Created in a near-unanimous bipartisan vote in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2019, the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress (“Modernization Committee”) operates with one goal in mind: make Congress work better for the American people.
The Modernization Committee was designed for members to identify opportunities for reform throughout the legislative branch to help members of Congress better serve their constituents. The Modernization Committee was established by a 418-12 vote on January 4, 2019 through the adoption of the Rules Package for the 116th Congress (H.Res. 6).
It is one of the only truly bipartisan committees in the House, with six Democratic and six Republican members. The members are Chair Derek Kilmer (D-WA-06), Vice Chair Tom Graves (R-GA-14), and Representatives Zoe Lofgren (D-CA-16), Rodney Davis (R-IL-13), Susan Brooks (R-IN-05), Rob Woodall (R-GA-07), Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO-05), Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA-05), William Timmons (R-SC-04), Suzan DelBene (D-WA-01), Dan Newhouse (R-WA-04) and Mark Pocan (D-WI-02).
The committee is tasked with making recommendations on:
- rules to promote a more modern and efficient Congress;
- procedures, including the schedule and calendar;
- policies to develop the next generation of leaders;
- staff recruitment, diversity, retention, and compensation and benefits;
- administrative efficiencies, including purchasing, travel, outside services, and shared administrative staff;
- technology and innovation;
- and the work of the House Commission on Congressional Mailing Standards.
Committee work and recommendations
Committee members have made recommendations and had conversations with colleagues and experts to identify inefficiencies, opportunities and areas for reform throughout the House that would make Congress more effective, efficient and transparent for all Americans.
Since March 2019 the Select Committee has held 16 hearings and numerous member and staff-level briefings and listening sessions to solicit ideas for reforming the legislative branch. On a rolling basis throughout the year, the Select Committee has issued recommendations and shared bipartisan ideas Congress-wide.
So far, the Select Committee has passed 45 recommendations to “open up” Congress, boost civility and bipartisanship in the House, save taxpayer dollars and increase the quality of constituent communication, improve access to the U.S. Capitol for all Americans, and revitalize House technology and reorganize House human resources.
The Select Committee does not have legislative authority, but in December 2019 all 12 committee members teamed up to introduce H.Res. 756, the Moving Our Democracy and Congressional Operations Towards Modernization (ModCom) Resolution. The text specifically addresses five sections of reform which include: Streamlining And Reorganizing Human Resources, Improving Orientation for Members-Elect and Providing Improved Continuing Education Opportunities For Members, Modernizing and Revitalizing Technology, Making the House Accessible to All, and Improving Access to Documents and Publications.
On March 10, 2020 the legislation passed with a near-unanimous vote on the House floor. It marked the first time in recent history that a select committee has effectively turned recommendations into legislative action. The House has already begun to implement several of the recommendations passed by the committee.
Recommendations to revitalize and modernize House technology
During many of the conversations and listening sessions held by both committee members and staff, the need to modernize and reform the House’s technology and information resources was top of mind for many. Staff highlighted a number of opportunities for reform, including but not limited to: the need for quick access to the newest technologies in order to perform basic office functions and effectively engage with constituents; streamlining the approval process for outside vendors who wish to provide new technology services to the House; the ability to beta test new technologies in member offices, and; the need to conduct a thorough review of the current House Information Resources (HIR) operations and services.
A number of these technology recommendations were passed unanimously and included in the final legislation passed by the House in March 2020. They are outlined by section as they appear in H.Res. 756, below:
Sec. 301. Reforming House Information Resources.
Sec. 302. Providing technologies to improve constituent engagement.
Sec. 303. Streamlined approval process for outside technology vendors.
Sec. 304. Enabling Member offices to beta test new technologies.
Sec. 305. Creating single point of contact between House offices and HIR.
Sec. 306. Improving Member feedback regarding outside vendors and HIR services.
Sec. 307. Leveraging bulk purchasing power of the House.
Sec. 308. Requiring Congressional Research Service to provide rapid response short fact sheets.
Sec. 309. Establishing nonpartisan constituent engagement and services page on HouseNet.
“Opening up” Congress for all Americans
The Select Committee’s first round of recommendations, which aimed to “open up” Congress for the American people, passed unanimously in May 2019. The recommendations, five in total, were designed to give the American public greater access to the inner workings of Congress.
The Select Committee held a hearing on May 10, 2019 titled “Opening up the Process: Recommendations for Making Legislative Information More Transparent.” Frances Lee, Professor of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland; Robert Reeves, Deputy Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives; Dan Schuman, Policy Director, Demand Progress, and; Josh Tauberer, Founder of GovTrack.us testified during the hearing and highlighted transparency efforts underway in the House, the value of making legislative information more transparent, and the effect of transparency on the deliberative process in Congress.
The first round of recommendations crafted by the Select Committee stemmed from those conversations. The Select Committee Members also solicited comments and suggestions from their colleagues in Congress.
Included in H.Res. 756 were a number of those recommendations, listed by section below:
Sec. 501. Adopting standardized format for legislative documents.
Sec. 502. Legislation comparison project.
Sec. 503. Database of information on expiration of authorizations of programs.
Sec. 504. Database of votes taken in committees.
Select Committee extended through 116th Congress
Last fall, after widespread bipartisan support throughout Capitol Hill, the Select Committee was extended through the end of the 116th Congress. The rule that created the Select Committee originally had it set to expire on February 1, 2020. The extension allows the Select Committee to continue its work proposing bipartisan reforms to make Congress work better for the American people.
Operating virtually during a crisis
In the face of a global pandemic, Congress has adapted and identified ways to continue effectively working to serve the American people. Since the U.S. Capitol closed to public visitors and guests, and the majority of congressional offices moved to a modified telework operating status, the Modernization Committee has continued to hold member-level discussions on committee priorities and ways to continue effectively working ahead of the October 30, 2020 committee report deadline.
Since March, the Modernization Committee has held several virtual discussions on topics related directly to remote operations and how to be most effective in the face of global uncertainty.
One of the committee’s first virtual discussions was with Marci Harris, CEO of PopVox, and Beth Simone Noveck, Director of The Governance Lab and Chief Innovation Officer for the State of New Jersey. The members and guests discussed best practices for remote committee and member operations, and ways other legislatures around the world are handling business. The Modernization Committee also hosted Travis Moore, founder and director of TechCongress, and Lorelei Kelly, the leader of the Resilient Democracy Coalition and a fellow at the Beeck Center for Social Impact and Innovation at Georgetown University. The discussion focused on Congress’ current tech capacity – especially in the face of a pandemic – and how we can use tech to strengthen and improve constituent engagement.
To examine district office operations and the ability of district staff to work remotely and continue operations in an emergency, the committee members hosted Peter M. Weichlein, CEO of the U.S. Association of Former Members of Congress and Kristine Simmons, Vice President for Government Affairs at the Partnership for Public Service. The guests also discussed the steps federal agencies are taking to protect employees once they return to work in an office environment and highlighted how the transition to telework has underscored the persistent differences between DC and district offices.
To learn more about Modernization Committee, please visit modernizecongress.house.gov.
To share your ideas for reform with the Modernization Committee, please email ModernizeCongress@mail.house.gov.
To view all of the Modernization Committee’s recent virtual discussions, visit https://modernizecongress.house.gov/committee-activity/virtual-discussions