The House Office Building Commission is an entity within the

House of Representatives of the United States The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

that oversees the various functions of the House and its office buildings. These buildings are part of the overall

United States Capitol Complex The United States Capitol Complex is a group of twenty buildings and facilities ( complex of buildings) in Washington, D.C., that are used by the federal government of the United States. The buildings and grounds within the complex are managed a ...

and house the offices of

Members of Congress A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivalen ...

, the Committees of the House, garages, cafeterias, a power plant and a dorm for

Congressional pages A page is an occupation in some professional capacity. Unlike traditional pages, who are normally younger males, these pages tend to be older and can be either male or female. Workplace Pages are present in some modern workforces. American telev ...

, among many others that serve various functions. The Commission oversees the operations of these buildings and from time to time issues regulations. While the Superintendent of the House and the

Architect of the Capitol The Architect of the Capitol (AOC) is the federal agency responsible for the maintenance, operation, development, and preservation of the United States Capitol Complex. It is an agency of the legislative branch of the federal government and is ...

handle the day-to-day operations, rules and regulations must be approved by the Commission. It is composed of the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and two other members of Congress, generally the House Majority Leader and the

House Minority Leader Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives, also known as floor leaders, are congresspeople who coordinate legislative initiatives and serve as the chief spokespersons for their parties on the House floor. These leaders are el ...

. From the ''House Rules Manual'': :"The commission also issues regulations governing the House Congressional office buildings, House garages, and the

Capitol Power Plant The Capitol Power Plant is a fossil-fuel burning power plant which provides steam and chilled water for the United States Capitol, the Supreme Court, the Library of Congress and 19 other buildings in the Capitol Complex. Located at 25 E ...

(see regulations promulgated December, 1995). The commission is composed of the Speaker and two Members of the House (traditionally the Majority and Minority Leaders) (40 U.S.C. 175)." Recently the HOBC approved a new policy related to the hallways in House Office Buildings: Previously, offices were allowed to set out displays, in particular pictures of troops killed in battle in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also things like debt clocks and indications of levels of deficits. The new policy prohibits such displays. The role of the HOBC was to approve a policy proposed by the

and recommended by various other agencies, such as the Committee on House Administration of the House.http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/HOBC.pdf

References

Agencies of the United States Congress United States Capitol {{US-gov-stub