{ "id": "98-338", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "98-338", "active": true, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 444251, "date": "2015-08-14", "retrieved": "2016-04-06T18:36:32.981101", "title": "House Committee Hearings: Witness Testimony", "summary": "Congressional Research Service\n7-5700\nwww.crs.gov\n98-338\nSummary\nWitnesses before House committees must generally file advance copies of their written testimony with the committees and then limit their oral testimony to brief summaries (Rule XI, clause 2(g)(5)). A question-and-answer period usually follows a witness\u2019s opening statement. Following hearings, committees usually publish the transcripts of witness testimony and questioning.\nContents\nAdvance Written Testimony\t1\nOral Testimony\t1\nQuestioning Witnesses\t1\nPrinting Hearings\t2\n\nContacts\nAuthor Contact Information\t2\nAcknowledgments\t2\n\nWitnesses before House committees must generally file advance copies of their written testimony with the committee and then limit their oral testimony to brief summaries (Rule XI, clause 2(g)(5)). A question-and-answer period usually follows a witness\u2019s opening statement. Following hearings, committees usually publish the transcripts of witness testimony and questioning.\nAdvance Written Testimony\nThe individual rules adopted by committees often state how far in advance of hearings testimony should be filed (frequently 24-48 hours). Committee rules sometimes stipulate the number of copies of written testimony to be submitted and often require submissions in electronic form. Electronic submissions facilitate printing the testimony as part of the hearing record and making the testimony publicly available online.\nCommittees have the authority to waive the advance written testimony requirement; for instance, if a witness is invited with little notice, the requirement may be waived. However, committees are usually diligent about obtaining advance copies of testimony. Before the hearing, committee staff may want to summarize or outline the testimony, draft questions tailored to each witness\u2019s statement, and make copies of the statement available to the press and public.\nThe written statement of a nongovernmental witness must contain the amount and source of any federal grant or contract received by the witness or the organization being represented during the current or previous two fiscal years (Rule XI, clause 2(g)(5)(B)). This so-called \u201ctruth in testimony\u201d rule is intended to assist members of the committee with evaluating a witness\u2019s views and remarks. Such statements, with appropriate redactions to protect the privacy of the witness, are to be made publicly available in electronic form not later than one day after the witness appears before the committee.\nOral Testimony\nAt the beginning of a hearing, it is common for committee members to make opening statements, and most committees place time limits on these preliminary remarks. Then, the committee chair generally introduces each witness in accordance with an arranged order and format. The chair, or any committee member designated by the chair, may administer the oath to a witness (Rule XI, clause 2(m)(2)). In practice, most committees rarely require witnesses to testify under oath; sworn testimony appears to be more common at investigative hearings. Some committees and subcommittees do, however, have a tradition of requiring all witnesses to be sworn. \nCommittees generally require witnesses to limit their oral testimony to brief summaries, in part because, as noted above, written testimony is usually available in advance, and Members want to use the time of the hearing to question witnesses. The rules adopted by some committees stipulate how long a witness may speak or grant discretion to the chair to make this determination.\nQuestioning Witnesses\nHouse rules guarantee each committee member who desires it an opportunity to question each witness for five minutes (Rule XI, clause 2(j)(2)). Following this questioning under the five-minute rule, committees may allow additional time for questioning witnesses and may allocate this time as they choose. In practice, committees sometimes allow a committee member to extend his or her time by unanimous consent.\nIn addition, a committee may adopt a rule or motion to allow a specified number of its members to question a witness for longer than five minutes (Rule XI, clause 2(j)(2)(B)). The time for extended questioning may not exceed 60 minutes and is to be equally divided between the parties. A committee may also adopt a rule or motion allowing its majority and minority professional staff to question a witness for up to one hour, equally divided.\nEach committee has the discretion in drafting its rules to determine the order in which members may question witnesses. Some committees alternate between the parties, in order of seniority. \u201cEarly bird\u201d rules permit questioning of witnesses based on members\u2019 order of arrival at the hearing, usually with the chairman and ranking Member retaining priority for recognition regardless of their arrival time. Some committees use a combination of these methods.\nPrinting Hearings\nCommittees regularly ask for reporters from the Office of Official Reporters to transcribe their hearings. Where transcripts are kept, they must be verbatim or substantially verbatim; only technical, grammatical, and typographical corrections authorized by those making remarks are allowed (House Rule XI, clause 2(e)(1)(A)). Committees usually publish their transcripts, although this is not strictly required. Committees must make their publications available to the public in electronic form \u201cto the maximum extent feasible\u201d (Rule XI, clause 2(e)(4)). Most House committees make hearing documents available to the public on their websites and many also utilize a central committee document repository established by the House for this purpose (http://docs.house.gov/Committee/Committees.aspx). Supplemental materials may also be printed as part of the hearing record. For example, a committee might include charts and research materials, written statements of witnesses, witness responses to unanswered or follow-up questions, other materials submitted by witnesses, or letters and testimony from individuals who did not testify in person. \n\nAuthor Contact Information\n\nChristopher M. Davis\nAnalyst on Congress and the Legislative Process\ncmdavis@crs.loc.gov, 7-0656\n\nAcknowledgments\nThis report was originally written by Thomas P. Carr, formerly an analyst in American National Government at CRS. The listed author is available to answer questions concerning its contents.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/98-338", "sha1": "72be41f1ed3ae0acc2c394754525a2f2ec47c760", "filename": "files/20150814_98-338_72be41f1ed3ae0acc2c394754525a2f2ec47c760.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/98-338", "sha1": "9b597af95912403103427f58e38bf0ba496dd273", "filename": "files/20150814_98-338_9b597af95912403103427f58e38bf0ba496dd273.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [ { "source": "CongOpsList", "id": 4137, "name": "House Committee System and Proceedings" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc743484/", "id": "98-338_2015Aug10", "date": "2015-08-10", "retrieved": "2015-10-20T21:35:54", "title": "House Committee Hearings: Witness Testimony", "summary": "This report briefly discusses the witness testimony process in House of Representatives committee hearings. Witnesses before House committees must generally file advance copies of their written testimony with the committee and then limit their oral testimony to brief summaries (Rule XI, clause 2(g)(5)). A question-and-answer period usually follows a witness's opening statement. Following hearings, committees usually publish the transcripts of witness testimony and questioning.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20150810_98-338_d0320c6b2fc9bf1b5812eaec978670482f12e424.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20150810_98-338_d0320c6b2fc9bf1b5812eaec978670482f12e424.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Congress", "name": "Congress" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Congressional committees (House)", "name": "Congressional committees (House)" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "House of Representatives", "name": "House of Representatives" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "House rules and procedure", "name": "House rules and procedure" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc31314/", "id": "98-338_2010Nov19", "date": "2010-11-19", "retrieved": "2011-03-09T09:26:47", "title": "House Committee Hearings: Witness Testimony", "summary": "This report briefly discusses the witness testimony process in House of Representatives committee hearings.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20101119_98-338_08006712740fac33d636471f639110b20cc46d83.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20101119_98-338_08006712740fac33d636471f639110b20cc46d83.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Congress", "name": "Congress" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Congressional committees (House)", "name": "Congressional committees (House)" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "House of Representatives", "name": "House of Representatives" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "House rules and procedure", "name": "House rules and procedure" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc805789/", "id": "98-338_2008Nov25", "date": "2008-11-25", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "House Committee Hearings: Witness Testimony", "summary": null, "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20081125_98-338_4d7426ac07fa72c08599ceaa4a428f632c8cb5f2.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20081125_98-338_4d7426ac07fa72c08599ceaa4a428f632c8cb5f2.html" } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc807395/", "id": "98-338_2008Apr23", "date": "2008-04-23", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "House Committee Hearings: Witness Testimony", "summary": null, "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20080423_98-338_39226cb8eef7d01f7f0a3ae785aa143d8b52e26d.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20080423_98-338_39226cb8eef7d01f7f0a3ae785aa143d8b52e26d.html" } ], "topics": [] } ], "topics": [ "American Law", "Legislative Process" ] }