[Deschler's Precedents, Volume 4]
[Chapter 17. Committees]
[B. Committee Chairmen, Members, and Employees]
[§ 11. Seniority Considerations]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov]
[Page 2648-2651]
CHAPTER 17
Committees
B. COMMITTEE CHAIRMEN, MEMBERS, AND EMPLOYEES
Sec. 11. Seniority Considerations (3)
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3. See also Ch. 7, Sec. 2, supra.
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Order of Members' Names on Resolution as Showing Seniority
Sec. 11.1 Committee seniority is shown by the order in which the
Members' names are listed in the resolution electing them to a
committee; and where an error was made in the order of names in a
resolution, the House, by unanimous consent, vacated the
proceedings, reconsidered the matter, and agreed to a corrective
amendment putting the names in proper order.
On Feb. 3, 1969,(4) Speaker John W. McCormack, of
Massachusetts, recognized Mr. Gerald R. Ford, of Michigan, who sought
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4. 115 Cong. Rec. 2433, 91st Cong. 1st Sess.
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[[Page 2649]]
unanimous consent to vacate the proceedings whereby the House had
agreed to a resolution (H. Res. 176) on Jan. 29, 1969; and he requested
the immediate reconsideration of the resolution with an amendment which
he sent to the desk.
House Resolution 176 provided that upon its adoption, the Members
listed therein would be elected members of those standing committees
which preceded their names. Among the committees and list of names was
the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, as to which the resolution read as
follows: (5)
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5. Id. at p. 2434.
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Committee on Veterans' Affairs: Charles M. Teague, California;
E. Ross Adair, Indiana; William H. Ayres, Ohio; John P. Saylor,
Pennsylvania; Seymour Halpern, New York; John J. Duncan, Tennessee;
John Paul Hammerschmidt, Arkansas; William L. Scott, Virginia;
Margaret M. Heckler, Massachusetts; John M. Zwach, Minnesota;
Robert V. Denney, Nebraska.
There was no objection to the unanimous-consent
request.(6) Accordingly, the Clerk read Mr. Ford's proposed
amendment,(7) a few moments later, as follows:
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6. Id. at p. 2433.
7. Id. at p. 2434
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Amendment offered by Mr. Gerald R. Ford: On page 7, lines 5 and
6, strike out ``E. Ross Adair, Indiana; William H. Ayres, Ohio;''
and insert: ``William H. Ayres, Ohio; E. Ross Adair, Indiana;''
The Congressman was then afforded an opportunity to explain the
proposal which he did:
Mr. Speaker, my amendment, which has just been read by the
Clerk, will correct the seniority standing of the gentleman from
Ohio (Mr. Ayres) on the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
Immediately thereafter, the Ford amendment was agreed to, and House
Resolution 176, as amended, was agreed to.
Demotions in Seniority as Affecting Other Members
Sec. 11.2 Where, as a matter of party policy, the Democratic Caucus
instructed the Committee on Committees to assign the ``last
position'' on a committee to a particular Member (for party
disciplinary reasons), and the House agreed to a resolution with a
new listing of electees, other Members, subsequently elected to the
same committee, rank junior to him in committee seniority.
On Jan. 18, 1965,(8) the House adopted a resolution (H.
Res. 120) electing Members to 18 standing
[[Page 2650]]
committees. The last name (and thus, by custom, the committee member of
least seniority) on the list of electees for the Committees on the
District of Columbia and Interstate and Foreign Commerce was Mr. John
Bell Williams, of Mississippi. Mr. Williams' reduction in rank on these
committees was mandated by the Democratic Caucus which, for party
disciplinary reasons,(9) had directed the Democrats'
Committee on Committees to assign Mr. Williams to the ``last position''
on each of the two committees.
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8. 111 Cong. Rec. 809, 810, 89th Cong. 1st Sess.
9. Mr. Williams had endorsed the Republican Presidential candidate of
1964.
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On Oct. 18, 1966,(10) a resolution (H. Res. 1066)
providing for the election of Mr. Richard L. Ottinger, of New York, to
the Committee on interstate and Foreign Commerce was under
consideration. The measure had been offered by Wilbur D. Mills, of
Arkansas, in his capacity as Chairman of the Democrats' Committee on
Committees.(11) This situation prompted Mr. Williams to
initiate the following exchange:
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10. 112 Cong. Rec. 2748G, 89th Cong. 2d Sess.
11. See Ch. 3, supra, for information on party organizations.
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I want to ask this question. Since the gentleman from New York
[Mr. Ottinger] is a freshman Member, will he go above or below me
in our standing on the committee?
Mr. Mills: I am delighted to advise my friend, the gentleman
from Mississippi, that the gentleman from New York will go at the
bottom of the committee.
Mr. Williams: Well, now, may I say to the gentleman that this
is the second time the committee has discriminated against freshman
Members to fill two vacancies below my position on the committee.
As the senior member of the committee, Mr. Speaker, I feel that
I should be either at the bottom of the committee or in the chair.
Speaker John W. McCormack, of Massachusetts, then put the question
on the resolution, it was adopted, and Mr. Ottinger was ranked junior
to Mr. Williams in committee seniority.
Amending Resolution to Adjust Seniority Rankings
Sec. 11.3 By unanimous consent, the House vacated the proceedings
whereby it had, on a preceding day, agreed to a resolution electing
minority members of the Committee on Rules; the resolution was then
amended to adjust the seniority of the two ranking members on that
committee.
On Jan. 26, 1973,(12) Speaker Carl Albert, of Oklahoma,
recog
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12. 119 Cong. Rec. 2313, 93d Cong. 1st Sess.
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[[Page 2651]]
nized Minority Leader Gerald R. Ford, of Michigan, after which the
following exchange ensued:
Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to vacate the proceedings
whereby the House agreed to House Resolution 99 on January 6, 1973,
and ask for its immediate consideration.
The Speaker: Is there objection to the request of the gentleman
from Michigan?
There was no objection.
The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:
H. Res. 99
Resolved, That the following named Members be, and they are
hereby elected members of the standing committee of the House
of Representatives on Rules:
John B. Anderson, Illinois; Dave Martin, Nebraska; James H.
Quillen, Tennessee; Delbert L. Latta, Ohio.
Mr. Gerald R. Ford: Mr. Speaker, I offer an amendment.
The Clerk read as follows:
Amendment offered by Mr. Gerald R. Ford: On line 4, strike
out ``John B. Anderson, Illinois; Dave Martin, Nebraska;'' and
insert ``Dave Martin, Nebraska; John B. Anderson, Illinois;''
Mr. Ford's amendment was promptly agreed to; and the resolution, as
amended, was agreed to.
Parliamentarian's Note: Upon being elected chairman of the
Republican Conference, a Member was required, under the rules of that
conference, to relinquish his position as ranking minority member of
the Committee on Rules. Thus, while Mr. Anderson had had longer
consecutive service on the Committee on Rules than had Mr. Martin, the
former Member's election to the chairmanship of the Republican
Conference had obligated him to relinquish his ranking position on the
committee.