In the wake of Cambridge Analytica issue, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s congressional testimony gains significance. Click here to know more on the scandal.
It is essential in this context to understand what US congressional hearings are all about.
What is a US congressional hearing?
A congressional hearing involves members of the two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives.
They collect and analyse information on various matters of interest to the polity and the country.
The legislative hearings are to do with policy measures.
The oversight hearings, on the other hand, monitor government programmes.
Besides, Congress holds investigative hearings into suspected wrongdoings by public officials and by private citizens.
More recently, the senate intelligence committee held hearings on alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential elections.
The congressional hearings are conducted by committees.
What are these Committees all about?
Committee - A committee is usually a panel of chamber members.
It is tasked with developing legislation, holding hearings and conducting oversight.
Each committee has its own jurisdiction.
Depending on the type of committee, they are either elected by the chamber, or appointed by the Speaker.
The system is similar to the Indian parliamentary committees but far more powerful.
Structure - There are 20 active Standing Committees in the House of Representatives and 16 in the Senate.
There are also six joint committees.
In addition, the House has a Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
The Senate has four Special committees, including one on intelligence.
Committees, on occasions, have joint hearings, like they did for Zuckerberg’s testimony.
Composition - A committee could typically have between a dozen and 40 members.
Every committee has an all-powerful chair drawn from the majority party in the chamber.
The chair decides which proposals the committee will consider first, and which can be pushed back. This is usually a political decision.
The minority party appoints a shadow chair.
How are the hearings conducted?
Subjects - A committee receives many proposals for hearings from several quarters, including from two chambers' members.
But it is decided by assessing its importance to the nation, to specific political and other lobbies, and to the political leadership.
It also decides if the issue fits in with its own goals and the political message that it wants to send out.
Nature - Almost always the hearings are open to the public.
Open hearings, covered extensively by the media, are seen as a way to rally public support for or against an issue.
But committees have the power to “close” a hearing for reasons
of national security
of protecting the privacy and reputation of an individual
of securing law-enforcement operations
if the witness is to reveal information that is protected by law
After hearing - The reports are generally published and become a matter of public record.
What rights do witnesses enjoy?
The witnesses enjoy certain rights by way of protections granted to them by the Constitution.
Witnesses may refuse a committee's order to attend the court by citing the right to free speech, assembly, or petition.
They enjoy protection against self-incrimination.
Several committees provide witnesses the right to have their counsel present during testimony.
How is the Indian parliamentary committee system?
Nature - The Indian system is modelled on the British parliamentary committee system.
However, unlike the US and British systems, India does not have a system of public hearings.
Also, in India, all proceedings are closed to the media.
Committees - There are two kinds of committees in India.
The Standing committees include financial committees, department committees, business advisory committees, etc.
The ad hoc committees are appointed for a specific purpose when needed.
One type of ad hoc committee is the joint parliamentary committee.
The most high-profile of the JPCs have been investigative in nature.
E.g. the JPC on Bofors, Harshad Mehta Stock Exchange scam, and the 2G spectrum case.
The JPCs have summoned and questioned experts, government officials and others.
