Paul Hayes, former House Reading Clerk. Click on picture for larger image

Mary Kevin Niland, House Reading Clerk. Click on picture for larger image

The House has employed Reading Clerks since 1789. They have almost always been appointed from the ranks of existing House employees with extensive prior floor experience. There are currently two Reading Clerks, who both serve under the direction of the Clerk of the House. Paul Hays became a House employee in 1966, and became a Reading Clerk in 1988, upon the recommendation of then Minority Leader Robert Michel (R-IL). The newest Reading Clerk is Mary Kevin Niland, who was recommended by Minority Leader Richard Gephardt (D-MO), and began her service in 1999. Previously, she held the position of assistant chief, Office of the House Congressional Record Clerk.

The House Reading Clerks read aloud to the membership the text of bills, amendments, motions, messages, special rules and other privileged resolutions, and veto messages. Except for privileged resolutions and veto messages, which must be read in full, the Clerks are rarely called upon to read the entire text of legislation. Most Members have in hand copies of the measures under consideration, so unanimous consent usually is given to dispense with a full reading. At other times, a special rule is adopted in advance allowing the titles and section headings of legislation to be designated in brief, rather than read in full.

In addition to reading, the Reading Clerks keep track of the textual changes to legislation as they occur on the floor. For example, when the House adopts an amendment, the Clerks note the text of the amendment at the appropriate place of the underlying bill. They then transmit this engrossing copy of the legislative papers to the Enrolling Clerk of the House, who prepares the final official text of the House-passed legislation.

The Reading Clerks also act as the official messengers for the House, carrying legislative documents and messages over to the Senate. When messages or legislative papers are received in the House from the Senate or the White House, they are often "held at the desk." It is the Reading Clerks who are responsible for securing those papers and locating them when needed.

Finally, on the rare occasions when the electronic voting machinery breaks down (or on ceremonial occasions such as the election of a Speaker on the first day of a new Congress), the Reading Clerks read Members' names aloud during an oral roll-call vote.