[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 2 (Friday, January 5, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H59-H61]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE SPEAKER

  The SPEAKER. The Chair customarily takes this occasion at the outset 
of a Congress to announce her policies with respect to particular 
aspects of the legislative process. The Chair will insert in the Record 
announcements concerning:
  first, privileges of the floor;
  second, introduction of bills and resolutions;
  third, unanimous-consent requests for the consideration of 
legislation;
  fourth, recognition for 1-minute speeches;
  fifth, decorum in debate;
  sixth, conduct of votes by electronic device;
  seventh, use of handouts on the House floor; and
  eighth, use of electronic equipment on the House floor.
  These announcements, where appropriate, will reiterate the origins of 
the stated policies. The Chair intends to continue in the 110th 
Congress the policies reflected in these statements. The policy 
announced in the 102nd Congress with respect to jurisdictional concepts 
related to clause 5(a) of rule XXI--tax and tariff measures--will 
continue to govern but need not be reiterated, as it is adequately 
documented as precedent in the House Rules and Manual.
  Without objection, the announcements will be printed in the Record.
  There was no objection.

                       1. Privileges of the Floor

       The Chair will make the following announcements regarding 
     floor privileges, which will apply during the 110th Congress.


           ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE SPEAKER WITH RESPECT TO STAFF

       Rule IV strictly limits those persons to whom the 
     privileges of the floor during sessions of the House are 
     extended, and that rule prohibits the Chair from entertaining 
     requests for suspension or waiver of that rule. As reiterated 
     by the Chair on January 21, 1986, January 3, 1985, January 
     25, 1983, and August 22, 1974, and as stated in Chapter 10, 
     section 2, of House Practice, the rule strictly limits the 
     number of committee staff on the floor at one time during the 
     consideration of measures reported from their committees. 
     This permission does not extend to Members' personal staff 
     except when a Member's amendment is actually pending during 
     the five-minute rule. It also does not extend to personal 
     staff of Members who are sponsors of pending bills or who are 
     engaging in special orders. The Chair requests the 
     cooperation of all Members and committee staff to assure that 
     only the proper number of staff are on the floor, and then 
     only during the consideration of measures within the 
     jurisdiction of their committees. The Chair is making this 
     statement and reiterating this policy because of Members' 
     past insistence

[[Page H60]]

     upon strict enforcement of the rule. The Chair requests each 
     chairman, and each ranking minority member, to submit to the 
     Speaker a list of those staff who are allowed on the floor 
     during the consideration of a measure reported by their 
     committee. The Sergeant-at-Arms, who has been directed to 
     assure proper enforcement of rule IV, will keep the list. 
     Each staff person should exchange his or her ID for a 
     ``committee staff'' badge, which is to be worn while on the 
     floor. The Chair has consulted with the Minority Leader and 
     will continue to consult with him.
       Furthermore, as the Chair announced on January 7, 2003, in 
     accordance with the change in the 108th Congress of clause 
     2(a) of rule IV regarding leadership staff floor access, only 
     designated staff approved by the Speaker shall be granted the 
     privilege of the floor. The Speaker intends that her approval 
     be narrowly granted on a bipartisan basis to staff from the 
     majority and minority side and only to those staff essential 
     to floor activities.


       ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE SPEAKER WITH RESPECT TO FORMER MEMBERS

       The Speaker's policy announced on February 1, 2006, will 
     continue to apply in the 110th Congress.


             ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE SPEAKER, FEBRUARY 1, 2006

       The SPEAKER. The House has adopted a revision to the rule 
     regarding the admission to the floor and the rooms leading 
     thereto. Clause 4 of rule IV provides that a former Member, 
     Delegate or Resident Commissioner or a former Parliamentarian 
     of the House, or a former elected officer of the House or a 
     former minority employee nominated as an elected officer of 
     the House shall not be entitled to the privilege of admission 
     to the Hall of the House and the rooms extending thereto if 
     he or she is a registered lobbyist or an agent of a foreign 
     principal; has any direct personal pecuniary interest in any 
     legislative measure pending before the House, or reported by 
     a committee; or is in the employ of or represents any party 
     or organization for the purpose of influencing, directly or 
     indirectly, the passage, defeat, or amendment of any 
     legislative proposal.
       This restriction extends not only to the House floor but 
     adjacent rooms, the cloakrooms and the Speaker's lobby.
       Clause 4 of rule IV also allows the Speaker to exempt 
     ceremonial and educational functions from the restrictions of 
     this clause. These restrictions shall not apply to attendance 
     at joint meetings or joint sessions, Former Members' Day 
     proceedings, educational tours, and other occasions as the 
     Speaker may designate.
       Members who have reason to know that a person is on the 
     floor inconsistent with clause 4 of rule IV should notify the 
     Sergeant at Arms promptly.

                2. Introduction of Bills and Resolutions

       The policy that the Chair announced on January 3, 1983, 
     with respect to the introduction and reference of bills and 
     resolutions will continue to apply in the 110th Congress. The 
     Chair has advised all officers and employees of the House 
     that are involved in the processing of bills that every bill, 
     resolution, memorial, petition or other material that is 
     placed in the hopper must bear the signature of a Member. 
     Where a bill or resolution is jointly sponsored, the 
     signature must be that of the Member first named thereon. The 
     bill clerk is instructed to return to the Member any bill 
     which appears in the hopper without an original signature. 
     This procedure was inaugurated in the 92d Congress. It has 
     worked well, and the Chair thinks that it is essential to 
     continue this practice to insure the integrity of the process 
     by which legislation is introduced in the House.

   3. Unanimous-Consent Requests for the Consideration of Legislation

       The policy the Chair announced on January 6, 1999, with 
     respect to recognition for unanimous consent requests for the 
     consideration of certain legislative measures will continue 
     to apply in the 110th Congress. The Speaker will continue to 
     follow the guidelines recorded in section 956 of the House 
     Rules and Manual conferring recognition for unanimous-consent 
     requests for the consideration of bills, resolutions, and 
     other measures only when assured that the majority 
     and minority floor leadership and committee chairmen and 
     ranking minority members have no objection. Consistent 
     with those guidelines, and with the Chair's inherent power 
     of recognition under clause 2 of rule XVII, the Chair, and 
     any occupant of the Chair appointed as Speaker pro tempore 
     pursuant to clause 8 of rule I, will decline recognition 
     for the unanimous-consent requests chronicled in section 
     956 without assurances that the request has been so 
     cleared. This denial of recognition by the Chair will not 
     reflect necessarily any personal opposition on the part of 
     the Chair to orderly consideration of the matter in 
     question, but will reflect the determination upon the part 
     of the Chair that orderly procedures will be followed; 
     that is, procedures involving consultation and agreement 
     between floor and committee leadership on both sides of 
     the aisle.

                 4. Recognition for One-Minute Speeches


    Announcement by the speaker with respect to one-minute speeches

       The Speaker's policy announced on August 8, 1984, with 
     respect to recognition for one-minute speeches will apply 
     during the 110th Congress. The Chair will alternate 
     recognition for one-minute speeches between majority and 
     minority Members, in the order in which they seek recognition 
     in the well under present practice from the Chair's right to 
     the Chair's left, with possible exceptions for Members of the 
     leadership and Members having business requests. The Chair, 
     of course, reserves the right to limit one-minute speeches to 
     a certain period of time or to a special place in the program 
     on any given day, with notice to the leadership.

                          5. Decorum in Debate

       The Chair's announced policies of January 7, 2003, January 
     4, 1995, and January 3, 1991, will apply in the 110th 
     Congress. It is essential that the dignity of the proceedings 
     of the House be preserved, not only to assure that the House 
     conducts its business in an orderly fashion but also to 
     permit Members to properly comprehend and participate in the 
     business of the House. To this end, and in order to permit 
     the Chair to understand and to correctly put the question on 
     the numerous requests that are made by Members, the Chair 
     requests that Members and others who have the privileges of 
     the floor desist from audible conversation in the Chamber 
     while the business of the House is being conducted. The Chair 
     would encourage all Members to review rule XVII to gain a 
     better understanding of the proper rules of decorum expected 
     of them, and especially: to avoid ``personalities'' in debate 
     with respect to references to other Members, the Senate, and 
     the President; to address the Chair while standing and only 
     during, and not beyond, the time recognized, and not to 
     address the television or other imagined audience; to refrain 
     from passing between the Chair and a Member speaking, or 
     directly in front of a Member speaking from the well; to 
     refrain from smoking in the Chamber; to deactivate any 
     audible ring of wireless telephones when entering the 
     Chamber; to wear appropriate business attire in the Chamber; 
     and to generally display the same degree of respect to the 
     Chair and other Members that every Member is due.
       The Chair would like all Members to be on notice that the 
     Chair intends to strictly enforce time limitations on debate. 
     Furthermore, the Chair has the authority to immediately 
     interrupt Members in debate who transgress rule XVII by 
     failing to avoid ``personalities'' in debate with respect to 
     references to the Senate, the President, and other Members, 
     rather than wait for Members to complete their remarks.
       Finally, it is not in order to speak disrespectfully of the 
     Speaker; and under the precedents the sanctions for such 
     violations transcend the ordinary requirements for timeliness 
     of challenges. This separate treatment is recorded in volume 
     2 of Hinds' Precedents, at section 1248 and was reiterated on 
     January 19, 1995.

                6. Conduct of Votes by Electronic Device

       The Speaker's policy announced on January 4, 1995, with 
     respect to the conduct of electronic votes will continue in 
     the 110th Congress with modifications as follows.
       As Members are aware, clause 2(a) of rule XX provides that 
     Members shall have not less than 15 minutes in which to 
     answer an ordinary record vote or quorum call. The rule 
     obviously establishes 15 minutes as a minimum. Still, with 
     the cooperation of the Members, a vote can easily be 
     completed in that time. The events of October 30, 1991, stand 
     out as proof of this point. On that occasion, the House was 
     considering a bill in the Committee of the Whole under a 
     special rule that placed an overall time limit on the 
     amendment process, including the time consumed by record 
     votes. The Chair announced, and then strictly enforced, a 
     policy of closing electronic votes as soon as possible after 
     the guaranteed period of 15 minutes. Members appreciated and 
     cooperated with the Chair's enforcement of the policy on that 
     occasion.
       The Chair desires that the example of October 30, 1991, be 
     made the regular practice of the House. To that end, the 
     Chair enlists the assistance of all Members in avoiding the 
     unnecessary loss of time in conducting the business of the 
     House. The Chair encourages all Members to depart for the 
     Chamber promptly upon the appropriate bell and light signal. 
     As in recent Congresses, the cloakrooms should not forward to 
     the Chair requests to hold a vote by electronic device, but 
     should simply apprise inquiring Members of the time remaining 
     on the voting clock. Members should not rely on signals 
     relayed from outside the Chamber to assume that votes will be 
     held open until they arrive in the Chamber. Members will be 
     given a reasonable amount of time in which to accurately 
     record their votes. No occupant of the Chair would prevent 
     a Member who is in the Well before the announcement of the 
     result from casting his or her vote.

                   7. Use of Handouts on House Floor

       The Speaker's policy announced on September 27, 1995, which 
     was prompted by a misuse of handouts on the House floor and 
     made at the bipartisan request of the Committee on Standards 
     of Official Conduct, will continue in the 110th Congress. All 
     handouts distributed on or adjacent to the House floor by 
     Members during House proceedings must bear the name of the 
     Member authorizing their distribution. In addition, the 
     content of those materials must comport with standards of 
     propriety applicable to words spoken in debate or inserted in 
     the Record. Failure to comply with this admonition may 
     constitute a breach of decorum and may give rise to a 
     question of privilege.

[[Page H61]]

       The Chair would also remind Members that, pursuant to 
     clause 5 of rule IV, staff is prohibited from engaging in 
     efforts in the Hall of the House or rooms leading thereto to 
     influence Members with regard to the legislation being 
     amended. Staff cannot distribute handouts.
       In order to enhance the quality of debate in the House, the 
     Chair would ask Members to minimize the use of handouts.

             8. Use of Electronic Equipment on House Floor

       The Speaker's policy announced on January 27, 2000, as 
     modified by the change in clause 5 of rule XVII in the 108th 
     Congress, will continue in the 110th Congress. All Members 
     and staff are reminded of the absolute prohibition contained 
     in clause 5 of rule XVII against the use of a wireless 
     telephone or personal computer upon the floor of the House at 
     any time.
       The Chair requests all Members and staff wishing to receive 
     or send wireless telephone messages to do so outside of the 
     Chamber, and to deactivate, which means to turn off, any 
     audible ring of wireless phones before entering the Chamber. 
     To this end, the Chair insists upon the cooperation of all 
     Members and staff and instructs the Sergeant-at-Arms, 
     pursuant to clause 3(a) of rule II and clause 5 of rule XVII, 
     to enforce this prohibition.

                          ____________________