Senate Committee Hearings: Arranging Witnesses

March 12, 2015 (98-336)

Senate Committee Hearings: Arranging Witnesses Betsy Palmer Analyst on Congress and the Legislative Process September 25, 2009 Congressional Research Service 7-5700 www.crs.gov 98-336 CRS Report for Congress Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Senate Committee Hearings: Arranging Witnesses Summary Selecting witnesses is one of the most important aspects of planning a Senate hearing. Committees and subcommittees pay careful attention to which viewpoints will be represented, who should testify, and the order and format for presenting witnesses. A witness must be invited by a committee in order to testify; standing committees and their subcommittees also may subpoena reluctant witnesses. This report will be updated as changes in Senate rules and practices warrant. Congressional Research Service Senate Committee Hearings: Arranging Witnesses Contents Selecting and Inviting Witnesses .................................................................................................1 Subpoena Power .........................................................................................................................1 Format and Order of Witness Testimony......................................................................................2 Contacts Author Contact Information ........................................................................................................2 Congressional Research Service Senate Committee Hearings: Arranging Witnesses S electing witnesses is one of the most important aspects of planning a Senate hearing. Committees and subcommittees pay careful attention to which viewpoints will be represented, who should testify, and the order and format for presenting witnesses. A witness must be invited by a committee in order to testify; standing committees and their subcommittees also may subpoena reluctant witnesses. For details on the hearing process, please see CRS Report RL 30548, Hearings in the U. S. Senate: A Guide for Preparation and Procedure. by a committee in order to testify; standing committees and their subcommittees may also subpoena reluctant witnesses.¹ Selecting and Inviting Witnesses To testify, a witness must be invited by a committee. Before officially inviting a witness, committee staff identify and often interview prospective witnesses. Committees consider people from diversedifferent backgrounds, including individuals from the executive branch, state and local governments, academia, business, and interest groups as well as other private citizens. A committee may invite as many witnesses as it chooses, and may schedule multiple days of hearings. Generally, committees strive to ensure that a range of views are represented. For instance, rules of the Committee on Finance direct staff to try and schedule witnesses so as to attain a balance of views early in the hearing. In other cases, only witnesses expressing particular points of view might be invited, but a committee may decide to invite witnesses expressing only particular points of view or who will speak to specific elements of the hearing's topic. Senate rules allow the minority-party membersMembers of a committee (except Appropriations) to call witnesses of their choice on at least one day of a hearing. A majority of the minority members musthearings if a majority of the minority Members make this request to the committee chair before completion of the hearings hearing (Rule XXVI, paragraph 4(d)). The Committee on Finance explicitly allows every member of the committee to choose witnesses to testify. On many committees the minority members work informally with the majority to invite witnesses representing their views. 2 This rule is infrequently formally invoked; typically the Members of a committee from each party work together informally to invite witnesses representing various views. Note that some committees follow additional rules or practices in selecting witnesses.³ Once witnesses are identified, the committee chair usually sends each witness a formal letter of invitation. This letter generally provides the witness with basic information on the proposed hearing, including its purpose, subject, date, time, and location. In addition, the letter might indicate aany limitation on the length of a witness’'s oral testimony. The committee also might also send a witness additional information. This information could include a list of committee membersMembers, the committee’s rules, a copy of the measure under consideration (if legislation is the goal), and published articles relating to the issue. The letter of invitation might also request that a witness send the committee biographical information and an advance copy of written testimony, the latter being required at least one day before a witness testifies (except before the Appropriations Committee, Rule XXVI, paragraph 4(b)). A committee may reimburse a witness for expenses related to testimony, and, if reimbursement is expected, the letter of invitation might address this point. Often, the letter indicates a staff contact. Committee staff will sometimes 's rules, a copy of any relevant measure (for legislative hearings), and background information on the issue. The letter of invitation can specify any requirements for the transmission of written testimony to the committee, including explanation of deadlines for its submission. (Under Senate rules, written testimony is to be submitted at least one day before a witness testifies, except before the Appropriations Committee [Rule XXVI, paragraph 4(b)].) A committee may reimburse a witness for certain expenses related to testimony; if reimbursement is expected, the letter of invitation might address this issue.⁴ Often, the letter indicates a committee staff contact. Committee staff will sometimes communicate or meet with witnesses prior to a hearing to answer questions and to review procedure. Subpoena Power Subpoena Power⁵ Most individuals respond favorably to an invitation to testify, believing it to be a valuable opportunity to communicate and publicize their views on a question of public policy. However, if a person declines to appear by invitation, a standing committee or its subcommittees may require a witness to appear through by issuing a subpoena (Rule XXVI, paragraph 1). Committees also may may also subpoena documents. Subpoenas are most common at investigative hearings. Congressional Research Service 1 Senate Committee Hearings: Arranging Witnesses The rules of many committees delineate the procedurespecific procedures for authorizing a subpoena. Some committees delegate this authority to the chair and ranking minority member, while other committees require majority approval to authorize subpoenas. Still other committees allow Member (or, in some committees, under limited circumstances, to the chair alone), while other committees require a majority of the committee to either authorize the subpoena or to provide such authority to the chair. Still other committees allow subpoenas to be authorized by either committee leaders or a committee majority, or have other detailed procedures. or provide for other relevant procedures. Format and Order of Witness Testimony 6 Committees determine the format and order of witness testimony. A common format is that a witnessTypically, a witness testifying alone makes a statement and then responds to questions from committee membersMembers. Committees also may may also employ a panel format, often for witnesses with divergent viewpoints. It is normally the practice in this case for all panel members to make statements, then for committee members to Members to pose questions to the panel or to various panelists. Some observers believe this format stimulates debate and elicits more pertinent information. Committees sometimes use other formats for gathering information, such as joint hearings, field hearings, seminars, “roundtable”"roundtable" discussions, and “video conferencing,” with witnesses who may be located almost anywhere in the world. are not able to attend the hearing in person. The order in which witnesses testify is arranged at the discretion of the committee. Protocol dictates that a Member of Congress generally testifies before other witnesses, and a similar privilege often is privilege is often extended to high-ranking executive branch officials and to former Members and other high-level government officials. Celebrity witnesses may be judiciously placed in the lineup to generate media coverage and public attention to an issue. Testimony from academics, interestgroupinterest group representatives, and other private citizens may be arranged to ensure that committee members Members hear different perspectives in the most desirable order, a particular order—for instance, to allow one individual to refute arguments made by another. Author Contact Information Betsy Palmer Analyst on Congress and the Legislative Process bpalmer@crs.loc.gov, 7-0381 Congressional Research Service 2 respond to arguments made by another.

Acknowledgments

This report was originally written by [author name scrubbed], former analyst in American National Government at CRS, and was later updated by [author name scrubbed], former analyst on Congress and the Legislative Process at CRS. The author currently listed has updated this report and is available to answer questions on the subject.

Footnotes

1.	For details on the hearing process, see archived CRS Report RL30548, Hearings in the U.S. Senate: A Guide for Preparation and Procedure.
2.	For more details on this "minority witness rule," see CRS Report RS22649, Senate Committee Hearings: The "Minority Witness Rule", by [author name scrubbed].
3.	For instance, rules of the Finance Committee direct staff to try "to schedule witnesses so as to attain a balance of views early in the hearings." In addition, the committee explicitly allows every Member of the committee to choose witnesses to testify (Senate Finance Committee Rule 14 (d)).
4.	Staff are encouraged to consult with the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration in relation to regulations governing use of committee funds for witness expenses.
5.	For more information on the use of subpoenas in the legislative process, see CRS Report RL30240, Congressional Oversight Manual, by [author name scrubbed] et al., and CRS Report RL34114, Congress's Contempt Power and the Enforcement of Congressional Subpoenas: A Sketch, by [author name scrubbed] and [author name scrubbed].
6.	For more information on witness testimony and associated rules and practices, see CRS Report 98-392, Senate Committee Hearings: Witness Testimony, by [author name scrubbed].