[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 190 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 190

Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to reform the House, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 9, 1993

  Mr. Allard (for himself, Mr. Barrett of Nebraska, Mr. Santorum, Mr. 
   Hobson, Mr. Sam Johnson of Texas, Mr. Ewing, Mr. Cunningham, Mr. 
   Zeliff, Mr. Boehner, Mr. Doolittle, Mr. Zimmer, and Mr. Ramstad) 
 submitted the following resolution; which was referred jointly to the 
              Committees on Rules and House Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to reform the House, 
                        and for other purposes.

    Resolved,

SECTION 1. TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT COMMITTEE STAFF REDUCTION.

    (a) Clause 5 of rule XI of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives is amended by redesignating paragraphs (a) through (f) 
as paragraphs (b) through (g), respectively, and by inserting at the 
beginning the following new paragraph:
    ``(a)(1) It shall not be in order in the House to consider any 
primary expense resolution for the second session of this Congress 
until the Committee on House Administration has reported, and the House 
has adopted, a resolution establishing an overall ceiling for House 
committee staff personnel for that year, and any such resolution shall 
be privileged.
    ``(2) In developing any primary expense resolution, the Committee 
on House Administration shall specify in the resolution the number of 
staff positions authorized by the resolution. The committee shall 
verify in the report accompanying any such primary expense resolution 
that the number of staff positions authorized by such resolution is in 
conformity with the overall ceiling on such positions established by 
the House.
    ``(3) In no event shall the total number of additional staff 
positions authorized by all such primary expense resolutions, taken 
together with the number of staff positions authorized by clause 6 of 
this rule (providing for professional and clerical staff), exceed the 
ceiling established by the House for that year.
    ``(4) In allocating staff positions pursuant to the overall ceiling 
established by the House, the committee shall take into account the 
past and anticipated legislative and oversight activities of each 
committee.
    ``(5) In any supplemental expense resolution, and in any amendment 
thereto, the committee shall specify the number of additional staff 
positions, if any, authorized by such resolution, and shall indicate in 
the report accompanying any such resolution whether the additional 
staff positions are in conformity with or exceed the overall ceiling 
established by the House.
    ``(6) For the purposes of the second session of this Congress, the 
overall ceiling for committee staff in a resolution reported by the 
committee pursuant to subparagraph (1), or contained in any amendment 
thereto, shall not exceed 75 percent of the total committee staff 
personnel employed at the end of the One Hundred Second Congress.''.
    (b) The Committee on House Administration shall have the authority 
to prescribe regulations to carry out the amendment made by subsection 
(a).

SEC. 2. EQUITABLE PARTY RATIOS IN COMMITTEES.

    (a) Clause 6(a) of rule X of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives is amended by adding at the end the following new 
subparagraph:
    ``(3) Except for the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct and 
the bipartisan Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight of the 
Committee on House Administration, the membership of each committee and 
each subcommittee thereof shall reflect the ratio of the majority to 
minority party Members of the House at the beginning of the 
Congress.''.
    (b) Clause 6(f) of rule X of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives is amended by inserting after the first sentence the 
following new sentence: ``The membership of each such select committee 
(and of any subcommittee thereof) and of each such conference committee 
shall reflect the ratio of the majority to minority party Members of 
the House at the time of its appointment.''.
    (c) Clause 6 of rule XI of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives is amended by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph:
    ``(j) The ratio of the majority staff to minority staff of each 
committee shall be the same as the ratio of majority party members to 
minority party members on that committee.''.

SEC. 3. ELIMINATION OF PROXY VOTING IN COMMITTEES.

    Clause 2(f) of rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives 
is amended to read as follows:
    ``(f) No vote by any member of any committee or subcommittee with 
respect to any measure or matter may be cast by proxy.''.

SEC. 4. MULTIPLE REFERRAL OF LEGISLATION.

    Clause 5(c) of rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives 
is amended to read as follows:
    ``(c) In carrying out paragraphs (a) and (b) with respect to any 
matter, the Speaker shall initially refer the matter to one committee 
which he shall designate as the committee of principal jurisdiction; 
but he may also refer the matter to one or more additional committees 
for consideration in sequence (subject to appropriate time 
limitations), either on its initial referral or after the matter has 
been reported by the committee of principal jurisdiction; or refer 
portions of the matter to one or more additional committees (reflecting 
different subjects and jurisdic- tions) for the exclusive consideration 
of such portion or portions.''.

SEC. 5. QUORUM REQUIREMENT FOR MARK-UPS.

    (a) Clause 2(h)(2) of rule XI of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives is amended by striking ``one-third'' and inserting 
``one-half''.
    (b) Clause 2(l)(2)(A) of rule XI of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives is amended--
            (1) by striking ``present,'' and all that follows through 
        the period at the end and inserting ``present.''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new sentence: ``Upon 
        the request of any member of the committee, the chair shall 
        order a rollcall vote on a motion to report any bill or 
        resolution of a public character.''.

SEC. 6. LIMITATION ON LENGTH OF SERVICE ON ANY COMMITTEE.

    Clause 6 of rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives is 
amended by inserting at the end the following new paragraph:
    ``(i)(1) No Member shall serve as chairman of any committee for 
more than 3 Congresses.
    ``(2) For purposes of paragraph (1)--
            ``(A) any service performed as chairman of any committee 
        for less than a full session in any Congress shall be 
        disregarded; and
            ``(B) previous service on any committee before the One 
        Hundred Fourth Congress shall be disregarded.''.

SEC. 7. OPEN COMMITTEE MEETINGS.

    The first sentence of clause 2(g)(1) of rule XI of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``, with at least two-thirds of the 
        members voting in the affirmative,'' after ``rollcall vote''; 
        and
            (2) by inserting ``because disclosure of matters to be 
        considered involves the national security, personnel 
        information, or a criminal investigation'' after ``closed to 
        the public''.

SEC. 8. REQUIREMENT THAT BILLS AND CONFERENCE REPORTS BE AVAILABLE 
              BEFORE VOTES ON FINAL PASSAGE.

    The last sentence of clause 4(b) of rule XI of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives is further amended by inserting before the 
period at the end the following: ``; nor shall it waive the 
applicability of clause 2(l)(6) (respecting the three-day layover rule) 
or clause 2 of rule XVIII (respecting the printing of conference 
reports and statements and their availability) unless so determined by 
the Committee on Rules by a vote of at least two-thirds of its members 
voting''.

SEC. 9. STRENGTHENING OF GERMANENESS REQUIREMENT.

    The last sentence of clause 4(b) of rule XI of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives is further amended by inserting before the 
period at the end the following: ``; nor shall it waive the 
applicability of clause 7 of rule XVI (respecting germane amendments) 
unless so determined by the Committee on Rules by a vote of at least 
two-thirds of its members voting''.

SEC. 10. MODIFIED OPEN RULES.

    The last sentence of clause 4(b) of rule XI of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives (as amended by section 7) is further amended 
by inserting before the period the following: ``; nor shall it report 
any rule or order which does not allow minority party members to offer 
at least 4 amendments to any bill or resolution making appropriations 
or to a concurrent resolution on the budget''.

SEC. 11. PROHIBITION OF UNAUTHORIZED APPROPRIATIONS.

    The last sentence of clause 4(b) of rule XI of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives (as amended by sections 7 and 8) is amended by 
inserting before the period the following: ``; nor shall it report any 
rule or order which waives the requirement of clause 2(a) of rule XXI 
(respecting unauthorized appropriations) unless so determined by the 
Committee on Rules by a vote of at least two-thirds of its members 
voting''.

SEC. 12. PROHIBITION OF COMMEMORATIVE BILLS.

    Rule XXI of the Rules of the House of Representatives is amended by 
adding at the end the following new clause:
    ``8. It shall not be in order in the House to consider any bill or 
resolution providing for the designation of a commemorative day or 
other commemorative period.''.

SEC. 13. PERIODIC REAUTHORIZATION OF CONGRESSIONAL AGENCIES.

    (a) Not later than the end of the first session of the One Hundred 
Third Congress, the appropriate committees of the House shall report 
legislation requiring periodic reauthorization of the entities listed 
in subsection (b) over which they have jurisdiction. The period for 
reauthorization may not in any case exceed 5 years.
    (b) The following entities are subject to periodic reauthorization 
under this section: Architect of the Capitol, United States Botanical 
Garden, Congressional Budget Office, Government Printing Office, 
General Accounting Office, Library of Congress, Copyright Royalty 
Tribunal, and Office of Technology Assessment.

SEC. 14. TOLL-FREE TELEPHONE NUMBER FOR PUBLIC INQUIRES RELATING TO 
              BILL STATUS.

    The Committee on House Administration shall take such action as may 
be necessary to establish a toll-free (800) telephone number to provide 
public access to information on the substance and present status of 
each bill and resolution that is before the House of Representatives.

SEC. 15. COMPUTER ACCESS FOR PUBLIC INQUIRES RELATING TO BILL STATUS.

    The Committee on House Administration shall take such action as may 
be necessary to establish a computer accessible data base to provide 
public access to information on the substance and present status of 
each bill and resolution that is before the House of Representatives. 
The data base shall be (1) supported solely by fees charged for the 
access provided, and (2) made available to the public at cost, on a 
fee-for-service basis, with all revenues dedicated to the 
establishment, maintenance, and operation of the data base.

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