[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 688 Introduced in House (IH)]


109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 688

  Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to require that 
legislation and conference reports be available on the Internet for 72 
    hours before consideration by the House, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 16, 2006

Mr. Baird submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
                           Committee on Rules

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to require that 
legislation and conference reports be available on the Internet for 72 
    hours before consideration by the House, and for other purposes.

    Resolved,

SECTION 1. PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this resolution is to:
            (1) Modernize the operations of the House of 
        Representatives using information technology that has 
        transformed and increased the efficiency of many aspects of 
        American society such as financial services and markets, 
        transportation, manufacturing, agriculture, and commerce with 
        consumers and businesses.
            (2) Slow the explosive growth of the $8,000,000,000,000 
        national debt of the United States, reduce excessive annual 
        budget deficits, and control the size and scope of government 
        by ensuring that there is adequate scrutiny of proposals for 
        new and amended laws, taxes, and expenditures.
            (3) Enhance public participation in American democracy and 
        improve the quality of proposed legislation by allowing the 
        opportunity for its review by State and local government 
        officials, small business owners, large business leaders, 
        journalists, scientists, academics, labor leaders, nonprofit 
        organization leaders, authors of weblogs, and interested 
        citizens.
            (4) Help restore public trust in government and enhance 
        respect for the House of Representatives and the Congress by 
        ensuring that their operations are conducted with the openness, 
        order, and dignity befitting the world's oldest democracy.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO RULE XIII REGARDING AVAILABILITY OF LEGISLATION 
              AND REPORTS.

    (a) Clause 4 of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives is amended--
            (1) in its side heading, by inserting ``legislation and'' 
        before ``reports'';
            (2) by striking subparagraph (1) and inserting the 
        following new subparagraph:
    ``(1) Except as specified in subparagraph (2), it shall not be in 
order to consider in the House a measure or matter until 72 hours 
(excluding Saturdays, Sundays and holidays except when the House is in 
session on such a day) after the text of such measure or matter (and, 
if the measure or matter is reported, the text of all accompanying 
reports) have been made available to Members, Delegates, the Resident 
Commissioner, and the general public pursuant to subparagraph (3).'';
            (3) by adding at the end of paragraph (a) the following new 
        subparagraph:
    ``(3) Without further amendment during the 72 hours, the full and 
official text of the measure or matter and each committee report 
thereon shall be posted continuously by means of the Internet in such a 
manner that they are conveniently accessible using existing technology, 
anonymously and at no cost, in a format that is searchable by text.''; 
and
            (4) in paragraph (c), by striking ``the third calendar 
        day'' and inserting ``at least 72 hours'' and by striking 
        ``on'' and inserting ``after''.
    (b) Rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives is 
further amended--
            (1) in clause 5(b), by striking ``and the Resident 
        Commissioner'' and inserting ``the Resident Commissioner, and 
        the general public''; and
            (2) in clause 6(c), by striking ``or'' at the end of 
        subparagraph (1), by striking the period at the end of 
        subparagraph (2) and inserting a semicolon, and by adding at 
        the end the following new subparagraphs:
            ``(3) a rule or order proposing a waiver of clause 4(a) of 
        rule XIII or of clause 8(a) or 8(b) of rule XXII, unless a 
        question of consideration of the rule is adopted by a vote of 
        two-thirds of the Members voting, a quorum being present; or
            ``(4) a rule or order proposing a waiver of subparagraph 
        (3), unless a question of consideration of the rule is adopted 
        by a vote of two-thirds of the Members voting, a quorum being 
        present.''.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO RULE XXII REGARDING AVAILABILITY OF CONFERENCE 
              REPORTS AND AMENDMENTS REPORTED IN DISAGREEMENT.

    Clause 8 of rule XXII of the Rules of the House of Representatives 
is amended--
            (1) by striking subparagraph (a) and inserting the 
        following new paragraph:
    ``(a)(1) It shall not be in order to consider a conference report 
until 72 hours (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and holidays except when 
the House is in session on such a day) after the conference report and 
the accompanying joint explanatory statement have been available to 
Members, Delegates, the Resident Commissioner, and the general public 
pursuant to subparagraph (2).
    ``(2) Without further amendment during the 72 hours, the full and 
official texts of the conference report and the accompanying signed 
joint explanatory statement shall be posted continuously by means of 
the Internet in such a manner that they are conveniently accessible 
using existing technology, anonymously and at no cost, in a format that 
can be searched by text.'';
            (2) in paragraph (b), by striking subparagraphs (1) and (2) 
        and inserting the following new subparagraphs:
    ``(1) It shall not be in order to consider a motion to dispose of a 
Senate amendment reported in disagreement by a conference committee 
until at least 72 hours (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and holidays 
except when the House is in session on such a day) after the report in 
disagreement and any accompanying statement have been available to 
Members, Delegates, the Resident Commissioner, and the general public 
pursuant to subparagraph (2).
    ``(2) Without further amendment during the 72 hours, the full and 
official texts of a Senate amendment reported in disagreement and any 
accompanying statement shall be posted continuously by means of the 
Internet in such a manner that they are conveniently accessible using 
existing technology, anonymously and at no cost, in a format that can 
be searched by text.''.

SEC. 4. PROTECTION OF CLASSIFIED INFORMATION.

    Nothing in this resolution or any amendment made by it shall be 
interpreted to require or permit the declassification or posting on the 
Internet of classified information in the custody of the House of 
Representatives. Such classified information shall be made available to 
Members in a timely manner as appropriate under existing laws and 
rules.

SEC. 5. SENSE OF THE HOUSE REGARDING AMENDMENTS.

    It is the sense of the House that, with the objective of preventing 
circumvention of clause 4(a) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives that the Committee on Rules should develop standardized 
policies and procedures to require that proposed amendments (except 
those offered under an open rule) that are major in size, scope, or 
cost be posted on the Internet for an appropriate number of hours.
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