Transcripts For CSPAN House Modernization Committee Hearing On Supporting New Congressional... 20240714

Order. ,etter late than never sorry, everybody. The chair is authorized to declare a recess of the committee at any time. The hearing is titled fostering the next generation of leaders setting members up for success. I now recognize myself for five minutes to give an opening statement. Take the case, i will not five minutes, because we are doing Something Different today. This committee sometimes likes to shake things up. Today, we are looking at ways to develop the next generation of leaders in congress, which is part of our community. We figured the best way to showcase the next generation of leaders were to feature this committees freshmen members actively participating in the work of this committee. We have all benefited from their unique perspectives as freshmen members, and representative timmons always gets here early, and his enduring patience has not gone unnoticed. Today, i yield to representative scanlon and representative timmons today. We like to finish up any opening remarks . If you will recall, as the whole committee will, when we had one of our first member listening days, that came from the incoming class, which certainly helped us think big. Im glad we can yield the home to the two brightest in the incoming class. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I yield back. With that, i yield to representative scanlon. Rep. Scanlon this is exciting. I almost feel like we should just go out for ice cream. I would like to thank everyone who joined us for the hearing. Today, we will be discussing ways in which we cant support the transition process for incoming members and how the institution of congress can better support all members of congress in their current and future role. We will hear testimony on a range of topics, including simplifying the Transition Training beyond orientation, and empowering emerging leaders and helping the freshman numbers better succeed. As a new member myself, i have a personal interest in the having recently experienced have stressful and time consuming the transition process can be. I was sworn in seven days after election day and experienced the process kind of on hyperspeed. All attest that the most accurate analogy to the process of setting up a Congressional Office is drinking from a fire hose, or a fire hydrant. During our member hearing day, many freshman colleagues offered suggestions to streamline orientation and transition process, increase opportunities for bipartisan contact, and make it more responsive to the actual challenges facing members. Privately, many have shared process, thet the challenges of getting up and running quickly and effectively. Tasks involved in setting up multiple offices and hiring staff, going through orientation, moving to a new city, and making a million small decisions in the span of a few weeks takes away from time learning the duties that are essential to our job, like how to vote, how to get through the. Unnel, all of those things i think we can do a better job of supporting our freshman classes in making the transition to a congress, and being helpf ul in tackling the issues facing our country from day one in congress. Hear testimony on how we can support members once they are here. With thehe goal goal of building a bunch of promising members who are interested in becoming leaders and helping them transition into their new role successfully and seamlessly. And building out systems to help them along the way are key to helping them be more effective for their constituents. We have a committee that has spent a lot of time that talks about professional development as it relates to staff, but it is also important that members have avenues to advance their priorities and move into leadership roles. Experts on the panel today have highlighted a range of ways that we can lift up new leaders in the house. They have offered recommendations on everything from member training to those who want to be chairs to building out a robust Human Resources department. If we can do a better job providing support to our members throughout their time in congress, in addition to easing the transition process, we can be a more effective and better body, we hope. Im looking forward to hearing the thoughts and recommendations of our witnesses and Committee Members about how to foster the next generation of congressional leaders and set everyone up for success. With that, i will yields to representative timmons for his opening remarks. Make you, madam chairwoman. It really is an honor to be leading this committee with you. I want to thank chairman kilmer and vice chair breaks for their leadership on this community. I show up early and stay here the whole time because it is my favorite committee that i am on. It is my favorite committee because of the way the two of you have led this in a bipartisan manner. Andtake the members input it has really been a very good experience. I want to give you a story from my time in the state senate. I was elected to the state senate three years ago now, i served two years there, and became friends with members who had been there for a while. This particular member told me a fory he had been there 30 eight years at that time, now he is the president pro tem for a senator, harvey peter. He said you know, senator, when i got elected, we were not allowed to speak on the floor or in committees for four years. I said, i kind of miss that. [laughter] i might have talked a little more and committee then he would have preferred, but he was very kind to help lead me in the right direction, and he has been very influential on my time in Public Service. I really appreciate that. Times have changed. When he got elected 39 years ago, he was not allowed to week, and now here we are allowed to speak, and now here we are. Thank you for letting me take a meaningful role in this. I really do appreciate that. Having gone through member orientation, it was, as the drinkingn said, like through a fire hose i was also in the process of running to be the freshman representative on the steering committee, so that was an additional layer that was very challenging. Inle i know the house admin that process, a lot of thought was put into it. We can always make things better, we can always tweak and overhaul things in ways that will be more efficient. I definitely look forward to that conversation today. New member orientation is the beginning of our service here in congress, and it is a critical time that will potentially andne your next two years beyond that. I also want to thank my mentor. The republican conference has assigned vice chair graves to be my member. He was fallen told he was told, i believe, he did not ask, but i have appreciated his kind encouragement over the past six months. I look forward to hearing how you all think we can improve boarding andof on Leadership Development, and i appreciate you taking the time. With that, i yield back to the chairwoman with the remainder of my time. Thank you. Im looking forward to hear the thoughts and recommendations from the witnesses for fostering leadership in the next generation of the house. We will look the testimony of three witnesses. First, we have the chief Administrative Officer of the house, a position he has held since august 2016. He is responsible for information technology, financial, logistical, and Human Resource Services Provided to members and their staff. As cao, he has had a particular focus on improving the efficiency and accuracy of house services. He has a long record of house and government service. Mr. Kiko also worked in the department of education and the interior. He served as general counsel for three House Committees, including the committee on House Administration, which is responsible for overseeing house operations, including those cao. Ied out by the you are pretty much the mayor of the house. Y householder is the she has been with an csl since 2008 and her responsibilities include overseeing content development for legislative leaders, creating and providing training for legislators, communicating with and providing services for legislative bills, and overseeing international partnerships, and programs. She has developed and delivered several specialized programs for legislative staff across the country. She has spoken and strained international and National Audiences on a variety of issues specific to legislatures, and prior to joining us, she worked in the wisconsin state senate. Richard schapiro spent 19 years that Congressional Management Foundation and earth as tocutive director from 1990 2006. During that time, he facilitated Strategic Planning retreats, conducted confidential assessments, and performed other Consulting Services for Congressional Offices. He is the author of Frontline Management , a guidebook for running district and state offices. He is also the author of several chapters in the management guide books, which we all received upon orientation. Before joining, he held senior staff positions in both the senate and house. Witnesses, you are reminded that your oral testimony will be limited to five minutes and without objection, your written statements will be made part of the record. You are recognized for five minutes to present your testimony. Kiko chairman kilmer, vice chairman graves, representative scanlon and representative timmons, members of the community, thank you for discussing ways the cao can foster the next generation of leadership here at the house and set members of her success. At the member at the member day hearing also recognize the importance of this topic, highlighting the expansion and improvement of Leadership Development initiatives as a priority for congress. House is an extraordinary institution in many ways. There are many legislative and operational elements that are unique to this chamber. This environment demands learning and Development Opportunities that foster career leadership and advancement in the house. The cao must do everything within its means to meet the needs of members and their staff so they are equipped with the resource is very just resources necessary to succeed. We want to have a Customer Service focused Strategic Plan that sets out to improve our understanding of the House Committee and improve our resources we provide. In the early stages of implementation, we identified immediately and worked to address several gaps, particularly a gap in congressional Development Offerings for house staff. Success of the house requires a highly specialized professional development and Career Advancement curriculum. Representative frost, in his testimony before the committee, emphasized the importance of professional development, stating Congress Must identify leaders and servants in its staff, and they must begin in the education and Career Growth to events in their Public Service careers. I know several members who are former staffers, and that is sort of a testament to what that statement is about. Oncell the gap, the cao the Congressional Staff academy designed to deliver professional development, training tailored specifically to the house. Prior to its launch, the academy conducted a Training Needs assessment and got direct feedback from nearly 600 employees and Congressional Offices. The cao now offers specialized ,raining on requested topics like appropriations law, Committee Clerk procedures, writing skills unique to a Capitol Hill Office and leadership. Our nine part leadership seminar , developed in partnership with the Marine Corps University in the partnership of Public Service, has been of particular interest joint chiefs of staff and district interest to chief of staff and district directors today. The cao wanted to share that District Offices have the same training opportunities as staff located here on capitol hill. Updated classrooms and broadcast Technology Allows almost all Academy Training to be available as live or ondemand webinars. To be effective on capitol hill, one needs a worklife balance, which is why last year we worked closely with members to launch the house wellness enter, offering in purses and online courses for gc and District Office staff on a wide range of topics, from mindfulness, nutrition, fitness, general health. We recently had a wellness fair, and it was attended by over 700 staff. As mentioned, we have instituted Workforce Management best practices to make sure cao staff are sufficiently qualified and engaged in the skills we support, the principles of these Workforce Management best practices are applicable and could be adopted to committee offices. These best practices include a new Performance Management system, leadership chaining training for managers, practices to recoup higher and managed recoup, hire, and manage talents. We launched an effort to identify skills gets an skills that and qualities of leaders in cao and advanced those qualities, and we think that could be applicable here as well. Addition to the services the cao can improve and streamline the administrative of members, specifically the transition process of new members. The Administrative Burden of setting up a Congressional Office distracts from the focus of Big Decisions that members have. Based on feedback from members and staff, it is clear the time it takes to set up a District Office is too long and equipping and outfitting offices is too complex. Over the years working with the committee on House Administration, we attempted to try to streamline and simplifies some of the setup processes. For example, we can do all the websites and i think we did for the freshman class all the websites. There are other processes we can running, and i am out of time, so i welcome feedback from the member, which im sure i will receive. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Ms. Householder, you are now recognized for five minutes for your testimony. Kilmer, vice chairman graves, representative scanlon, and representative timmons, members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify. We are the National Bipartisan Organization Serving all state legislators and legislative staff. Our mission is to strengthen state legislative institutions, provide connections between state and serve as the voice of federal legislators in the government. My work involves researching programs that legislatures are implementing to discover skills, and professional and lamenting professional courses we implement in the state. I will describe how we provide professional and Leadership Development. Americans expect their elected officials to solve problems and be stewards of democracy. This is an expectation that is about to enter its fifth century on american soil. This month, virginia will celebrate the 400th anniversary of Representative Democracy when it marks the first meeting of the Virginia House of burgesses in 1619. Democracy,tory of state legislators have been serving the American People ever since. Study,egislators negotiate, compromise, and collaborate to get things done in the vast majority of men done, and the vast majority of legislation passed is with bipartisan support. But there is no formal training to be an effective legislator. Some states are beginning to expand on what has been limited legislative Training Programs. Our organization and other organizations are adding programs to help legislators develop the knowledge they need to thrive. What are the states doing . They are taking it on the road. At least misery is. All newly elected legislators embark on a six to 10 day tour of the state to better understand other districts. While uncommon, this idea example highs the creativity and dedication legislators have in ensuring the success of legislators. Ncsl is in the middle of an Extensive National survey on orientation programs. Every chamber is providing baselevel orientation. Popular topics include the role of the clerk and secretary, role and functions of other budget,ive staff, the ethics, bill enactment, chamber rules and procedures, and the committee process. Beyond an initial orientation and provide ongoing skill, development, and training. Wisconsin, idaho, colorado, the hawaii house, the pennsylvania senate, and the Washington House are examples of legislatures that provide Ongoing Professional Development in at least one topic. For example, colorado provide ongoing parliamentary procedure training for legislators. Idaho provides Civics Education each year. Several states have instituted a mentorship program, i merrily in the caucuses, as you seem to have. What does ncsl offer . Our Services Include on boarding packet, instate training, Online Training and leadership. Rogramming state requests for training has skyrocketed recently. Leaders across the country find ongoing Skills Development for their caucus or chamber , primarily to help new legislators create a standard of what it means to be successful. Our most popular trainings are for Committee Chair legislator training, fx negotiations, media relations, and Strategic Planning facilitation for leadership teams. Often we conduct these train things trainings using former emphasizing peertopeer learning. Our programs are customized for the legislative environment, a critical piece to their success, and designed using Adult Learning techniques to boost interactivity and engagement. Consistently, feedback has been at the peertopeer programs are most beneficial. Furthermore, ncsl offers specific training for leaders in leadership positions. We offer workshop for leaders that focus exclusively on themes such as risk, decisionmaking, culture, and trending policy topics. Experiential programs have become a critical component of our leadership offerings, including executive Leadership Programs in gettysburg and normandy based on historic leadership examples. Offers anly, ncsl emerging Leaders Program that introduces up and comers to industry theory and skills, such as collaborative problem solving, leading through change, and managing a caucus. Developinges that by individual legislators and leaders in the state, we in turn strengthen the legislature, the heart of our. Mission. I start most of my trainings with one question. Why did you run for office . It shouldnt be hard to answer and most of the time it isnt. Most legislators know exactly why they wanted to be part of the legislative institution that is part of american democracy. But most often, the noise under the dome can be overwhelming. By bringing the why to the forefront, members engage because they want to be a better legislator, to excel at their job. It is not partisan, it is not politics, it is good leadership for the next 400 years. Thank you for the opportunity to be here. I look forward to your questions. Thank you. Mr. Schapiro, you are now recognized for five minutes for your testimony. Thank you. Chairman kilmer, vice chairman nlon,s, representative sca representative timmons, members of the committee, thank you for inviting me today to testify. I have been involved with the task of helping freshmen members successfully make the transition to congress for over 30 years. I hope i can help the committee address the significant problems that freshmen members routinely inounter in their first term office and enhance the overall freshman member experience. The most common complaint shared by both freshmen members and their chiefs of staff is that the freshman orientation experience is overwhelming. As representative scanlan pointed out. The primary purpose for all of these orientation programs and the Panel Discussions are part of that is to address the question, what is the critical information that members elect needs to know to have a successful first term . The answer to this question leads to the presentation of a massive volume of information that overwhelms numbers elect and their aides, and leaves them unprepared for the onslaught that hits them on january 3. The problem, these orientation programs are addressing the wrong question. The questions they ought to be addressing, what information to the members elect need to know to be successful in their first 90 days . What do they need to know that allows them to successfully set up their office and manage their first month on the job in january . In january and february, them and their staff should be given Additional Information that would help address the challenges of the next 30 to 60 days. Need to words, we replace the orientation process with a range of house Training Programs and support services throughout their first year in office that provides members and their staff the critical information they need to know when they need to know it, or what is referred to in the private sector as just in Time Training. This will greatly improve our freshman officers first term performance. One component should include Management Training for freshmen members and Senior Management staff. Management is a critical function for which many freshmen members and their chiefs of staff lacks sufficient training and experience. Improving their management skills will improve the performances of their offices and greatly reduce the stress and anxiety found in many freshmen officers and that representative scanlon referred to. Hopefully the new representative freshman Staff Academy can be one of the solutions. Be tor solution would provide a small budget to every member elect to hire one person to assist them during the transition period. They usually have the option of convincing someone to work pro bono for 60 days or pay the amount of campaign funds. Neither is a good option. Can hire such aids, why shouldnt the house . I would also urge the committee on House Administration to conduct the copperheads of assessment of the freshmen experience every two years. If the house wants to improve the experience of the freshmen members, they need to learn their views about orientation and their overall first year experience. This valuable Customer Service data is not routinely connected if this valuable Customer Service data is not routinely collected and analyzed, future changes will be based on anecdote and win rather than solids data. Has no humanhouse Resources Department that provides Health Offices with a full range of hr services. Most Large Organizations routinely provide them. They are critical for effective organizations. Hr departments help managers address management challenges, answer personal questions, provide guidance on staff recruitment, hiring practices, Staff Compensation and other office benefit policies, providing staff training to regularly improve the skills of staff. The Central Hr Department could also conduct a wide range of alterable research valuable research that would provide data to the individual house and how state offices. The absence of an Hr Department impairs the effectiveness of the and placese offices, the burden of researching and solving a wide range of operational problems squarely on each individual office. Without a house wide Hr Department, House Offices will continue to try to provide these services on their own. It is a terribly inefficient model that ignores the principal of economy of scale. Most offices have neither the time nor the expertise to do these tasks well, if at all. Often makey, they mistakes, operate inefficiently, and muddle through problems that deserve better solutions. Offices itself, from the lack of hr support, are the freshmen offices and the ones that have the greatest needs, because they are setting their office up for the first time. For all these reasons, the house should consider creating an Hr Department that provides these services to House Offices house officers on an ongoing basis. Thank you. Thank you very much. I will now recognize myself for five minutes of questions. Kiko. Ng with you, mr. First of all, i missed the launch of the wellness center. I guess i started a couple weeks to late, and if it came into my inbox, i totally missed it. I need to figure out how to access that. Maybe we should offer it up to members more frequently. I was also excited about the idea of the staff leadership academy. My district director is here now participating in that, and she has been anxiously anticipating it to pick other peoples brains and steal all the best ideas. Thank you. We appreciate that. You talked about simplifying setup for new offices. Can you give us some concrete suggestions we might adopt in that round that realm . I do. Lets just say there has been lots of negative feedback about setting up the District Offices for freshmen, and i might as well hit this right at the beginning. What i did, i asked for a flowchart on how complicated is it to set up a District Office for Just Technology . I brought it with me. There are over 80 steps that we to set upified technology in the District Office. And so i think that over the out aswe tried to ring much efficiency as we can, but sometimes the process is so complicated that you cant. And so i would just say, on Something Like that, maybe right at the beginning, with a freshmen office, we could give router, youg or 4g can get set up, you can have the office functioning, then we will do all the other things we are supposed to do in the 90 day period we are supposed to. But some members have more than one District Office here. It has been sort of a nightmare. I have been somewhat disappointed at this because i had meetings on this, i had meetings with the Major Telecom providers to make sure we got this stuff off on the right foot. But i have been making my own rounds to the District Offices, and sometimes the ones that are there for a couple of days, people are missing appointments because they go to the wrong day. When you add that all up, you are not providing the service. That that is one of the bigger ones. I do think looking at some of level,veys at a macro there has been some criticism also about the washington, d. C. Set up as well, so we are working on that. ,e think we can do a better job and what i have really been trying to focus on is services to members and services to make it easier for members, but i think for the most part on the setups, we have had very positive remarks from members in regards to the moves and everything. One member actually had a reception for the people that participated in it, and he invited everybody over. Story, butll a bad on the stuff that i was just talking about, it sort of prevents members from executing, sometimes the stuff gets in the press, you know, where constituents are calling and stuff is not working. They are saying, i have seen those kinds of stories, where they do not know how to set up the office, you were elected to do this and that, and i will try to simplify for the next transition. Are not deep dive and quite done yet, but i have about a 130 page document here that basically, we surveyed every member and did the moves and have lots of detailed information that we are going to theno put into this, and we are going to try to execute it. We obviously will have to make some changes in things, which i will be working with the committee and House Administration and other people to really try to simplifies the process. I appreciate it. I know we had some problems getting the attack up in our district. I know my district director will be pleased to hear you are on it. Mr. Schapiro, we have also been interested in the idea of an Hr Department. Coming from a corporate environment, where there might be different offices, different partners or something having those Central Resources for the things that really start to pick at us, can you talk about the recommendations you would make as to what offices could be pulled into or what functions might be pulled into that . Yes. There are a number of functions the house is now performing candy that can be consolidated, like the Department Training the Staff Academy office is doing. Training is clearly an important component of hr. Capacitiesre many that the house does not offer to Congressional Offices. If a chief remember has a management problem, there is really no office they can sit down and confidentially talk to somebody and say, can i air out my concerns and get some guidance and advice . If i have questions about personal matters if i have legal questions i can turn to somebody, but if i sadly want to determine the pay of a person or the compensation system of my office, is it fair and does it make sense, who do i turn to to get that information . Parts of a lot of information to recruit people. Sample, minority candidates, if i want to bring more of them into my office how do i recruit minority candidates . What are the best actresses . These office can provide services and a wealth of other services. Lacking that information and ,lace to go, a onestop shop Congressional Offices have to do it themselves and they often wind up not doing it at all. I am not looking to tie anybodys hands or make any Congressional Office say, you have to work on any compensation system that says they can only be paid this much money, but whatever service you have, create an hr service that provides the service House Offices need. It is a fully volunteer kind of issue where entrusted managers and members can go to get information about a wealth of issues that are confronting their offices and many of these issues they have never confronted before. Or resources that would not be duplicative. Correct. My time has expired, so i would recognized representative timmons for five minutes. I appreciate your issues weh the are facing. Technology is a huge challenge in my home office and in d. C. , but you were helpful in working through the process. While it took longer than i thought it should, it was a great experience working with your office, so i appreciate that. Thank you. We are being live streamed and recorded and archived. Has anyone ever or have we ever recorded new member orientation and made it Available Online for members to view at a later date . I am not aware of it, no. I dont think so. I missed a number of the opportunities to learn and the different evolutions, and i know a number of the other members did as well. That is something we could think about at some point. Ok. We have the Technology Already available. We do. So i guess that was my first question. How challenging is it obviously, you do not know how many new members are coming in. There could be 25, there could be 125. Is that another problem you have as far as preparing . Of a range, the average is 50, but it could go higher, as it did this last year. This was the second largest class. We try to prepare for the outside number, but there is a lot of extra contractors that we have to hire to move. We are not staffed up optimally, you know, until we know the number. So it has been a challenge, but we have been able to work through it. How didat degree representative kellers experience differ from the that we win through . Is a different coming in during a special election . I think it is. You are dumped right in their in there and voting right away. I know another representative came in and said to do the same thing. She came in and two days later was voting. I know we met right away, this was right before you were sworn in, and we have had 17 different meetings last year with members where there were special elections. The last congress, quite a few. In the last hour, 15 minutes, you have the meeting off the floor. Somebody too assign get this up and running. It is very truncated and you really lose a lot without having a new member orientation. But if you did attend new member orientation later on theoretically, if we were recording for new member orientation, it would be easier willpecial election you be watching television for the next two days. That is something to think about it. Householder, thank you so much for your work with an csl. It has been a great resource. States something other are doing as it relates to Online Training or recordings of training for a lot of states . Are they taking that route . Thank you for your question. Tell us to record their orientations in particular, that they can then share with people who maybe choose not to come to the orientation, or representatives or senators that rc elected aat are selected during special election. Some states have that capacity. It is not uniform across the country. In terms of other trainings that are offered, certain states are just getting off the ground with offering trainings in addition to new member orientation. At this point, im not aware of trainings that are archived in that fashion. Providesn Organization Many archived trainings online in the form of webinars that legislators can go to to further their skills. I am running of time. Mr. Schapiro, the Congressional Management Foundation has been an incredible foundation, so thank you. I want to ask you about bipartisan relationships. They put us on different buses when we left the hotel, republicans there and democrats there. Would you agree that it would be better to have us spending more time together whenever possible . Yes, i believe that is absolutely important and critical. And i point out that orientation, you are together a little bit, with but you are separated off a lot of the time, which does not make a lot of sense to me. But once you go through allowation, what programs people to get together, republicans and democrats, and break bread and develop relationships that will hopefully last and benefit them for a long time . If nothing is put in place to create that kind of situation, i think the house should really try to promote those kinds of relationships right when you guys get here, build those relationships and create forums so democrats and republicans alike begin forming important bonds and relationships. I couldnt agree more. I yield back. Thank you. I now recognize chairman kilmer for five minutes for questioning. Thank you. I wanted to start with mr. Kiko. A lot of members and of using outside vendors for technical that hrand for services provides at no cost. It seems there is an opportunity to provide these services centrally, but these service have to lift up live up to expectations. Getting annsidered outside assessment on how the existing services could be improvedred and tamora line with what members are looking for . Is there some assessment of the Services Provided . I think there is an obvious problem if you are Offering Services for free and members are not using it. In other parts of my organization had an outside assessment dump done in regards to the finance office to theh regards logistics office, you know . I think i would be very supportive of an outside assessment, because sometimes it is difficult to have an internal assessment, because you are a little too close to it. I think an outside set of eyes would be useful. I think that is a good idea. Householder, i repeat his praise of your assessment. It is his birthday today, so happy birthday. Hay. Spent my third year in the Washington State Senate Becoming a Committee Chair and reaching out, because i did not know what cdas doing, and got been a on how to be a Committee Chair, which i drove down interstate five to olympia listening to almost every day. So thank you for that. In your written testimony, you mentioned leadership guidelines and how leaders today should be thinking about the leaders of tomorrow. In your experience, do many state legislatures have clear leadership pipelines for members . If so, can you talk about what they look like and how that is identified, and guidance for us to think about that some some of that stuff . Sure. First, i would like you to know that we have upgraded to two podcasts. We have moved up. First, the advice i would offer and what i would say states are doing, individual leaders are really taking it upon themselves to think for the future of the institution. In terms of how we see current leaders preparing for the future , they are thinking in their taking my can i see place and carrying the Institution Forward . Oftentimes they will turn to vision help augment this , meaning they will turn to us and nominate these members for our emerging Leaders Program, for example, or ask for resources from us that they could provide to promising members of their caucus that they can then share in their caucus. So we really see it in the current leadership thinking about the future. I yield back, thank you. I now recognize vice chair graves for five minutes. Thank you, madam chair, and thanks to each of you for being here. Most of the times when we are in hearings, we are often asking questions that we may know the answers to, and we ask panels questions to see if there answers align with our knowledge and such. This panel is very different. We are typically asking questions that we dont know the answers to, and that is true today as well. So first, to ms. Householder and mr. Schapiro, when i think about professional development in an outside organization, oftentimes , the leadership in an organization encourages their employees to be involved in professional development. We have heard from cao that it is available for staff. Available seen that for members. In essence, the ceo of the organization, the managers of the organizations that we operate, what should we be looking at . We areuld be done, as challenged with putting forth recommendations as to how we can make this institution operate a little better and better serve the American People. Are there any specifics that you would recommend, whether it is offices,ao or personal or this new hr concept, that we could be better developed professionally, whether it is through new technology, new software applications, presentations, operating a committee, of which i have chaired committees for a couple years and had zero training in that, and it is just onthejob training, kind of simply. Is there anything you could help us with . I would start with ms. Householder. Thank you. My initial thought in answer to your question, learning is what you make it and take it upon yourself. Age where Online Learning opportunities are endless, and anybody can go to a number of different platforms and gain leadership skills and knowledge to move forward. Withi find, the problem some of those are is they are not necessarily specific to the legislative environment, right . This is true for states and at the congressional level. Unique skills are required for this type of work in this environment. My recommendation in terms of developing yourself for leadership is to look at what is out there currently that perhaps doesnt necessarily align exactly with the legislative environment, but its close, and createhat to try to something for yourself and for your colleagues, right . It upon ourselves to do this for leaders at the state level, and that is our Leadership Program we offer. We craft civic programs that address legislative leadership. We ask leaders to come to those programs and to share their expertise with other leaders. My Second Thought would be that the peertopeer Leadership Exchange is absolutely critical and cannot be overstated, that the learning from one another is really where Adult Learning happens. Thank you. It sounds like you are suggesting voluntary personal development. You know, oftentimes in organizations, there is a certificate or meritbased, you are earning more accolades or more responsibility, and maybe that is how we handle it with staff. Mr. Schapiro, any thoughts on actual members better developing themselves to be better leaders in their office, and aside from the legislative process, we all get training on how a bill becomes a law, we get that and understand the budget process, but personal development . Love the question. I think it is the critical and right question to ask, how can we promote professional development for everyone in this institution . If everyone gets better, the institution is going to get better. Right now i would ask the question, what Training Programs are offered to house members to help you do your jobs better . There are all sorts of things you can do by talking to colleagues, but what programs are in place . Aw, cao is creating Congressional Staff academy that is providing useful leadership Training Programs for managers. I would like to see that expanded to members. That would be particularly freshmen members often dont have that experience with value, but we also know a lot of veteran members come from law firms are other places where they have not managed an office before. Testimony, imy think Management Training is critical, but the key point, if we are going to be committed to professional development, and i think the caos office, this is the first time this office has committed to professional development and doing some very good things, i think we should also apply this to members and say, lets do a Needs Assessment to find out what our members needs really are, and talking to all of you and saying, here is what we can offer. I agree with your comment about seeing what else is out there, but this is a unique program that needs to be tailored to the needs of members. Find out what your needs are. Are they management, public speaking, working with staff . Are they negotiation skills . What things would make you better in your job . Where you think you need training and assistance, and build from the ground up those programs to meet exactly the needs that have been identified in the Needs Assessment. A final point i would make, i agree with the comment about peertopeer training. I believe it is really valuable. Formally,tunities members and freshmen members get together, but wouldnt it be great if once a month, freshmen members met over breakfast with the facilitator, a confidential meeting, and everyone said, this is the issue i want to talk about today. Im having an issue with my staff on this issue, or i am dealing with a political issue back home. We are holding a town hall meeting on how to do this. What is the experience of the rest of you, and how, in closed doors here, can we share from the experiences and learn from one another . That is exactly where we need to be moving to. Thank you. Cleaverld recognize mr. Representative cleaver. Representative woodall for five minutes. Rep. Woodall thank you. You need more than five minutes to get the answer, if i know the answer already, i could do it more quickly. Mr. Shapiro, let me start with you. Cms, itars around at has always been standard for Staff Development and training. What is it in your experience that the cao will not be able to do well and we will still need to turn to an outside group to do are there such things are are we able to inhouse the training that we have been dependent on cms for . Mr. Shapiro very good question. I may need five minutes to think about it. I will do without. There is a lot of Training Programs that cms offers that would be well offered by the house and we would love to cosaborate with the office. Yes. There is a lot that can be done. Members may have consulting issues that are very politically, potentially damaging. A fight between the chief of conflictsthe ld or that they would not want public. They write now come to the congressional management they right now come to the congressional management. They say, can you help us on this issue and they know it will be confidential. E it comes to the ocs cos office, there may be concerns that members say once this is a part of the house of representatives, i may be uncomfortable raising that concern because of what they have if someone and political interest in that office decides to release the information. I am not sure that was the case, but that is probably the one that comes to mind. We are thinking about how often we turn to outside organizations. In your testimony, you talk about states who have been doing it well internally. I am picking about the states that are doing it the best externally. The folks that are not doing the public resources, but who have found the private sector to help them. Could you give that some thought and some number in the future and have a conversation about who it is, which states are excelling out of house and instead of inhouse . Sure. I can certainly follow up with more information, but there are a couple of states that come to mind that do partner with a university. For example, Michigan Partners with michigan state. The university of tennessee does parts of orientation for them. And states often turn to former state legislators. Oft is a different type but they turn to them to look at different ways of doing things. Rep. Woodall i dont think i will have time to get the answer i want from mr. Kiko. Before we establish the cos office, everything was done in a fairly partisan way. He who had the keys determined to got the lightbulbs changed and who did not. Do states have any problems distributing training, Information Services because of who was running the show at that time or is that not a complaint that you hear from minority members . Depends on theit state, but in terms of orientation, we do not hear that complaint often. It is very clear and acrosstheboard, it is very bipartisan in nation. In nature. Oftentimes, we do see that happening at the caucus level. Individual leaders of those caucuses are determining what type of ongoing training they would like to offer. Rep. Woodall rep. Woodall i did think a problem. Are we insulated from that. Is your office now insulated from political influences where everybody would have access to the same services or do we still need to worry about lyrical influence in your office. I have operated in a nonpartisan, nonpolitical way and i think that is the only way. If it would not happen, then the ca would not have any credibility and we would not have this kind of discussion. We are insulated. House,as running the training, trying to make members better, i think it is nonpartisan and that is what the election above the cao is about. Rep. Woodall you have zero fear is about bipartisan influence on your office . Mr. Kiko under me and some of the other people, yes. It does not say that there are not attempts to have it, but i have not seen it. Rep. Woodall i yelled back. I yield back. Thank you. All of you for joining us today. I was also a special election and it was definitely a hard and i did not go to any orientation, so i agree on the archival part and being able to have that would have been a huge resource. You aso, i wanted to ask a followup on when you are showing your sign of the District Office, the flowchart, do you have a chance a sense of how many different points of contact they would need to address all the different issues they would need to talk to your office about . When i came, we had 130 Different Services which we still do. It was very difficult for members to try to figure out, especially new members to figure out all of the services that we do. 30 andcated that into what we attempted to do is we have a particular individual now who was assigned to 30 or 40 offices. They are called advocates and they are circulated around all of the different offices to try to they are supposed to be the point of contact if there is a problem. Across those 30 different mr. Kiko correct. They get back, they write a report, and they try to get the issue resolved, and they have also been going around to the District Offices as well, but we just got that program off the ground about nine months ago. It seems to be popular. I was thinking that a lot of folks use outside vendors and different contacts. No more that there are different people that you have to call and interact with, our offices are not that big, the more burden it puts on everyone in the time it takes to coordinate. Mr. Kiko i dont disagree. Some members, the fact that they caonot satisfied with the service and they use another vendor, and sometimes that vendor has to coordinate with rit to comply with certain regulations and stuff like that, so i can get to be challenging. When we talk about streamlining, that is another thing we have to keep in mind. Mr. Kiko i agree. We are looking into that and we need to do better and we are attempting. New members, and technology is changing quickly, i think peoples expectation of what technologies would be available to them also changes. Folks who have been here a long time might expect things to stay the same, but as folks come in from the outside, they have expectations of what types of technologies they will be able to use. I know that new members of talked about being able to do a video conference. , as folks come in, they can engage and make sure we are talking about the technologies that are not available or what needs to be available, or how we continue to make sure that we are uptodate on whats available and meet the expectation. Mr. Kiko this is something i have heard from other people. We are going to be reengineering want everyd we two years, the new members are coming in and they are really advanced. They challenge the technology that we have up on the house. We have a difficult issue sometimes of balancing the technologies for which is not totally secure issues with regards to cybersecurity. Sometimes we have to balance that, and that is a difficult problem to be able to use everything you want to use. We do look at new technologies if a member asked us or new vendors. We will be moving into the cloud. I think that will make things easier for new technologies, so we are looking at ways to, and that is a conversation that i have had with a lot of members, the way to get new technology on the hill for members to use faster. Orientation, if you come in and it is more looking like what folks are used to using mr. Kiko right. We are looking at that and i would like to be successful on that so we would not have to have this conversation. Thank you. Mr. Shapiro, you talked about justinTime Training. Can you talk a little bit about how you would see us implementing that so we make sure that people are getting the information they need when they need it . Mr. Shapiro it would change the organization of how we think about the needs of freshmen members. Freshman members have needs throughout the first year and six months in office, and they cannot digest all of the information in one sitting and one time, and they need to apply the information when it is relevant to them. The ideas when they come in november, give them what they need to know in november and december and get ready for january, get through january, and then late january, talk about other needs. You do not need to know about appropriations in december or november, that you do need to know about appropriations come march. So maybe there are multiple types of orientation . Mr. Shapiro ongoing orientation. It would not be a starting process where you get everything that you need all in one package and then hope that you can use it. On would get pieces based what you need when you need it. When you need trending on appropriations, you would get it, when you need training on legislative procedure, you would get it. When you want to dive deeper into understanding pharmaceuticals and those issues, you can get those trainings and right now, all those processes are packed into the first 30 to 60 days. It is overwhelming. Figuring out what the members need when they need it, figure out what their staffs need when they need it, and provided to them. Timmonske congressman idea of recording the orientation, but the idea is not that you just have one shot to get at it and you can maybe get the archive, which would be very helpful. But if members miss things and if members want certain advice, it is not just one training program. There is an office or someplace to go for members and staff to say we are having this issue, my boss would like to get more understanding in this issue, and who is the expert that you can provide us to get this information in an efficient way. I am over time. I appreciate it. I yield back. Representative brooks for five minutes. Rep. Brooks thank you. Member and i were just talking about your last answer, mr. Shapiro. You have theao, office of house employment counsel and house employment counsel who we have worked with a bit in this last term when i was ethics chair is supposed to be the entity, is it not, that is supposed to handle issues with supervisors and staff . Mr. Kiko that is correct. I am not certain to be honest i had been here three terms, and it was not until i was chair of the House Ethics Committee that i learned that ohec had existed. Maybe i had been told about it during orientation, and this office of lawyers who were to advise us. I did not know about it until i ended up being chair of ethics. Just for the record, that is something that i think we could really elevate in some way or as we look at centralizing some of to hr functions, ohec has be a part of the discussion. Mr. Kiko, one of the things i know you have put in place which i think is really good is the new Customer Experience center. I understand that we all now have folks dedicated to our offices as customer advocates. Mr. Kiko correct. Office has any incredible person, but we moved rayburn. Worth over to but she actually did not get assigned to our office until after our move, and has there been any discussion about having them help us before the move . She is fabulous and wonderful, but we could have used her before but not after. Mr. Kiko we can certainly make that happen. You brooks did not know if had any but i am glad that you got that position because that is very helpful in moves even for people who have been here a while. Disruption soant would love to have you think about that. With thenderstand Staff Academy which i commend you for getting started, what percentage, how many of the staffers have started to utilize the services . Mr. Kiko i dont know the number. I just know for the senior staff, we have had a couple 200 or 300. What we try to do at the beginning of this year, we focus on appropriations and we knew that was going to be coming up. We did new clerk training for all of the clerks in the committee, but we have not had a very good system to register, so we are going to have a big launch in september where we are going to advertise. 400 or 500ably people trained already. Rep. Brooks terrific. Mr. Kiko we start out with finance and internal functions first. Rep. Brooks on the functions that are about our teams whether it is communications or others and i know you have one next week, my team has shared with me that there is a Team Communication program next week, but it is in the middle of the week, like the middle of the day in the middle of the week at 2 00, so look for our 2 00 schedule was today. Dc,teams, when they are in they cannot really take advantage of those great opportunities. Have you thought about shifting them . Mr. Kiko we should. I dont disagree with that. Or after hours, too. Is this one after hours . Rep. Brooks is that because of the trainers not being available . Mr. Kiko i dont really know. Rep. Brooks or even when we are not here, when we are not here is a great opportunity when we are back in district or vice versa for those. Householder and mr. Shapiro, i want to ask you about training. N time what kind of training do you have in mind . Iu have the orientation, and applaud mr. Kiko for doing the staff training and all of that what kind of just in Time Training would you all give that is incredibly adventitious to us advantageous to us . Training ind of it is like the only training we have to do besides Computer Security training. Do we even do that . We do not even do that. I did that at the justice department. Any justintimes that we ought to be doing . Well, i mentioned appropriations, and there is a range of skill sets that members understanding the appropriations process, they need to understand the budget is aess, and there range of issues and its this gets back to meeting the needs of members and i think the justintime is what is critical then, members, if it is justintime for freshman, they have it up and running, but there is still problems with the offices. One of those problems, what are those issues, and they were put in place on date 1, now they need to mature those systems, can they get training on that . Members have learned to vote but they want to become more orficient and for procedure maybe they want to figure out how to do things better in the district and learn to run the town Hall Meetings in a more sophisticated way with technology whatever their needs are, provide training to meet those needs, that it all starts with what the needs are. Representative davis, we recognize you for five minutes. Davis i did not get docked for her going over right . Ok. I did not think i would say this today, but i am impressed by my new freshman colic with the idea to archive the new member orientation. Colleague with the idea to new freshman colleague with the idea to our ke archive the new member orientation. It is something we ought to be able to do in House Administration and working with the cao that should be easily done. I look forward to working with you over the next orientations we plan to do that. I really enjoyed this committee. Spent 16dy who years working in a District Office, the 80 step chart that you have there probably has been reduced from about 80 steps when i started in 1997. I do not necessarily consider that progress in getting rid of bureaucracy either. Clearly. From our conversations, we know that. I want to thank your Technology Team who sat down with my colleague on this committee for extended time yes, yesterday . These dates fly out here. Great conversation. We all have the same goals and that is what i hope all three of you get out of this hearing today, too. We all have the same goals but we have to focus on what we can do to achieve those goals. , as the discussion has moved, how do we have a better Customer Experience, and you are making progress. I bet you did not think i would tell you that today, did you . Mr. Kiko i am very happy that you did. [laughter] we still need to see more progress on the Customer Service experience. I dont know who said it i one of our roundtables, but implementation of Customer Service experience has been tried over the 23 years i have aen a staffer and the six and half i have spent as a member. We started with first call. It is supposed to be the Customer Service experience. Obviously since we are still talking about it, that was not successful. Someone mentioned why dont we have an area in longworth are like an apple store, is that you, susan . I will not tell your microsoft friends that you talked about an apple store. But setting up the Customer Service spot somewhere in a building where we can go for the one stop shop that you can go get an answer of where to turn to. Someone can say you have to call ohec and of finding out three years later that you could have found ohec to answer a question. Let us work with you on some of those things. Mr. Kiko ok. What can we do technologically to change the process in the house to better assess some of the questions that members here asked . What limitations do you have that we can fix here . Mr. Kiko i just think that i delegatesembers and rep. Davis i think you are too short right now. Mr. Kiko ok. 43 . Rep. Davis no, 39. Mr. Kiko ok. What the issue is is a lot of different members want to do things the way they want to do them. We can accommodate that to a certain point, but we have Security Issues we have to worry about in regards to cybersecurity. Is to try tolenge be my goal is to be on the cutting edge of technology for , because this is the house of representatives and the members should have the best of the best and have the same kind of technology in the private sector. Think we have i do not think it is necessarily procurement process, we need to move things faster. Be somebody recently told me that we sort of organization, we need Technology Scouts where we have people that are just looking to be on the cuttingedge to better serve members. Rep. Davis i think we are the Technology Scouts. The team is the Technology Scouts. The problem of getting through the antiquated process that has been in place just because it has been done that way for years. But every member of Congress Wants to work within the limitations that we have, but we want to protect the cybersecurity. But there is a lot more focus on the back end of know you cant do something versus, how do we change the architecture, and how do we use what is available in the private sector now, and then adjust or our vendors to adjust to make sure it is also protected . I cannot imagine home depot or lowes, having the same cybersecurity concerns that we have, but still have access to some of the most cuttingedge customer based software. I look forward to working with you on this and i hope you can identify some of the areas that this committee could help you work faster. Mr. Kiko we are working on the whole constituent Service Congressional Management System and we are looking at that because we do not think it is working for the members. My vision is when a constituent calls in or has called in for five times and they do casework that appears on the phone, and the intern, why are you calling and why are you doing that, and just ripped through, and they get to the right person. Those are the kinds of Technology Innovations that i would like to see which i and we are working on that right now we are trying to work on different cms systems and what should we be getting out of a cms system. Rep. Davis let this Committee Help you. Mr. Shapiro, i do like your recommendations on new member orientation. Thank you. I yield back. Was ready tos gavel you but i restrained him. Does anyone else have any other questions . Once again, i would like to thank the witnesses. I really appreciate your expertise and your recommendations, especially some very concrete suggestions including archiving training which i think you have unanimous agreement on that. By thinking to end chairman kilmer and chairman graves along with repetitive timmons bypassing the gavel today, they have modeled the steps we can take to provide new opportunities to members. These are the types of approaches we would like to continue as we consider the expert testimony and begin drafting recommendations for the committee. I would like to yield to representative timmons. Mmons thank you chairman kilmer and vice chairman graves, and has been wonderful being a part of that committee and thank you for giving us the opportunity to lead today. Hopefully we can get a lot done. Thank you. Would anyone else like to be recognized for Closing Remarks . All membersjection, will have five legislative days with which to submit additional written questions which will be forwarded to the witnesses for the response. We ask our witnesses to the respond as you are able. All members will have five legislative days with which to submit extraneous materials to the chair for the record. With that, this hearing adjourned. Tonight on cspan. Committee hearing honorable call fraud. Among the witnesses, a woman whose grandmother wired thousands of dollars to rebel call scam artists. Artists. All scam my grandmother was targeted and pursued nonstop by overeating of fraudsters. They use creative and cunning tactics to gain her trust. They told her she had won a large cash prize and all she needed to do was pay the taxes and fees. I first realized my grandmother was a victim of elder fraud by the last conversation i ever had with her. Reliving that phone call is very painful. She explained that she needed 6,000 wired to her as soon as andible, her forceful tone desperation was very upsetting. I could hear the panic in her voice, and she was very, very afraid. Phone call set off many red flags and everyone grew extremely concerned about her financial situation. We do not know of a single time in her entire life where she ever borrowed money from an individual. Hefather informed me that had wired her 8,000 the week prior, and he assured me he was trying to find out what was happening. Thatntioned his fears someone was scamming her, but because she was so desperate and scared, he sent her the 6,000 she wanted anyway. Sadly, she died less than a week later. Me to talk about my grandmothers horrific death because she chose to take her own life. It is extremely hard to imagine a loved one committing suicide, but she did. Preyed these individuals on her and on her good heart. Her golden years and the last chapter of her life was taken from her. It is clear to us that the circumstances that led to her death were caused by these criminals. A portion of a recent Senate Aging Committee hearing honorable call on robocall fraud. Watch the entire hearing tonight on cspan 8 00 eastern. 9 00 a. M. Eastern, a washington journal and American History tv live special call in program looking back at woodstock, the 1969 cultural and musical phenomenon. Author of the book the age of great dreams america in the 1960s joins us to take your calls. Drugs matter. But who takes those drugs and why they had the effect they did in the 1960s and 1970s is something we are wrestling with as scholars to understand. Is technology of drugs imperative as an understanding not just as a think piece but on the production of history what drugs we used at a particular place has the incredible ability to change the direction of a given society. Call in to talk to david farmer about the social movement of the 1960s. Woodstock, 50 years. Sunday at 9 00 a. M. Eastern on cspans washington journal. Also live on American History tv on cspan3. Campaign 2020. Watch our live coverage of the president ial candidates on the campaign trail, and make up your own mind. Cspans campaign 2020. Your unfiltered view of politics. From campaign 20 20 with south bend indiana mayor pete buttigieg, the president ial candidate attended the iowa state fair earlier this week. This is just over an hour. [cheers and applause] mr. Buttigieg hello, iowa. How we doing . What a crowd. I see you in the back. Go i