[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 5 Referral Instructions Senate (RIS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 5

To establish procedures for the consideration of emergency legislation 
                             in the Senate.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 6, 1999

 Mr. Lott (for Mr. Domenici) submitted the following resolution; which 
 was referred jointly pursuant to the order of August 4, 1977, to the 
 Committees on the Budget and Governmental Affairs, with instructions 
that if one committee reports, the other committee have thirty days to 
                        report or be discharged

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
To establish procedures for the consideration of emergency legislation 
                             in the Senate.

    Resolved, 

SECTION 1. CONSIDERATION OF EMERGENCY LEGISLATION.

    (a) Designations.--
            (1) Guidance.--In the Senate for purposes of making a 
        designation of a provision of legislation as an emergency 
        requirement under section 251(b)(2)(A) or 252(e) of the 
        Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, the 
        committee report, if any, accompanying such legislation, shall 
        analyze whether a proposed emergency requirement meets all the 
        criteria in paragraph (2).
            (2) Criteria.--
                    (A) In general.--A proposed expenditure or tax 
                change is an emergency requirement if it is--
                            (i) necessary, essential, or vital (not 
                        merely useful or beneficial);
                            (ii) sudden, quickly coming into being, and 
                        not building up over time;
                            (iii) an urgent, pressing, and compelling 
                        need requiring immediate action;
                            (iv) subject to subparagraph (B), 
                        unforeseen, unpredictable, and unanticipated; 
                        and
                            (v) not permanent, temporary in nature.
                    (B) Unforeseen.--An emergency that is part of an 
                aggregate level of anticipated emergencies, 
                particularly when normally estimated in advance, is not 
                unforeseen.
            (3) Justification for failure to meet criteria.--If the 
        proposed emergency requirement does not meet all the criteria 
        set forth in paragraph (2), the committee report accompanying 
        such legislation shall provide a justification of why the 
        requirement is an emergency.
    (b) Point of Order.--
            (1) In general.--When the Senate is considering a bill, 
        resolution, amendment, motion, or conference report, upon a 
        point of order being made by a Senator against any provision in 
        that measure designated as an emergency requirement pursuant to 
        section 251(b)(2)(A) or 252(e) of the Balanced Budget and 
        Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 and the Presiding Officer 
        sustains that point of order, that provision along with the 
        language making the designation shall be stricken from the 
        measure and may not be offered as an amendment from the floor.
            (2) Emergency legislation.--When the Senate is considering 
        an emergency supplemental appropriations bill, an amendment 
        thereto, a motion thereto, or a conference report therefrom, 
        upon a point of order being made by a Senator against any 
        provision in that measure that is not designated as an 
        emergency requirement pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A) or 
        252(e) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act 
        of 1985 and the Presiding Officer sustains that point of order, 
        that provision shall be stricken from the measure and may not 
        be offered as an amendment from the floor.
    (c) Waiver.--Paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (b) may be waived 
in the Senate only by the affirmative vote of three-fifths of the 
Members, duly chosen and sworn.
    (d) Appeal.--Appeals in the Senate from the decisions of the Chair 
relating to any provision of this resolution shall be limited to 1 hour 
of debate, to be equally divided between, and controlled by, the 
appellant and the manager of the legislation. An affirmative vote of 
three-fifths of the Members of the Senate, duly chosen and sworn, shall 
be required in the Senate to sustain an appeal of the ruling of the 
Chair on a point of order raised under this resolution.
    (e) Definition.--In this resolution, the term ``emergency 
supplemental appropriations bill'' means a bill or joint resolution 
appropriating funds in addition to those enacted in the appropriations 
Act for that year as defined in section 105 of title 1, United States 
Code.
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