Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress
Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress—Established by H. Con. Res. 18 (79th Congress), the 1945 Joint Committee consisted of 12 members (six Senators and six Representatives, equally divided by party) and was formed to take testimony and make recommendations concerning the structure of congressional committees and other matters. The enormous changes underway at that time, Roosevelt’s New Deal policies and the emerging global role of the United States following World War II, precipitated interest in reviewing and strengthening the Congress. The joint committee held three months of hearings and issues a report (H. Rept. 1675 (79th Congress, 2nd Session (1946)), nine months later with a wide-ranging list of 37 specific recommendations to improve the structure and efficiency of Congress, many of which were incorporated into the 1946 Legislative Reorganization Act (Pub. 79-601, 60 Stat. 812, August 2, 1946).
H. Con. Res. 18 (79th Congress)
ORGANIZATION OF CONGRESS
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),
That there is hereby established a Joint Committee on the Organization of the Congress (hereinafter referred to as the committee) to be composed of six Members of the Senate (not more than three of whom shall be members of the majority party) to be appointed by the President of the Senate, and six Members of the House of Representatives (not more than three of whom shall be members of the majority party) to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The committee shall select a chairman and a vice chairman from among its members. No recommendation shall be made by the committee except upon a majority vote of the Members representing each House, taken separately.
Sec.2. The committee shall make a full and complete study of the organization and operation of the Congress of the United States and shall recommend improvements in such organization and operation with a view toward strengthening the Congress, simplifying its operations, improving its relationships with other branches of the United States Government, and enabling it better to meet its responsibilities under the Constitution. This study shall include, but shall not be limited to, the organization and operation of each House of the Congress; the relationship between the two Houses; the relation- ships between the Congress and other branches of the Government; the employment and remuneration of officers and employees of the respective Houses, and officers and employees of the committees and Members of Congress; and the structure of, and the relationships between, the various standing, special, and select committees of the Congress: Provided,That nothing in this concurrent resolution shall be construed to authorize the committee to make any recommendations with respect to the rules, parliamentary procedure, practices, and/or precedents of either House, or the consideration of any matter on the floor of either House: Provided further, That the lan- guage employed herein shall not prohibit the committee from study- ing and recommending the consolidations and reorganization of committees.
Sec.3. (a) The committee, or any duly authorized subcommittee thereof, is authorized to sit and act at such places and times during the sessions, recesses, and adjourned periods of the Seventy-ninth Congress, to require by subpena or otherwise the attendance of such witnesses and the production of such books, papers, and documents, to administer such oaths, to take such testimony, to procure such printing and binding, and to make such expenditures as it deems advisable. The cost of stenographic services to report such hearings shall not be in excess of 25 cents per hundred words.
(b) The committee is empowered to appoint and fix the compensation of such experts, consultants, technicians, and clerical and stenographic assistants as it deems necessary and advisable, but the compensation so fixed shall not exceed the compensation prescribed under the Classification Act of 1923, as amended, for comparable duties.
(c) The expenses of the committee, which shall not exceed $15,000, shall be paid one-half from the contingent fund of the Senate and one-half from the contingent fund of the House of Representatives, upon vouchers signed by the chairman.
(d) The committee shall report from time to time to the Senate and the House of Representatives the results of its study, together with its recommendations, the first report being made not later than April 1, 1945. If the Senate, the House of Representatives, or both, are in recess or have adjourned, the report shall be made to the Secretary of the Senate or the Clerk of the House of Representatives, or both, as the case may be. All reports and findings of the committee shall, when received, be referred to the Committee on Rules of the Senate and the appropriate committees of the House.
Passed February 19, 1945.
Budget Counsel 