Electing Members to serve on the Joint Committee on Printing and the Joint Committee of Congress on the Library.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to support H. Res. 134, which elects Members of the House to serve on the Joint Committee of Congress on the Library and the Joint Committee on Printing, as provided for in the applicable statutes relating to these two entities.

All of these members also serve on the Committee on House Administration, except in the case of the Joint Library Committee, where we will again be joined, pursuant to a new statute enacted in 2000, by the chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch.

The House and Senate will each have three Majority and two Minority members on both panels. The Senate passed a resolution, S. Res. 84, electing its members to the two joint committees on March 13.

The subject matter under the jurisdiction of the joint committees requires bicameral oversight which neither chamber can exercise alone.

The Joint Committee on the Library, created originally in 1802, currently oversees the Library of Congress, the Congressional Research Service and the Botanic Gardens. It operates much like a ``board of trustees'' in relation to the Librarian of Congress, who is a presidential appointee, and other key Library personnel.

It supervises the Architect of the Capitol in his administration of the Botanic Gardens.

It supervises works of fine arts, including the National Statuary Hall Collection in the Capitol, and directs the Architect in his role in administering fine arts issues within the joint committee's jurisdiction.

The Joint Committee on Printing, created in 1846, establishes rules for congressional printing and generally oversees operations of the Government Printing Office (GPO).

In the 107th Congress, the JCP held hearings on the Administration's misguided proposal to allow executive agencies to bypass GPO and procure printing elsewhere, in violation of Federal law. Congress subsequently moved to block implementation of this proposal, and I anticipate further oversight on this subject during the current Congress.

The two joint committees do not have authority to receive or report legislation. However, both can hold hearings, issue reports and directives, and take other actions which have a substantial impact on the entities within their control, including matters relating to the expenditure of funds.

Mr. Speaker, since the three Minority members of the House Administration Committee are all new to that panel, none of us has ever served on a joint committee of Congress. I look forward to serving as ranking minority member of the Joint Committee on the Library once the joint committee has organized itself and, as expected, chooses Senator Stevens of Alaska to once again serve as the chairman under the traditional rotation between the two chambers.

Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald will also serve on the panel. As a former city councilwoman, mayor, and state assemblywoman with a professional background in education, she brings a significant breadth of experience to the committee's work. I have also served with her on the Digital Divide Caucus in the House, and look forward to working with her to support initiatives the Library of Congress has taken to make information more broadly available to the public.

On the Joint Committee on Printing, where Rep. Ney will again be chairman in the 108th Congress under the rotation, I will be joined by Rep. Bob Brady of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who succeeds another Member from that city serving on the panel, Rep. Fattah.

It is fitting that we will have Bob on the JCP since he represents Philadelphia, where Benjamin Franklin established an innovative printing business at age 22, publishing newspapers, pamphlets and cartoons. Bob Brady is a cross between Ben Franklin and Rocky Balboa.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on House Administration be discharged from further consideration of the resolution (H. Res. 134) electing Members to serve on the Joint Committee on Printing and the Joint Committee of Congress on the Library, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Madam Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

Madam Speaker, I thank the ranking member, the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Larson). I rise here today to consider H. Res. 134, a bill electing Members to serve on the Joint Committee on Printing and the Joint Committee of Congress on the Library.

This resolution appoints the following members to the Joint Committee on Printing: the gentleman from California (Mr. Doolittle), the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Linder), the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Larson) and the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Brady).

In addition, the resolution appoints the following Members to the Joint Committee of Congress on the Library: the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Ehlers), the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Larson), and the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Millender-McDonald).

These are very distinguished Members, and they will add quite a lot to the importance of this committee. Madam Speaker, I urge full support of the bill.

Madam Speaker, reserving the right to object, I yield to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ney) to explain the purpose of the resolution.

I yield to the gentleman from Ohio.

Madam Speaker, further reserving the right to object, I would just add that it is an honor and a privilege as a new member of the committee to be joined by the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Brady) on the Joint Committee on Printing and by the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Millender-McDonald) on the Joint Committee of Congress on the Library. Both have distinguished themselves in this Congress, and I look forward as a new member serving with them both and our distinguished chairman.

Madam Speaker, I withdraw my reservation of objection.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H. Res. 134.