[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1360 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1360

    Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to guarantee 
       reasonable time prior to the consideration of legislation.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 13, 2010

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
    Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to guarantee 
       reasonable time prior to the consideration of legislation.

    Resolved,

SECTION 1. PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this resolution is to--
            (1) allow for a careful study of the facts and potential 
        impacts of legislative actions;
            (2) restore public trust in elected representatives and the 
        legislative process;
            (3) foster bipartisanship;
            (4) improve the quality of legislation by enabling the 
        close scrutiny of issues that the gravity of our Nation's 
        challenges require and deserve; and
            (5) fulfill the promise of our Republic by providing the 
        opportunities and time for public participation that empowers 
        Members of Congress to represent their constituents as 
        effectively as possible;
by amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to improve 
Americans' representation in their Government and the legislative 
process.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO RULE XIII REGARDING AVAILABILITY OF MEASURES, 
              MATTERS, 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 ``measures, matters, 
        and'' before ``reports'';
            (2) in paragraph (a), by amending subparagraph (1) to read 
        as follows:
    ``(1) It shall not be in order to consider in the House a measure 
or matter until 72 (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, except 
for those hours when the House is in session on such a day) hours after 
the legislation, report, measure, or matter has been available on the 
Library of Congress website, www.thomas.gov (and, if the measure or 
matter is reported by one or more committees, the text of all 
accompanying reports) has been made available pursuant to subparagraph 
(2) to Members, Delegates, the Resident Commissioner, and the 
public.''; and
            (3) by amending subparagraph (2) to read as follows:
    ``(2) The full text of the measure or matter and each committee 
report thereon shall be posted continuously on the Library of Congress 
website, www.thomas.gov, in such a manner that they are accessible 
using existing technology, anonymously and at no cost to the public, in 
a format that is searchable by text.''.
    (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 public'';
            (2) in clause 6(a), by striking ``may not be called up for 
        consideration on the same day it is presented to the House'' 
        and inserting ``may not be called up in the first 72 hours 
        after is it presented to the House''; and
            (3) in clause 6(c), by inserting before the period ``; or a 
        rule or order proposing a waiver of clause 4(a) of this rule 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''.

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 paragraph (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 public pursuant 
to subparagraph (2). The preceding sentence may be waived or suspended 
only by the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the Members, a quorum 
being present.
    ``(2) Without further amendment before floor consideration, the 
full texts of the conference report and the accompanying signed joint 
explanatory statement shall be posted continuously on the Library of 
Congress website, www.thomas.gov, in such a manner that they are 
accessible using existing technology, anonymously and at no cost to the 
public, in a format that can be searched by text.''; and
            (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 public pursuant 
to subparagraph (2). The preceding sentence may be waived or suspended 
only by the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the Members, a quorum 
being present.
    ``(2) Without further amendment before floor consideration, the 
full texts of a Senate amendment reported in disagreement and any 
accompanying statement shall be posted continuously on the Library of 
Congress website, www.thomas.gov, in such a manner that they are 
accessible using existing technology, anonymously and at no cost to the 
public, in a format that can be searched by text.''.

SEC. 4. AMENDMENTS TO RULE XIX REGARDING AVAILABILITY OF MOTIONS TO 
              RECOMMIT.

    Clause 2(a) of rule XIX of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives is amended by adding at the end the following new 
sentences: ``When a motion to recommit is offered, the Chair shall put 
the question in the form `Shall the House now consider the motion?'. If 
the question is agreed to, then the House shall proceed to 
consideration. If the question is not agreed to, the Chair shall 
postpone further consideration of the motion in the House for 2 hours, 
and the text of any such motion to recommit shall be available on the 
Internet website of the Committee on Rules to Members, Delegates, the 
Resident Commissioner, and the public during such 2-hour period.''.

SEC. 5. AVAILABILITY OF AMENDMENTS.

    Rule XVI of the Rules of the House of Representatives is amended by 
adding at the end the following new clause:
``Availability of amendments
    ``9.(a) It shall not be in order to consider any amendment to any 
bill or resolution unless the full text of the amendment has been 
posted for 24 hours continuously on the Library of Congress website, 
www.thomas.gov, in such a manner that it is accessible using existing 
technology, anonymously and at no cost to the public, in a format that 
can be searched by text.
    ``(b) Paragraph (a) may be waived by the affirmative vote of two-
thirds of the Members, a quorum being present.''.

SEC. 6. AVAILABILITY OF LEGISLATION AND AMENDMENTS IN COMMITTEES AND 
              SUBCOMMITTEES.

    Clause 2 of rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives is 
amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
    ``(q)(1) It shall not be in order in any committee, or a 
subcommittee thereof, to consider any bill or resolution until 72 hours 
(excluding Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, except for those hours when 
the House is in session on such a day) after the text of such bill or 
resolution has been made available to its Members, Delegates, the 
Resident Commissioner, and the public on the Library of Congress 
website, www.thomas.gov, in such a manner that the bill or resolution 
is accessible using existing technology, anonymously and at no cost to 
the public, in a format that is searchable by text.
    ``(2) Subparagraph (1) may be waived by the affirmative vote of 
two-thirds of the Members, a quorum being present.
    ``(3) Clause 9 of rule XVI (relating to the availability of 
amendments) is applicable to the consideration of amendments in any 
committee or subcommittee thereof.''.
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