Debating and voting on bills in the House takes a lot of work. In 1938, the House debated the Reorganization Bill, the first major rethinking of the federal government’s executive branch since 1787. Representative John McCormack presided from the Speaker’s rostrum. Representative Lindsay Warren spoke at the lectern in the well—the space between the rostrum and the Members’ seats. Beside Warren, an official reporter takes down verbatim notes for the Congressional Record, a transcript of daily business. Clerks, the Parliamentarian, and others seated at the rostrum scrutinized the legislative paperwork.
