Representatives specifying the duty of the committee to conduct studies and investigations of the problems of small business, House Resolution 19.

H. Res. 19, 93D Cong., First Sess.

RESOLUTION Resolved, That, effective January 3, 1973, the permanent Select Committee on Small Business shall be composed of nineteen Members of the House of Representatives to be appointed by the Speaker, one of whom he shall designate as chairman. Any vacancy occurring in the membership of the committee shall be filled in the manner in which the original appointment was made

SEC. 2. It shall be the duty of such committee to conduct studies and investigations of the problems of all types of small business, existing, arising, or that may arise, with particular reference to

(1) the factors which have impeded or may impede the normal operations, growth, and development of small business;

(2) the administration of Federal laws relating specifically to small business in order to determine (A) whether such laws and their administration adequately serve the needs of small business, and (B) whether Government agencies adequately serve and give due consideration to the problems of small business; and

(3) the problems of small business enterprises generally; and to obtain all facts possible in relation thereto which would not only be of public interest but which would aid the Congress in enacting remedial legislation. However, the committee shall not undertake any investigation of any subject which is being investigated for the same purpose by any other committee of the House. SEC. 3. Such committee shall not have legislative jurisdiction but is authorized to make studies, investigations, and reports; however, no bills or resolutions shall be referred to the committee.

SEC. 4. The committee may submit from time to time to the House such reports as the committee considers advisable and, prior to the close of the present Congress, shall submit to the House a final report of the committee on the results of its studies and investigations, together with such recommendations as the committee considers advisable. Any report submitted when the House is not in session may be filed with the Clerk of the House.

SEC. 5. For the purposes of this resolution, the committee, or any subcommittee thereof, is authorized, subject to clause 30 of rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives, to sit and act during the present Congress at such times and places within the United States, whether or not the House is meeting, has recessed, or has adjourned, to hold such hearings, to require the attendance of such witnesses and the production of such books, papers, and documents, and to take such testimony, as the committee considers necessary. Subpenas may be issued over the signature of the chairman of the committee, or by any member designated by such chairman, and may be served by any person designated by any such chairman or member. The chairman of the committee or any member thereof may administer oaths to witnesses.

SEC. 6. The majority of the members of the committee shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, except that two or more shall constitute a quorum for the purpose of taking evidence, including sworn testimony.

Mr. DINGELL. The Chair also inserts in the record at this point the relevant portions of the rules of this committee empowering the Subcommittee on Regulatory Agencies to act within the framework of the investigative authority of this committee and of the Congress.

RULES OF THE PERMANENT SELECT COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

93D CONGRESS

PART I

I

The Rules of the House of Representatives shall be the Rules of the House permanent Select Committee on Small Business.

II

The Chairman will consult with the Ranking Minority Member prior to announcement or implementation of decisions respecting Committee actions such as the creation and composition of Subcommittees, scheduling Committee meetings and hearings, subject matter of scheduled hearings, or any matter to be studied or investigated by the Committee.

III

The Chairman in his discretion may create Subcommittees, designate Chairmen and members thereof, assign and define the studies or investigations to be undertaken by them, and make such changes therein as he deems best prior to such studies and investigations having been undertaken; and no Subcommittee may hold hearings or undertake an investigation of any matter not assigned to it.

There shall be appointed to each regular Subcommittee at least two Members of the Minority Party, and all appointments of Minority Members shall be in accordance with any nominations made by the Ranking Minority Member of the Committee.

Party representation upon each regular Subcommittee shall be according to the same numerical ratio as Party representation on the full Committee.

IV

A majority of the Members of the Committee or any Subcommittee thereof shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of Committee or Subcommittee business, except that two or more shall constitute a quorum for the purpose of the taking of evidence, including sworn testimony.

V

Except upon prior approval of the Chairman of the full Committee the Committee may not be committed to any expense whatever.

VI

Subject to the approval of the Chairman of the full Committee, a Subcommittee Chairman may schedule hearings to be conducted by his Subcommittee, and upon the scheduling of such hearings written notices thereof shall be dispatched from the offices of the Committee to each Member of the full Committee.

VII

The Chairman of the Committee or the Subcommittee presiding at any hearing is responsible for the preservation of order, decorum and propriety of the proceedings in all respects.

VIII

The Chairman of the Committee or Subcommittee presiding at any hearing may determine the order of witnesses and testimony.

IX

The Chairman of the Committee or Subcommittee presiding at any hearing will rule upon the reception of evidence. However, any Member in attendance may state his objection to any evidence before or after it is received. If objection is heard, the Chairman will rule in accordance with the vote of attending Members. In the case of a tie the rule of the Chair will prevail.

X

Members, as called upon by the Chairman, may, by clear, brief, and relevant questions, interrogate the witnesses, consuming in the first instance-not more than 5 minutes. After each Member has used or waived the 5 minutes allocated to him, other Members may then continue their interrogation under the direction of the Chairman.

XI

If any hearing or other proceeding of the Committee or any Subcommittee thereof is called to take testimony and receive evidence and is open to the public, the Chairman of the Committee may permit that hearing to be covered by television, radio, and still photography (or by any one or combination of such modes of coverage) subject to the following conditions:

1. If the television or radio coverage of the hearing is to be presented to the public as live coverage, that coverage shall be conducted and presented without commercial sponsorship;

2. No witness served with a subpena by the Committee or any Subcommittee thereof shall be required against his will to be photographed at any hearing or to give evidence or testimony while the broadcasting of that hearing, by radio or television, is being conducted. At the request of any such witness who does not wish to be subjected to radio, television, or still photography coverage, all lenses shall be covered and all microphones used for coverage turned off;

3. Not more than four television cameras, operating from fixed positions, shall be permitted in a hearing room;

4. Television cameras shall be placed so as not to obstruct in any way the space between any witness giving evidence or testimony and any Member of the Committee or the visibility of that witness and that Member to each other;

5. Television cameras shall not be placed in positions which obstruct unnecessarily the coverage of the hearing by the other media;

6. Equipment necessary for coverage by the television and radio media shall not be installed in, or removed from, the hearing room while the Committee or Subcommittee, as the case may be, is in session;

7. Floodlights, spotlights, strobelights and flashguns shall not be used in providing any method of coverage of the hearing, except that the television media may install additional lighting in the hearing room, without cost to the Government, in order to raise the ambient lighting level in the hearing room to the lowest level necessary to provide adequate television coverage of the hearing at the then-current state of the art of television coverage;

8. Not more than five press photographers shall be permitted to cover a hearing by still photography;

9. Photographers shall not position themselves, at any time during the course of the hearing, between the witness table and any Member of the Committee;

10. Photographers shall not place themselves in positions which obstruct unnecessarily the coverage of the hearing by the other media; 11. Personnel providing coverage by the television and radio media shall be then currently accredited to the Radio and Television Correspondents' Galleries;

12. Personnel providing coverage by still photography shall be then currently accredited to the Press Photographers' Gallery;

13. Personnel providing coverage by the television and radio media and by still photography shall conduct themselves and their coverage activities in an orderly and unobtrusive manner.

The coverage of any hearing or other proceeding of the Committee or any Subcommittee thereof by television, radio, or still photography shall be under the direct supervision of the Chairman of the Committee, Subcommittee Chairman, or other Member of the Committee presiding at such hearing or other proceeding and for good cause may be terminated by him.

XII

Where the Committee or Subcommittee determines that evidence or testimony at any investigative hearing should be received in executive session then it shall be so received.

XIII

All staff members shall work under the general supervision of the Chairman and shall cooperate in every proper manner at all times with all Members and staff employees.

No staff employees shall undertake an official assignment except with prior approval of the Chairman.

XIV

Committee prints may be publicly distributed upon the approval of the Committee or upon approval of the Chairman and the Ranking Minority Member, subject to compliance with Rule XVI as to individual views.

XV

No printing may be ordered for the Committee or any Subcommittee thereof except when authorized by the full Committee or the Chairman of the full Committee. No reports shall be ordered printed by the Chairman that are the product of a staff study unless first approved by the full Committee or the Subcommittee.

XVI

Each Member of the Committee and each Member of a Subcommittee shall have a right to have printed his individual views on any matter on which a report is ordered printed by the Committee or Subcommittee, and upon notice from any Member that he wishes to file such individual views, the Chairman of the Committee or the Subcommittee making the report shall fix a time for the submission of such individual views.

XVII

The Chairman is empowered to make all appointments on the staff and employees, and is empowered to make such changes at such times as he, in his discretion, deems best in conformity with the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946, Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970, and the Rules of the House of Representatives, and all proceedings of the Committee and its Subcommittees shall be in conformity therewith.

XVIII

The proceedings of the Committee shall be recorded in a journal and shall show those present at each meeting, to include a record of the votes on any question on which a record vote is demanded. Upon prior request of any Member, the proceedings of an executive meeting of the Committee shall be recorded by an official reporter of the Committee, and each Member furnished with a verbatim transcript of such meeting. A record of the proceedings of an executive meeting shall be on file with the Director of the Staff and available to Members of the Committee at any time any of the staff is on duty.