[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.J. Res. 89 Introduced in House (IH)]








109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. J. RES. 89

  Requiring the President to notify Congress if the President makes a 
 determination to ignore a duly enacted provision of law, establishing 
expedited procedures for the consideration of legislation in the House 
 of Representatives in response to such a determination, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 16, 2006

Mr. Frank of Massachusetts (for himself, Mr. Markey, Mr. McGovern, Ms. 
   Watson, Ms. DeLauro, Mr. Doggett, and Mr. Capuano) introduced the 
following joint resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the 
 Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Rules, for a period to 
      be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
                          committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                            JOINT RESOLUTION


 
  Requiring the President to notify Congress if the President makes a 
 determination to ignore a duly enacted provision of law, establishing 
expedited procedures for the consideration of legislation in the House 
 of Representatives in response to such a determination, and for other 
                               purposes.

Whereas the Constitution requires that Presidents ``take Care that the Laws be 
        faithfully executed'';
Whereas the Constitution does not grant Presidents authority to choose which 
        duly enacted provisions of laws they will obey;
Whereas the practice of selective enforcement of the laws is inconsistent with 
        our constitutional form of government;
Whereas several previous Presidents have made signing statements signaling their 
        intention to ignore provisions of laws duly enacted by Congress on 
        constitutional grounds;
Whereas President George W. Bush has asserted his intent to ignore such 
        provisions more than all other Presidents combined; and
Whereas the President's assertion of the right to ignore a duty violates our 
        constitutional framework by substituting an unchecked presidential 
        prerogative for the role of Congress and the constitutional veto 
        procedure: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. REQUIRING NOTIFICATION TO CONGRESS OF PRESIDENTIAL 
              DETERMINATION TO IGNORE PROVISION OF LAW.

    (a) Notification.--If the President makes a determination not to 
carry out any duly enacted provision of a law (as indicated in a 
statement made by the President at the time of the enactment of the law 
or otherwise), not later than 10 days after the enactment of the law, 
the President shall submit a report to Congress informing Congress of 
the determination and including the President's reasons for making the 
determination, except that to the extent that the determination is 
based upon classified material, the President shall submit the report 
only to the congressional intelligence committees (as defined in 3(7) 
of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 401a(7)).
    (b) Treatment of Previously Enacted Laws.--Not later than 30 days 
after the date of the enactment of this joint resolution, the President 
shall submit to Congress a report under subsection (a) with respect to 
each law enacted prior to such date during the One Hundred Seventh, One 
Hundred Eighth, or One Hundred Ninth Congress for which the President 
has made a determination not to carry out a duly enacted provision of 
the law (as indicated in a statement made by the President at the time 
of enactment or otherwise).

SEC. 2. EXPEDITED PROCEDURES IN HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FOR 
              LEGISLATION IN RESPONSE TO DETERMINATION.

    (a) Availability of Expedited Procedures.--If a Member of the House 
of Representatives (including a Representative, Delegate, or Resident 
Commissioner to the Congress) introduces legislation in response to a 
report submitted by the President under section 1(a) in the form of a 
bill bearing the title ``To respond to a Presidential determination not 
to carry out a duly enacted provision of _______,'' filling the blank 
with a citation to the enactment concerned, the expedited procedures 
described in this section shall apply.
    (b) Discharge of Committee.--If a committee to which a bill 
described in subsection (a) is referred has not reported the bill by 
the end of the period of 15 legislative days beginning with the day of 
introduction, such committee shall be discharged from further 
consideration of the bill, and the bill shall be placed on the 
appropriate calendar.
    (c) Consideration of Bill by House.--
            (1) Treatment of motion to proceed.--On or after the third 
        calendar day following the date on which all committees of 
        referral have reported or been discharged from further 
        consideration of a bill described in subsection (a), a motion 
        that the House proceed to consider the bill--
                    (A) shall be privileged;
                    (B) shall not be subject to debate or amendment;
                    (C) shall remain in order even if a motion to the 
                same effect was rejected on a previous legislative day; 
                and
                    (D) subject to paragraph (3), shall set forth both 
                the process for amendment and debate under which the 
                bill will be considered by the House.
            (2) Criteria for member offering motion.--A motion that the 
        House proceed to consider a bill described in subsection (a) 
        may be offered only by a Member, Delegate, or Resident 
        Commissioner who favors passage of the bill and who has 
        announced on the preceding legislative day an intention to 
        offer the motion.
            (3) Procedures applicable to consideration of bill.--If a 
        motion described in this subsection is adopted, the House shall 
        proceed immediately to consider the bill in the House without 
        intervention of any point of order against the bill or against 
        its consideration. The bill shall be considered as read.

SEC. 3. REPORT BY GENERAL COUNSEL OF HOUSE OF POTENTIAL LEGAL ACTIONS 
              TO BE TAKEN BY MEMBERS.

    At the request of any Member of the House of Representatives 
(including a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to the Congress), the 
General Counsel of the House shall prepare promptly a report describing 
any legal action which may be brought to challenge the refusal by the 
President to carry out any duly enacted provision of the law.
                                 <all>