CIVILITY IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

TESTIMONY

TRANSCRIPT

---

On April 17, and May 1, 1997, the Subcommittee on Rules and Organization of the House held a hearing on civility in the House of Representatives. The purpose of the hearing was to examine issues raised by Professor Kathleen Hall Jamieson in her report entitled "Civility in the House of Representatives." Her report was prepared for the Bipartisan Congressional Retreat, which was held March 7-9, 1997, in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The report was funded by the Aspen Institute with a grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts.

Dr. Jamieson, the lead witness at the hearing, is the Dean of the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. Other witnesses included Mr. Donald Wolfensberger, former Chief of Staff of the House Rules Committee and Visiting Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars; Professor Stephen Frantzich, Chairman of the Department of Political Science at the U.S. Naval Academy and author of the book "The C-SPAN Revolution;" and Professor Eric Uslaner, professor of political science at the University of Maryland-College Park and author of the book, "The Decline of Comity in Congress."

Issues raised in the civility report that are the subject of further investigation by the Subcommittee include:

• the adequacy of existing House rules governing decorum and debate in an era of intense media scrutiny and instantaneous communications;

• the role of the House Parliamentarian in enhancing civility;

• consistency of enforcement of the rules of decorum and debate by the Parliamentarian;

• the role of the chair in enforcing the rules of decorum and debate on its own initiative;

• the role that media coverage plays in exacerbating acts of incivility in the House, and institutional practices which focus the media's attention on acts of incivility;

• the use of alternative debate mechanisms (such as Oxford-style debates) as a means of elevating the discussion of controversial issues;

• consistency of interpretation and enforcement of rules among committees; and

• the effect of certain House scheduling arrangements on Member behavior.