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record necessary for understanding the structure and operation of the House during its two-hundred year history. The Senate Historical Office is planning a similar project for the Senate, so if both projects go forward we will have an opportunity to create the most comprehensive history of Congress ever assembled in one source.

Let me conclude by saying we eagerly look forward to an even closer institutional tie with the Office of the Clerk. The Clerk and his staff have helped and supported us in so many ways that we already feel like part of the family. The House is fortunate to have a Clerk who is himself a keen student of the history and traditions of the House. We could not be more pleased to see our relationship with the Office of the Clerk strengthened by the resolution we are discussing today. We will do all we can to be of assistance to the Clerk, especially in the area where we think professional historians can do the most good work, in those matters that bear on the preservation and use of the historical records of the House. Finally, I would like to thank you, Mr. Chairman, the Members of this subcommittee, and the subcommittee staff, for your fostering interest in the Office of the Historian. We appreciate your many courtesies since the office was established, and, of course, never forget that the Rules Committee was responsible for our creation in the first place.

we will

Report on the

Activities of the Office for the Bicentennial of the House

of Representatives, 1983-1989

Background

The Office for the Bicentennial of the U.S. House of Representatives was established in the 97th Congress, on December 17, 1982, when the House agreed to H. Res. 621, which amended Rule I of the Rules of the House by providing for the establishment of an office to coordinate the planning for the bicentennial of the House in 1989. The Office, under the direction of the Speaker, was staffed by a professional historian selected without regard to political affiliation and solely on the basis of fitness to perform the duties of the position following a nationwide search conducted by a bipartisan panel of Members of the House under the administration of the Committee on Rules. This action came after the House had rejected H. Res. 581 on September 24, 1982, which had called for the creation of a permanent Office of Historian of the House. The Office for the Bicentennial, according to the pro

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visions of H. Res. 621, was to cease to exist not later than September 30, 1989, unless otherwise provided by law or resolution.

On January 3, 1989, at the beginning of the 101st Congress, the House amended Rule I of the Rules of the House and established a permanent Office of the Historian of the House of Representatives. Earlier, during the 99th Congress, the House established a Commission on the United States House of Representatives Bicentenary (H. Res. 249) to provide oversight and development of the House bicentennial program. The bipartisan Commission is composed of six Members and two former Members appointed by the Speaker in consultation with the Minority Leader. The Majority and Minority

Leaders serve as ex officio Members of the Commission. Congresswoman Lindy Boggs has served as Chairman since the inception of the Commission. The Office for the Bicentennial serves as staff for the Commission.

From their inceptions, the Office for the Bicentennial and the Commission on the U.S. House of Representatives Bicentenary have been charged with the development of an appropriate program of publications, exhibits, symposia, and related activities which have the purpose of commemorating the history and development of

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The Office for the

the House over the past two centuries. Bicentennial also planned from the very beginning to lay a solid foundation for a permanent history office, if and when the House decided to establish such an office. The Historian began his duties on October 1, 1983. In the first annual report of the Office, the Historian described the plan of work that has been followed for the past six years. The account of activities which follows is listed in the same categories as those mentioned in H. Res. 249, which established the bicentenary commission. These categories are: publications, exhibits, symposia, and related activities.

Publications

Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 17741989: Bicentennial Edition. The publication of this 2,104 page directory, containing biographical sketches of every Member to serve in the House and Senate as well as in the Continental Congress before 1789, was the most ambitious and time-consuming project of the Office for the Bicentennial. Work began as soon as

the Office was established in 1983, and the volume was completed and published on schedule at the opening of the 101st Congress in

January 1989. This project was a joint effort with the Senate Historical Office and the Joint Committee on Printing. The responsibility of preparing and editing the biographical sketches of more than 10,000 House Members was that of the Office for the Bicentennial.

A Guide to Research Collections of Former Members of the United States House of Representatives, 1789-1987; Bicentennial Edition. This 504-page compilation of the locations and descriptions of important research collections of more than 3,000 of former Members of the House was begun in 1984. The publication represents the results of an ambitious national survey to locate the scattered manuscripts and other historical material that is essential to further historical studies of the House of Representatives. No such guide for House historical resources existed until this publication appeared in December 1988. It represents a major tool for further studies of the House. It was compiled with the nationwide support of volunteer historians, archivists, and librarians, who provided the data for the publication.

Guide to the Records of the United States House of Representatives at the National Archives, 1789-1989: Bicentennial Edition.