[Cannon's Precedents, Volume 8]
[Chapter 279 - Miscellaneous]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
Chapter CCLXXIX.\1\
MISCELLANEOUS.
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1. Practice as to secret sessions. Sections 3630, 3631.
2. The Hall of the House. Sections 3632, 3633.
3. Privilege of the floor of the House. Sections 3634-3639.
4. The galleries. Sections 3640, 3641.
5. The press gallery. Section 3642.
6. Statuary Hall. Section 3643.
7. Care of the Capitol. Section 3644.
8. The House Office Building. Section 3645-3657.
9. The Congressional Cemetery. Section 3658.
10. Rules and laws relating to printing and documents. Sections
3659-3669.
11. Thanks of the House and Congress. Sections 3670, 3671.
12. General matters. Sections 3672-3675.
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3630. A motion to go into executive session is in order when any
Member shall inform the House that he has communications which he
believes should be considered in confidence, and takes precedence of a
motion to resolve into the Committee of the Whole for the consideration
of an appropriation bill.--On February 7, 1919,\2\ Mr. Lemuel P.
Padgett, of Tennessee, moved that the House resolve itself into the
Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union for the
consideration of the naval appropriation bill.
Pending that motion, Mr. Benjamin G. Humphreys, of Mississippi,
rising to a parliamentary inquiry, referred to statements that a
communication had been received by the Committee on Naval Affairs which
properly could not be made public, and asked if a motion to go into
executive session would be in order.
The Speaker \3\ replied that the motion was in order if there was
occasion for a secret session.
3631. Following revision of the rule relating to secrecy, the Senate
practice of considering executive business in closed session has been
largely discontinued.--On June 18, 1929,\4\ in the Senate, the long-
established custom of
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\1\ Supplementary to Chapter CXLVIII.
\2\ Third session Sixty-fifth Congress, Record, p. 2898.
\3\ Champ Clark, of Missouri, Speaker.
\4\ First session Seventy-first Congress, record p. 3053.
Sec. 3632
considering executive business behind closed doors was discontinued by
the adoption of an amendment to the rule relating \1\ to secrecy under
which amendment all Senate business is transacted in open session
unless otherwise ordered by majority vote.
While the rule as amended provides for closed sessions on
contingency, in practice the provision is seldom invoked.
3632. An exceptional instance in which the Hall of the House was used
for other than legislative business.--On February 11, 1911,\2\ Mr.
Irving P. Wanger, of Pennsylvania, asked unanimous consent for the
consideration of this resolution:
Resolved, That Members of the House of Representatives and their
invited guests, and Senators, may assemble in the Hall of the House on
Monday evening, February 13, 1911, at 8 o'clock, and that in said Hall
of the House an address upon the construction of the Panama Canal be
pronounced by Col. George W. Goethals, United States Army, chairman of
the Isthmian Canal Commission and chief engineer of the commission.
Resolved, That the Superintendent of the Capitol and the Doorkeeper
of the House be charged with the execution of the proper arrangements
for the occasion.
There was no objection. During the debate on the resolution reference
was made to the use of the House on the occasion of the memorial
exercises in honor of President McKinley, and on the occasion of an
address by Charles Edward Parnell, the English parliamentarian, also to
the admission of the public to the floor to hear a speech by William
Jennings Bryan in the course of the fifty-third Congress.
The resolution was agreed to largely on considerations expressed by
Mr. James R. Mann, of Illinois, as follows:
We considered this very carefully. I felt very much indisposed at
first blush to permit the Hall of the House to be used for any purpose
of this sort. But here is the Panama Canal being constructed by us;
Colonel Goethals is in charge of the construction; he is in this
country from abroad by direction of the Government for the purpose of
giving information to Members of Congress, and it hardly seems to the
committee that it is setting any precedent which would be injurious to
direct him, practically, to give the information directly to Members of
the House in the Hall of the House instead of to the committee.
Gentlemen understand that this comes up by unanimous consent, and
anyone could object to it, and the committee does not think there is
any danger of creating a precedent that would embarrass us in the
future.
3633. The House has investigated the advantages of amplifying
devices.
A resolution relating to the installation of accessories proposed to
improve the acoustics of the Hall of the House was entertained as
privileged.
On January 26, 1923,\3\ the Speaker recognized Mr. Guy E. Campbell,
of Pennsylvania, from the Committee on Rules, to present as privileged
the following resolution:
Resolved, That the Committee on Rules or a subcommittee thereof is
hereby authorized and directed to make full inquiry into the matter of
the permanent installation in the House wing of the Capitol Building
and in the Hall of the House of Representatives of the apparatus or
device, now experimentally in operation therein, designated as a
``Public address or voice amplifying system.'' The committee shall
report to the House at the earliest practicable date its recom-
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\1\ Paragraph 2 of Senate Rule XXXVIII.
\2\ Third session Sixty-first Congress, Record, p. 2390.
\3\ Fourth session Sixty-seventh Congress, Record, p. 2543.
Sec. 3634
mendations as to the desirability and advisability of such system for
use in the House of Representatives, together with detailed information
covering the cost of installation, operation, and maintenance.
Under this authorization, amplifying applicants were installed by way
of experiment but after trial were discarded. Radio facilities for
broadcasting the proceedings of the House were also installed at this
time and after brief tests wee discontinued.\1\
The installation of a similar system was also considered by the
Senate.\2\
3634. The rules limit strictly the classes of persons having the
privileges of the floor during sessions of the House.
The Speaker is forbidden to entertain a request for the suspension of
the rule relating to the privilege of the floor.
The President and Vice President of the United States and their
secretaries have the privilege of the floor.
The Justices of the Supreme Court have the privileges of the floor.
``Heads of Departments,'' meaning members of the President's cabinet,
have the privilege of the floor.
Members of Congress, Members Elect, and, under certain conditions,
ex-Members of the House and contestants in election cases have the
privilege of the floor.
The Secretary and Sergeant at Arms of the Senate, the Superintendent
of the Capitol, the Librarian of Congress and his assistant in the law
library have the privilege of the floor.
Ministers from Foreign Governments and Governors of States (but not
Territories) have the privilege of the floor.
The Resident Commissioners to the United States from Porto Rico and
the Philippine Islands have the privilege of the floor.
Persons who have by name received the thanks of Congress have the
privilege of the floor.
Form and history of Rule XXXIII.
Rule XXXIII provides:
1. The persons hereinafter named, and none other, shall be admitted
to the Hall of the House or rooms leading thereto, viz: The President
and Vice President of the United States and their private secretaries,
judges of the Supreme Court, Members of Congress and Members elect,
contestants in election cases during the pendency of their cases in the
House, the Secretary and Sergeant at Arms of the Senate, heads of
departments, foreign ministers, governors of States, the Superintendent
of the Capitol Building and Grounds, the Librarian of Congress and his
assistant in charge of the law library, the Resident Commissioner to
the United States from Porto Rico, the Resident Commissioners from the
Philippine Islands, such persons as have, by name, received the thanks
of Congress, ex-Members of the House of Representatives who are not
interested in any claim or directly in any bill pending before
Congress, and clerks of committees when business from their committee
is under consideration; and it shall not be in order for the Speaker to
entertain a request for the suspension of this rule or to present from
the Chair the request of any Member for unanimous consent.
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\1\ Record, p. 3900.
\2\ Record, pp. 7666, 9110, 9962.
Sec. 3634
This is the form agreed to in the revision of 1880,\1\ with a few
subsequent modifications. The Committee on Rules in 1880 \2\ gave a
history of the various modifications of the rule since 1802.
The words ``heads of departments'' is construed to mean the member of
the President's Cabinet, as is evident from the fact that in 1886 \3\
the House did not agree to a proposition to add such officers as the
Commissioners of Patents, Internal Revenue, Pensions, etc.
The words ``foreign ministers'' are construed to mean the
representatives of foreign governments duly accredited to this
Government and not representatives of this Government abroad who may be
in Washington temporarily. This is evident from the fact that in former
years the language was ``foreign minister and their secretaries,'' \4\
indicating an official with his established office in Washington. As
early as December 8, 1798,\5\ the ministers of Great Britain and
Denmark attended a joint meeting of the two Houses in Representatives'
Hall to hear the President's speech. Foreign ministers have not often
in later years availed themselves of the privilege, usually preferring
the diplomatic gallery.
The ``Superintendent of the Capitol Building and Grounds'' was
included by amendment of June 28, 1902,\6\ when the designation of the
old office of ``Architect of the Capitol'' was changed. At the same
time the ``Resident Commissioner to the United States from Porto Rico''
was included, after proposed legislation to authorize a Delegate from
that island had failed, and the Resident Commissioners from the
Philippine Islands were added in the revision of 1911.\7\
Until 1857 persons who had been Members of either the Senate or the
House were admitted to the privileges of the floor of the House under a
very liberal \8\ rule. In that year, when the House was about to move
from the old Hall to the new, it was thought desirable, in view of the
enlarged gallery accommodations of the new Hall, to restrict the
admissions to the floor. So on December 23, 1857,\9\ this rule was
adopted:
That no person except Members of the Senate, their secretary, heads
of departments, President's private secretary, the governor for the
time being of any State, and justices of the Supreme Court of the
United States shall be admitted within the Hall of the House of
Representatives.
This new rule cut off from the privilege of the floor the following
persons who had enjoyed it under the old rule: The Treasurers of the
United States, comptrollers, registers, auditors, Chaplains to
Congress, judges of the United States, foreign ministers and their
secretaries, officers thanked by Congress for gallantry and good
conduct in the public service, governors of Territories, ex-Members of
the House and Senate, persons who had been heads of departments,
members of State and Terri-
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\1\ Second session Forty-sixth Congress, Record, pp. 207, 1205.
\2\ Second session Forty-sixth Congress, Record, p. 202.
\3\ First session Forty-ninth Congress, Record, p. 2411.
\4\ Second session Twenty-ninth Congress, Journal, p. 536.
\5\ Third session Fifth Congress, Annals, p. 2420.
\6\ First session Fifty-seventh Congress, Record, p. 7608.
\7\ First session Sixty-second Congress, Record, p. 19.
\8\ Third session Thirty-fourth Congress, Journal, p. 694.
\9\ First session Thirty-fifth Congress, Journal, p. 116; Globe, pp.
170,171.
Sec. 3635
torial legislatures, and members of the legislative bodies of foreign
nations in amity with the United States.
Ex-Members of Congress were readmitted to the floor by rule of March
16, 1867,\1\ which excluded all such as were ``interested in any claim
pending before Congress'' and required that ex-Members should register
themselves as not so interested before admission.\2\ The word ``claim''
in this rule was construed strictly, and on April 23, 1872,\3\ an
attempt of the Committee on Rules to change the word to ``any
legislative measure'' was defeated by recommittal. With the exception
of ex-Members of Congress and persons who have by name received the
thanks of Congress \4\ the strictness of the rules of 1857 was
continued \5\ until the revision of 1880. In that revision the rule was
framed in practically its present form,\6\ but ex-Members of Congress
were admitted, as to whom it was provided, as now, that they should
``not be interested in any claim or directly in any bill pending before
Congress.'' In 1884 \7\ ex-Senators were excluded by confining the
privilege to ex-Members of the House instead of ex-Members of Congress.
In the Fifty-second Congress the words ``directly in any'' were
omitted before ``bill'' in the clause relating to ex-Members. In the
Fifty-third Congress, the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution was
added to the number of privileged persons, and after the word
``interested,'' in the clause relating to ex-Members, the words
``either as party, agent, or attorney'' were added. In the Fifty-fourth
Congress the form of the Fifty-first Congress was restored.
3635. While former Members of Congress are entitled to the privilege
of the floor they may not manifest approval or disapproval of the
proceedings.
On December 20, 1932,\8\ the Committee of the Whole House on the
state of the Union was considering the bill (H. R. 13742) to provide
revenue by the taxation of certain nonintoxicating liquors.
Mr. Fritz G. Lanham, of Texas, in the course of debate said:
They can hardly be supposed to believe that the drinking public in
America is going to expend enormous sums, a small fractional part of
which as taxes will yield the Government hundreds of millions of
dollars annually in revenue, for a beverage altogether lacking in the
proverbial kick. [Applause.]
Whereupon person on the floor, including Mr. William D. Upshaw, of
Georgia, a former Member of the House, applauded.
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\1\ First session Fortieth Congress, Journal, p. 46; Globe, pp. 119,
120.
\2\ Although this provision as to registering disappeared from the
rule in the revision of 1880, the secretary of the Speaker still keeps
the register, and ex-Members are required to sign it before receiving a
card of admission.
\3\ Second session Forty-second Congress, Globe, pp. 2688-2691.
\4\ Included in rule of March 15, 1867 (first session Fortieth
Congress, Journal, p. 46; Globe, pp. 119, 120).
\5\ First session Forty-sixth Congress, Journal, p. 633.
\6\ Second session Forty-sixth Congress, Journal, p. 1552.
\7\ First session Forty-eighth Congress, Journal, p. 1777.
\8\ Second session Seventy-second Congress, Record, p. 761.
Sec. 3636
Mr. William H. Stafford, of Wisconsin, rose to a question of order
and said:
Mr. Chairman, I rise to a question of order.
It is that a former Member of this House, even though he was a
candidate for the Presidency of the United States on the Prohibition
ticket, has no right to applaud on the floor of the House remarks of
the speaker having the floor.
The Chairman \1\ sustained the point of order and ruled:
The gentleman has properly raised a question of order. Although the
gentleman referred to is entitled to the privilege of the floor, it is
a violation of the rules for him to indulge in approbation or
disapproval of what may be said upon the floor.
3636. Clerks of committees other than the clerk of the committee in
charge of the bill under consideration are not entitled to the
privileges of the floor.--On January 19, 1923,\2\ the Committee of the
Whole House on the state of the Union had under consideration the Army
appropriation bill, providing among other items appropriations for
rivers and harbors.
After debate had proceeded for some time, Mr. William H. Stafford, of
Wisconsin, raised a question of order and called attention to the
presence on the floor of the clerk of the Committee on Rivers and
Harbors.
The Chairman \3\ sustained the point of order and said:
The Chair has not the rule before him, but the recollection of the
Chair is that the clerk to the committee in charge of the bill is
entitled to the privilege of the floor.
The Chair will read the rule, which is Rule XXXIII. After naming the
persons entitled to the floor, the following clause with respect to
clerks of committees is found: ``and clerks of committees, when
business from their committee is under consideration; and it shall not
be in order for the Speaker to entertain a request for the suspension
of this rule, or to prevent from the Chair the request of any Member
for unanimous consent.''
Whereupon, the clerk of the Committee on Rivers and Harbors, escorted
by the Doorkeepers, retired from the Hall.
3637. A motion instructing the Sergeant at Arms to exclude all
persons not entitled to the privileges of the floor was entertained as
privileged.--On December 6, 1923,\4\ the President of the United States
having notified the Congress that it would be his pleasure to deliver a
message to Congress in person, the Speaker \5\ announced:
The Chair would like to state that complaint has been made at the
desk by many Members that they are unable to get seats on the floor to
which they are entitled. The rules of the House are exceedingly
stringent, that nobody except Members and certain excepted classes are
entitled to the floor of the House. If there are any persons on the
floor who are not entitled to seats, the Chair must request that they
retire.
Mr. Thomas L. Blanton, of Texas, as a parliamentary inquiry, asked if
it was not the custom to permit minor children of Members to come on
the floor.
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\1\ William B. Bankhead, of Alabama, Chairman.
\2\ First session Sixty-seventh Congress, Record, p. 2022.
\3\ John Q. Tilson, of Connecticut, Chairman.
\4\ First session Sixty-eighth Congress, Record, p. 95.
\5\ Frederick H. Gillett, of Massachusetts, Speaker.
Sec. 3638
The Speaker replied:
The Chair knows of no rule to that effect. It has long been the
custom that small children who could not necessarily occupy seats are
brought in, and the Chair sees no objection to that.
Whereupon Mr. Frank Clark, of Florida, moved that the Sergeant at
Arms be instructed to clear the floor of all persons not entitled to
seats thereon.
The question being taken, on a division, there appeared yeas 314,
nays none.
The Speaker directed:
The Sergeant at Arms will carry out the order.
3638. The privileges of the floor incident to receiving the thanks of
Congress are limited to those who have been designated by name.--On
February 4, 1929,\1\ the House concurred in the bill (S. 5578) received
from the Senate as follows:
Be it enacted, etc., That the term ``crew'' as used in the act shall
mean and include any person carried on the ship's register or serving
on the ship in any capacity, regardless of rank or rating, at the time
of the rescue referred to in this act.
Sec. 2. That the thanks and appreciation of the Congress of the
United States be, and they are hereby, tendered to the officers and
crew of the U.S.S. America as constituted on January 23, 1929, for the
heroic conduct shown and noble service rendered in the rescue of the
officers and crew of the Italian steamship Florida.
Whereupon Mr. Fiorello H. LaGuardia, of New York, as a parliamentary
inquiry, asked if enactment of the bill extending the thanks of
Congress entitled all members of the crew of the America to the
privileges of the floor.
The Speaker \2\ replied:
The Chair thinks the proposition is covered in a sentence found in
Rule XXXIII, that rule mentioning those who are entitled to the
privilege of the floor of the House. After specifying a number of
persons, like the President, Vice President, and so forth, there occurs
this sentence:
``Such persons as have, by name, received the thanks of Congress.''
The Chair thinks that the words ``by name'' mean literally that they
shall be named and therefore, it would not cover a class like the
captain and crew of a ship.
3639. A question of order being raised against the presence of
unauthorized persons on the floor of the Senate, the Vice President
directed the Sergeant at Arms to remove all persons not entitled to the
privileges of the floor.
On May 22, 1929,\3\ the legislative day of May 16, the Senate in
Committee of the Whole resumed consideration of the bill (S. 312), to
provide for the fifteenth and subsequent decennial censuses.
In the course of the debate, Mr. Robert M. LaFollette, jr., of
Wisconsin, raised a question of order and said:
Mr. President, I make the point of order that Mr. Frazer Edwards,
representing the Universal Service, is on the floor of the Senate
without authority of the rules of the Senate; I request the chair to
enforce the rule and instruct the Sergeant at Arms to escort him from
the Chamber.
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\1\ Second session Seventieth Congress, Record, p. 2767.
\2\ Nicholas Longworth, of Ohio, Speaker.
\3\ First session Seventy-first Congress, Record, p. 1729; Senate
Journal, p. 72.
Sec. 3640
The Vice President\1\ sustained the point of order and directed:
The Chair calls attention to the rule in reference to admission to
the floor and requests the Sergeant at Arms to exclude from the floor
all persons who are not entitled to it under the rule.
Thereupon, the Sergeant at Arms escorted Mr. Edwards from the floor.
3640. On occasions of special interest the House sometimes provides
additional rules governing admission to the galleries.--On April 4,
1917,\2\ preliminary to the consideration by the House of the joint
resolution (S. J. Res. 1) declaring that a state of war exists between
the imperial German government and the government of the United States,
Mr. James R. Mann, of Illinois, asked unanimous conset that admission
to the galleries be by special tickets issued by the Doorkeeper, each
Member of the House to receive two tickets.
Mr. Allen T. Treadway, of Massachusetts, suggested that the request
be modified to provide for coupon tickets permitting the bearer to
leave the galleries and return at will.
Mr. William S. Howard, of Georgia, asked that the request include
tickets for officers of the House.
Mr. Mann declined to accept either modification; and, the question
being submitted to the House, the request was agreed to.
3641. During an epidemic the galleries of the House and Senate were
closed.--October 7, 1918,\3\ following the approval of the Journal, Mr.
Henry T. Rainey, of Illinois, submitted a request for unanimous consent
as follows:
Mr. Speaker, it is matter of common knowledge that an epidemic of
alarming proportions is prevailing throughout the country. Out of an
abundant precaution the Senate has ordered the galleries closed, which
action, I understand, meets with the approval of the medical
authorities, and so I ask unanimous consent that the Speaker be
instructed to close the galleries of this House until further action
shall be taken by the House.
The request was agreed to.
3642. Portions of the gallery over the Speaker's chair are set aside
for the use of reporters and correspondents who are admitted thereto by
the Speaker under such regulations as he may prescribe.
Representatives of certain specified news associations are admitted
to the floor of the House under regulations prescribed by the Speaker.
Supervision of the press gallery, including designation of its
employees, is vested in the standing committee of correspondents,
subject to the direction and control of the Speaker.
Section 2 of Rule XXXVI provides:
2. Such portion of the gallery over the Speaker's chair as may be
necessary to accommodate representatives of the press wishing to report
debates and proceedings shall be set aside for their use, and reputable
reporters and correspondents shall be admitted thereto under such
regulations as the Speaker may from time to time prescribe; and the
supervision of such gallery, including the designation of its
employees, shall be vested in the standing committee of correspondents,
subject to the direction and control of the Speaker; and the Speaker
may assign one seat on the floor to
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\1\ Charles Curtis, of Kansas, Vice President.
\2\ First session Sixty-fifth Congress, Record, p. 265.
\3\ Second session Sixty-fifth Congress, Record, p. 11164.
Sec. 3643
Associated Press reporters, one to the Sun Press Association, one to
the United Press Association, one to the National News Association, one
to the Central News Association of America, and one to the New York
Herald Syndicate, and regulate the occupation of the same. And the
Speaker may admit to the floor, under such regulations as he may
prescribe, one additional representative of each press association.
This rule was taken from the old rule 135, which dated from December
23, 1857,\1\ and was a portion of a report made by Mr. Charles J.
Faulkner, of Virginia, from a select committee in relation to the
accommodations in the new Hall of the House.
It was modified in the revision of 1880 \2\ and, aside from the
designation of the news agencies, was retained in that form until
1911.\3\
Its amendment in 1911 was principally a change in phraseology without
materially affecting its provisions, but on January 18, 1916,\4\ a
clause was introduced vesting supervision of the press gallery,
including designation of its employees, in the standing committee of
correspondents. Except for certain amendments caused by changes in the
news associations,\5\ the rule has been continued in the form adopted
at that time.
3643. The history of National Statutory Hall.
A statute authorizes the contribution by each State of statues of two
of its distinguished citizens to be placed in National Statutory Hall.
National Statutory Hall was formerly the Hall of the House of
Representatives. When the south wing of the Capitol was completed and
the present Hall was occupied in 1864, statutory provision \6\ was made
as follows:
* * * and the President is authorized to invite all the State to
provide and furnish statues, in marble or bronze, not exceeding two in
number for each State, of deceased persons who have been citizens
thereof and illustrations for their historic renown or distinguished
civil or military service, such as each State may deem to be worthy of
this national commemoration; and when so furnished the same shall be
placed in the old Hall of the House of Representatives, in the Capitol
of the United States, which is set apart, or so much thereof as may be
necessary, as a National Statutory Hall for the purposes herein
indicated.\7\
The routine followed in the presentation and acceptance of such
statues is thus summarized.\8\
As to the procedure of securing the admission of statues to Statuary
Hall, it should be noted that only two statues are allowed from each
State and that they must be in marble or bronze and of citizens of the
State. The placing of a statue in Statuary Hall is usually the result
of legislation from the State desiring to commemorate deceased citizens
by the enactment of a resolution providing for the erection of a statue
in honor of the deceased citizen or citizens to be commemorated and in
the same legislation providing for a commission to represent the State
in carrying out the provisions of the legislation. This commission acts
as a business agent for the State; selects the sculptor and enters into
an agreement with him for the preparation and erection of the statue in
Statuary Hall. The Architect of the Capitol represents the Government
in this matter and in con-
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\1\ First session Thirty-fifth Congress, Journal, p. 116; Globe, pp.
170, 171.
\2\ Second session Forty-sixth Congress, Record, p. 207.
\3\ First session Sixty-second Congress, Record, p. 20.
\4\ First session Sixty-fourth Congress, Record, p. 1214.
\5\ The last change was made Dec. 13, 1916 (second session Sixty-
fourth Congress, Record, p. 277.
\6\ U.S. Code, section 187, p. 1300.
\7\ For discussion of ceremonies on such occasion see sections 3545-
3557 of this volume.
\8\ Annual Report, Architect of the Capitol, 1932, p. 17.
Sec. 3644
ference with the commission arranges for the details of the erection of
the statue and assists in the arrangement of such public exercises of
presentation and acceptance as may be considered desirable by the
commission.
Under a concurrent resolution adopted February 24, 1933,\1\ one of
the two statues from each State has been transferred to from the Hall
to other parts of the Capitol.
3644. The history and authorization of the Capitol guide system.--
Sections 7 and 8 of the Rules and Regulations Governing Capitol Police
\2\ provide:
7. Guides are permitted to charge 25 cents per hour and 25 cents for
any additional part of an hour for each person, parties not to exceed
25 persons. Guides must conduct all parties to both floors; to the
Senate wing; lower floor through the crypt; to the House gallery, and
back to Rotunda, from which all parties will start.
8. For school organizations, 15 cents each person per hour or
additional part thereof.
On February 12, 1925,\3\ Mr. Edward R. Taylor, of Colorado, in
discussing the history and operation of the Capitol guide system, said:
In 1876, during the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia, great
crowds visited Washington and came through this building. Up to that
time there had been no guide system of any kind. Some shell-game and
three-card fellows, numerous pickpockets, and other crooks got in. As a
result Congress decided to establish some system in the handling of
tourists, and they appointed five guides to superintend the sightseers,
and they were allowed to collect tips as their remuneration. That is
the way this system started. There has never been any salary paid. The
act to regulate the use of the Capitol Grounds, approved July 1, 1882,
was the first law on the subject and it is still in force. The number
of guides has been gradually increasing, until now there are 14, and
they are still allowed to take all the tips the public care to give
them, and are also allowed and authorized to charge the fees provided
for in the rules and regulations. The chief guide is the cashier and
general director of operations. The other 13 guides turn in to him
every night all the money they have received during the day from the
25-cent and the 15-cent charges they collect from the people under the
regulations and every night that money is divided equally among the
guides, and the chief guide gets 50 cents extra each day. During the
year 1923 it amounted, he reports, to $2,379.05 apiece for the year for
13 guides. In 1924 the amount increased, so that it reached $2,597.80 a
piece for the 14 guides. The total officially authorized receipts under
the rules he says was $2,597.65 in 1922 and $36,349.20 for 1924. That
does not include any tips or individual gratuities. In other words, the
official charges increased $5,421.55 during the past year. So the
sightseeing business is increasing at the rate of 20 percent a year,
according to the guides' figures. I think, with the officially
authorized charges that the guides account to each other and the tips
that they do not have to account for, they are now receiving about
$50,000 a year form all sources.
These guides were all appointed originally by the Sergeant at Arms of
the Senate and the Sergeant at Arms of the House, most of them many
years ago. Benjamin J. Cady has been there 45 years, Albert Daugherty
25 years, Edward Ernst 20 years, James Crawford 15 years, George Glick
14 years, George Popkins 13 years, William Young 13 years, George
Sarvin 12 years, Ira Bond 9 years, Harry Nash 9 years, William Jackley
6 years, Hynes Terry 6 years, Clifton Beckhart 3 years, and Mrs. Sykes-
Lingo 1 year. And I might say that both the present Sergeant at Arms of
the Senate and of the House desire to have some change made in this
system. They are not sponsoring this system at all. They have simply
inherited this whole performance, including those rules and regulations
and nearly all of those guides.
I understand seven of the guides were appointed by the then Sergeant
at Arms of the Senate, and seven were appointed by the then Sergeant at
Arms of the House upon the vigorous recommendation of the Senators and
Representatives of the States from which they hail, and those
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Second session Seventy-second Congress, Record, pp, 4534, 4874.
\2\ Second session Sixty-eighth Congress, Record, p. 3565.
\3\ Record, p. 3566.
Sec. 3645
various Senators and Representatives from those States seem to be still
interested in them, notwithstanding their predecessors, who brought
about the appointments, have long since retired.
The Sergeant at Arms of the House and the Sergeant at Arms of the
Senate get the authority to appoint these guides presumably from the
act of July 1, 1882, the act of July 29, 1892, the act of April 29,
1876, and the act of March 2, 1895, and I do not recall that any of
them mentions the word guide anywhere. But the rules and regulations
issued by the Sergeants at Arms of the Senate and House mention guides
and prescribe their duties. Apparently they get the authority under
their general police power. At least, it is a system or custom that has
grown up and been in use half a century.
3645. History of the House Office Buildings.--The bill initiating the
construction of the original House Office Building \1\ was introduced
by Mr. Joseph G. Cannon, of Illinois, February 10, 1903,\2\ and the
corner stone was laid with elaborate ceremonies, April 14, 1906.
The building, erected at a cost of $4,500,000, comprised 410
individual offices, exclusive of other rooms. A fifth story added in
1913 \3\ at a cost of $250,000 provided 47 additional offices. As
remodeled in 1933, on the completion of the new House Office Building,
it includes 207 office suites, 21 committee rooms, and other space for
storage and service.
The building was first occupied in the Sixtieth Congress. On December
2, 1907,\4\ the House, by resolution, directed the Speaker to appoint a
select committee of five members to arrange for distribution of rooms.
The first assignment of committee rooms was authorized by a resolution
from the special committee agreed to by the House, December 19,
1907,\5\ and on January 9,\6\ office rooms were allotted to individual
Members in the manner prescribed by rule XXXII, regulating the drawing
of seats. The act of May 28, 1908,\7\ confirmed the disposition of
rooms and offices thus assigned, and provided a permanent system of
assignment based on seniority of service.
The new House Office Building, authorized by the act of January 10,
1929,\8\ includes 251 office suites and 12 committee rooms in addition
to storage, service, and administration accommodations. Of $7,906,000
provided for the purpose, $1,077,745.74 was expended for the site,
$6,277,672.86 for the building, and $230,582 for furnishings and
equipment.\9\
The corner stone was laid without ceremony in the presence of the
Chairman of the House Building Commission and the Architect of the
Capitol, June 24, 1932, and the building was occupied April 20, 1933.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ The Senate Office Building, authorized by the Act of April 28,
1904 (33 Stat. L., p. 481), was occupied March 5, 1909. The extension
authorized by the act of February 20, 1931 (46 Stat. L., p. 1184) was
completed and occupied in 1933.
\2\ Second session Fifty-seventh Congress, Record, p. 1580; 32 Stat.
L., p. 1113
\3\ 37 Statutes L., p. 932.
\4\ First session Sixtieth Congress, Record, p. 6.
\5\ Record, p. 435.
\6\ Record, p. 567.
\7\ U. S. Code, p. 1299, sections 177-184.
\8\ 45 Statutes L., p. 1071.
\9\ First session Seventy-third Congress, Record, p. 1702.
Sec. 3646
3646. The House Office Building and its service are under the
supervision of the Architect of the Capitol, subject to the approval
and direction of the House Office Building Commission.
The House Office Building Commission consists of the Speaker of the
House of Representatives and two Representatives in Congress appointed
by the Speaker.
The House Office Building Commission shall prescribe rules regulating
employments in the House Office Building together with regulations
governing the use and occupancy of rooms in the building.
The revised Statutes \1\ provide:
The House of Representatives Office Building, which shall hereafter
be designated as the House Office Building, and the employment of all
service, other than officers and privates of the Capitol police, that
may be appropriated for by Congress, necessary for its protection,
care, and occupancy, shall be under the control and supervision of the
Architect of the Capitol, subject to the approval and direction of a
commission consisting of the Speaker of the House of Representatives
and two Representatives in Congress, to be appointed by the Speaker.
Vacancies occurring by resignation, termination of service as
Representatives in Congress, or otherwise in the membership of said
commission shall be filled by the Speaker, and any two members of said
commission shall constitute a quorum to do business. The Architect of
the Capitol shall submit annually to Congress estimates in detail for
all services, other than officers and privates of the Capitol police,
and for all other expenses in connection with said office building and
necessary for its protection, care, and occupancy; and said commission
herein referred to shall from time to time prescribe rules and
regulations to govern said Architect in making all such employments,
together with rules and regulations governing the use and occupancy of
all rooms and space in said building.
3647. The Speaker's membership on the House Office Building
Commission continues until his successor as Speaker is elected or his
term as Representative expires.
A Speaker's membership on the House Office Building Commission having
expired by reason of his election to the Senate, he was by joint
resolution empowered to appoint in his stead a Member elect of the
succeeding Congress to serve until the election of his successor as
Speaker.
The Speaker continues a member of the House Office Building
Commission until his successor as Speaker is elected or his term as a
Representative in Congress expires.\2\
In 1925,\3\ the Speaker's membership in the House having been
terminated by his election to the Senate, a joint resolution was passed
empowering him to appoint to the vacancy thus created a Member elect of
the House of Representatives to the succeeding Congress to serve as a
member of the commission until the election of a Speaker in the
succeeding Congress.\4\
3648. A Member may file a written request for any room when vacated
and if no other request has been filed when such vacancy occurs shall
receive the assignment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ U. S. Code, title 40, section 175.
\2\ U. S. Code, p. 1299, Section 176.
\3\ Second session Sixty-eighth Congress, Record, p. 5142.
\4\ 43 Statutes L., p. 1259.
Sec. 3649
Where two or more Members file requests for the same room, preference
shall be given to the Member of the longest continuous service in the
House.
If two or more Members of equal service in the House apply for the
same room, the Member first filing shall have priority.
A Member may have only one request for a room pending at the same
time, but may withdraw a request at will.
Assignment of a new room to a Member on his request, or his
appointment as chairman of a committee having a committee room, shall
operate as a relinquishment of any room previously assigned to him.
A room assigned to a Member shall be held by him during his
membership in the House or until relinquished.
A Member shall restrict the use of this room to office purposes only.
The Revised Statutes \1\ provide:
The assignment of rooms in the House Office Building, heretofore made
by resolution or order of the House of Representatives, shall continue
in force until modified or changed in accordance with the provisions of
sections 177 to 184 of this title, and the room so assigned to any
Representative shall continue to be held by such Representative as his
individual office room so long as he shall remain a Member or Member
elect of the House of Representatives, or until he shall relinquish the
same, subject, however, to the provisions of sections 177 to 184 of
this title, and no Representative shall allow his office room to be
used for any other purpose.
Any Member or Member elect of the House of Representatives may file
with the Architect of the Capitol a request in writing that any
individual office room be assigned to him whenever it shall become
vacant. If only one such request has been made for any room which shall
at any time have become vacant, the room shall be assigned as
requested. If two or more requests are made for the same vacant room,
preference shall be given to the Representative making the request who
has been longest in continuous service as a Member and Member elect of
the House of Representatives. If two or more Representatives with equal
length of continuous service, or two or more Representatives elect make
request for the same room, preference shall be given to the one first
preferring his request.
A Representative or Representative elect making request for the
assignment of a vacant room may withdraw the same at any time and no
one shall have pending at the same time more than one such request. The
assignment of a new room to a Representative, upon his request, or the
appointment of any Representative having an individual office room as
chairman of a committee having a committee room, shall act as a
relinquishment by him of the room previously assigned to him.
3649. Rooms in the House Office Building vacated by death or
resignation before the end of the term become available for filing by
sitting Members but not by Members elect for a period of 10 days, at
the close of which the room will be assigned to the filing Member
having the longest continuous service in the House.
A sitting Member filing on a new room shall vacate the room which he
is relinquishing promptly on March 4.
On January 23, 1923, the House Office Building Commission addressed
the following letter to Members of the House:
To the Members of the House of Representatives:
Your attention is called to the action of the House Office Building
Commission with respect to the interpretation of the rules governing
the filing on rooms in the House Office Building occupied as offices
for Members.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ U. S. Code, title 40, sections 177-179.
Sec. 3650
construction placed on house joint resolution 186 relating to the
assignment of space in the house office building by the house office
building commission.
It is the sense of the House Office Building Commission that when
rooms are to become vacant on March 4 of the odd year by reason of the
retirement of Members from the House, such rooms shall be available
until that date for filings by hold-over Members and by newly elected
Members in the manner prescribed by law. But in the case of a room
becoming vacant by reason of the death or resignation of a Member, such
room will be listed for filing upon by Members of the House but not by
Members elect to the succeeding Congress, for the period of 10 days
beginning at 12 o'clock noon the day following such death or
resignation, and ending at 12 o'clock noon on the 10th day thereafter.
The room will then be assigned to the filing Member having the longest
continuous service in the House.
When a hold-over Member files on a room other than that already
occupied by him and such filing remains undisturbed until March 4 of
the odd year, such Member shall on that date vacate the room occupied
by him, which room shall then become available for assignment in the
manner prescribed by law: Provided, That this shall not be construed to
deprive another hold-over Member of longer service from filing on and
being assigned to the same room before the time for filing expires, in
which case the hold-over Member first filing shall continue to occupy
his old room until otherwise provided.
3650. Offices in the new House Office Building were originally
assigned under a resolution adopted by the House Office Building
Commission.
Suites in the new building were assigned according to seniority in
continuous service and Members were required to file for assignment on
a designated day in person or by proxy.
On January 18, 1933,\1\ Mr. Edward W. Pou, of North Carolina, a
member of the House Office Building Commission, under leave to print,
inserted in the Record as a part of his remarks the following:
resolution adopted by house office building commission regulating
assignment of offices in the new house office building to members of
congress.
The suites of offices in the new House Office Building will be
assigned to Members of Congress on the basis of seniority under the
following regulations:
First. For purposes of filing, Members are grouped according to
length of continuous service.
Second. As shown on attached schedule, each group is allotted one day
on which to file, and no Member in any group will be permitted to file
before the day allotted.
Third. Where two or more Members in the same group file on the same
suite, the Members so filing shall meet immediately at the office of
the superintendent and draw lots for the suite in question. The suite
shall be assigned to the successful drawer, and this assignment shall
be final. The unsuccessful drawers shall file immediately on any
unassigned suites and shall take precedence over following groups only
if their files are placed immediately.
Fourth. A Member may file on only one suite.
Fifth. Any Member who can not be present to file in person on the day
allotted must arrange to have some one place a file for him on that
day.
schedule of dates on which files will be received.
Any time prior to noon, January 23: All Members who have served ten
or more terms.
Noon, January 23, to noon, January 24: Members who have served nine
terms.
Noon, January 24, to noon, January 25: Members who have served eight
terms.
Noon, January 25, to noon, January 26: Members who have served seven
terms.
Noon, January 26, to noon, January 27: Members who have served six
terms.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Second session Seventy-second Congress, Record, p. 2037.
Sec. 3651
Noon, January 30, to noon, January 31: Members who have served five
terms.
Noon, January 31, to noon, February #1: Members who have served four
terms.
Noon, February 1, to noon, February 2: Members who have served three
terms.
Noon, February 2, to noon, February 3: Members who have served two
terms.
Noon, February 6, to noon, February 7: Members who have served one
term.
Noon, February 7, to noon, February 8: Members who have served less
than one term.
Noon, February 8, to noon, February 9: Former Members of Congress.
From February 9 to February 19: New Members.
3651. The term ``continuous service'' governing seniority in the
assignment of rooms in the House Office Building is held to refer to
uninterrupted service, and seniority of a Member dates from the
beginning of his last uninterrupted service regardless of previous
terms of membership in the House.--On February 8, 1930, in response to
a formal inquiry from the Custodian of the House Office Building, Mr.
Speaker Longworth, as chairman of the House Office Building Commission,
replied:
The Custodian,
House Office Building, Washington, D.C.
Dear Sir: As chairman of the House Office Building Commission I am
writing to call your attention to the act of May 28, 1908, a copy of
which is inclosed.
You will note in the second paragraph of this act the sentence: ``If
two or more requests are made for the same vacant room, preference
shall be given to the Representative making the request who has been
longest in continuous service as a Member and Member elect of the House
of Representatives.''
This refers to continuous service. Under this law a Member who
returns to Congress after an interval of one or more terms is entitled
to seniority in the filing on rooms only to that length of service
which is continuous. In other words his seniority for the filing of
rooms dates only from the beginning of his continuous and uninterrupted
service in the House. This communication is addressed to you by
direction of the commission for your guidance on this point.
Yours very truly,
Nicholas Longworth,
Chairman, House Office Building Commission.
3652. Members may exchange rooms with each other, but such exchange
is valid only so long as both Members remain in the House.
Applications for rooms are on file in the custodian's office and are
open to the inspection of Members at any time.
The assignment of rooms in the House Office Building is subject to
the control of the House by rule, resolution, or otherwise.
The Revised Statutes \1\ provide:
Representatives having rooms assigned to them in the foregoing manner
may exchange rooms one with another, but such exchange shall be valid
only so long as both Members making the exchange shall remain
continuously Members or Members elect of the House of Representatives.
The Architect of the Capitol shall keep a record of the assignment of
rooms heretofore or hereafter made, exchanges which may be made,
requests for vacant rooms which may be filed, and the assignment
thereof, which record shall be open for the inspection of
Representatives or Representatives elect of the House.
In the matter of the assignment of rooms under sections 177 to 184 of
this title, Delegates in Congress and the Commissioners from Porto Rico
and the Philippine Islands shall be treated the same as
Representatives.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ U.S. Code, title 40, sections 180, 181, 183.
Sec. 3653
The assignment and reassignment of the rooms and other space in the
House Office Building shall be subject to the control of the House of
Representatives by rule, resolution, order, or otherwise.
3653. A resolution proposing assignment of rooms in the House Office
Building was not entertained as privileged.--On April 10, 1911,\1\ Mr.
A. Mitchell Palmer, of Pennsylvania, offered as privileged, a
resolution (H. Res. 33) providing for the assignment of rooms in the
House Office Building to various standing committees of the House.
Mr. James R. Mann, of Illinois, objected to its consideration on the
ground that it was not privileged.
Mr. Palmer contended that it was entitled to immediate consideration
as involving the privilege of the House.
The Speaker \2\ declined recognition to offer the resolution as
privileged and Mr. Palmer, thereupon, asked unanimous consent for its
consideration.
There being no objection, the resolution was considered and was
agreed to.
3654. A resolution proposing assignment of rooms in the House Office
Building is not privileged against a demand for the regular order.--On
June 3, 1913,\3\ Mr. A. Mitchell Palmer, of Pennsylvania, proposed
consideration of this resolution:
Resolved, That the following assignment of rooms in the House Office
Building be, and the same is hereby, made:
To the Committee on Roads, rooms 153 and 154 in the House Office
Building.
Mr. James R. Mann, of Illinois, raised a question of order and
objected that the resolution was not privileged.
Mr. Palmer insisted that the resolution related to the privileges of
the House and was entitled to immediate consideration.
After exhaustive discussion, the Speaker \4\ sustained the point of
order.
3655. Rooms assigned at the close of Congress become vacant on March
4 at 12 noon and Members to whom they are assigned are entitled to
possession at that time.
Rooms of newly appointed chairmen of committees do not become vacant
until their appointment is confirmed by the House at the opening of
Congress and Members assigned to their rooms on March 4 are not
entitled to possession until the new chairman vacates.
Ex-chairmen who remain Members of the House are not required to move
until the new chairman is confirmed.
Where chairmen are defeated or where they voluntarily vacate, their
successors may move into committee rooms at once.
The law creating the House Office Building Commission authorizes them
to function as long as there is one acting member.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ First session Sixty-second Congress, Record, p. 140.
\2\ Joseph G. Cannon, of Illinois, Speaker.
\3\ First session Sixty-third Congress, Record, p. 1873.
\4\ Champ Clark, of Missouri, Speaker.
Sec. 3656
The following decisions were reported by Mr. James R. Mann, of
Illinois, acting chairman of the House Office Building Commission, as
having been rendered by the commission between March 4, 1919, and May
10, 1919, the date of the convening of the first session of the Sixty-
sixth Congress:
1. All rooms occupied by defeated Members become vacant on March 4,
at 12 noon, and Members or Members-elect who have filed on said rooms
will be assigned them at that hour according to seniority of service.
2. In case of change of House, rooms of Members who are assigned as
chairmen of committees, do not become vacant until their assignments
are confirmed by the House at the opening of Congress and Members and
Members-elect will be assigned their rooms on March 4, and will take
said room as soon as the new chairman vacates or is confirmed as
chairman.
3. An ex-chairman of a committee who is not defeated or is not
retiring, is not required to move from his committee room until the new
chairman is confirmed.
4. A newly assigned chairman may move into committee rooms where the
chairman of said committee was defeated for reelection or has resigned
as soon as the rooms can be made ready for him.
5. Likewise where any ex-chairman has moved out or is willing to
vacate.
6. Vacant rooms in the House Office Building created by the
appointment of Members to rooms in the Capitol will be assigned by the
Architect of the Capitol under the direction of the House commission.
7. The House commission is composed of three Members of Congress;
namely, the Speaker, who is chairman; one majority member, and one
minority member.
8. The law under which the House commission operates gives them the
power to function as long as there is one acting member.
3656. The Capitol power plant and its service, like the House Office
Building, are under the control of the Architect of the Capitol subject
to the approval of the House Office Building Commission.--The Revised
Statutes \1\ provide:
The heating, lighting, and power plant constructed under the terms of
the act approved April 28, 1904, shall be known as the Capitol power
plant; and all vacancies occurring in the force operating said plant
and the substations in connection therewith shall be filled by the
Architect of the Capitol with the approval of the said commission in
control of the House Office Building.
3657. The House Office Building Commission is charged with control of
the Capitol power plant.
Instance wherein the local courts sustained the jurisdiction of the
House Office Commission.
On April 16, 1930, \2\ Judge Isaac R. Hitt, judge of the police court
of the District of Columbia, rendered a decision in the case of L.R.
Smith v. David Lynn, Architect of the Capitol, holding the House Office
Building Commission to be charged by law with care and control of the
Capitol power plant.
The Architect of the Capitol had been arraigned on warrant charging
violation of the law prohibiting excessive discharge of smoke within
the District of Columbia, and had filed a plea in demur in abatement,
to which the plaintiff had demurred.
The court overruled the demurrer on the ground that the House Office
Building Commission and not the Architect of the Capitol was
responsible for the plant, and
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ United States Code, p. 1299, section 185.
\2\ Case No. 952, 187 Police Court docket.
Sec. 3658
held warrants charging such violations should properly be directed
against the Speaker of the House as the chairman of the commission.
3658. History of the Congressional Cemetery.--On March 22, 1928, \1\
Mr. Charles L. Abernethy, of North Carolina, in discussing the bill (H.
R. 11916) to provide for the care and preservation of certain land and
monuments in the Washington Parish Burial Ground, quoted from
historical sources as follows:
Nearly a century ago Christ Church burying ground was chosen as the
resting place for Senators and Representatives who died in office.
Later this custom was extended so as to include the burial of other
public officers, with a result that the cemetery for years enjoyed a
semiofficial character and became generally known as Congressional
Cemetery.
It is said that more patriots whose names are linked with the early
periods of our history are buried along this river slope, perhaps, than
in any other single cemetery in the country. Two Vice Presidents of the
United States, one of them a signer of the Declaration of Independence,
have been buried there. Private soldiers and those in high command in
the Continental Army sleep here side by side in the democracy of death.
Statesmen of colonial times, Members of the Cabinet, of the United
States Supreme Court, and of the Congress repose beneath stately
monuments and somber cenotaphs, weather stained and moss covered by
passing years.
In these surroundings are to be found the only group of cenotaphs--a
memorial customary in Europe--ever erected by the United States
Government in honor of deceased Senators and Representatives. The
strict usage of the cenotaph, however, is not adhered to in every case,
for beneath the bleak, gray sandstones lie the bodies of many Members
of Congress and other dignitaries of the Government who died in
Washington during their term of office.
From the time the first cenotaph was erected by the Government over
the grave of Senator Uriah Tracy in 1807 until 1876 the same pattern
was followed for each stone. Just who selected the form of these
monuments early records do not indicate. But the custom of placing
cenotaphs in memory of Members of the Lower House originated with the
monument placed for James Lent, Representative from New York, who died
February 22, 1833.
According to the register of graves, 109 interments of Government
officials have been made in Congressional Cemetery. Monuments have been
erected over 100 of these graves. In addition 85 cenotaphs have been
placed in honor of Members of Congress who are buried in other
cemeteries. Among these latter are cenotaphs bearing the names of John
C. Calhoun, the great ``nullifier,'' and Henry Clay, the
``compromiser.'' Grouped together in even rows in a conspicuous section
of the grounds, these funeral monuments at once arouse curiosity. The
cenotaphs are uniform in material and design. Fashioned from sandstone
on a base about 5 feet square, upon which is placed a base about 3 feet
high; they are surmounted by a rounded top reaching to a broad height
of about 5 feet above the ground.
Up to 1835 practically every Member of Congress who died in office
was buried in Congressional Cemetery. Means of transportation were so
limited that few families were able to convey the remains of their dead
from the Capital, but as facilities for transportation grew more
adequate this practice gradually ceased. By act of May 23, 1876,
Congress abolished the custom of erecting cenotaphs, and provided that
thereafter monuments should be authorized only when the deceased Member
was actually interred in the cemetery.
A list of Senators, Representatives, and other officials interred in
the cemetery was appended.
3659. Formerly authority to requisition printing and binding was
granted severally to committees of the House by separate resolutions,
but beginning with the Sixty-fifth Congress general leave to order
necessary printing and binding has been provided by blanket
resolution.--On May 21,
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ First session Seventieth Congress, Record, p. 5215.
Sec. 3660
1919,\1\ Mr. Edgar R. Kiess, of Pennsylvania, from the Committee on
Printing, submitted the following resolution:
Resolved, That the standing committees of the House of
Representatives, the floor leader, and chairman of the conference
minority are hereby authorized to have such printing and binding done
as may be actually necessary for the transaction of their official
business during the Sixty-sixth Congress.
During debate on the resolution, in discussing the practice of the
House as to authorization of committee printing, Mr. Kiess explained
that formerly each committee had asked permission to order printing and
binding as necessity arose and had been granted such authority by
separate resolution, but that beginning with the Sixty-fifth Congress,
general authority had been conferred by authorization similar to that
provided by the pending resolution.
The resolution was agreed to, and in succeeding Congresses similar
resolutions have been offered at the opening of the session as a part
of the routine of organization.
3660. The standing committees and the floor leaders are ordinarily
authorized by resolution to order necessary official printing,
including printing for party conferences.--On December 5, 1923,\2\ at
the organization of the Sixty-eighth Congress, Mr. Edgar R. Kiess, of
Pennsylvania, chairman of the Committee on Printing in the preceding
Congress, offered the following resolution, which was agreed to:
Resolved, That the standing committees of the House of
Representatives and the floor leader and the chairman of the conference
minority are hereby authorized to have such printing and binding done
as may be actually necessary for the transaction of their official
business during the Sixty-eighth Congress.
3661. The approved form of resolutions authorizing printing begin
``Resolved, That there shall be printed.''
The approved phraseology for making documents available through the
folding room is ``Distributed through the House folding room;'' for
distribution through the document room is ``For the use of the House
document room.''
Provisions for distribution of documents through the folding room
allot an equal number to each Member of the House, to be issued on his
order only; distribution through the document room renders them subject
to application without limitation on the number which may be issued to
any one applicant.
On February 17, 1914,\3\ Mr. Henry A. Barnhart, of Indiana, from the
Committee on Printing, offered the following:
Resolved, That the Committee on Printing is hereby authorized and
directed to have printed 16,000 copies of House Document No. 1477,
Sixty-second Congress, third session, entitled ``Hygiene of the
Painter's Trade.''
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ First session Sixty-sixth Congress, Record, p. 78.
\2\ First session Sixty-eighth Congress, Record, p. 20.
\3\ Second session Sixty-third Congress, Record, p. 3551.
Sec. 3662
Mr. James R. Mann, of Illinois, objected that the resolution was not
in proper form and should provide ``there shall be printed, etc.''
After debate, Mr. Barnhart withdrew the resolution and later
submitted it in the usual form.
Subsequently, Mr. Barnhart also submitted this resolution:
Resolved, That the Committee on Printing is hereby authorized and
directed to have printed 9,200 copies of the report of the hearings
before the Committee on Rules on a resolution establishing a committee
on woman suffrage, said hearings having been held on December 3, 4 and
5, 1913, and that the same be distributed through the document room of
the House of Representatives.
Mr. Mann objected that the approved phraseology for ordering
documents to the folding room was ``distributed through the House
folding room'' and to the document room was ``for the use of the
document room.''
On motion of Mr. John J. Fitzgerald, the resolution was amended to
read:
Resolved, That there shall be printed 9,200 copies of the report of
the hearing before the Committee on Rules on a resolution establishing
a committee on woman suffrage, said hearings having been held on
December 3, 4, and 5, 1913, 9,000 copies to be distributed through the
House folding room and 200 copies for the use of the House document
room.
The resolution as amended was agreed to.
3662. Reports of communications to Congress from bureaus, boards,
delegates to conferences, or heads of departments are printed under the
direction of the Speaker and are within his discretion unless otherwise
provided by law.
On January 26, 1928,\1\ during the consideration of the Consent
Calendar the House agreed to the joint resolution (H. J. Res. 156)
authorizing the President to appoint delegates to the Eighth
International Dairy Congress, with the following committee amendment:
Sec. 3. That the delegates shall make a report to Congress of the
results and conclusions of the said dairy congress.
Pending agreement to the amendment, Mr. Louis C. Cramton, of
Michigan, stipulated:
Mr. Speaker, with reference to the committee amendment, as I
understand this report made to Congress is not printed as a matter of
course. It is not printed except such printing as is directed by the
Speaker. With that understanding I would not have any objection to the
amendment. If it is to be printed as a matter of course, no matter what
its size or value, I would feel opposed to it, but I understand they
are not printed except under direction of the Speaker.
The Speaker \2\ held the printing of reports or communications of
that character to be within the discretion of the Speaker.
3663. On July 23, 1919,\3\ in response to a resolution of inquiry (H.
Res. 128) requesting the Secretary of Labor to furnish the House with
certain information relative to the activities of an employee of the
Department of Labor in connection
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ First session Seventieth Congress, Record, p. 2088.
\2\ Nicholas Longworth, of Ohio, Speaker.
\3\ First session Sixty-sixth Congress, Record, p. 3073.
Sec. 3664
with the case of Thomas J. Mooney, convicted in California of a crime,
the Secretary of Labor transmitted \1\ to the House a voluminous
report.
The report was referred, in the regular routine, to the Committee on
Labor, such reference carrying with it automatically under the rules an
order to print.
On the following day the Government Printing Office returned for the
inspection of the Speaker certain portions of the report containing
matter of an unfrankable and objectionable nature. The Speaker,\2\
after a conference with the majority and minority leaders, held that
the report should be expurgated.
Accordingly the report was returned to the Public Printer with the
following notation:
The Speaker of the House directs that the attached portions of the
report be not printed.
3664. The statutes governing the numbering in series and binding of
House and Senate documents and reports.
Committee hearings may be printed as Congressional documents only
when specifically ordered by Congress or either House thereof.
The act of January 15, 1908,\3\ provides:
That publications ordered printed by Congress, or either House
thereof, shall be in four series, namely: One series of reports made by
the committees of the Senate, to be known as Senate reports; one series
of reports made by the committees of the House of Representatives, to
be known as House reports; one series of documents other than reports
of committees, the orders for printing which originate in the Senate,
to be known as Senate documents, and one series of documents other than
committee reports, the order for printing which originate in the House
of Representatives, to be known as House documents. The publications in
each series shall be consecutively numbered, the numbers in each series
continuing in unbroken sequence throughout the entire term of a
Congress, but the foregoing provisions shall not apply to the documents
printed for the use of the Senate in executive session: Provided, That
of the ``usual number,'' the copies which are intended for distribution
to State and Territorial libraries and other designated depositories of
all annual or serial publications originating in or prepared by an
Executive Department, bureau, office, commission, or board shall not be
numbered in the document or report series of either House of Congress,
but shall be designated by title and bound as hereinafter provided, and
the departmental edition, if any, shall be printed concurrently with
the ``usual number:'' And provided further, That hearings of committees
may be printed as Congressional documents only when specifically
ordered by Congress or either House thereof.
Sec. 2. That in the binding of Congressional documents and reports
for distributions by the superintendent of documents to State and
Territorial libraries and other designated depositories, every
publication of sufficient size on any one subject shall hereafter be
bound separately and receive the title suggested by the subject of the
volume, and the others shall be distributed in unbound form as soon as
printed. The Public Printer shall supply the superintendent of
documents sufficient copies of those publications distributed in
unbound form, to be bound and distributed to the State and Territorial
libraries and other designated depositories for their permanent files.
The library edition, as well as all other bound sets of Congressional
numbered documents and reports, shall be arranged in volumes and bound
in the manner directed by the Joint Committee on Printing.
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\1\ First session Sixty-sixth Congress, Record, p. 157.
\2\ Revised Statutes, title 44, sections 142, 143.
\3\ Frederick H. Gillett, of Massachusetts, Speaker.
Sec. 3665
3665. The printing of documents is governed by statute, and motions
to authorize such printing are not in order.
On February 12, 1932,\1\ Mr. Marvin Jones, of Texas, requested
unanimous consent to insert in the Record the regulations prepared by
the Department of Agriculture governing loans to farmers.
Under reservation of the right to object, Mr. John D. Clark, of New
York, referred to the importance of the material and suggested that it
be printed as a House document.
Accordingly, Mr. Jones submitted a request for unanimous consent that
the regulations be printed as a document.
The Speaker \2\ denied recognition for the motion and said:
The gentleman can not do that by unanimous consent. The printing of
documents is governed by statute.
3666. A committee of the House may order printed 1,000 copies of its
hearings irrespective of cost.
Extra copies of hearings and other documents may be ordered by simple
resolution, by either House, within the cost of $500.
Reprints of hearings and other documents at a cost in excess of $500
may be ordered by the two Houses by concurrent resolutions.
One reprint of a document at a cost not to exceed $500 having been
ordered by the House, an order by simple resolution for a second
reprint, although within the cost limit of $500, is in violation of a
law and requires concurrence of the other House.
The Joint Committee on Printing may order printed extra copies of
hearings or other documents at a cost not to exceed $200 in any one
instance.
Hearings, bills, resolutions, documents, etc., distributed through
the document room, are dispensed on application without reference to
the number received by any one Member, while those distributed through
the folding room are credited to the accounts of Members pro rate and
are issued only on the order of Members to whom assigned.
Reprints may be ordered for the use of the document room in any
number, but when ordered for the folding room require a minimum of 2471
copies.
On August 18, 1911,\3\ Mr. David E. Finley, of South Carolina, from
the Committee on Printing, submitted the following concurrent
resolution:
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),
That there shall be printed 1,000 additional copies of the hearings of
the special committee of the House of Representatives, appointed under
House resolution 157 (62d Cong., 1st sess.) to investigate the American
Sugar Refining Co. and others, for the use of the document room of the
House of Representatives.
Mr. James R. Mann, of Illinois, questioned the necessity of employing
a concurrent resolution and inquired if it was not within the power of
the House to order such extra copies by simple resolution.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ First session Seventy-second Congress, Record, p. 2816.
\2\ John N. Garner, of Texas, Speaker.
\3\ First session Sixty-second Congress, Record, p. 4176.
Sec. 3667
Ms. Finley referred to the law \1\ governing reprints and explained
that the committee had already ordered the 1,000 copies to which they
were entitled by law; that under the statutes the House in ordering
extra copies was limited to a cost of $500, whereas the cost of the
copies provided by the pending resolution was $1,387.53; that the cost
limit of reprints ordered by the Joint Committee on printing was $200;
and therefore a reprint of the number of hearings required by the
committee could only be provided legally by concurrent resolution.
Mr. George W. Norris, of Nebraska, inquired if it was not preferable
to provide for distribution of the hearings through the folding room
rather than the document room.
Mr. Finley replied that the resolution provided for only 1,000
copies, whereas an order for distribution through the folding room
required a minimum of 3,471 copies; and that there was no such general
demand for the hearings as to warrant distribution pro rata through the
folding room, but that local interest in certain sections required
distribution through the document room in order to render available
larger supplies for Members from such sections.
The Speaker \2\ acquiesced and put the question on agreeing to the
concurrent resolution.
3667. The rules do not require the printing of hearings, and the
distribution of records of hearings is within the discretion of the
committee in charge of the bill.
On February 13, 1932,\3\ Mr. Fiorello H. LaGuardia, of New York,
having been recognized to submit a parliamentary inquiry, called
attention to the lack of printed copies of the hearings before the
Committee on Banking and Currency on the bill current hearings before
that committee on the issuance of additional currency would be
available.
The Speaker \4\ explained.
As the gentleman is aware, the rules of the House do not require the
printing of hearings before committees. The gentleman will have to
address his inquiry to the chairman of the committee having the bill
under consideration.
3668. Under provision of law, documents not withdrawn by a retiring
Member prior to the convening of the next Congress are forfeited to his
successor.
Instance where the law providing for distribution of documents to
Members was suspended by joint resolution to permit outgoing Members to
distribute publications which by reason of the calling of an extra
session would otherwise have been allotted to their successors.
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\1\ Revised Statutes title 44, section 133.
\2\ Champ Clark, of Missouri, Speaker.
\3\ First session Seventy-second Congress, Record, p. 3850.
\4\ John N. Garner, of Texas, Speaker.
Sec. 3668
On March 1, 1909,\1\ Mr. James B. Perkins, of New York, moved to
suspend the rules and pass the following joint resolution
Resolved, etc., That all documents and books ordered to be published
by the Sixtieth Congress which are actually printed prior to the first
Monday in December next, to which Members of that Congress not Members
of the Sixty-first Congress, would have been entitled if published
prior to the 4th day of March, shall be allotted such Members, and the
term allowed to distribute the same shall be extended to the first
Monday of December next.
Mr. John R. Mann, of Illinois, being recognized in opposition to the
motion, said:
Mr. Speaker, under the existing law,\2\ as I understand it, the ex-
Member of Congress receives the public documents until the meeting of
the first session of the ensuing Congress, so that if the Sixty-first
Congress did not meet until the first Monday in December, the ex-Member
of the Congress would be entitled to the public documents distributed
through the folding room until that time, but as the next Congress will
meet in extra session on the 15th of March, the rights of the ex-Member
expires on the first day of the special session.
Some of the gentlemen who have spoken seem to think that these public
documents are their private property, that they are printed by the
Government as a perquisite to the Members of Congress, to be used for
politics or for any purpose they desire.
I have always considered that these public documents were printed for
the public good, and they were only distributed by Members of Congress
as a most convenient method of reaching the constituents in the
different districts.
The resolution is a proposition to make an unjust discrimination
against the Members elected for the first time, in favor of those who
go out.
Under the law a man is entitled to the documents belonging to his
district until the first session of the next Congress meets, which in
this case will be, I suppose, the 15th of March.
The new Members come here about the 15th of March, are sworn in, and
they will have constant applications from their constituents for
documents. How can it be considered fair to say that they shall have no
documents; that their predecessors shall have all the documents until
the first of next December? If Congress was not in session the
situation would be different. But when a man comes here, when he is in
Washington attending the sessions of Congress, all decent regard for
the consideration of other men will lead us to treat the newly elected
Members of Congress fairly.
Mr. George W. Norris, of Nebraska, said in rebuttal:
Mr. Speaker, the passage of this resolution is but an act of common
justice. I would not do an injustice to the incoming Member; neither
would I do an injustice to the outgoing Member. These gentlemen who
have argued against the passage of the resolution have rather, I think
assumed that it was a proposition to change the permanent law. But the
defeat of this resolution will not change the general law, and we will
come back after the coming Congress with men distributing documents up
to the first of December, after they have gone out. Now, as a matter of
fact I have in mind several instances of where men have been elected to
this Congress for the first time. They got no documents to distribute
until in December, more than one year following the time of their
election. If this resolution does not pass, those men will lose the
right on the 15th of March giving them but a little more than one year
of distribution of documents. Everybody will admit that is an injustice
to them.
But that is not the end of it. Their successors, instead of having a
distribution of documents for two years, the length of their terms,
unless a special session of Congress should take it away, will have the
right to distribute documents for nearly three years, although they may
never be reelected to succeed themselves.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Second session Sixtieth Congress, Record, p. 3510.
\2\ Revised Statutes, title 44, section 158.
Sec. 3669
I submit, gentlemen, that is is nothing more than fair, both to the
outgoing man and to the incoming man, that this resolution should pass,
and that these Members who go out should be put on the same basis with
Members who have gone out before, and that the Members who come in
should be put on the same basis with all the balance of the Members who
have come in.
The question being put, on a division, the yeas were 240, the nays
were 81, and the rules were suspended and the joint resolution was
agreed to.
3669. The accumulation of obsolete documents in the folding room
becoming burdensome, the House authorized distribution of all for which
there was demand and directed that the remainder be sold as waste
paper.--On January 13, 1910,\1\ the House agreed to a resolution
submitted by James B. Perkins, of New York, from the Select Committee
on Useless Paper and Documents, as follows:
Resolved, That the documents now in the folding room of the House of
Representatives, described by name in the list hereafter set forth
under the heading of ``List of Documents,'' shall be disposed of in the
following manner:
First. Members, Delegates, Commissioners from Porto Rico and the
Philippine Islands, and officers of the House, having such documents to
their credit, may dispose of the same in the usual manner at any time
within 30 days from the date of the adoption of this resolution by the
House.
Second. Upon the expiration of the said 30 days, the Doorkeeper shall
furnish to the Members of the House, as promptly as practicable, a list
of the documents herein referred to then remaining in the folding room,
and thereupon such documents shall be subject to the order of any
Member or Delegate in the order in which they are applied for, for the
period of 30 days after the day when such list shall be furnished by
the Doorkeeper.
Third. The Doorkeeper shall furnish a list of all such documents
remaining in the folding room at the expiration of the last-name period
to the various departments and commissions of the Government at
Washington, including the Superintendent of Documents, Smithsonian
Institution, Library of Congress, Bureau of American Republics, and the
Commissioners of the District of Columbia, and any such documents shall
be turned over to any such department, commission, etc., above referred
to, in the order in which their application shall be made, and all such
documents which shall remain in the folding room for a period of 10
days after such list shall have been furnished to the departments or
commissions aforesaid shall be sold by the Doorkeeper as waste paper.
Fourth. No documents which are described by name in the list
aforesaid shall hereafter be returned to the folding room from any
source.
3670. The thanks of Congress are bestowed in recognition of public
services.--On September 16, 1919,\2\ proceeding by unanimous consent,
the House by a standing vote, agreed to the following joint resolution
offered by Mr. Julius Kahn, of California, chairman of the Committee on
Military Affairs:
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled, That the thanks of the
American people and the Congress of the United States are due, and are
hereby tendered, to Gen. John J. Pershing for his highly distinguished
services as commander in chief of the American Expeditionary Forces in
Europe and to the officers and men under his command for their
unwavering devotion and heroic valor throughout the war.
The resolution was passed by the Senate September 16,\3\ and received
the approval of the President on September 29.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Second session Sixty-first Congress, Record, p. 594.
\2\ First session Sixty-sixth Congress, Record, p. 5418.
\3\ Record, p. 5491.
Sec. 3671
3671. The House thanked its Clerk for his service in presiding during
a delayed election of a Speaker.--On December 6, 1923,\1\ following a
delay in the election of a Speaker, extending over a period of three
days, Mr. Frank Clark, of Florida, by unanimous consent, proposed the
following resolution:
Resolved, That the thanks of this House are eminently due and are
hereby tendered to William Tyler Page, Clerk of the House of
Representatives, for the distinguished ability, fidelity, and
impartiality with which he has presided over the deliberations of the
House of Representatives during the contest for Speaker.
The resolution was unanimously agreed to.
3672. The development of the bulletin service announcing in advance
the legislative program for the week.--On October 26, 1921,\2\ Mr.
Frank W. Mondell, of Wyoming, the majority leader of the House, having
been granted unanimous consent to address the House on a matter of
procedure, said:
Mr. Speaker, for years there has been a sentiment in the House that
in the interest of good legislation, and for the convenience of
Members, we ought to know a little further in advance than we have
generally been informed in the past as to legislation that was likely
to be taken up for consideration. Members on both sides have called
attention to the need and advisability of arranging, so far as it is
possible under the rules of the House a program at least a few days in
advance in order that Members may study the bills that are likely to be
brought up and that they may give particular attention to matters that
they are informed about and interested in. We have made a very earnest
effort in the last year to outline programs so far as it was possible
to do so. The programs thus tentatively agreed upon have been announced
from time to time from the floor.
We have now taken another step in the matter to accommodate the
Members of the House, and, we believe, in the public interest.
Yesterday there placed on the bulletin board in the lobby a tentative
program for the week. Members realize that such a program must be
purely tentative. Certain matters come up under the general rules of
the House, but the House must determine what will be done at any given
time. So these programs indicate only a tentative agreement of program
subject to change at any time the House may determine and as conditions
may warrant.
I am not sure that we will find we can follow these programs closely
enough to make it worth while to continue them, but I am very much in
hopes that through consultation with the Speaker, members of the
steering committee, chairmen and members of the various legislative
committees, and chairmen and members of the Rules Committee we may be
able to present a fairly accurate picture a week in advance of what the
House is likely to consider. We have undertaken this new departure in
the hope that it will be useful to the Members, particularly in the
hope that it will not only enable but will incline Members to give
careful attention in advance to the legislation that is likely to be
considered.
3673. On January 18, 1924,\3\ during debate on the resolution (H.
Res. 146) to amend the rules of the House of Representatives, Mr. R.
Walton Moore, of Virginia, adverted to a resolution which he had
introduced proposing a weekly bulletin announcing the legislative
program. In support of the proposal, Mr. Moore had the Clerk read from
the desk a statement made by Mr. Speaker Clark, on May 11, 1920, in
advocacy of such advance announcement of measures proposed to be taken
up for consideration.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ First session Sixty-eighth Congress, Record, p. 97.
\2\ First session Sixty-seventh Congress, Record, p. 6810.
\3\ First session Sixty-eighth Congress, Record, p. 1141.
Sec. 3674
On January 23,\1\ Mr. Moore again broached the subject and inquired
of Mr. Nicholas Longworth, of Ohio, the majority leader, if advance
notice of bills to be considered could be given the House through such
weekly bulletins.
Mr. Longworth replied:
I shall be very glad to do that if it is the desire of the House. I
shall begin next week and put up a bulletin in the lobby, giving the
best of my ability, the program of prospective legislation.
In accordance with this assurance, the plan of posting in the lobby
of the House the legislative program for the week was resumed and has
been continued through succeeding sessions.
3674. Rank and prerogatives of Senators and Representatives when
moving with the Army.--On January 22, 1929,\2\ in testifying before the
subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, during hearings
on the War Department appropriation bill, Maj. Gen. B. F. Cheatham,
Quartermaster General of the Army, said:
The law provides, and the Secretary of War has made, certain
priorities. Officers under orders come first; then Army officers on
leave; and civilian employees of the War Department.
The officers under orders accompanied by their families have the
first priority; then officers on leave with their families come second;
and then members of families traveling without an officer. Of course,
Members of Congress and their families have priority with the officers
of the Army. They are assumed to be under orders, and on Government
business, and are placed on board under that priority.
Testifying at the same hearing, Brig. Gen. Francis H. Pope, Assistant
Quartermaster General, stated:
The Act of March 2, 1907,\3\ authorizes Members of Congress to travel
on transports when, in the opinion of the Secretary of War, space is
available. The theory of the War Department, I believe, is that Members
of the Senate and the House are in the nature of a board of directors
so far as the War Department is concerned, and any such travel they
make we consider as being on official business.
In our order of priority, officers who travel under orders for change
of station have first priority. Then, the next priority goes to
Senators and Congressmen.
You see, we make the assignments on the transports in accordance with
the regulations of the War Department which provide that a Senator has
the relative rank of a major general, and a Congressman that of a
brigadier general, and that is the way in which we have to assign them.
It is a War Department regulation.
3675. Official precedence of Senators and other officials of
Government.--On December 5, 1913,\4\ in the Senate, Mr. Jacob H.
Gallinger, of New Hampshire, was given unanimous consent to have
printed in the Record a statement by Mr. Augustus O. Bacon, of Georgia,
chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations, with reference to the
official precedence incident to membership in the Senate.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Record, p. 1328.
\2\ Second session Seventieth Congress, hearings before subcommittee
on H. R. 15712, pp. 172, 214, 215.
\3\ U. S. Code, title 10, section 1371.
\4\ Second session Sixty-third Congress, Record, p. 247.
Sec. 3676
The statement is in part as follows:
You ask what is the proper relative rank of Senators. There should be
no difficulty in answering that question by anyone who recalls the
fundamental and controlling fact that the Constitution of the United
States creates no offices, except those of the Presidency and Vice
Presidency, the Supreme Court, and the Congress, composed of the Senate
and House of Representatives.
All other offices of the United States, excepting only those above
mentioned, have been created by act of Congress.
All officers of the United States, excepting only the President and
Vice President, and the judges of the Supreme Court, and the Senators
and Representatives have, without exception, been created by act of
Congress; and, if deemed necessary, Congress can at any time abolish
any one of these offices and create others in their stead. These
offices, while most honorable positions, are nevertheless the creatures
of Congress.
It is a plain proposition that the creature can not be greater than
his creator. The Senate, as the upper branch of Congress, can not be
the inferior in rank of offices which are the mere creatures of
Congress.
There is no controversy as to the relative rank of the officers
created by the Constitution. Of course, the President and Vice
President in their order stand first without any question.
In former times the question of precedence was in dispute between the
Supreme Court and the Senate; but later the Senate courteously yielded
the right of precedence to the Supreme Court. When, then, the Senate,
as the head of the legislative branch of the Government, recognized the
precedence of the head of the executive branch, and also of the head of
the judicial branch, it has always declined to concede more in this
regard.
There is one exception to the claim of precedence over statutory
officers, which Senators, as a courtesy, seem willing to concede, and
that is in the case of the Secretary of State. The late Senator
Allison, who served for more than 30 years as a Senator and who was
naturally very jealous of the dignity and rank of the Senate, said he
was willing to concede this precedence to this officer, who is the
immediate representative of the President in our far-reaching foreign
relations, but he would go no further.
It may be further said, in recognizing as a proper courtesy the
precedence of the Secretary of State, that he holds a great office,
dealing as it does with world-wide and most momentous international
questions, and that it existed under the Confederation before the
adoption of the Constitution of the United States and before the
creation of the office of President.
Senators under other circumstances would be willing that they, as
well as other officials, should forego all distinctions of rank, but
that is impossible in the official life of Washington. In official
circles Senators will of necessity be assigned to a certain rank and,
that being so, they will insist on being accorded their proper rank;
and, speaking generally, they prefer not to be present at any function,
public or private, where this proper rank is not recognized and
accorded to them.
If this were a matter which related only to the personal dignity of a
Senator, he might, if he saw fit, waive the question of his rank; but
as the question of his precedence touches him in his official station,
his duty to his State leaves him no option in the premises.
3676. The Biographical Congressional Directory is compiled at
irregular intervals under special authorization.--The Biographical
Congressional Directory, listing by Congresses and by individuals in
alphabetical order, all Members and Senators who have served in
Congress since the establishment of the Government, with summaries of
biographical data on each, is compiled at irregular intervals under the
direction of the Joint Committee on Printing under authorization of
concurrent resolutions \1\ making it available for distribution and
sale.
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\1\ Second session Sixty-second Congress, Record, p. 11823; Second
session Sixty-ninth Congress, Record, p. 5897.