Title 2, The CongressRelease 119-102
§192 Refusal of Witness to Testify or Produce Papers
Title 2 › CHAPTER 6 — CONGRESSIONAL AND COMMITTEE PROCEDURE; INVESTIGATIONS › § 192
Summary
If a person is officially called to appear before either House of Congress, a joint committee set up by both Houses, or a committee of one House to testify or hand over papers, and they willfully fail to show up or refuse to answer relevant questions, they commit a misdemeanor and can be fined $100 to $1,000 and jailed for 1 to 12 months.
Full Legal Text
Title 2, §192
The Congress, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Every person who having been summoned as a witness by the authority of either House of Congress to give testimony or to produce papers upon any matter under inquiry before either House, or any joint committee established by a joint or concurrent resolution of the two Houses of Congress, or any committee of either House of Congress, willfully makes default, or who, having appeared, refuses to answer any question pertinent to the question under inquiry, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000 nor less than $100 and imprisonment in a common jail for not less than one month nor more than twelve months.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
Codification R.S. § 102 derived from act Jan. 24, 1857, ch. 19, § 1, 11 Stat. 155.
Amendments
1938—Act June 22, 1938, reenacted section without change.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
2 U.S.C. § 192
Title 2, The Congress
Last Updated
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102