[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 440 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 440

 Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to strengthen the 
               public disclosure of all earmark requests.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 14, 2009

   Mr. Cassidy (for himself and Ms. Speier) submitted the following 
   resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Rules, and in 
   addition to the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, 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

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to strengthen the 
               public disclosure of all earmark requests.

    Resolved, That (a) rule XXIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives is amended by redesignating clause 18 as clause 19 and 
by inserting after clause 17 the following:
    ``18. A Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner who requests a 
congressional earmark, a limited tax benefit, or a limited tariff 
benefit shall, within 24 hours after making such request--
            ``(1) post on his or her public website for the remainder 
        of the Congress the following--
                    ``(A) the name and address of the intended 
                recipient;
                    ``(B) the requested amount (only in the case of 
                congressional earmarks); and
                    ``(C) an explanation of the request, including the 
                purpose, and why it is a valuable use of taxpayer 
                funds;
            ``(2) electronically submit to the committee of subject-
        matter jurisdiction the webpage address where such information 
        is posted;
            ``(3) identify each request as having been submitted to the 
        committee of subject-matter jurisdiction; and
            ``(4) display on the homepage of such website a hypertext 
        link that contains the words `Earmarks', `Appropriations 
        Requests', `Limited Tax Benefits', or `Limited Tariff Benefits' 
        and that directs to such webpage address, and maintain that 
        link for at least 30 calendar days after the last such request 
        is made during the Congress.''.
    (b) The last sentence of clause 16 of rule XXIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives is amended by striking ``and clause 17'' 
and inserting ``, clause 17, and clause 18''.
    Sec. 2.  Rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives is 
amended by adding at the end the following new clause:
``Earmark disclosure websites
    ``(s)(1) Any committee that accepts any request of a Member, 
Delegate, or Resident Commissioner for a congressional earmark, a 
limited tax benefit, or a limited tariff benefit shall maintain a 
public website with an earmark disclosure webpage that contains the 
following for each such request--
            ``(A) the bill name;
            ``(B) the name, State, and district of that individual;
            ``(C) the name and address of the intended recipient;
            ``(D) the requested amount (only in the case of 
        congressional earmarks);
            ``(E) a brief description; and
            ``(F) the applicable department or agency of the 
        Government, and the account or program (if provided to the 
        committee in the request);
and is in a downloadable format that is searchable and sortable by such 
characteristics.
    ``(2) Any written statement received by a committee under clause 
17(a) of rule XXIII shall be posted on the earmark disclosure webpage 
of the committee.
    ``(3) The earmark disclosure webpage of a committee shall list the 
names of any Member, Delegate, and Resident Commissioner who requests a 
congressional earmark, a limited tax benefit, or a limited tariff 
benefit and link directly to their webpage addresses referred to in 
clause 18(2) of rule XXIII.
    ``(4) The earmark disclosure webpage of a committee shall post the 
information required under subparagraphs (1) through (3) within one 
week of receipt, and shall maintain that information on that webpage 
for the remainder of the Congress.
    ``(5) For purposes of this paragraph, the terms `congressional 
earmark', `limited tax benefit', and `limited tariff benefit' shall 
have the meaning given them in clause 9 of rule XXI.''.
    Sec. 3.  Clause 9 of rule XXI of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives is amended by redesignating paragraphs (e), (f), and 
(g) as paragraphs (f), (g), and (h), respectively, and by inserting 
after paragraph (d) the following:
    ``(e) It shall not be in order to consider any bill or joint 
resolution, or an amendment thereto or conference report thereon, that 
carries a congressional earmark, limited tax benefit, or limited tariff 
benefit for which a Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner failed 
to comply with any applicable requirement of clause 18 of rule 
XXIII.''.
    Sec. 4.  The amendments made by this resolution shall apply to 
requests for congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, and limited 
tariff benefits made after the date this resolution is agreed to.
                                 <all>