Birds on the Hill: why Congress can invite animals (or anyone else) to a hearing
“I didn’t go into the Rayburn garage very often. And when I did, I always got lost. There were doors along the walls, but I could never remember which one went to which hallway. And it was dark. It was the perfect place for a bad guy to hang out.
A bad guy or an owl. Could Monica’s Chickcharney be hiding out here? And if so, how could I find him?
I followed Claudia, looking in all the dark corners for a pair of eyes like lemon moons.
”
Birds in the Rayburn Building
A Case of Facts AFTER the Fiction
In the second Fina Mendoza Mystery State of the Union, our 10-year-old detective is trying to catch the mysterious bird that pooped on the president during the State of the Union address. She chases it down to the garage under the Rayburn House Office Building.
This week, one of its owl cousins made its way upstairs into a hearing room inside Rayburn.
And he brought some feathered friends.
(photos courtesy of Rep. Simpson's X account and Wildlife Images)
The Bird Man of Capitol Hill
On Thursday, Congressman Mike Simpson of Idaho held a briefing about preserving birds of prey.
Yes, there are perhaps more important issues for Congress to tackle. but Simpson is Chair of the House Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, which means if he wants to talk about saving wild birds, he can.
The briefing was followed by a demonstration featuring a Silvery Cheeked Hornbill, a White-naped Raven, a King Vulture, an African Fish Eagle...and an owl!
It wasn't a Chickcharney or a Burrowing Owl. It was a Eurasian Eagle Owl.
(Image courtesy of the Architect of the Capitol)Blame it on George (Mason)
The right of Congress to hold briefings is not written into the Constitution, but it was brought up at the 1787 Constitutional Convention by delegate George Mason who insisted that members of Congress had “inquisitory powers.”
The U.S. Supreme Court took it one step further, establishing the legality of congressional oversight in 1927. McGrain v. Daugherty gives congressional committees the power to issue subpoenas, force testimony from witnesses, and hold people in contempt if they fail to show up.
The ruling did not specify birds.
(image courtesy of U.S. Senate)Notable Congressional Hearings
Congress historically has used its inquisitory powers to look into money matters - corruption and the mishandling of funds. Later hearings delved into issues of war and presidential power.
Notable hearings include:
1864 Hearing on the Union Army’s conduct during the Battle of Gettysburg
1973 Watergate hearings
2022 January 6th hearings *
* I attended one of these hearings and wrote about it here.
It's unlikely that a briefing on birds of prey will rise to the historical significance of a Watergate or McCarthy hearing.
But it was nice to see animals acting with more decorum and grace than many witnesses at congressional hearings.