[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 365 Introduced in Senate (IS)]








109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 365

 To provide a 60 vote point of order against out-of-scope material in 
   conference reports and open the process of earmarks in the Senate.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            February 2, 2006

   Mr. Lott (for himself and Mrs. Feinstein) submitted the following 
     resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Rules and 
                             Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 To provide a 60 vote point of order against out-of-scope material in 
   conference reports and open the process of earmarks in the Senate.

    Resolved,

SECTION 1. OUT OF SCOPE MATTERS IN CONFERENCE REPORTS.

    (a) In General.--It shall not be in order in the Senate to consider 
a conference report that includes any matter not committed to the 
conferees by either House. A point of order shall be made and voted on 
separately for each item in violation of this section.
    (b) Disposition.--If the point of order against a conference report 
under subsection (a) is sustained, then--
            (1) the matter in such conference report shall be deemed to 
        have been struck;
            (2) when all other points of order under this section have 
        been disposed of--
                    (A) the Senate shall proceed to consider the 
                question of whether the Senate should recede from its 
                amendment to the House bill, or its disagreement to the 
                amendment of the House, and concur with a further 
                amendment, which further amendment shall consist of 
                only that portion of the conference report not deemed 
                to have been struck;
                    (B) the question shall be debatable; and
                    (C) no further amendment shall be in order; and
            (3) if the Senate agrees to the amendment, then the bill 
        and the Senate amendment thereto shall be returned to the House 
        for its concurrence in the amendment of the Senate.
    (c) Supermajority Waiver and Appeal.--This section may be waived or 
suspended in the Senate only by an affirmative vote of \3/5\ of the 
Members, duly chosen and sworn. An affirmative vote of \3/5\ 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 section.

SEC. 2. EARMARKS.

    (a) Honesty in Earmarks.--Rule XVI of the Standing Rules of the 
Senate is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``10.(a) In this paragraph, the term `earmark' means a provision 
that specifies the identity of an entity to receive assistance and the 
amount of the assistance.
    ``(b) It shall not be in order to consider any bill or amendment 
between the Houses or conference report on such a bill unless a list 
of--
            ``(1) all earmarks in such measure;
            ``(2) an identification of the member who proposed the 
        earmark; and
            ``(3) an explanation of the essential governmental purpose 
        for the earmark;
are available to all Members and made available to the general public 
by means of the Internet for at least 24 hours before its 
consideration.''.
    (b) Member Requests.--Prior to the consideration of a bill in the 
Senate, any Member who requests an earmark in the bill shall file a 
copy of the request with the Secretary of the Senate and the request 
shall be printed in the Congressional Record.

SEC. 3. AVAILABILITY OF CONFERENCE REPORTS ON THE INTERNET.

    Rule XXVIII of all the Standing Rules of the Senate is amended by 
adding at the end the following:
    ``9. It shall not be in order to consider a conference report 
unless such report is available to all Members and made available to 
the general public by means of the Internet for at least 24 hours 
before its consideration.''.
                                 <all>