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Bill
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No More Hard Stops Act

H.R. 5590 · 118th Congress · Sep 20, 2023 · Lineage

A BILL

To require an officer or employee of the Federal Government who is required by law to appear on a regular basis to give oral testimony at a hearing of a committee of Congress to remain at the hearing until each member of the committee has been provided with the opportunity to question the officer or employee.

Section 1 Short title

This Act may be cited as the “No More Hard Stops Act”.

Sec. 2 Requiring Federal Government officials testifying at hearings of committees of Congress to remain until each member has been provided the opportunity to question

(a)
Requirement— An officer or employee of the Federal Government who is subject to a requirement under law to appear on a regular basis to give oral testimony at a hearing of a committee of Congress shall not be considered to meet such requirement unless the officer or employee remains at the hearing until each member of the committee who is present at the hearing has been provided with the opportunity to question the officer or employee.
(b)
Ensuring opportunity To question for each Member—
(1)
In general— The chair of a committee of Congress who presides at a hearing of the committee at which an officer or employee of the Federal Government appears pursuant to a requirement described in subsection (a) may not provide a member of the committee with a second opportunity to question the officer or employee at the hearing until each member of the committee who seeks to question the officer or employee has been provided with an opportunity to do so.
(2)
Exercise of rulemaking power— This subsection is enacted by Congress—
(A)
as an exercise of the rulemaking power of the Senate and House of Representatives, respectively, and as such it is deemed a part of the rules of each House, respectively, but applicable only with respect to the procedure to be followed in that House in the case of a Commission joint resolution, and it supersedes other rules only to the extent that it is inconsistent with such rules; and
(B)
with full recognition of the constitutional right of either House to change the rules (so far as relating to the procedure of that House) at any time, in the same manner, and to the same extent as in the case of any other rule of that House.
(c)
Effective date— This Act shall apply with respect to hearings held on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.