[Pages H1418-H1419]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

ELIMINATING GOVERNMENT-FUNDED OIL-PAINTING ACT

Mr. BLUM. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill
(S. 188) to prohibit the use of Federal funds for the costs of painting
portraits of officers and employees of the Federal Government, as
amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:

S. 188

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Eliminating Government-
funded Oil-painting Act'' or the ``EGO Act''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON USE OF FUNDS FOR PORTRAITS.

(a) In General.--Subchapter III of chapter 13 of title 31,
United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the
following:

``Sec. 1355. Prohibition on use of funds for portraits

``(a) No funds appropriated or otherwise made available to
the Federal Government may be used to pay for the painting of
a portrait of an officer or employee of the Federal
Government, including the President, the Vice President, a
Member of Congress, the head of an executive agency, or the
head of an office of the legislative branch.
``(b) In this section--
``(1) the term `executive agency' has the meaning given the
term in section 133 of title 41; and
``(2) the term `Member of Congress' includes a Delegate or
Resident Commissioner to Congress.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for
subchapter III of chapter 13 of title 31, United States Code,
is amended by adding after the item relating to section 1354
the following new item:

``1355. Prohibition on use of funds for portraits.''.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Iowa (Mr. Blum) and the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Connolly) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Iowa.

General Leave

Mr. BLUM. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have
5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to
include extraneous material on the bill under consideration, including
an exchange of letters on the House companion bill, H.R. 1701, between
the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the Committee on
House Administration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Iowa?
There was no objection.
Mr. BLUM. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 188, the Eliminating
Government-Funded Oil-Painting Act, a bill introduced by Senator Bill
Cassidy. In years past, the Federal Government spent hundreds of
thousands of dollars on portraits of government officials. Taxpayer
funds should be invested in programs that benefit taxpayers and our
country, not oil paintings of Cabinet members to boost their egos.
That is why today we consider S. 188, the Eliminating Government-
Funded Oil-Painting Act, otherwise known as the ``EGO Act.'' The EGO
Act makes clear, once and for all, that government agencies cannot
spend taxpayer dollars on oil paintings.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this commonsense,
bipartisan legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

House of Representatives, Committee on Oversight and
Government Reform,
Washington, DC, December 6, 2017.
Hon. Gregg Harper,
Chairman, Committee on House Administration, House of
Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: On September 13, 2017, the Committee on
Oversight and Government Reform ordered reported H.R. 1701,

[[Page H1419]]

the ``Eliminating Government-funded Oil-painting Act'' with
an amendment, by voice vote. The bill was referred primarily
to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, with an
additional referral to the Committee on House Administration.
I ask that you allow the Committee on House Administration
to be discharged from further consideration of the bill so
that it may be scheduled by the Majority Leader. This
discharge in no way affects your jurisdiction over the
subject matter of the bill, and it will not serve as
precedent for future referrals. In addition, should a
conference on the bill be necessary, I would support your
request to have the Committee on House Administration
represented on the conference committee. Finally, I would be
pleased to include this letter and any response in the bill
report filed by the Committee on Oversight and Government
Reform, as well as in the Congressional Record during floor
consideration, to memorialize our understanding.
Thank you for your consideration of my request.
Sincerely,
Trey Gowdy.
____

House of Representatives,

Committee on House Administration,

Washington, DC, December 6, 2017.
Hon. Trey Gowdy,
Chairman, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform,
Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: Thank you for your letter regarding H.R.
1701. As you know, the bill was received in the House of
Representatives on March 23, 2017, and referred primarily to
the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and in
addition to the Committee on the Committee on House
Administration. The bill seeks to restrict funds appropriated
or otherwise made available to the Federal Government from
being used to pay for the painting of a portrait of an
officer or employee of the Federal Government, including the
President, the Vice President, a Member of Congress, the head
of an executive agency, or the head of an office of the
legislative branch. On September 13, 2017, your Committee
ordered H.R. 1701 to be reported with an amendment by voice
vote.
I realize that discharging the Committee on House
Administration from further consideration of H.R. 1701 will
serve in the best interest of the House of Representatives
and agree to do so. It is the understanding of the Committee
on House Administration that forgoing action on H.R. 1701
will not prejudice the Committee with respect to appointment
of conferees or any future jurisdictional claim. I request
that your letter and this response be included in the bill
report filed by your Committee, as well as in the
Congressional Record.
Sincerely,
Gregg Harper,
Chairman.

Mr. CONNOLLY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
This is a sad day in the swamp, to eliminate oil paintings of men and
women who consider themselves very important, to make sure that
taxpayer funds are never used for such a thing; sad day for the swamp
in Washington.
One can come to the Capitol and look at oil paintings that bestride
every corridor and wall, in hearing rooms here in the Capitol, and not
know most of these people. We haven't got a clue who most of them are.
We recognize John Adams, but when we go to committee hearing rooms, one
or two chairmen past, we often don't know who they are.
I guess it was an attempt to achieve immortality, but it really is an
act of ego that is a little embarrassing, even for Washington, D.C.
This is an important bill, a commonsense bill, that brings us all
back to Earth; that none of us is expendable and that, frankly, we make
our contribution and we move on.
This bill strikes at the uncontrolled egos and, I hope, sends a
message to those narcissists among us that they can stay that way if
they wish, but the taxpayer is not going to pay for their oil painting.
I thank my friend from Iowa for bringing up the bill. I support the
bill, and urge its passage.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. BLUM. Mr. Speaker, I would like to make the gentleman from
Virginia aware that I have no further speakers and I am prepared to
close. I enjoy my colleague from Virginia's rather dry sense of wit and
humor.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. CONNOLLY. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Iowa, with whom I
share a dry sense of humor. I will remind him, being Irish, that
leprechauns are always on the shoulder, especially this time of year.
Mr. Speaker, I like this bill. I think most taxpayers are going to
like this bill. I think it is high time we acted on this kind of
improvement and injected a sense of humility and humanity into our
enterprise here in the United States Capitol. I urge passage of this
bill.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. BLUM. Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of the bill, and I yield back
the balance of my time
Mr. CARTWRIGHT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 188, the
Eliminating Government-funded Oil-painting Act, an acronym for the EGO
Act.
S. 188 is the Senate companion to H.R. 1401, legislation that I
introduced along with Representatives Jim Bridenstine, Cheri Bustos,
Walter Jones, Leonard Lance, David McKinley, Pete Olson, and Tom Rice.
My friend and former House colleague, Senator Bill Cassidy, is the
lead sponsor of S. 188 which passed the Senate unanimously on September
18, 2017.
The EGO Act would prohibit Federal funds from being used to pay for
the costs of painting portraits of officers and employees of the
Federal Government. Federal agencies have spent hundreds of thousands
of dollars on portraits that are displayed within agency buildings,
often in secure locations that are not open to the public. Although
this money is only a fraction of a percentage of the federal budget, it
represents a failure to exercise fiscal restraint. Every dollar the
government spends on vanity projects for federal officials is a dollar
that is not spent improving the lives of everyday Americans.
Congress has the responsibility to ensure that taxpayer dollars are
being used efficiently and effectively. For these reasons, I am proud
to sponsor the EGO Act, and urge the House to pass S. 188, sending it
to the President's desk.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Blum) that the House suspend the rules and
pass the bill, S. 188, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
The title of the bill was amended so as to read: ``An Act to amend
title 31, United States Code, to prohibit the use of Federal funds for
the costs of painting portraits of officers and employees of the
Federal Government, and for other purposes.''.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

____________________