[Deschler's Precedents, Volume 4]
[Chapter 17. Committees]
[F. Committee Reports]
[§ 62. Time for Filing Report]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov]
[Page 3173-3180]
CHAPTER 17
Committees
F. COMMITTEE REPORTS
Sec. 62. Time for Filing Report
Under the rules, committee reports on a bill or other measure
reported to the House by a committee must accompany the reported
measure.(2) However, Members may obtain unanimous consent to
file their minority or separate views as part II of a
report.(3)
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2. Rule XVIII clause 2, House Rules and Manual Sec. 821 (1979).
3. Sec. 64.4, infra (late filing of minority report).
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Unanimous consent of the House may also be obtained to file a committee
report after adjournment.(4)
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4. Sec. 62.3, infra.
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Filing After Sine Die Adjournment
Sec. 62.1 A standing committee may be authorized, by unanimous consent,
to have its investigative reports printed if filed after the sine
die adjournment.
On Oct. 5, 1962,(5) Speaker John W. McCormack, of
Massachusetts, recognized Mr. Chet Holifield, of California, who made
the following request:
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5. 5 108 Cong. Rec. 22618, 87th Cong. 2d Sess.
For other examples, see 104 Cong. Rec. 19699, 85th Cong. 2d
Sess., Aug. 23, 1958; 103 Cong. Rec. 16759, 85th Cong. 1st
Sess., Aug. 30, 1957; 102 Cong. Rec. 15268, 84th Cong. 2d
Sess., July 27, 1956; and 94 Cong. Rec. 9348. 80th Cong. 2d
Sess., June 19, 1948.
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Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that reports filed with
the Clerk, following the sine die adjournment,(6) by the
Committee on Government Operations or its subcommittees may be
printed by the Clerk as reports of the 87th Congress.
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6. For the rules pertaining to adjournment in general, see Ch. 40,
infra.
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Unanimous consent was granted.
Parliamentarian's Note: In recent Congresses, the form of this
request has been expanded to permit all committees authorized by the
House to conduct investigations to file reports with the Clerk
following sine die adjournment and to print those reports. Such general
form was also used in some past Congresses, as indicated in Sec. 62.14,
infra.
Sec. 62.2 A select committee may be authorized, by unanimous consent,
to have its investigative reports printed if filed after the sine
die adjournment.
On Oct. 5, 1962,(7) Mr. Chet Holifield, of California,
sought and obtained unanimous consent that reports filed after sine die
adjournment with the Clerk by the Committee on Government Operations or
its subcommittees could be printed by the Clerk as reports of the 87th
Congress. Then Mr. A. Paul Kitchin, of North Carolina, obtained
unanimous consent that reports filed with the Clerk following the
adjournment by the Select Committee on Export Control could likewise be
printed by the Clerk as records of the 87th Congress.
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7. 108 Cong. Rec. 22618, 22619, 87th Cong. 2d Sess.
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Sec. 62.3 By unanimous consent, the Committee on Govern
[[Page 3175]]
ment Operations was permitted to file a report on a bill subsequent
to a projected sine die adjournment but on a day prior to
expiration of the first session of the 93d Congress under the 20th
amendment (Jan. 3).
On Dec. 20, 1973,(8) the day before the expiration of
the first session of the 93d Congress, Mr. Chet Holifield, of
California, obtained unanimous consent that the House Committee on
Government Operations have until midnight, Jan. 2, 1974, to file a
report on H.R. 11793, a bill to create a new Federal Energy
Administration.
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8. 119 Cong. Rec. 42916, 93d Cong. 1st Sess.
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Leave to File Before Midnight
Sec. 62.4 Leave was granted to a committee to file a privileged report,
on a bill for admission of a new state, after adjournment for the
day but before midnight.
On Feb. 11, 1959,(9) Mr. Wayne N. Aspinall, of Colorado,
obtained unanimous consent that the Committee on Interior and Insular
Affairs have until midnight of that day to file a privileged report on
the bill H.R. 4221, providing for the admission of the State of Hawaii
into the Union.
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9. 105 Cong. Rec. 2178, 86th Cong. 1st Sess.
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Parliamentarian's Note: The authority conferred upon the Committee
on Interior and Insular Affairs to report statehood bills as privileged
was removed from the rules effective Jan. 3 1975.
Sec. 62.5 The Committee on Banking and Currency was granted permission
by unanimous consent to have until midnight to file a report and an
accompanying document showing changes in existing law as required
by the Ramseyer rule.
On July 13, 1966,(10) Mr. Wright Patman, of Texas,
obtained unanimous consent that the Committee on Banking and Currency
have until midnight to file an accompanying document to the report on
the bill H.R. 15890, a housing bill, in order to comply with the
requirements of the Ramseyer rule. Later that same day, Mr. Carl
Albert, of Oklahoma, stated that some of the material which should have
been in the report accompanying the housing bill was still not
available. Therefore, Mr. Albert sought and obtained unanimous consent
that the Committee
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10. 112 Cong. Rec. 15403, 15476, 89th Cong. 2d Sess.
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[[Page 3176]]
on Banking and Currency have until midnight on Friday, July 15, 1966,
to file the supplemental report.
Sec. 62.6 The Committee on Appropriations was given until midnight to
file a privileged report.
On June 3, 1963,(11) Mr. William H. Natcher, of
Kentucky, sought and obtained unanimous consent that the Committee on
Appropriations have until midnight of that day to file the report on
the bill making appropriations for the Department of Agriculture for
the fiscal year ending June 30, 1964.
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11. 109 Cong. Rec. 9916, 88th Cong. 1st Sess.
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Parliamentarian's Note: Where such permission is granted on a
general appropriation bill, points of order under Rule XXI clause 2
must be reserved at that time, before the bill is placed on the Union
Calendar, to permit points of order under that clause to be later made
against provisions in the bill during consideration in Committee of the
Whole. Absent such a reservation, the Committee of the Whole would have
no authority to remove provisions from bills referred to it by the
House other than by amendment.
Sec. 62.7 A Member from the minority party, acting at the behest of a
committee chairman, asked and secured unanimous consent that the
committee have until midnight to file a report.
On June 2, 1966,(12) Mr. Howard H. Callaway, of Georgia,
a member from the minority party, acting at the behest of the committee
chairman, obtained unanimous consent that the Committee on Agriculture
have until midnight of that day to file a report on H.R. 15089, an
agriculture bill.
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12. 112 Cong. Rec. 12191, 89th Cong. 2d Sess.
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Filing After Expiration of Select Committee
Sec. 62.8 Where a special investigating committee expires on a
specified date, it is not in order seven months later to file a
report as a matter of privilege.
In the 76th Congress, on July 19, 1939,(13) Mr. Ralph E.
Church, of Illinois, objected to a unanimous-consent request by Mr.
Adolph J. Sabath, of Illinois, to file the report of the Select
Committee to Investigate Bondholders' Reorganizations, which had been
established by House Resolution 412 of the 73d Congress. In response
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13. 84 Cong. Rec. 9531, 76th Cong. 1st Sess.
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[[Page 3177]]
to an inquiry submitted by Mr. Everett M. Dirksen, of Illinois, as to
whether the report could be filed by a committee which had ceased to
exist several months previously, Speaker William B. Bankhead, of
Alabama, declared that such filing would be unauthorized. The Speaker
stated:
The Chair is of the opinion that the gentleman [Mr. Sabath]
would not have the legal authority to file this as a report of the
committee because, as the Chair understands, the functions of the
committee expired on January 1, 1939.
Mr. Sabath withdrew his request to file the report.
Where Filing Date Falls on Non-legislative Day
Sec. 62.9 Where an investigative report from a joint committee was due
to be filed on a date that fell on a Saturday when the House was
not in session, the report was filed on the following Monday with
the Clerk.
On Apr. 3, 1939,(14) Mr. R. Ewing Thomason, of Texas,
called to the attention of the House the fact that the report of the
joint committee appointed to investigate the Tennessee Valley Authority
had been due on a day [Saturday, Apr. 1] when Congress was not in
session. Mr. Thomason stated that the report was therefore filed with
the Clerk on Apr. 3, and that there would also be minority views. Mr.
Thomason explained that his remarks were intended to inform the Members
why the report had not been filed earlier.
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14. 84 Cong. Rec. 3727, 3728, 76th Cong. 1st Sess.
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Joint Economic Committee
Sec. 62.10 The Joint Economic Committee may be granted additional time
in which to file a report.
On Feb. 26, 1959,(15) Mr. Wright Patman, of Texas,
sought unanimous consent that the Joint Economic Committee be given
eight additional days to file its report. Under the Employment Act of
1946 [15 USC Sec. Sec. 1021 et seq.; 60 Stat. 23 (1946)], the Joint
Economic Committee was required to file its report on the economic re
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15. 105 Cong. Rec. 3049, 86th Cong. 1st Sess. For other extensions, see
109 Cong. Rec. 3231, 88th Cong. 1st Sess., Feb. 28, 1963 [two
additional weeks]; 108 Cong. Rec. 2948, 87th Cong. 2d Sess.,
Feb. 26, 1962 [one additional week]; 107 Cong. Rec. 2935, 87th
Cong. 1st Sess., Mar. 1, 1961 [two additional months]; and 101
Cong. Rec. 2029, 84th Cong. 1st Sess., Feb. 24, 1955 [115
additional days].
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[[Page 3178]]
port of the President on Mar. 1. The committee had voted unanimously to
request that it be given until Mar. 9 to file its report. Without
objection, the House granted the additional time.
Sec. 62.11 Instance where the House, by unanimous consent, considered
and passed a Senate joint resolution extending the date for
transmission to Congress of the report of the Joint Economic
Committee.
On Feb. 7, 1972,(16) Mr. Wright Patman, of Texas, sought
and obtained unanimous consent for the immediate consideration of
Senate Joint Resolution 196, extending the date for the transmission to
the Congress of the report of the Joint Economic Committee. The Clerk
read the Senate joint resolution, which provided that the dates for the
transmission of the economic report of the Joint Economic Committee,
approved Dec. 22, 1971 (Pub. L. No. 92-216; 85 Stat. 778), be extended
from Mar. 10, 1972, to Mar. 28, 1972. The Senate joint resolution was
then read a third time and passed, and a motion to reconsider was laid
on the table.
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16. 118 Cong. Rec. 2915, 92d Cong. 2d Sess.
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Parliamentarian's Note: Since this reporting requirement is, in
effect, a joint rule of the House and Senate, unanimous consent of both
Houses for an extension of time is all that is required and not the
enactment of a law.
Form of Resolution Authorizing Filing During Adjournment
Sec. 62.12 The House has by resolution authorized a committee to
conduct an investigation and to submit a report to the Clerk if the
House is not in session.
On June 20, 1936,(17) Mr. James M. Mead, of New York,
sought and obtained unanimous consent for the immediate consideration
of House Resolution 551, which provided that the Committee on the Post
Office and Post Roads could conduct an investigation and submit its
report to the Clerk if the House were not in session. The resolution
was agreed to. It provided:
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17. 80 Cong. Rec. 10619, 74th Cong. 2d Sess.
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Resolved, That the Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads,
as a whole or by subcommittee, is authorized and directed to
conduct an investigation to determine (1) the fair and proper basis
of compensation for postmasters of the fourth class, and (2) the
fair and proper basis of compensation for carrying mail on star
routes. . . .
[[Page 3179]]
The committee shall report to the House (or to the Clerk of the
House if the House is not in session) as soon as practicable the
results of its investigation, together with such recommendations
for legislation as it deems advisable.
Sec. 62.13 A resolution authorized the appointment of a special
committee to investigate old-age pension plans and empowered the
committee, in the event the House was not in session, to file its
report with the Speaker.
On Mar. 10, 1936,(18) Mr. C. Jasper Bell, of Missouri,
sought and obtained unanimous consent for the immediate consideration
of House Resolution 443, which provided for establishment of a select
committee to investigate pension plans and authorized the committee to
submit its report after the adjournment. Specifically, the resolution
provided:
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18. 80 Cong. Rec. 3506, 3507, 74th Cong. 2d Sess.
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Resolved, That the Speaker appoint a select committee of eight
Members of the House and that such committee be instructed to
inquire into old-age-pension plans with respect to which
legislation has been submitted to the House of Representatives, and
particularly that embodied in H.R. 7154. . . . And the committee
shall have the right to report to the House at any time the results
of its investigations and recommendations for other or additional
legislation upon said bill or any other proposed legislation
relative to old-age pensions. . . .
Resolved further, That in the event the committee transmits its
report to the Speaker at a time when the House is not in session,
as authorized in House Resolution No. 418, current session, a
record of such transmittal shall be entered in the proceedings of
the Journal and Congressional Record of the House on the opening
day of the next session of Congress and shall be numbered and
printed as a report of such Congress.
Form of Request Authorizing Filing and Printing After Sine Die
Adjournment
Sec. 62.14 By unanimous consent, special and standing committees may be
authorized, notwithstanding sine die adjournment, to file their
reports with the Speaker for printing as public documents.
On Dec. 15, 1942 (1) the following exchange took place:
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1. 88 Cong. Rec. 9602, 77th Cong. 2d Sess.
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Mr. [John W.] McCormack [of Massachusetts]: Mr. Speaker, I ask
unanimous consent that notwithstanding the sine die adjournment of
the House, special and standing Committees of the House authorized
to make investigations may file their reports with the Speaker not
later than noon, January
[[Page 3180]]
3, 1943, for printing as public documents.
The Speaker: (2) Is there objection to the request
of the gentleman from Massachusetts?
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2. Sam Rayburn (Tex.).
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There was no objection