[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 908 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 908

 To require Congress and the President to fulfill their Constitutional 
         duty to take personal responsibility for Federal laws.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 17, 2001

Mr. Brownback (for himself, Mr. Allard, Mr. Helms, Mr. Hutchinson, Mr. 
 Inhofe, Mr. Sessions, and Mr. Shelby) introduced the following bill; 
   which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Government 
                                Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To require Congress and the President to fulfill their Constitutional 
         duty to take personal responsibility for Federal laws.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE

    This Act may be cited as the ``Congressional Responsibility Act of 
2001''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

    The purposes of this Act are to--
            (1) promote compliance with article I of the United States 
        Constitution, which--
                    (A) grants legislative power solely to Congress; 
                and
                    (B) ensures that Federal regulations will not take 
                effect unless passed by a majority of the Members of 
                the Senate and House of Representatives and signed by 
                the President, or that the Members of the Senate and 
                House of Representatives override the President's veto;
            (2) end the practice whereby Congress delegates its 
        responsibility for making laws to unselected, unaccountable 
        officials of the executive branch;
            (3) require that regulations proposed by agencies of the 
        executive branch be affirmatively enacted by Congress before 
        becoming effective; and
            (4) provide a more democratic and accountable Congress and 
        protect the public from regulations for which elected, 
        accountable officials are unwilling to take responsibility.

SEC 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Agency.--The term ``agency'' has the meaning given the 
        term in section 551(1) of title 5, United States Code.
            (2) Regulation.--The term ``regulation'' has the meaning 
        given the term ``rule'' in section 551(4) of title 5, United 
        States Code, except that such term does not include--
                    (A) any regulation of particular applicability; or
                    (B) any interpretative rule, general statement of 
                policy, or any regulation of agency organization, 
                personnel, procedure, or practice.

SEC. 4. ENACTMENT OF AGENCY REGULATIONS.

    (a) Congressional Approval.--A regulation shall not take effect 
before the date of the enactment of a bill described in section 5(a) 
comprised solely of the text of the regulation.
    (b) Agency Report.--Whenever an agency promulgates a regulation, 
the agency shall submit to each House of Congress a report containing 
the text of the proposed regulation and an explanation of the proposed 
regulation. The explanation shall consist of the concise general 
statement of the basis and purpose of the regulation required by 
section 553 of title 5, United States Code and such explanatory 
documents as are mandated by other statutory requirements.

SEC. 5. EXPEDITED CONGRESSIONAL PROCEDURES FOR AGENCY REGULATIONS.

    (a) Introduction.--Not later than 3 legislative days after the date 
on which an agency submits a report under section 4(b), the Majority 
Leader of each House of Congress shall introduce (by request) a bill 
comprised solely of the text of the regulation contained in the report. 
If such a bill is not introduced in a House of Congress as provided in 
the preceding sentence, then any Member of that House may introduce 
such a bill.
    (b) Bill.--For purpose of this section, the term ``bill'' means a 
bill of the two Houses of Congress, the matter after the enacting 
clause of which is as follow: ``The following agency regulations are 
hereby approved and shall have the force and effect of law:'' (the text 
of the regulations being set forth after the semicolon).
    (c) Referral and Consideration.--
            (1) Referral.--A bill described in subsection (b) shall not 
        be referred to a committee.
            (2) Consideration.--It is in order for any Member of the 
        respective House to move to proceed to the consideration of the 
        bill. A Member may make the motion only on the day after the 
        calendar day on which the Member announces to the House 
        concerned the Member's intention to make the motion. All points 
        of order against the bill (and against consideration of the 
        bill) are waived. The motion is highly privileged in the House 
        of Representatives and is privileged in the Senate and is not 
        debatable. The motion is not subject to amendment, or to a 
motion to postpone, or to a motion to proceed to the consideration of 
other business. A motion to reconsider the vote by which the motion is 
agreed to or disagreed to shall not be in order. If a motion to proceed 
to the consideration of the bill is agreed to, the respective House 
shall immediately proceed to consideration of the bill without 
intervening motion, order, or other business, and the bill shall remain 
the unfinished business of the respective House until disposed of.
            (3) Debate.--Debate on the bill, and on all debatable 
        motions and appeals in connection therewith, shall be limited 
        to not more than 1 hour, which shall be divided equally between 
        those favoring and those opposing the bill. An amendment to the 
        bill is not in order. A motion further to limit debate is in 
        order and not debatable. A motion to postpone, or a motion to 
        proceed to the consideration of other business, or a motion to 
        recommit the bill is not in order. A motion to reconsider the 
        vote by which the bill is agreed to or disagreed to is not in 
        order.
            (4) Appeals.--Appeals from the decisions of the Chair 
        relating to the application of the rules of the Senate or the 
        House of Representatives, as the case may be, to the procedure 
        relating to the bill shall be decided without debate.
    (d) Final Passage.--A vote on final passage of a bill described in 
subsection (b) shall be taken in a House of Congress on or before the 
close of the 60th calendar day after the date of the introduction of 
the bill in that House.
    (e) Exception.--A motion to suspend the application of subsections 
(c) and (d) is in order in either House of Congress and shall be 
considered as passed or agreed to by a vote of a majority of the 
Members voting. Upon the passage of such a motion, the bill shall be 
considered in the same manner as other bills.
    (f) Treatment if the Other House Has Acted.--
            (1) In general.--If, before the passage by one House of a 
        bill introduced in that House described in subsection (b), that 
        House receives from the other House a bill described in 
        subsection (b) comprised of the same text, then:
                    (A) The bill of the other House shall not be 
                referred to a committee and may not be considered in 
                the House receiving it except in the case of final 
                passage as provided in subparagraph (B)(ii).
                    (B) With respect to a bill described in subsection 
                (b) of the House receiving the bill--
                            (i) the procedure in that House shall be 
                        the same as if no bill had been received from 
                        the other House; but
                            (ii) the vote on final passage shall be on 
                        the bill of the other House.
            (2) Consideration of bill from other house.--Upon 
        disposition of the bill received from the other House, it shall 
        no longer be in order to consider the bill that originated in 
        the receiving House.
    (g) Rules of Senate and House of Representatives.--This section is 
enacted by Congress--
            (1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of the Senate 
        and House of Representatives, respectively, and as such it is 
        deemed a part of the rules of each House, respectively, but 
        applicable only with respect to the procedure to be followed in 
        that House in the case of a bill, and it supersedes other rules 
        only to the extent that it is inconsistent with such rules; and
            (2) with full recognition of the constitutional right of 
        either House to change the rules (so far as relating to the 
        procedure of that House) at any time, in the same manner and to 
        the same extent as in the case of any other rule of that House.

SEC. 6. JUDICIAL REVIEW.

    A regulation contained in a bill enacted under this Act is not an 
agency action for the purpose of judicial review under chapter 7 of 
title 5, United States Code.

SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    This Act shall apply to agency regulations promulgated after the 
date of the enactment of this Act.
                                 <all>