regarding the practices of shared employees.
The Committee established a task force (Task Force) to review
recommendations provided by the House Officers. The Task Force,
led by Vice Chairman, Congressman Rodney Davis, held two
bipartisan listening sessions focused on Members who employed
shared staff. Approximately 15 members participated in the
listening sessions.
On April 12, 2018, the Committee held a hearing on the
issue of shared employees. Testifying at the hearing was Phil
Kiko, CAO; Paul Irving, Sergeant at Arms, and Michael
Ptasienski, Inspector General. The hearing provided members
with the opportunity to question the House officers on
proposals to mitigate the risks shared employees pose to the
House. On April 25, 2018, the Committee on House Administration
(``Committee'') marked up and adopted Committee Resolutions
115-13 through 115-18. The Committee resolutions directed each
of the House Officers to develop strategies to implement
policies relating to shared information technology
administrators and shared financial administrators. The
resolutions directed the House Officers to submit
recommendations within 30 days. On May 25, 2018, the Chief
Administrative Officer (``CAO''), the Clerk of the House of
Representatives, and the Sergeant-at-Arms each submitted
recommended strategies to implement Committee Resolutions 115-
13 through 115-18.
Subsequent to the House Officer submissions to the
Committee, concern was expressed by both Member offices who
employed shared administrators as well as shared administrators
themselves regarding the proposed strategies issued,
particularly the proposed standards developed and advocated by
the CAO. The concerns expressed were primarily twofold--(1) the
standards themselves were unclear and (2) the standards were
unnecessarily punitive. On September 14, 2018, the Committee
received revised recommendations, including standards and best
practices from the CAO for both the shared information
technology administrators and shared financial administrators.
Notwithstanding specific changes to both Appendix B and C, the
CAO recommended the following: 1) Delaying the implementation
date to January 2019; 2) Allowing the CAO to move computer
accounts in October 2018 for interested shared staff; and 3)
Allowing the implementation plan to include a review and update
to standards and best practices at three and six-month
intervals.
On September 26, 2018, the Committee marked up and adopted
by unanimous consent Committee Resolution 115-21, a resolution
approving the May 25, 2018 submissions presented by the House
Officers, including revisions made on September 14, 2018.
Inspector General
The Committee worked with the House Office of the Inspector
General (OIG) to implement its annual workplan focusing on the
security and financial stability of the House. The House OIG
issued another unmodified financial statement audit for Fiscal
Year 2017, marking the twentieth consecutive year for the House
to receive this positive result.
The Architect of the Capitol
The Committee oversees the AOC with respect to the House
side of the Capitol campus, with exception of certain decisions
that impact House Office Buildings. The Committee reinstated
monthly oversight meetings with the AOC focusing on the AOC's
operations, including with the House Superintendent, the Office
of Security Programs, and the Inspector General.
On May 24, 2017, the Committee held a hearing titled
``Oversight of the Architect of the Capitol's Office of the
Inspector General.'' Testifying at the hearing were Inspector
General Christopher Failla, Architect of the Capitol, Stephen
Ayers, and Beryl Davis, Director of Financial Management and
Assurance for the Government Accountability Office, all of whom
discussed the importance of the Inspector General's work in the
AOC's operations. Since that time the Committee has focused on
Inspector Failla's commitment to institutional integrity and
the judicious use of taxpayer dollars. Over the last Congress,
the Office of the Inspector General has completed a Risk
Assessment to guide future audit work; focused on more
productive audits; and worked to implement the peer review of
the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and
Efficiency's (``CIGIE''). The Committee anticipates the OIG
will continue its audit work into the 116th Congress. To that
end, the Committee is committed to ensuring that resources for
audits of the AOC's large-scale construction projects and other
vital services necessary for obligations to Congress are
available to the OIG.
In addition, the Committee continued its oversight of the
Cannon Renovation Project. Started in 2016, the AOC completed
Phase 0, is in the process of completing Phase I, and is
preparing to start Phase II. Along with the Committee on
Appropriations and the House Office Building Commission, the
Committee continued to review the AOC's planning and execution
for the ten-year project. The Committee continued to facilitate
the Executive Working Group in order to address outstanding
issues related to the project. Participants of the Executive
Working Group include Committee staff, House Leadership staff,
Committee on Appropriations staff, House Officers, USCP, SAA
and the AOC.
The Committee also oversaw the automation and streamlining
of the flag flying service available to House offices. The AOC
in coordination with the CAO implemented a new service
beginning February 12, 2018. A phased-in approach was initiated
to automatically process constituent flag flying requests
through the CAO's Flag Order Portal with the Pay.gov function
embedded on Members' websites. With the new system, Member
offices no longer need to purchase flags in-person or online
from the House Office Supply Store. The AOC and CAO now deliver
the purchased flags to the Flag Office to be flown before
delivering them back to the Member's Office. This important
development brings innovation and efficiency to a key, but
historically and notoriously cumbersome, constituent service.
All Member Offices were notified of the change between February
12-May 14, 2018. The Committee continues to monitor and
facilitate the use of this program.
The Committee also continued to focus on: (1) the Rayburn
Garage Rehabilitation Initiative, currently in Phase II, and
(2) the Hearing Room Audio-Visual Initiative (HRAVI), a long-
term initiative to modernize Hearing Room audio-visual
capabilities. With respect to the Rayburn Rehabilitation
Initiative, the Committee is monitoring the AOC and its work
with other affected key stakeholders and with the House
community to promptly notify them of changes to the
functionality of the garages. The Committee also continued to
collaborate with the AOC's HRAVI team and the HRAVI partners
from the CAO's House Recording Studio to identify committees in
need of updated audio-visual capabilities in their hearing
rooms. In the 115th Congress, seven committee hearing rooms
were completely upgraded with four more in the queue to be
upgraded.
The Committee continued to oversee the Capitol Visitor
Center. During 2018, its 10th anniversary year, the CVC
witnessed its 22 millionth visitor. The Committee coordinated
with the CVC's management team and met regularly to ensure
visitor operations were run effectively and efficiently. The
Committee held a hearing on May 16, 2018 entitled ``The U.S.
Capitol Visitor Center--Ten Years of Serving Congress and the
American People.'' Testifying was CEO of Visitor Services for
the CVC, Beth Plemmons.
Of particular focus at the hearing was the visitor
experience as Members, Member staff, and the public continue to
utilize the CVC. Responding to concern about Capitol tour wait
times, the Committee worked with the Appropriations Committee
to include language in House Report 115-199. The Report
directed the CVC to ``develop potential alternate policies to
guide ticket distributions during this [April through the
Easter holiday] peak period.'' The Report was submitted to the
Committee on September 21, 2018 and will guide the Committee as
it evaluates the CVC's visitor and ticketing experience to
ensure the CVC is properly focused and staffed to handle its
increasing numbers of visitors.
In addition, the Committee continued to conduct oversight
of the redesign of Exhibition Hall, which has infrastructure
and technological vulnerabilities. A significant part of the
design work was completed in 2018, which the Committee will
continue to evaluate, while the physical renovations will begin
in spring of 2019. The Committee expects the CVC to reopen
Exhibition Hall by Inauguration Day 2021.
Fine Arts Board
The Committee oversees the House Fine Arts Board which is
comprised of the five House Members of the Joint Committee on
the Library. The Board oversees the works of fine art and
historical objects that are the property of Congress and are
displayed in the House wing of the Capitol or in the House
Office Buildings. The Board also accepts gifts of fine art and
historical objects on behalf of the House, the collection of
which is maintained by the Clerk.
During the past two years, the Fine Arts Board approved
requests to organize the portrait fund Committees for Chairman
Diane Black, (Acting) Chairman Sam Johnson, Chairman Ed Royce,
Chairman Michael Conaway, Chairman Michael McCaul, Chairman
(Ways & Means) Paul Ryan, Chairman Mac Thornberry, Chairman
Lamar Smith, Chairman Pete Sessions and Chairman Bob Goodlatte.
Further, the Board approved the acceptance and deed of gift for
the portraits of Chairman Goodlatte, Chairman Jeb Hensarling,
(Acting) Chairman Johnson, Chairman Lamar Smith, Chairman Ed
Royce, Chairman Bill Shuster, Chairman Jeff Miller, Chairman
(Budget) Ryan, Chairman Black, and Chairman Fred Upton. Each
will be added to the House Collection.
The Board also approved a loan request from the
Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery (NPG) for the campaign
poster of Rep. Patsy Mink. The NPG requested to include the
poster as part of their gallery exhibition ``Votes for Women:
An American Awakening, 1840-1920'' commemorating the centennial
of women's suffrage. For this exhibit, the House Curator worked
closely with the Portrait Gallery to facilitate the loan, which
presents the House with an opportunity to showcase its
collection.
Office of Congressional Accessibility Services
The Office of Congressional Accessibility Services
(``OCAS'') was created by the Capitol Visitor Center Act of
2008. OCAS operates under the direction of the Congressional
Accessibility Services Board and is charged with providing and
coordinating accessibility services for individuals with
disabilities, including Members of Congress, House Officers and
employees of the House and Senate, and visitors to the U.S.
Capitol Complex. The Committee on House Administration oversees
the agency's operations and meets with OCAS quarterly.
Over the past two years, the Committee met on a bicameral,
bipartisan basis to discuss a number of accessibility issues
impacting Member and committee offices and the public
including, but not limited to, sign language interpreting
services, assistive listening services, accessibility training,
accessible tours, and House intranet improvements for
accessibility resources and maps. The Committee continues to
oversee the OCAS' commitment to the public and its commitment
to educating and working with the other legislative branch
stakeholders.
Library of Congress and Joint Committee on the Library
The Committee met regularly with Library management during
the 115th Congress to monitor and review operations, services,
and planning initiatives.
Of particular focus for the Committee was the Library's
decision to develop and implement a new strategic plan,
notwithstanding the current plan did not expire until 2020.
Moreover, concern was expressed by the Library IG with the
Library's lack of performance measures and accountability in
the existing plan. To that end, on July 26, 2017, the Committee
held the first of two hearings focused on the new Strategic
Plan titled ``Oversight of the Library of Congress' Strategic
Plan.'' Testifying was Librarian of Congress Dr. Carla D.
Hayden. On July 25, 2018, the Committee held a follow-up
hearing entitled ``Oversight of the Library of Congress'
Strategic Plan, Part 2.'' Testifying were Librarian Hayden, LOC
Inspector General Kurt Hyde, and Director of Strategic Planning
at the Library Dianne Houghton.
The Library's final plan, ``Enriching the Library
Experience'', was released on September 9, 2018. Encompassing
the years 2019-2023, the Plan emphasizes the Library's
commitment to usability, accessibility, collaboration, and
technological innovation in order to bring the Library's
resources to Congress and by extension to the American people.
The Committee will continue to monitor the Library's overall
implementation of the plan; the individual service units'
implementation of the plan; the Library's realignment of
service units to implement the plan, which began in Spring
2018; the Library's efforts to continue to attract, and better
serve, its physical and online visitors through communication,
marketing, and collaboration; and the Library's continued
commitment to its collections and to maintaining the Library's
status in the U.S. and the world.
Vital to these efforts is the Library's commitment to
modernizing its Information Technology (IT) infrastructure. The
Committee continued during the 115th Congress to hold the
Library accountable for improving its severe IT deficiencies as
documented in the Activities Report for the 114th Congress. The
Library continued to implement and work with GAO to close its
31 public and 74 non-public recommendations stemming from GAO's
2015 IT Audit. At the urging of its CIO and IG, the Library has
made significant progress in closing these recommendations. The
LOC has successfully closed 24 of the public recommendations
and has submitted evidence, currently being evaluated, to close
out four more. The Committee anticipates the final three public
recommendations being closed during the first (2
recommendations) and second (1 recommendation) quarters of
FY19.
The Committee also focused on other Library initiatives,
including: the Library's efforts to develop and execute a $60
million Master Plan for a new Visitor Experience in the
Jefferson Building; the aforementioned realignment of its
service units; operations at the Audio-Visual Conservation
Center (the Packard Campus) in Culpeper, VA; the National
Library Service; and the Library's storage modules at Ft.
Meade. The Committee focused on the Copyright Office's
Modernization Plan and the Library's continued development of
Congress.gov and related upcoming termination of LIS. Finally,
the Committee focused on its efforts in ensuring CRS continued
to meet the needs of Congress in an objective manner.
The Joint Committee on the Library (JCL) has no legislative
authority but is tasked with oversight of the Library of
Congress, the Congressional Research Service, and the United
States Botanic Garden (USBG), as well as management of the
National Statuary Hall Collection and art in the Capitol.
On February 2, 2017, H. Res. 82 was introduced in the House
and passed by unanimous consent nominating the following
Members to JCL: Chairman Harper, Rep. Loudermilk, Rep. Brady,
Rep. Lofgren and Chairman Frelinghuysen. On April 6, 2017, the
Joint Committee held its organizational meeting whereby the
Chairman and Vice Chairman were designated and the rules
governing the proceedings of the Joint Committee were adopted.
Subsequent to Senator Roy Blunt's nomination to replace Senator
Shelby as Chairman of the Senate Rules and Administration
Committee, the Joint Committee held a second organizational
meeting on May 16, 2018 to re-designate the Chairman and Vice-
Chairman.
During the 115th Congress, the JCL worked with the AOC on
requests to replace statues from the states of Nebraska (with
William Cather and Chief Standing Bear); Utah (with Dr. Martha
Hughes Cannon); and North Carolina (with Rev. Billy Graham).
Finally, the JCL approved multiple resolutions important to the
Botanic Garden and Library of Congress, such as the acceptance
of unique preservation and conservation equipment necessary to
the capabilities of the Audio- Visual Conservation Center;
(funding a study of) the storage capacity of the Copyright
Office; the empowerment of the Library's Trust Fund Board
Investment Committee; the hours of the Law Library; artwork in
the tunnel between the CVC and the Jefferson Building;
empowering the Botanic Garden to offer a greater variety and
means of educational and outreach services to its visiting
public; updating the Garden's event policies to allow for a
limited number of outdoors events; and expanding the Garden's
hours for specific exhibit-related or holiday show needs to
accommodate public demand and interest.
Joint Committee on Printing and U.S. Government Publishing Office
The Government Publishing Office (``GPO'') produces,
preserves and distributes the official publications and
information products of the Congress and Federal government. By
House rule, the Committee has oversight of and legislative
jurisdiction over the Government Publishing Office. By law, the
Chairman of the Committee on House Administration and the
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration
serve with four other Members of each committee on the Joint
Committee on Printing (``JCP''). The bicameral JCP exercises
certain oversight and regulatory authority over Federal
printing policy, congressional printing and administration of
the GPO.
Throughout the Congress, the Committee worked closely with
GPO on the production, communication and distribution of
several publications including the 115th Congressional
Directory, the 114th Congress Pictorial Directory, and the
President's Budget. In addition to fulfilling requests for
these publications, the Committee responded to numerous
requests on a weekly basis for other Congressional publications
including Our Flag, Pocket Constitution, Our American
Government, and How Our Laws Are Made.
The Committee spent this Congress reviewing Title 44 of the
United States Code as it relates to government printing and the
Federal Depository Library Program and drafted legislation to
modernize Chapters: 1; 3; 5; 7; 9; 11; 13; 15; 17; 19; 39; &
41. It has been more than a quarter of a century since Title 44
has been substantially reviewed; more than a half century since
the ``modern'' Federal Depository Library Program was
established; and more than 100 years since most public printing
provisions were drafted. Through regular order, including:
bipartisan hearings; bipartisan roundtable discussions; and
bipartisan field visits to libraries; the Chairman and Ranking
Member introduced legislation to reform Chapters 17, 19, and 41
of Title 44 to modernize the Federal Depository Library
Program. All Members of the Committee were co-sponsors.
On February 7 and 8, 2017, the Committee held its first
oversight hearing on GPO titled ``Priorities of the House
Officers and Legislative Branch Entities for FY2018 and
Beyond.'' Testifying at the hearing for GPO was GPO Director
Davita Vance-Cooks, who discussed GPO's budget priorities.
On April 6, 2017, the Joint Committee on Printing held it
Organizational Meeting for the 115th Congress, during which
time Senator Richard Shelby was designated as Chairman and
Congressman Rodney Davis as Vice-Chairman. The JCP adopted
Rules for the 115th Congress.
On May 17, 2017, the Committee held its second oversight
hearing on GPO's operations titled ``Transforming GPO for the
21st Century and Beyond.'' GPO Director Davita Vance-Cooks
testified on GPO's priorities. The Committee focused on the
five management challenges identified by GPO's IG in the last
11 semi-annual reports to Congress. At the top of the list is
the IG's concern that GPO is not focusing on its core mission
of information dissemination. The Committee's concern, and that
of the IG, remains that there has been no significant progress
by GPO management in addressing the challenges.
On July 18, 2007, the Committee held its third hearing on
GPO entitled ``Transforming GPO for the 21st Century and
Beyond, Part 2.'' GPO Director Davita Vance-Cooks testified at
the hearing. Although GPO responded to the Committee's follow
up questions to the last hearing, with 1,100 pages of material,
several of the answers needed further clarification. The
Committee focused in greater detail on GPO's operations in
order to make more meaningful reforms.
On September 26, 2007, the Committee held its fourth
hearing on GPO titled: ``Transforming GPO for the 21st Century
and Beyond, Part 3--Federal Depository Library Program.'' The
hearing included two panels of witnesses. Testifying on the
first panel was Acting Superintendent of Documents, Laurie
Hall. On the second panel (1) Celina McDonald, Librarian for
Government Documents, Law, Criminology and Criminal Justice at
the University of Maryland; (2) Beth Williams, Stanford Law
School's Library Director; (3) Stephen Parks, State Librarian
of Mississippi; and (4) Mike Furlough, Executive Director of
Hathi Trust Digital Library all testified. The hearing focused
on the implementation and needed reforms in Chapter 19 of Title
44, which established the Federal Depository Library Program
(``FDLP'').
On October 4, 2017 the Committee held a roundtable
discussion on the current Federal Depository Library Program
with FDLP stakeholders. The following stakeholders were
invited: American Association of Law Libraries; American
Library Association; Association of Research Libraries;
Association of Southeastern Research Libraries; Cyber Cemetery;
Demand Progress; Digital Library Federation; GovTrack;
HathiTrust; Internet Archive; Ithaki S+R; Medical Library
Association; OpenGov Foundation; Public Resource.org; Special
Libraries Association; Sunlight Foundation; and Urban Libraries
Council. The discussion focused on the structural and
programmatic aspects of the FDLP as well as way to modernize
the program.
On October 11, 2017, the Committee held its fifth hearing
on GPO operations titled: ``Transforming GPO for the 21st
Century and Beyond, Part 4.'' The hearing included two panels
of witnesses. The first panel included the Honorable Karen
Haas, Clerk of the House, and the second panel included: (1)
Eric Petersen, specialist in American National Government,
Congressional Research Service, who discussed the role of the
Joint Committee on Printing and the constitutional principles
of separation of powers as it related to Congress's control of
Federal printing in executive branch agencies; (2) Robin Dale,
Deputy Director for Library Services, Institute of Museum and
Library Services, an independent agency in the executive
branch, who discussed Federal grantmaking to libraries; and (3)
Roger Schonfeld, Director of Libraries and Scholarly
Communications Programs, Ithaka S+R, a not-for-profit service
that helps academic and cultural communities effectively use
digital technologies. The hearing enabled the committee to
discuss broad reforms with stakeholders.
On January 24, 2018 the Committee held a roundtable
discussion on the current draft of the GPO Modernization Act of
2018 with the labor unions representing GPO employees. The
following union bargaining units were invited to participate:
AFGE Local 2876; BPAT Local 1937; CTU Local 101-12; FOP Lodge
No. 1; GCC Local 1-C; GCC Local 4-B; GCC Local 713-S; IAM & AW
Local 2135; and IBEW Local 121.
On March 7, 2018, the Committee scheduled, but postponed, a
hearing on GPO entitled ``Management of the Government
Publishing Office.'' Acting Director James Bradley was
requested to appear as a witness but resigned his office the
day before the scheduled hearing. As a result, the hearing was
postponed.
On April 12, 2018, the Committee held a meeting to markup
H.R. 5305, the Federal Depository Library Program Modernization
Act of 2018, and H.R. 4631, the Access to Congressionally
Mandated Reports Act. H.R. 5305 makes the following changes to
the FDLP: (1) it recognizes the existence of a national
collection of information dissemination products; (2) it
updates the types of depository libraries across the country
that may participate in the FDLP; (3) it eliminates the
problems with fugitive documents in the government; (4) it
allows the FDLP to accept work completed by the library
community; (5) it provides for greater transparency in the FDLP
itself; and (6) it removes the sales program from the purview
of the Superintendent of Documents to allow the Superintendent
to focus on no-fee access to government information. H.R. 5305
is supported by the major library associations, including the
American Library Association, the American Association of Law
Libraries, the Association of Research Libraries, and the Chief
Officers of State Library Agencies.
H.R. 4631 also amends Title 44 by requiring the Government
Publishing Office to, among other things, establish and
maintain a publicly available website containing copies of all
congressionally mandated reports. The bill also directs the
Office of Management and Budget to issue guidance to federal
agencies to assist them in submitting the reports to GPO. The
bill was marked up and reported out of the Committee on
Oversight and Government Reform earlier in the year. Forty-five
organizations support this bipartisan legislation.
On May 16, 2018, the Joint Committee on Printing held an
organizational meeting to elect a new Chairman. Senator Roy
Blunt was selected. Congressman Rodney Davis remained Vice-
Chairman.
United States Capitol Police
The United States Capitol Police (``USCP'', the
``Department'') force protects Members, staff, the public, and
the Capitol campus to allow Congress to fulfill its
constitutional and legislative responsibilities in a safe,
secure, and open environment.
The Committee's goals with respect to oversight of the USCP
have been twofold: to ensure the effectiveness of USCP
operations and to ensure that USCP management are supporting
rank-and-file officers and civilians, including providing the
resources needed to conduct operations. To that end, over the
last two years, the Committee held biweekly oversight meetings
with USCP leadership and staff from the Committee on Senate
Rules and Administration. During meetings, the Committees
received reports on House Office Building entrance wait times,
staffing, and personnel updates. USCP also briefed Committees
of all upcoming special events.
Similarly, in 2018, Committee staff met with the Assistant
Chief of Police and each USCP Bureau Commander and Office
Director to gain deeper understanding of each of the
Department's components.
The Committee also regularly reviewed the progress of
security construction projects and other physical security
enhancements in and around the Capitol during the 115th
Congress. Such projects include construction of an area to
prescreen visitors outside buildings; implementation of garage
security enhancements; incorporation of the O'Neill Building
into the House Office Building perimeter; and expansion of the
House Day Care Center. The Committee closely monitored the USCP
recruitment classes and necessary changes to training
curricula.
With respect to management and workforce, on June 26, 2018,
the Committee conducted an oversight hearing titled, ``United
States Capitol Police: Operations and Workforce.'' The
Committee received testimony from Matthew R. Verderosa, Chief,
United States Capitol Police; Michael A. Bolton, Acting
Inspector General, USCP; and Gus Papathanasiou, Chairman of the
USCP Labor Committee, Fraternal Order of Police. The hearing
enabled the Committee to understand the USCP Strategic Plan;
convey the Committee's expectation regarding USCP operations;
and examine the USCP's decision-making process. While USCP
management assured the Committee that its emphasis on workforce
development and morale remained a priority, the labor union
representative made clear that management must do more to
resolve termination arbitration issues. USCP management also
emphasized its continued work to close out recommendations from
its Office of Inspector General.
The Committee also reviewed and responded to the needs of
Members subsequent to an active shooter incident. The incident
demonstrated the vulnerability of Members and staff and the
need to revisit policies and procedures regarding the security
of Members off campus. The Committee continues to monitor
Member security support. In addition to its focus on procedure,
the Committee allocated an additional $50,000 for Member MRA to
support enhanced district office security (see supra 3-4).
Separately, the Committee conducted oversight of FLETC and
FLETC's Psychology Consortium to better understand the USCP
recruitment process. In particular, attending FLETC enabled the
Committee to review the basic training curriculum.
Smithsonian
The Committee serves as the primary legislative and
oversight body for the Smithsonian Institution, a federal trust
instrumentality composed of 19 museums, numerous research
centers, and the National Zoological Park (``Zoo'').
Approximately two-thirds of the Institution's funding is from
direct federal appropriations.
Governance of the Smithsonian is vested in a 17-member
Board of Regents, consisting of the Chief Justice, Vice
President, six Members of Congress and nine citizen regents
nominated by the Board and approved by a joint resolution of
Congress.
During the 115th Congress, the Smithsonian Board of Regents
nominated four individuals to serve as citizen regents, Roger
Ferguson, Michael Govan, Steven Case and Barbara Barrett. Both
Mr. Case and Ms. Barrett were nominated to serve a second term
as citizen regents. Legislation providing for these
appointments was introduced and referred to the Committee (H.J.
Res. 80; H.J. Res. 79; H.J. Res. 78; and H.J. Res. 133).
Committee Members met separately with each nominee to discuss
Smithsonian governance and assess the nominees' views and
qualifications. The House approved the legislation by unanimous
consent on April 6, 2017 (S.J.Res 30; S.J. Res. 35; and S.J.
Res. 36) and on June 28, 2018 (S.J. Res. 60) and the
legislation was subsequently signed into law.
On March 28, 2017, the Committee held an oversight hearing
on ``The Smithsonian Institution's Priorities.'' Testifying at
the hearing was David Skorton, Secretary of the Smithsonian.
The hearing provided an opportunity for the Committee to
discuss the development of a new strategic plan for the
Smithsonian and to review goals and priorities in 2017 and in
the future. The Secretary also updated the Committee on
facilities maintenance issues, including the renovation of the
National Air and Space Museum (``NASM'') Mall building and the
significant backlog of deferred maintenance projects. Given
these challenges and budgetary constraints, the Secretary
testified that the Smithsonian currently lacked the capacity
and resources to add new museums to its portfolio.
On October 11, 2017, H.R. 4009 was introduced authorizing
the Smithsonian to construct a central parking facility at the
National Zoo's campus in the District of Columbia, using no
appropriated funds. Officials from the Smithsonian and the
National Zoo briefed Committee and Member staff on the
proposal. The Smithsonian planned to consolidate parking lots
spread across the Zoo campus into a central facility located at
a mid-point of the Zoo. The intent was to enter into a public-
private partnership to design, construct and operate the
facility. On December 13, 2017, the Committee marked up H.R.
4009 and reported it by voice vote. Following passage by the
House and Senate, H.R. 4009 was signed into law on June 1,
2108. Subsequently, the Smithsonian cancelled its plans to move
forward with parking facility due to limited response to the
Request for Proposal process.
In addition to legislation, the Committee's oversight
activities in the 115th Congress included: biweekly oversight
meetings and site visits to Smithsonian facilities. In January
2018, staff visited the NASM Udvar-Hazy museum in Chantilly, VA
to review progress on the construction of a new storage module.
In the near term, the module will be used as swing space for
artifacts that must be removed from the Mall facility during
the revitalization of that building. Ultimately, it will become
the permanent storage space for collection items moved from
substandard facilities at the Garber Facility in Suitland, MD.
The storage module is scheduled for completion in January 2019
at a cost of $58.4 million. In July 2018, staff visited the
Rock Creek campus of the National Zoo to receive a briefing on
proposed security enhancements and tour the areas of the zoo
affected by the changes.
In addition, the Committee met with the Smithsonian and the
Smithsonian IG on various topics including information
security; the partnership between the Smithsonian and the
Victoria and Albert Museum in London; financial and budgetary
matters; agendas for the Board of Regent meetings; the upcoming
closure of a portion of the NASM Mall building due to the
revitalization project; and the Smithsonian's educational
resources and programming.
Office of Compliance
In 1995, Congress passed the Congressional Accountability
Act (``CAA''), which among other things required Congress to
adhere to many of the same employment and workplace safety
standards required of the federal government and the private
sector.\6\ The CAA applies thirteen workplace laws to the
legislative branch, including but not limited to: ``The Fair
Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.); Title VII
of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et 6 seq.);
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et
seq.); The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (29
U.S.C. 621 et seq.); The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993
(29 U.S.C. 2611 et seq.); The Occupational Safety and Health
Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.); Chapter 71 (relating to
Federal service labor-management relations) of title 5; The
Employee Polygraph Protection Act of 1988 (29 U.S.C. 2001 et
seq.); The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act
(29 U.S.C. 2101 et seq.); The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29
U.S.C. 701 et seq.); and Chapter 43 (relating to veterans'
employment and reemployment) of title 38.''\7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\2 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.
\7\2 U.S.C. 1302(a).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In addition to incorporating employment and workplace
safety standards, the CAA created the Office of Compliance
(``OOC''), which is responsible for implementing and enforcing
the CAA. The accounts of sexual harassment revealed in the
congressional workplace during the 115th Congress increased the
Committee's focus on the operations of the OOC.
The OOC testified at both of the Committee's hearings on
sexual harassment [see November 14, 2018 hearing and December
7, 2018 hearing infra]. In addition, the Committee closely
monitored the Office's reporting requirement under 2 U.S.C.
1381(h)(3). On November 30, 2017, the Committee requested the
following information from the OOC: (1) statistics concerning
the aggregate amount of settlements against Member, Committee
and Leadership Offices since 2013 including the number of
offices against whom claims were awarded or settled; the number
of claims that specifically involved sexual discrimination
(which includes sexual harassment and gender discrimination);
and the number of claims that specifically involving [sic]
sexual harassment. In addition, the Committee sought statistics
concerning the aggregate amount of settlements paid by the
House of Representatives and a breakdown of the aggregate
amount of settlements paid by the House of Representatives by
type of claim, including a specific category for sexual
harassment (which includes quid pro quo and hostile workplace
harassment claims) since 1997. The OOC responded on December 1,
2017; December 19, 2017; and January 12, 2018; with the
relevant information.
Relatedly, the Speaker of the House of Representatives
directed the Committee to review the House's workplace
policies, procedures, and training. On November 14, 2017, the
Committee on House Administration held the first of two
hearings titled ``Preventing Sexual Harassment in the
Congressional Workplace.'' Testifying at the hearing were OOC
Board Chair, Barbara Walters, and Gloria Lett, Counsel, OHEC,
in addition to Congresswoman Speier (CA) and Congressman Byrne
(AL). The hearing focused on identifying the most apparent gaps
in the House of Representatives' training, policies, and
procedures and identifying effective mechanisms to address
these issues.
In response to the hearing, on November 29, 2017, the House
passed H. Res. 630, a resolution requiring all House employees,
including interns, fellows, and detailees, to participate in a
mandatory annual training program. In addition, the resolution
required all House offices to post a statement of employee
rights and protections under the CAA. The Committee implemented
the training requirement set forth in H.R. 630 by passing
Committee Resolution 115-22 on December 19, 2017. The
resolution outlined the parameters of the training, including
the requirement that the training be in person and for 90
minutes. On January 8, 2018, the Committee directed the CAO to
implement the training requirement. The CAO subsequently
awarded the responsibilities to Franklin Covey on February 9,
2018. At the completion of the initial training phase July 2,
2018, more than 14,000 Members and House employees, interns,
detailees, and fellows had completed the training. Training
continues for all new employees through December 31, 2018.
On December 7, 2017, the Committee held a second hearing
focusing on necessary reforms to the CAA. Testifying at the
hearing were Victoria A. Lipnic, Acting Chair, Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission; Susan Tsui Grundmann, Executive
Director, Office of Compliance; Gloria Lett, Counsel, Office of
House Employment Counsel; and Daniel F. C. Crowley, Partner,
K&L Gates LLP. The witnesses discussed the administration of
the adjudication process by the OOC. Among the issues
highlighted during the hearing were the following:
The importance of investigations in anti-
harassment complaint processes,
The need for a victim's advocate,
The need for mediation to be discretionary,
The need to expedite the adjudication
process, and
The need for greater transparency in
statistics reported by the OOC.
In addition to the hearings, the Committee also held a
roundtable discussion with representatives from various
organizations, including Society for Human Resource Management,
National Women's Law Center, and private litigators. The
purpose of the roundtable was to discuss best practices in the
private sector with respect to training and workplace rights
and responsibilities generally with practitioners and other
experts to identify practicable reforms to the current dispute
resolution process. Separately, the Committee met again with
the EEOC to discuss the EEOC's Anti-Harassment and Anti-
Discrimination Task Force Recommendations.
Subsequent to the hearings and roundtable discussion, the
House unanimously passed H.R.4924, The Congressional
Accountability Reform Act, on February 6, 2018. The House bill
made a number of important changes to the Congressional
Accountability Act, including: providing investigatory
authority to the Office of Workplace Rights for employment law
claims against Congressional Offices; ending required
counseling and mediation for claimants; and prohibiting federal
funds from being used for settlements for sexual harassment and
other forms of discrimination committed by Members of Congress.
H.R.4924 provided transparency when employment law claims are
settled or awards issued and also renamed the OOC to the Office
of Congressional Workplace Rights. On December 13, 2018, the
House passed by unanimous consent S. 3749, the Congressional
Accountability Act of 1995 Reform Act. S. 3749 among other
things holds Members personally responsible for unlawful acts
of harassment and retaliation. S. 3749 was also passed by the
Senate on the same day.
On February 6, 2018, the House unanimously passed H.Res.
724, which among other reforms, requires the House of
Representatives to establish a universal policy on anti-
harassment and anti-discrimination. Relatedly, the Committee
hosted a roundtable discussion with stakeholders to share best
practices for the development of a universal anti-harassment
and anti-discrimination policy, as well as to analyze the key
components of an effective policy. The Committee passed
Committee Resolution 115-12 on April 25, 2018, which
established the minimum requirements that must be incorporated
into each office's employment policy.
H.Res. 724 also authorized the creation of the Office of
Employee Advocacy. The Office of Employee Advocacy began
offering assistance to House employees beginning October 1,
2018, including providing consultation, advice, and
representation to all House employees on employment issues.
Elections
Article 1, Section 5, of the Constitution, delegates to
each Chamber responsibility and authority to judge its own
elections. Pursuant to this authority and House rule X, clause
1, the Committee on House Administration is responsible for the
elections of the President, Vice President, Members, Senators,
Delegates, or the Resident Commissioner, corrupt practices,
contested elections, credentials and qualifications, and
overseeing federal elections generally. In addition, the
Committee is responsible for implementing the Federal Contested
Elections Act (2 U.S.C. 381 et seq.).
To execute its responsibilities under the Constitution,
FCEA, and oversight of federal elections generally, the
Committee coordinates efforts on a bipartisan basis to ensure
that all ballots in close congressional races are counted
fairly and accurately. When requested by a Member or candidate,
the Committee deploys two observers, one from the Majority and
one from the Minority, to the congressional district at issue.
Specific observer responsibilities include: documenting the
state of ballots during an extended count and/or recount,
observing the security of voting machines, equipment, voter
rolls, records, and the security of stored ballots. The
observations are critical to the United States House of
Representatives and to the Committee, particularly in the event
the House or Committee is directed to investigate or resolve
any contested election.
During the 2018 election, the Committee received 13
requests for observers from Members and/or candidates for
congressional office. Nine observers were deployed for the
Majority to 11 congressional races. Two candidates later
determined observers were unnecessary after consultation with
the Committee.
In addition to implementing the election observer program,
on January 24, 2017, the Committee introduced H.R.634, the
Election Assistance Commission Termination Act. The Committee
held a markup on February 7, 2017, ordering H.R.634 to be
reported by a vote of 6-3.
ADDITIONAL OVERSIGHT ACTIVITIES OF THE COMMITTEE
House Office of Legislative Counsel and Law Revision Counsel
Modernization Project
The Committee worked with the House Office of the
Legislative Counsel (``HOLC''), the Office of Law Revision
Counsel (``LRC''), Leadership, and the Office of the Clerk on
legislative modernization projects. The primary goal is to
maintain a complete, authoritative, accurate, and consolidated
version of the U.S. Code in a modern technical format for
public use.
Since 2011, the HOLC has been partnering with the Clerk of
the House, the Government Publishing Office, and the Law
Revision Counsel to update legislative data from a first-
generation `DTD' xml to a generation two `schema' xml, commonly
called USLM, allowing for the future development of enhanced
legislative drafting and interpretive tools. This project
continues the development work with the US Code (LRC),
providing enrolled bills, public laws, Statutes at Large, and
the Code of Federal Regulations in the USLM format; providing
Statute Compilations in the USLM format (see below); and, in
future phases, providing the bills, resolutions, and amendments
in the USLM format.
Relatedly, in 2016, with the Committee's support, LRC
completed the implementation of a new codification drafting
system. The new codification drafting system enables LRC to
prepare bills in XML, automatically generate tables and other
materials to show the impact of LRC bills on existing law and
create side-by-side comparison documents. The Committee
continues to support LRC's effort to develop a new Code editing
system that will enable LRC to maintain and update all Code
data in XML. A prototype of the new editing system was
delivered in June 2018 and is currently being tested
extensively prior to implementation.
HOLC also partnered, beginning in the Spring of 2018, with
the Clerk of the House, Senate Office of the Legislative
Counsel, and GPO in posting Office Statute Compilations in GPO
Collections and converting the format of these compilations
into the USLM format. This is an ongoing project that is
necessary to the development of the Rule 12a Comparative Print
tool (Posey amendment). The Posey amendment also has the added
benefit of transparency necessary for researching Federal law.
In December 2018, the House Committee on Appropriators
authorized GPO (and the House's Bulk Data Task Force led by the
Clerk's office) to move forward with phase two of this project.
Phase two will convert the current set of Statute Compilations
into USLM XML format.
During the 115th Congress, the Office of the Clerk worked
with the House Office of the Legislative Counsel (``HOLC'') to
comply with the new House rule (clause 12 of rule XXI) on
comparative prints. This legislative transparency requirement
called for the creation of an electronic document showing how
proposed changes, indicated by marked omissions and insertions,
impact current law before legislation can be considered in the
House. It also required a document-to-document comparison
between different versions of legislative language.
To effectuate new House rule 12(a), the Clerk's office and
HOLC worked with vendors to augment an existing application, as
well as develop a new web-based solution. Both tools generate
comparison documents in compliance with clause 12 of rule XXI
of the House Rules for the 115th Congress. These documents are
posted on the Rules Committee website (rules.house.gov) and the
U.S. House of Representatives Document Repository
(docs.house.gov). The solutions were delivered under budget and
before the December 31, 2017, deadline.
During the second session of the 115th Congress, the
Clerk's office continued to make improvements to the web-based
application and prepared for the next phases of the project to
implement House rules 12(a) include securing a second contract
to continue the work. The current web-based solution will
become the foundation for the enterprise-wide solution that
will provide all House staffers the ability to create
comparative prints that illustrate the changes between:
Two versions of a bill, resolution, or
amendment (document to document comparison);
Current law and current law as proposed to
be changed by amendments contained in a bill,
resolution, or amendment to current law (positive and
non-positive law); and
A bill or resolution and the bill or
resolution as proposed to be modified by amendments
(amendment impact).
EDUCATIONAL AND OUTREACH ACTIVITIES
Outreach and Communications
The Committee launched a professional development training
series for Member's DC and District staffs back in 2014 and
have continued to expand it over the last four years. The
program initially focused on the basics of individual job
responsibilities, learning about other positions in the office,
and working with Committee and Leadership staff. Additionally,
the Committee offered training on all the services the
Committee and the House Officers provide to Members and their
staff. The Committee expanded the professional development in
2016, cohosting with the Speaker's office, to launch the first
Committee training series specifically focused on Oversight
Best Practices for Committees. The Oversight and Investigative
series expanded to include a second and third series of
briefings. The Committee hosted sessions for Chiefs of Staff,
Legislative Directors, Legislative Assistants, Schedulers,
Staff Assistants, Interns and District staff.
The Committee sent two regular weekly emails during in-
sessions weeks to educate staff on important information
relevant to the House community. The communications also
discussed helpful information for offices to share with
visiting constituents. The Committee on House Administration
also educated Financial Administrators, House IT staffers and
other administrative staff on the new Shared Employees
regulations and other administrative issues such as the Rayburn
Garage Renovation and the Cannon Renewal Project.
New Member Orientation
The Committee is responsible for coordinating the
orientation program and associated travel and logistics for
newly-elected Members of Congress and their designated aides.
The program was held during the week of November 13-17, 2018,
and continued during the week of November 27-December 1, 2018.
Over the course of the two-week bipartisan New Member
Orientation (``NMO''), the Committee facilitated training on
the Members' Congressional Handbook, the Franking Commission,
practical guidance on setting up a congressional office, an
overview of procedures on the House Floor, an introduction to
the legislative process, and several Member-led panels on
relevant topics. The Members-Elect were also given
presentations from the House Officers, the Committee on Ethics,
the Office of the General Counsel, the Office of Compliance,
the Office of House Employment Counsel, and the Office of the
Chief Administrative Officer. The 2018 NMO was the first to
offer sexual harassment training--Workplace Rights and
Responsibilities Education. The Committee utilized a digital
binder system to disseminate all materials associated with the
program. Members-Elect also received individualized training
sessions to help expedite the setup of their DC and District
offices.
For the second time, the Committee developed and hosted a
Designated Aide program for staff accompanying the newly-
elected Members for orientation. This program assisted aides in
preparing for the first two years in office. Twenty sessions
were held for the aides during which time opportunities were
presented to complete required training.
Congressional Internship Program for Individuals With Intellectual
Disabilities
During the 115th Congress, the internship program,
initiated in 2010, reached its highest level of participation
since its creation. For the first time in the program's
history, the Committee maintained a waitlist for offices who
sought interns. Seventy-nine unique House and Senate offices
participated in the bipartisan program since Fall 2016 and more
than 170 unique offices have hosted interns since the program's
inception.
Congressional Summer Intern Lecture Series
The Congressional Summer Intern Lecture Series is a
bipartisan, bicameral effort coordinated annually by the
Committee on House Administration and the Senate Committee on
Rules and Administration. Started by former Representatives
Gerald Ford and Donald Rumsfeld in the 1960s, both committees
extend invitations, primarily to current and former government
and military officials, policy experts, and media
personalities, to speak to congressional interns.
A total of 49 lectures were held over the nine-week period
between June 4, 2018 and August 3, 2018. Notable speakers
included the White House Chief of Staff, General John F. Kelly;
Supreme Court Justices Elena Kagan and Ruth Bader Ginsburg; the
Speaker of the House, Paul D. Ryan; House Democratic Leader,
Nancy Pelosi; Majority Leader, Kevin McCarthy; Secretary of the
Navy, Richard V. Spencer; Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff, General Paul J. Selva; Director of the FBI, Christopher
Wray; and Cabinet Secretaries Elaine Chao, Steven Mnuchin,
Betsy DeVos, Alexander Acosta, Ben Carson, and Administrator
Linda McMahon.
MINORITY VIEWS OF RANKING MEMBER ROBERT A. BRADY, REPRESENTATIVE ZOE
LOFGREN AND REPRESENTATIVE JAMIE RASKIN
Library of Congress
During the 115th Congress, the Committee Democratic and
Majority staffs of the Committee on House Administration (the
Committee) worked on several bipartisan issues that affect the
Library of Congress (LOC). The Committee met regularly with LOC
to discuss the 2019-2023 strategic plan, IT modernization and
the process the Congressional Research Service (CRS) developed
to make their reports available to the public. While the
Committee Democrats and Majority have agreed on oversight for
most of the issues facing LOC, the Committee Democrats want to
see more effort put into upgrading programs within the National
Library Services for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
(NLS). The Committee is particularly interested in increasing
access, getting a younger audience engaged and in developing
more diverse materials for patrons.
In August, the Committee Democrats planned, and the
Majority participated in, an oversight visit to the Carnegie
Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (LBPH) in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. LBPH is part of NLS's network of
libraries. This network is comprised of over 100 libraries
throughout the country and they work with NLS to distribute
materials. The Committee wanted to visit LBPH after hearing
about their innovative efforts to increase access. LBPH is
working to reach a younger audience and is developing more
efficient inventory management. During the visit, LBPH
mentioned that more uniformity and better communication between
the network libraries would make sharing resources easier and
faster. The Committee Democrats believe that further engagement
with network libraries will help NLS as they work to improve
their programs. The Committee Democrats want to increase
funding for NLS to allow them to move forward with their
modernization plans and to better collaborate with the network
libraries.
Oversight of Shared Employees
On April 12th 2018, the Committee conducted a hearing on
the role of shared employees in House operations. Testimony
from the Chief Administrative Officer, the Sergeant-at-Arms,
and the Inspector General reiterated systematic, ongoing
vulnerabilities concerning the widespread use of shared
employees for critical House functions. This hearing was the
first Committee hearing on shared employees since May of 2008.
Following the 2008 hearing, the Committee adopted a new
resolution concerning shared employee compliance and issued a
new shared employee manual.
Despite an Office of Inspector General's report noting the
risks of compliance failures, the Committee failed to take any
further official action until a systematic problem occurred. In
the weeks following, the Committee Democrats worked with the
Majority to identify and remedy issues of concern surrounding
the use of shared employees. While significant common ground
was identified, some vulnerabilities remain unaddressed. The
Committee Democrats hope to further the work of reforming this
system in the 116th Congress and conduct robust oversight as
well. As these issues affect nearly every Member of the House,
we hope our Republican counterparts will join in this ongoing
effort.
Workplace Rights and Responsibilities
Until the creation of the Congressional Accountability Act
of 1995 (CAA), Congress was exempt from workplace
discrimination laws. The CAA was established to ensure that the
Congressional workplace would be covered by anti-discrimination
laws and regulations. Despite providing protections and a
matter of redress for alleged violations, the CAA is over
twenty years old and in 2017, as a growing number of survivors
broke their silence and focused the nation's attention on
workplace harassment across industries, the Committee began to
investigate the adequacy of the CAA.
The Committee began to examine if the CAA provided
sufficient protection for survivors of sexual harassment in the
Congressional workplace. Our first hearing took place on
November 14th, 2017, titled Preventing Sexual Harassment in the
Congressional Workplace. This hearing validated the need for
reforms to the CAA. Soon after on December 17th, 2017, the
Committee convened a second hearing that focused on specific
proposals to refom1 the CAA.
During the entire examination of potential gaps in the CAA,
our Members met with survivors and stakeholders from varied
sources such as the Office of Compliance (OOC), the Office of
House Employment Counsel (OHEC), the National Women's Law
Center, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The
Committee took testimony from Representative Jackie Speier, who
spoke about her personal experiences as a former Congressional
staffer as well as Representative Bradley Byrne, whose 30 years
of experience in employment law identified many opportunities
for reform. From this thorough examination and collaborative
process the Committee was able to introduce and pass three
measures to ensure the safeguarding of survivor rights.
While the Senate passed a version of CAA reform in May
2018, they held no hearings, no stakeholder sessions nor
conducted a collaborative process. As a result, organizations
such as the American Civil Liberties Union found the House bill
``superior'' to the Senate bill.\1\ That same sentiment was
echoed in a May 23, 2018 coalition letter signed by several
major civil rights groups and women's organizations addressed
to Speaker Ryan and Leader Pelosi expressing that the House
bill,''. . . provide[s] greater transparency and accountability
to the public and stronger protections for employees of the
legislative workforce''.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\Jacobs, Mia. Congress Needs to Take Responsibility for Fixing
Harassment in Its Own Halls: (2018, September 24). In ACLU Blog Women's
Rights. Retrieved December II , 2018 from https://www.aclu.org/blog/
womens-rights/womens-rights-workplace/congress-needs-take-
responsibility-fixing-harassment-its
\2\American Civil Liberties Union, et al. ``Coalition Letter
Calling for a Conference Committee on the Congressional Accountability
Act of 1995 Reform Act (H.R. 4924/S.2952).'' Received by Speaker Ryan
and Leader Pelosi. 8 June 2018.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
House Resolution 630, introduced November 28, 2017,
mandated that all Members and staff, including interns, fellows
and detailees of the House would need to undergo annual
mandatory anti-harassment and anti-discrimination training. The
House unanimously adopted this resolution, and the initial
training was completed on July 2, 2018 with 100% participation
from Members.
The second reform we enacted was House Resolution 724. This
resolution imposed two mandates on the House; first, that all
House offices would be required to adopt an anti-discrimination
and anti-harassment policy for the workplace. Second, the
resolution established an Office of Employee Advocacy, which
would provide publicly funded attorneys for House employees
when facing workplace discrimination or harassment. This
measure passed the House by voice vote on February 6, 2018.
Finally, we introduced, H.R. 4924. This bill strengthened
the CAA for all legislative branch employees. The legislation,
which passed unanimously on February 6, 2018, eliminated
counseling and mandatory mediation requirements, required
current and former Members of Congress to reimburse the
Treasury if an employee receives an award or settlement for the
Member's alleged act of discrimination or retaliation, required
non-congressional legislative offices that violate CAA
requirements to reimburse the Treasury for resulting award or
settlement payments, and extended CAA nondiscrimination
requirements to unpaid interns, detailees, and fellows.
Throughout this process the Committee worked in a
bipartisan manner to quickly enact meaningful legislation.
While these three measures are a good investment in
safeguarding the workplace, we were disappointed that the
Majority did not extend protections to the LBGTQ and gender
identity community by providing protection from discrimination
and harassment based on sexual identity and/or gender
discrimination.
Currently, extending workplace protections has become an
issue as the Committee prepares to promulgate a model anti-
harassment and anti-discrimination policy that House employers
can use as an example for their own policies. The proposed
model employee policy makes significant strides to improve
employee protections. We have reached bipartisan agreement on
many components of the model policy, including guidelines that
would require offices to adopt a statement that they are
committed to equal opportunity, definitions of prohibited
harassment of all kinds, clearly explained employee obligations
to report violations of the policy, and addressing the office's
responsibility to have a method to investigate and correct
allegations of violations to the policy. The policy proposed by
the Majority leaves behind protections for the LGBTQ employees,
While this has been a bipartisan, good faith effort to date, we
cannot endorse a policy that neglects so many vulnerable
employees in the Congressional workforce.
Requiring the same protections for gender identity and
LGBTQ community as other protected classes is not only the
right thing to do, but it is recommended by OHEC as well as the
General Counsel of OOC. Further, recent appellate court
decisions make cleat that sexual orientation is prohibited
under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.\3\
Additionally, gender identity is a protected category in many
jurisdictions, and gender stereotyping is also a form of sex
discrimination.\4\ A number of gender identity, sexual
orientation, and related cases, are being successfully brought
pursuant to this case law.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\See Zarda v. Altitude Express, Inc., 883 F.3d 100 (2nd Cir.
2018); Hively v. Ivy Tech. Comm. College, 853 F.3d 339 (7th Cir. 2017).
\4\Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins, 109 S.Ct 1775 (1989).
\5\Schroer v. Billington, 577 F. Supp. 2d 293 (D.D.C. 2008).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Federal Elections
The Committee Majority has effectively abdicated their
responsibility to oversee and improve the administration of
federal elections. While such a dereliction of duty is
troubling at any time, it is particularly troubling in this
moment when there is consensus among American intelligence
officials and even both parties that attempts were made by
Russia to compromise the integrity of American elections. On
July 17, 2018, Speaker Paul Ryan said to reporters ``They did
interfere in our elections--it's really clear,'' and Senate
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell referred to ``indisputable
evidence'' of Russia's attempts to influence the 2016 election.
Leader McConnell further stated, ``We understand the Russian
threat, and I think that is the widespread view here in the
United States among Members of both parties.''\6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\Michael Collins, Nicole Gaudiano & Eliza Collins, Congressional
GOP leadership: No doubt that Russia meddled in 2016 presidential
election, USA TODAY, July 17, 2018, available at https://
www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/07/17/paul-ryan-really-clear-
russia-meddled-presidential-election./791541002/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
That widespread view was either not held or not heeded by
the Committee Majority. Instead, the fact of Russian
interference in the 2016 election was confirmed by eight
national agencies--the Central Intelligence Agency, Office of
the Director of National Intelligence, F.B.I., National
Security Agency, Justice Department, Department of Homeland
Security, House Intelligence Committee, Senate Intelligence
Committee\7\--the Majority turned a willfully blind eye,
denying the American people important hearings about these
profoundly troubling findings even though they were well within
the jurisdiction and fundamental responsibility of this
Committee.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\7\Karen Yourish & Troy Griggs, 8 U.S. Intelligence Groups Blame
Russia for Meddling, but Trump Keeps Clouding the Picture, N.Y. Times,
Aug. 2, 2018 available at https://www.nvtimes.com/interactive/2018/07/
16/us/elections/russian-interference-statements-comments.html.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Instead of investigating or holding hearings on Russian
interference, on the challenges faced by struggling states
seeking to protect their election infrastructure with
inadequate resources or convening experts to provide guidance
on how to bolster election security, the Majority held exactly
one hearing on elections, the topic of which was ``State Voter
Registration List Maintenance,'' ostensibly to address the
possibility of voter fraud. While the Brennan Center for
Justice has found that National Weather Service data shows that
Americans are struck and killed by lightning about as often as
voter fraud occurs,\8\ the Majority chose to focus on this
issue for a hearing, rather than the findings on election
insecurity verified by eight national intelligence agencies and
leadership in both parties. What's more, the Majority voted
again to terminate the only federal agency charged with
improving election administration, the Election Assistance
Commission (EAC), in a February 2017 mark-up.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\8\Brennan Center for Justice, Policy Brief on the Truth About
``Voter Fraud,'' September 1 2, 2006, available at https://
www.brennancenter.org/analysis/policy-brief-truth-about-voter-fraud.
(It is important to draw the distinction between vanishingly rare voter
fraud, and election fraud, which is an attempt to influence an
election's outcome by those involved in the election, such as is
alleged against the Republican candidate in NC-09's current House
race.)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Committee Democrats thankfully worked to fill the
vacuum. Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi announced the formation
of the Congressional Task Force on Election Security (the Task
Force), led by Committee on Homeland Security Ranking Member
Bennie G. Thompson and Committee on House Administration
Ranking Member Robert A. Brady.
Over six months, the Task Force collaborated with
stakeholders to gain critical insights into election security's
challenges and possible solutions. Experts consulted included
state election officials, computer scientists, advocacy groups
and election technology vendors. As noted in the Task Force's
July 2018 report, the first forum was ``Securing America's
Elections: Understanding the Threat.'' The forum featured
former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson and former
Under Secretary of the National Protection and Programs
Directorate at DHS Suzanne Spaulding. The next forum was titled
``Securing America's Elections: Preparing for 2018 and
Beyond.'' In that presentation, Members heard from EAC Chairman
Tom Hicks, Rhode Island Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea, and
then-Virginia Elections Commissioner Edgardo Cortes.\9\ Through
this work, the Task Force developed a set of recommendations on
how to secure our elections going forward. Those
recommendations were released in a final report in January
2018, and were followed by an updated report in July 2018,
which focused on the eighteen states that remained most
vulnerable to election interference.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\9\Committee on House Administration--Democrats, Election Security
Update: Top 18 Most Vulnerable States, July 2018.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Committee was further involved in additional activities
to better understand the issue of election security and how to
best address it.
On March 6, 2018, the Committee Democrats joined House
Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer in leading a letter to the
Appropriations Committee requesting that the Fiscal Year (FY)
2018 Omnibus include $14 million for the EAC and $400 million
in unspent funds under the Help America Vote Act of 2002
(HAVA), so states could begin to take much-needed steps to
secure their election infrastructure. On March 23, 2018,
Congress passed the FY 2018 omnibus spending bill, which
appropriated $380 million to the EAC in HAVA grants. The
Committee worked with appropriators to ensure omnibus language
that provides that the EAC is to use the money to make payments
to states ``for activities to improve the administration of
elections for Federal office, including to enhance election
technology and make election security payments.''
On March 19, 2018, the Committee Democrats led another
letter with Whip Hoyer to the House Appropriations Committee
requesting further increases in election security funding in FY
2019 to help states secure their systems in advance of the 2020
election. Specifically, the letter called for $23 million for
the EAC to enable the agency to increase research on secure
voting equipment and cybersecurity best practices, create
technical guidelines for voting machines in conjunction with
the National Institute of Standards, and hire additional staff
to provide full time assistance to state and local election
officials on security issues. The letter also requested $1.2
billion in funding under HAVA for states to use to secure their
voting systems from future attack, including by replacing aging
and vulnerable voting machines that are at risk of being
hacked, implementing risk limiting audits, hiring IT staff, and
providing cybersecurity training to all election officials and
poll workers. The FY 2019 Financial Services and General
Government Appropriations Act, which has jurisdiction over this
funding, has yet to be enacted as of the writing of this
report.
Finally, the Committee Democrats have actively engaged with
the EAC and the community on securing America's election
systems. On May 11, 2018, Committee Member Representative Jamie
Raskin joined Whip Hoyer on a tour of the EAC headquarters in
Silver Spring, Maryland to receive updates from EAC staff on
the status of the election security funding provided in the FY
2018 omnibus spending bill for states' efforts to secure their
election systems. During the tour, the Members also discussed
cybersecurity practices with election technology vendors.
Committee Members expressed serious concems that these vendors
have insufficient financial incentive to prioritize security
and are not currently required to use cybersecurity best
practices. Following their visit, the pair announced plans for
a public forum on election security in Rockville, Maryland.
That forum in Rockville took place eleven days later, on
Tuesday, May 22, 2018. The Committee Democrats hosted a
Congressional Forum on Election Security with Rep. Raskin and
Whip Hoyer. Additional panelists included EAC Chairman Tom
Hicks, Danielle Root, Center for American Program Voting Rights
Manager, and Liz Howard, Counsel for the Brennan Center's
Democracy Program. The forum focused on the state of U.S.
election systems, the Election Assistance Commission's efforts
to help states secure their elections, and the need for
Congressional action to protect against foreign interference.
Robert A. Brady,
Ranking Member.
Zoe Lofgren.
Jamie Raskin.
[all]