A Blueprint for Leadership: Office of the Republican Leader, April 16, 1993
This is a blueprint for House Republicans in the formulation, communication, and implementation of policy, for the 103rd Congress.
Bicentennial of The United States Congress, 1789-1989
To celebrate Congress Week 2015, The Dirksen Congressional Center has digitized the March 2, 1989, program “In Commemoration of The Bicentennial of The United States Congress, 1789-1989. In addition to listing the speakers who participated in the Special Joint Meeting of the One Hundred First Congress, the program included quotations under the listed headings. House Republican Leader Robert H. Michel delivered remarks at the event. His reading copy is also posted.
Congressional Record Indexes
Indexes prepared by Michel’s staff to all references to him in the Congressional Record, 1957-1988. Searchable across years.
The Federal Budget FY1991
The battle over the fiscal 1991 budget – which pitted Democrats against Republicans and sometimes the Republicans against themselves – took the entire 1990 session, locked the leadership into seemingly endless meetings, periodically exploded into nasty partisan name-calling, and delayed action on other pressing legislation. Bob Michel’s Legislative Director, David Kehl, participated in many of the budget summit meetings in the summer of 1990. His files contain, for example, notes from meetings on June 7, 14, 19, 21, 27, 28, and 29, a good indication of the frenetic pace of negotiations.
How a Bill Becomes a Law: Writing Your Congressman
Bob Michel explains how laws are made and Morris K. Udall offer advice about writing members of Congress in this reprint from the Congressional Record.
Leadership Statements
Statements by Robert H. Michel upon his election as Republican Leader of the House, 1980-92, and the announcement in 1993 of his decision not to seek re-election to the House.
Quotations
During the processing of Bob Michel’s papers, staff discovered several copies of a compilation of quotes from Mr. Michel, bound in a red cover. The quotations are arranged, as they are in the booklet, alphabetically by subject.
The Republican Congress: A Manifesto for Change in the House of Representatives
In January 1992, the Republican minority issued a document designed to outline how the Republicans would govern should they obtain the majority. Fifteen Republicans contributed to the project, each writing an essay on a different topic. For example, Leader Michel entitled his, “What I Would Do as Speaker of the House.”
Michel Leadership Meeting Notes
This timeline presents the notes that House Republican Leader Bob Michel took during 87 meetings of the congressional leadership and the President, 1987-1992. Michel’s notes tend to be cryptic. They list topics of discussion, usually associated with a speaker, but they do not capture the full flavor of the discussion and do not approximate verbatim minutes. We present this information in the form of a timeline. For each date, the timeline provides a link to a transcription of Michel’s notes. In select cases we have included a scan of the handwritten version along with the transcription to demonstrate Michel’s technique. There are instances, too, where links to ancillary documents exist—see May 2, 1989, for examples.