Committee System Reorganization Amendments

Summary

Committee System Reorganization Amendments - Title I: Standing Committees: Jurisdictions and Sizes - Establishes and defines, pursuant to the Standing Rules of the Senate, the jurisdictions of the Senate committees on Agriculture and Small Business; Appropriations; Armed Services; Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs; the Budget; Commerce, Science and Transportation; Energy and Natural Resources; Environment and Public Works; Finance; Foreign Relations; Governmental Affairs; Human Resources; the Judiciary; and Rules, Administration, and Standards in lieu of the present standing Senate committees. Title II: Committee Assignments; Chairmanships - States that no Senator may serve on more than two standing and one select, special, or ad hoc committees and no more than two subcommittees of each standing committee and one subcommittee of each select, special, or ad hoc committee of which he is a member. Allows each Senator to serve as chairman of not more than one standing, select, special, or ad hoc committee of the Senate or joint committee of Congress and not more than one subcommittee of any Senate or joint committee of which he is a member. Requires the appropriate Senate committee to report legislation not later than July 1, 1977, terminating specified joint congressional committees and prohibits the referral to or receipt of a report from any joint congressional committee by the Senate. Title III: Multiple Referral of Proposed Legislation; Establishment of Ad Hoc Committees - Requires the presiding officer of the Senate to decide which committee has jurisdiction with respect to any proposed legislation except that such decision shall be subject to appeal. States that upon motion by the Majority and Minority Leaders or their designates, proposed legislation may be referred to two or more committees jointly or sequentially. Sets forth rules for the establishment of ad hoc committees by resolution proposed by the Majority and Minority Leaders or their designates. Title IV: Scheduling of Committee Meetings - Requires the Committee on Rules, Administration, and Standards of the Senate to maintain a computerized schedule of all meetings of the committees and subcommittees of the Senate and all meetings of the joint committees of the Congress and their subcommittees to be available on-line to terminals in the offices of all Senators, committees of the Senate, and permanent joint committees of the Congress to be updated hourly. Prohibits the meeting of a Senate committee or subcommittee, without special leave, after the first two hours after a meeting of the Senate has commenced and in no case after two o'clock p.m. unless the Majority and Minority Leaders have given their consent. Prohibits Senate members of congressional joint committees from meeting at such times without special leave. Declares it the sense of the Senate that, insofar as possible, roll call votes should not be held before two o'clock p.m. on any day without 24 hours' notice. (Amends 2 U.S.C. 190b) Title V: Continuing Review of the Committee System - Requires the Majority and Minority Leaders of the Senate to review on a continuing basis the committee system of the Senate and to report the results of such review to the Senate during each Congress. Requires such report to include such Leaders' recommendations for change, if they have such recommendations. Title VI: Amendments not within a Committee's Jurisdiction - Makes out of order any proposed committee amendments which contains matter not within the jurisdiction of the committee proposing such amendment. Title VII: Committee Staffs - Provides for the transfer of committee staffs from the committees existing before the effective date of this Resolution to those committees created by this resolution. Specifies severance pay and other compensation for staff members whose jobs are terminated as a result of the provisions of this resolution or any other action which terminates the committee duties of the Senator for whom such staff member worked for the purposes of assisting such Senator in carrying out such committee duties. Title VIII: Miscellaneous - States that all proposed legislation and nominations referred to the standing committees of the Senate before the effective date of this resolution shall be rereferred on such effective date to the appropriate standing committee.

This text is taken from the official record. PoliticalRepo does not editorialize.

Timeline

No timeline events have been ingested for this record yet.

Votes

No vote records are attached yet.

Versions

No version snapshots stored. Document URLs remain at the source.

Documents

2 official files

• Passed Senate amended

  summary · EN · 4 February 1977

  Open at official source

• Introduced in Senate

  summary · EN · 4 January 1977

  Open at official source

Sponsors

No sponsors or actors listed by the source.

Related records

No cross-record relationships stored yet.