[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 9 (Monday, January 23, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H90-H91]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE SPEAKER

  The SPEAKER. The Chair wishes to make a brief announcement concerning 
floor practice.
  Members should periodically rededicate themselves to the core 
principles of proper parliamentary practice that are so essential to 
maintaining order and deliberacy in the House. The Chair believes that 
a few of these principles bear emphasis today.

[[Page H91]]

  Members should refrain from trafficking the well when another 
(including the presiding officer) is addressing the House.
  Members should wear appropriate business attire during all sittings 
of the House, however brief their presence on the floor might be.
  Members who wish to speak on the floor should respectfully seek and 
obtain recognition from the presiding officer, taking the time to do so 
in proper forms (such as ``I ask unanimous consent to address the House 
for 1 minute'').
  Members should take care to yield and reclaim time in an orderly 
fashion, bearing in mind that the official reporters of debate cannot 
properly transcribe two Members simultaneously.
  Members should address their remarks in debate to the presiding 
officer and not to others in the second person or to some perceived 
viewing audience.
  Members should not embellish the offering of a motion, the entry of a 
request, the making of a point of order, or the entry of an appeal with 
any statement of motive or other commentary, and should be aware that 
such utterances could render the motion, request, point of order, or 
appeal untimely.
  Following these basic standards of practice will foster an atmosphere 
of mutual and institutional respect. It will insure against personal 
confrontation among individual Members or between Members and the 
presiding officer. It will facilitate Members' comprehension of, and 
participation in, the business of the House. It will enable accurate 
transcriptions of proceedings. In sum, it will ensure the comity that 
elevates spirited deliberations above mere argument.
  The Chair appreciates the attention of the Members to these matters.

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