Title 2The CongressRelease 119-73

§193 Privilege of witnesses

Title 2 › Chapter CHAPTER 6— - CONGRESSIONAL AND COMMITTEE PROCEDURE; INVESTIGATIONS › § 193

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

No witness may refuse to testify or hand over papers to either House of Congress, a joint committee set up by both Houses, or any committee of a House just because the testimony or papers might disgrace them or make them infamous.

Full Legal Text

Title 2, §193

The Congress — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

No witness is privileged to refuse to testify to any fact, or to produce any paper, respecting which he shall be examined by either House of Congress, or by any joint committee established by a joint or concurrent resolution of the two Houses of Congress, or by any committee of either House, upon the ground that his testimony to such fact or his production of such paper may tend to disgrace him or otherwise render him infamous.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification R.S. § 103 derived from act Jan. 24, 1862, ch. 11, 12 Stat. 333.

Amendments

1938—Act June 22, 1938, reenacted section without change.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

2 U.S.C. § 193

Title 2The Congress

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73