[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 12 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 12

  To amend the Standing Rules of the Senate to reform the filibuster 
           rules to improve the daily process of the Senate.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 5, 2011

   Mr. Udall of Colorado (for himself, Mr. Durbin, and Mrs. Shaheen) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                      on Rules and Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  To amend the Standing Rules of the Senate to reform the filibuster 
           rules to improve the daily process of the Senate.

Whereas the Senate has operated under the cloture rules for many decades;
Whereas there has been a marked increase in the use of the filibuster in recent 
        years;
Whereas sweeping, monumental legislation affecting economic recovery, reform of 
        the healthcare system, reform of the financial regulatory system, and 
        many other initiatives all were enacted in the 111th Congress after 
        overcoming filibusters;
Whereas both parties have used the filibuster to prevent the passage of 
        controversial legislation and confirmation of qualified nominees;
Whereas the Senate rules regarding cloture serve the legitimate purpose of 
        protecting the rights of the minority;
Whereas there are many areas where the rules of the Senate have been abused, and 
        can make way for changes that will improve the daily process of the 
        Senate; and
Whereas bipartisan cooperation can overcome nearly any obstacle in the United 
        States Senate, changing the Senate rules must also be done with 
        bipartisan cooperation: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved,

SECTION 1. CHANGING VOTE THRESHOLD TO PRESENT AND VOTING.

    The second undesignated subparagraph of paragraph 2 of rule XXII of 
the Standing Rules of the Senate is amended by striking ``duly chosen 
and sworn'' and inserting ``present and voting''.

SEC. 2. MOTIONS TO PROCEED.

    Paragraph 2 of rule VIII of the Standing Rules of the Senate is 
amended to read as follows:
    ``2. Debate on a motion to proceed to the consideration of any 
matter, and any debatable motion or appeal in connection therewith, 
shall be limited to not more than 4 hours, to be equally divided 
between, and controlled by, the majority leader and the minority leader 
or their designees except for--
            ``(1) a motion to proceed to a proposal to change the 
        Standing Rules which shall be debatable; and
            ``(2) a motion to go into executive session to consider a 
        specified item of executive business and a motion to proceed to 
        consider any privileged matter which shall not be debatable.''.

SEC. 3. NO FILIBUSTER AFTER COMPLETE SUBSTITUTE IS AGREED TO.

    Paragraph 2 of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate is 
amended by inserting at the end the following:
    ``If a complete substitute amendment for a measure is agreed to 
after consideration under cloture, the Senate shall proceed to a final 
disposition of the measure without intervening action or debate except 
one quorum call if requested.''.

SEC. 4. NO FILIBUSTER RELATED TO COMMITTEES ON CONFERENCE.

    Rule XXVIII of the Standing Rules of the Senate is amended by 
inserting at the end the following:
    ``10.(a) Upon the majority leader making a motion to disagree with 
a House amendment or amendments or insist on a Senate amendment or 
amendments, request a conference with the House, or agree to the 
conference requested by the House on the disagreeing votes of the two 
Houses, and that the chair be authorized to appoint conferees on the 
part of the Senate, debate on the motion, and any debatable motion or 
appeal in connection therewith, shall be limited to not more than 4 
hours, to be equally divided between, and controlled by, the majority 
leader and the minority leader or their designees.
    ``(b) A motion made by the majority leader pursuant to subparagraph 
(a) shall not be divisible and shall not be subject to amendment.''.

SEC. 5. TIME PRECLOTURE.

    Paragraph 2 of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate is 
amended--
            (1) in the first subparagraph of paragraph 2, by striking 
        ``one hour after the Senate meets on the following calendar day 
        but one'' and inserting ``24 hours after the filing of the 
        motion''; and
            (2) in the third undesignated paragraph, by striking the 
        second sentence and inserting ``Except by unanimous consent, no 
        amendment shall be proposed after the vote to bring the debate 
        to a close, unless it had been submitted in writing to the 
        Journal Clerk 12 hours following the filing of the cloture 
        motion if an amendment in the first degree, and unless it had 
        been so submitted at least 1 hour prior to the beginning of the 
        cloture vote if an amendment in the second degree.''.

SEC. 6. DIVISION OF TIME POSTCLOTURE.

    The fourth undesignated subparagraph of paragraph 2 of rule XXII of 
the Standing Rules of the Senate is amended by inserting ``(to be 
equally divided between the majority and the minority)'' after ``thirty 
hours of consideration''.

SEC. 7. ELIMINATING DEBATE TIME POSTCLOTURE ON NOMINATIONS.

    The second undesignated paragraph of paragraph 2 of rule XXII of 
the Standing Rules of the Senate is amended by inserting at the end the 
following: ``If the matter on which cloture is invoked is a nomination, 
the Senate shall immediately proceed to vote on final disposition of 
the nomination upon invoking cloture on the nomination under this 
paragraph.''.

SEC. 8. ALLOWING COMMITTEES TO MEET WITHOUT CONSENT.

    Paragraph 5 of rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate is 
amended by--
            (1) striking subparagraph (a); and
            (2) redesignating subparagraphs (b) through (e) as 
        subparagraphs (a) through (d), respectively.

SEC. 9. READING OF AMENDMENTS.

    Paragraph 1 of rule XV of the Standing Rules of the Senate is 
amended by inserting at the end the following:
    ``(c) The reading of an amendment may be waived by a nondebatable 
motion if the amendment has been printed in the Congressional Record 
and available for at least 24 hours before the motion.''.

SEC. 10. ALLOWING AMENDMENTS WHEN AMENDMENTS PENDING BY A LIMITED 
              MOTION.

    Rule XV of the Standing Rules of the Senate is amended by adding at 
the end the following:
    ``6.(a) If an amendment is pending and except as provided in 
subparagraph (b), a nondebateable motion shall be in order to set aside 
any pending amendments in order to offer another germane amendment. No 
Senator shall offer more than 1 such motion in any calendar day and the 
Senate shall consider not more than 5 such motions in any calendar day.
    ``(b)(1) A nondebateable motion shall be in order to waive the 
requirement of germaneness under subparagraph (a).
    ``(2) A waiver motion under this subparagraph shall require three-
fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn.
    ``(c) An affirmative vote of three-fifths of the Senators duly 
chosen and sworn shall be required to sustain an appeal of a ruling by 
the chair on a point of order raised under this paragraph.''.
                                 <all>