Congressional Record, Volume 169 Issue 7 (Monday, January 9, 2023)

[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 7 (Monday, January 9, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H51-H70]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

ADOPTING THE RULES OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FOR THE 118TH
CONGRESS

Mr. SCALISE. Mr. Speaker, I offer a privileged resolution and ask for
its immediate consideration.
The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:

H. Res. 5

Resolved,

SECTION 1. ADOPTION OF THE RULES OF THE ONE HUNDRED
SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS.

The Rules of the House of Representatives of the One
Hundred Seventeenth Congress, including applicable provisions
of law or concurrent resolution that constituted rules of the
House at the end of the One Hundred Seventeenth Congress, are
adopted as the Rules of the House of Representatives of the
One Hundred Eighteenth Congress, with amendments to the
standing rules as provided in section 2, and with other
orders as provided in this resolution.

SEC. 2. CHANGES TO THE STANDING RULES.

(a) Initiatives to Reduce Spending and Improve
Accountability.--
(1) Cut-as-you-go.--In rule XXI, amend clause 10 to read as
follows:
``10.(a)(1) Except as provided in paragraphs (b) and (c),
it shall not be in order to consider a bill or joint
resolution, or an amendment thereto or a conference report
thereon, if the provisions of such measure have the net
effect of increasing mandatory spending for the period of
either--
``(A) the current year, the budget year, and the four
fiscal years following that budget year; or
``(B) the current year, the budget year, and the nine
fiscal years following that budget year.
``(2) For purposes of this clause, the terms `budget year'
and `current year' have the meanings specified in section 250
of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of
1985, and the term `mandatory spending' has the meaning of
`direct spending' specified in such section 250 except that
such term shall also include provisions in appropriation Acts
that make outyear modifications to substantive law as
described in section 3(4)(C) of the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go
Act of 2010.
``(b) If a bill or joint resolution, or an amendment
thereto, is considered pursuant to a special order of the
House directing the Clerk to add as new matter at the end of
such bill or joint resolution the entire text of a separate
measure or measures as passed by the House, the new matter
proposed to be added shall be included in the evaluation
under paragraph (a) of the bill, joint resolution, or
amendment.
``(c)(1) Except as provided in subparagraph (2), the
evaluation under paragraph (a) shall exclude a provision
expressly designated as an emergency for the Statutory Pay-
As-You-Go Act of 2010, in the case of a point of order under
this clause against consideration of--
``(A) a bill or joint resolution;
``(B) an amendment made in order as original text by a
special order of business;
``(C) a conference report; or

[[Page H52]]

``(D) an amendment between the Houses.
``(2) In the case of an amendment (other than one specified
in subparagraph (1)) to a bill or joint resolution, the
evaluation under paragraph (a) shall give no cognizance to
any designation of emergency.''.
(2) Requiring a vote on raising the debt limit.--Amend rule
XXVIII to read as follows:

``RULE XXVIII

``(Reserved.)''.

(3) Point of order against amendments to appropriations
bills increasing budget authority.--In clause 2 of rule XXI,
add at the end the following new paragraph:
``(g) An amendment to a general appropriation bill shall
not be in order if proposing a net increase in the level of
budget authority in the bill.''.
(4) Limitations on increases in direct spending in
reconciliation initiatives.--In rule XXI, amend clause 7 to
read as follows:
``7. It shall not be in order to consider a concurrent
resolution on the budget, or an amendment thereto, or a
conference report thereon that contains reconciliation
directives under section 310 of the Congressional Budget Act
of 1974 that specify changes in law such that the
reconciliation legislation reported pursuant to such
directives would cause an increase in net direct spending (as
such term is defined in clause 10) for the period covered by
such concurrent resolution.''.
(b) Increased Threshold for Tax Rate Increases.--
(1) Vote required for passage.--In clause 5 of rule XXI--
(A) redesignate paragraph (b) as paragraph (c); and
(B) insert after paragraph (a) the following new paragraph:

``Passage of tax rate increases

``(b) A bill or joint resolution, amendment, or conference
report carrying a Federal income tax rate increase may not be
considered as passed or agreed to unless so determined by a
vote of not less than three-fifths of the Members voting, a
quorum being present. In this paragraph, the term `Federal
income tax rate increase' means any amendment to subsection
(a), (b), (c), (d), or (e) of section 1, or to section 11(b)
or 55(b), of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, that imposes
a new percentage as a rate of tax and thereby increases the
amount of tax imposed by any such section.''.
(2) Conforming amendment.--In clause 10 of rule XX, strike
``appropriations,'' and insert `` appropriations or
increasing Federal income tax rates (within the meaning of
clause 5 of rule XXI),''.
(c) Two-minute Votes.--In clause 9 of rule XX--
(1) in the heading, strike ``Five-minute'' and insert
``Two-minute'';
(2) in paragraph (a), strike ``five minutes'' and insert
``not less than two minutes''; and
(3) in paragraph (b), strike ``five-minute voting'' and
insert ``reduced voting times''.
(d) Modifications to Calendar Wednesday.--In clause 6(a) of
rule XV, strike ``on the preceding legislative day'' and
insert ``at least 72 hours in advance''.
(e) Committee Authorization and Oversight Plans.--
(1) Plans.--In rule X, amend clause 2(d) to read as
follows:
``(d)(1) Not later than March 1 of the first session of a
Congress, each standing committee (other than the Committee
on Appropriations, the Committee on Ethics, and the Committee
on Rules) shall, in a meeting that is open to the public,
adopt its authorization and oversight plan for that Congress.
Such plan shall be submitted simultaneously to the Committee
on Oversight and Accountability and the Committee on House
Administration.
``(2) Each such plan shall include, with respect to
programs and agencies within the committee's jurisdiction,
and to the maximum extent practicable--
``(A) a list of such programs or agencies with lapsed
authorizations that received funding in the prior fiscal year
or, in the case of a program or agency with a permanent
authorization, which has not been subject to a comprehensive
review by the committee in the prior three Congresses;
``(B) a description of each such program or agency to be
authorized in the current Congress;
``(C) a description of each such program or agency to be
authorized in the next Congress, if applicable;
``(D) a description of any oversight to support the
authorization of each such program or agency in the current
Congress; and
``(E) recommendations for changes to existing law for
moving such programs or agencies from mandatory funding to
discretionary appropriations, where appropriate.
``(3) Each such plan may include, with respect to the
programs and agencies within the committee's jurisdiction--
``(A) recommendations for the consolidation or termination
of such programs or agencies that are duplicative,
unnecessary, or inconsistent with the appropriate roles and
responsibilities of the Federal Government;
``(B) recommendations for changes to existing law related
to Federal rules, regulations, statutes, and court decisions
affecting such programs and agencies that are inconsistent
with the authorities of the Congress under Article I of the
Constitution; and
``(C) a description of such other oversight activities as
the committee may consider necessary.
``(4) In the development of such plan, the chair of each
committee shall coordinate with other committees of
jurisdiction to ensure that programs and agencies are subject
to routine, comprehensive authorization efforts.
``(5) Not later than April 15 in the first session of a
Congress, after consultation with the Speaker, the Majority
Leader, and the Minority Leader, the Committee on Oversight
and Accountability shall report to the House the
authorization and oversight plans submitted by committees
under subparagraph (1) together with any recommendations that
it, or the House leadership group described above, may make
to ensure the most effective coordination of authorization
and oversight plans and otherwise to achieve the objectives
of this clause.''.
(2) Conforming amendments.--In clause 1(d)(2) of rule XI--
(A) in subdivision (B), strike ``oversight plans'' and
insert ``authorization and oversight plans''; and
(B) in subdivision (C), strike ``oversight plans'' and
insert ``authorization and oversight plans''.
(f) Cost Estimates for Major Legislation to Include
Macroeconomic Effects.--In rule XIII, add at the end the
following new clause:

``Estimates of major legislation

``8.(a) An estimate provided by the Congressional Budget
Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of
1974 for any major legislation shall, to the extent
practicable, incorporate the budgetary effects of changes in
economic output, employment, capital stock, and other
macroeconomic variables resulting from such legislation.
``(b) An estimate provided by the Joint Committee on
Taxation to the Director of the Congressional Budget Office
under section 201(f) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974
for any major legislation shall, to the extent practicable,
incorporate the budgetary effects of changes in economic
output, employment, capital stock, and other macroeconomic
variables resulting from such legislation.
``(c) An estimate referred to in this clause shall, to the
extent practicable, include--
``(1) a qualitative assessment of the budgetary effects
(including macroeconomic variables described in paragraphs
(a) and (b)) of such legislation in the 20-fiscal year period
beginning after the last fiscal year of the most recently
agreed to concurrent resolution on the budget that set forth
appropriate levels required by section 301 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974; and
``(2) an identification of the critical assumptions and the
source of data underlying that estimate.
``(d) As used in this clause--
``(1) the term `major legislation' means any bill or joint
resolution--
``(A) for which an estimate is required to be prepared
pursuant to section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of
1974 and that causes a gross budgetary effect (before
incorporating macroeconomic effects) in any fiscal year over
the years of the most recently agreed to concurrent
resolution on the budget equal to or greater than 0.25
percent of the current projected gross domestic product of
the United States for that fiscal year; or
``(B) designated as such by the chair of the Committee on
the Budget for all direct spending legislation other than
revenue legislation or the Member who is chair or vice chair,
as applicable, of the Joint Committee on Taxation for revenue
legislation; and
``(2) the term `budgetary effects' means changes in
revenues, outlays, and deficits.''.
(g) Ethics Reform.--In clause 3(r) of rule XI--
(1) strike ``(r) Upon receipt'' and insert ``(r)(1) Upon
receipt''; and
(2) add at the end the following new subparagraph:
``(2) In addition to receiving written notifications from
the Office of Congressional Ethics under subparagraph (1),
the committee shall adopt rules providing for a process to
receive from the public outside information offered as a
complaint. The process shall include the establishment of a
method for the submission of such information to the
committee in electronic form.''.
(h) Empaneling Investigative Subcommittee of Committee on
Ethics.--In clause 3(b) of rule XI, add at the end the
following:
``(9) Whenever a Member, Delegate, or the Resident
Commissioner is indicted or otherwise formally charged with
criminal conduct in a court of the United States or any
State, the Committee on Ethics shall, not later than 30 days
after the date of such indictment or charge--
``(A) empanel an investigative subcommittee to review the
allegations; or
``(B) submit a report to the House describing its reasons
for not empaneling such an investigative subcommittee,
together with the actions, if any, the committee has taken in
response to the allegations.''.
(i) Treatment of Evidence in Committee and Subcommittee
Investigations.--In clause 3(p) of rule XI--
(1) in subparagraph (5)(C), strike the semicolon at the end
and insert ``; or'';
(2) in subparagraph (5)(D), strike ``or'' at the end;
(3) strike subparagraph (5)(E);
(4) in subparagraph (7), strike the semicolon at the end
and insert ``; and'';
(5) in subparagraph (8), strike ``; and'' and insert a
period; and

[[Page H53]]

(6) strike subparagraph (9).
(j) Designating Committee on Oversight and
Accountability.--In the standing rules, strike ``Committee on
Oversight and Reform'' each place it appears and insert (in
each instance) ``Committee on Oversight and Accountability''.
(k) Designating Committee on Education and the Workforce.--
In rule X--
(1) in clause 1(e), strike ``Committee on Education and
Labor'' and insert ``Committee on Education and the
Workforce''; and
(2) in clause 3(d), strike ``Committee on Education and
Labor'' and insert ``Committee on Education and the
Workforce''.
(l) Subcommittees of Committee on Agriculture.--In clause
5(d)(2) of rule X--
(1) redesignate subdivisions (B) through (F) as
subdivisions (C) through (G), respectively; and
(2) insert after subdivision (A) the following new
subdivision:
``(B) The Committee on Agriculture may have not more than
six subcommittees.''.
(m) Cybersecurity.--In clause 1(j)(3) of rule X, add at the
end the following:
``(G) Cybersecurity.''.
(n) Scope of Authority to Act in Continuing Litigation
Matters.--In clause 8(c) of rule II, strike ``, including,
but not limited to, the issuance of subpoenas,''.
(o) Record Votes on Measures Reported by the Committee on
Rules.--In clause 3(b) of rule XIII, strike ``, and applies
only to the maximum extent practicable to a report by the
Committee on Rules on a rule, joint rule, or the order of
business''.
(p) Access to Hall of the House.--In clause 2(a)(14) of
rule IV, strike ``and of the Territories and the Mayor of the
District of Columbia''.
(q) Resolution Declaring the Office of Speaker Vacant.--In
clause 2(a) of rule IX, strike subparagraph (3).

SEC. 3. SEPARATE ORDERS.

(a) Holman Rule.--During the One Hundred Eighteenth
Congress, any reference in clause 2 of rule XXI to a
provision or amendment that retrenches expenditures by a
reduction of amounts of money covered by the bill shall be
construed as applying to any provision or amendment (offered
after the bill has been read for amendment) that retrenches
expenditures by--
(1) reduction of amounts of money in the bill;
(2) the reduction of the number and salary of the officers
of the United States; or
(3) the reduction of the compensation of any person paid
out of the Treasury of the United States.
(b) Restoring Legislative Branch Accountability.--The
regulations adopted pursuant to House Resolution 1096, One
Hundred Seventeenth Congress, shall have no force or effect
during the One Hundred Eighteenth Congress.
(c) Requirement With Respect to Single-subject Bills.--
(1) In general.--During the One Hundred Eighteenth
Congress, a bill or joint resolution may not be introduced
unless the sponsor submits for printing in the Congressional
Record a statement setting forth the single subject of the
bill or joint resolution. Such statement shall be included
with the statement required by clause 7(c) of rule XII, and
shall appear in a portion of the Record designated for that
purpose and be made publicly available in electronic form by
the Clerk.
(2) Effective date.--This subsection shall become effective
on February 1, 2023.
(3) Transition.--On any bill or joint resolution introduced
prior to the effective date of this subsection, the statement
required under paragraph (1) shall, to the extent
practicable, be submitted by the sponsor prior to committee
or House consideration.
(d) Question of Consideration for Germaneness.--
(1) In general.--During the One Hundred Eighteenth
Congress, it shall not be in order to consider a rule or
order that waives all points of order against an amendment
submitted to the Committee on Rules otherwise in violation of
clause 7 of rule XVI.
(2) Disposition of point of order.--As disposition of a
point of order under paragraph (1), the Chair shall put the
question of consideration with respect to the rule or order,
as applicable. The question of consideration shall be
debatable for 10 minutes by the Member initiating the point
of order and for 10 minutes by an opponent, but shall
otherwise be decided without intervening motion.
(e) Budget Matters.--
(1) Interim enforcement of allocations, aggregates, and
other appropriate levels pending adoption of concurrent
resolution on the budget.--
(A) In general.--During the first session of the One
Hundred Eighteenth Congress--
(i) the allocations, aggregates, and other appropriate
levels submitted for printing in the Congressional Record by
the chair of the Committee on the Budget shall be considered
for all purposes in the House to be the allocations,
aggregates, and other appropriate levels under titles III and
IV of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974; and
(ii) the provisions of Senate Concurrent Resolution 14, One
Hundred Seventeenth Congress, shall have no force or effect.
(B) Revisions by chair of committee on the budget in
certain cases.--
(i) The chair of the Committee on the Budget may revise the
allocations of a committee or committees, aggregates, and
other appropriate levels referred to in subparagraph (A) for
any bill or joint resolution, or amendment thereto or
conference report thereon, if such measure would not increase
direct spending in either the period of--

(I) fiscal years 2023 to 2028; and
(II) fiscal years 2023 to 2033.

(ii) The chair of the Committee on the Budget may revise
the allocations of a committee or committees, aggregates, and
other appropriate levels referred to in subparagraph (A) to
take into account the most recent baseline published by the
Congressional Budget Office.
(C) Authority for interim enforcement prior to election of
chair of committee on the budget.--Prior to the election of a
chair of the Committee on the Budget, the Majority Leader or
his designee may submit the matter referred to in
subparagraph (A) or make such revisions referred to in
subparagraph (B).
(D) Exemption.--The chair of the Committee on the Budget
or, prior to the election of the chair, the Majority Leader
or his designee may adjust an estimate under clause 4 of rule
XXIX to exempt the budgetary effects of measures to protect
taxpayers with taxable incomes below $400,000 from an
increase in audits above the most recent tax year from the
Internal Revenue Service.
(2) Long term spending point of order.--
(A) Congressional budget office analysis of proposals.--The
Director of the Congressional Budget Office shall, to the
extent practicable, prepare an estimate of whether a bill or
joint resolution reported by a committee (other than the
Committee on Appropriations), or amendment thereto or
conference report thereon, would cause, relative to current
law, a net increase in direct spending in excess of
$2,500,000,000 in any of the 4 consecutive 10-fiscal year
periods beginning with the first fiscal year that is 10
fiscal years after the current fiscal year.
(B) Point of order.--It shall not be in order to consider
any bill or joint resolution reported by a committee, or
amendment thereto or conference report thereon, that would
cause a net increase in direct spending in excess of
$2,500,000,000 in any of the 4 consecutive 10-fiscal year
periods described in subparagraph (A).
(C) Determinations of budget levels.--For purposes of this
subsection, the levels of net increases in direct spending
shall be determined on the basis of estimates provided by the
chair of the Committee on the Budget.
(3) Analysis of inflationary impact for certain
legislation.--During the One Hundred Eighteenth Congress, if
an estimate provided by the Congressional Budget Office under
section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 shows
changes in mandatory spending that cause a gross budgetary
effect in any fiscal year over a 10-year period that is equal
to or greater than .25 percent of the projected gross
domestic product (measured by the Consumer Price Index for
All Urban Consumers) for the current fiscal year, or upon the
request of the chair of the Committee on the Budget, then
such estimate shall include, to the extent practicable, a
statement estimating the inflationary effects of the
legislation, including whether the legislation is determined
to have no significant impact on inflation, is determined to
have a quantifiable inflationary impact on the consumer price
index, or is determined likely to have a significant impact
on inflation but the amount cannot be determined at the time
the estimate is prepared.
(4) Content of cbo analysis for certain legislation
affecting the federal hospital insurance trust fund or the
old-age, survivors, and disability insurance trust fund.--
During the One Hundred Eighteenth Congress, if an estimate
provided by the Congressional Budget Office under section 402
of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 shows that
legislation impacting either the Federal Hospital Insurance
Trust Fund or the Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability
Insurance Trust Fund (OASDI) causes a gross budgetary effect
in any fiscal year over a 10-year period that is equal to or
greater than .25 percent of the projected gross domestic
product (measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban
Consumers) for the current fiscal year, or upon request of
the chair of the Committee on the Budget, then such estimate
shall, to the extent practicable, display--
(A) the impact of legislation on the Federal Hospital
Insurance Trust Fund's unfunded liabilities over a 25-year
projection, solvency projections, and the net present value
of those liabilities; and
(B) the impact of legislation on the OASDI trust fund's
unfunded liabilities over a 75-year projection, solvency
projections, and the net present value of those liabilities.
(f) Spending Reduction Amendments in Appropriations
Bills.--
(1) During the reading of a general appropriation bill for
amendment in the Committee of the Whole House on the state of
the Union, it shall be in order to consider en bloc
amendments proposing only to transfer appropriations from an
object or objects in the bill to a spending reduction
account. When considered en bloc under this paragraph, such
amendments may amend portions of the bill not yet read for
amendment (following disposition of any points of order
against such portions) and are not subject to a demand for
division of the question in the House or in the Committee of
the Whole.

[[Page H54]]

(2) Except as provided in paragraph (1), it shall not be in
order to consider an amendment to a spending reduction
account in the House or in the Committee of the Whole House
on the state of the Union.
(3) A point of order under clause 2(b) of rule XXI shall
not apply to a spending reduction account.
(4) A general appropriation bill may not be considered in
the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union
unless it includes a spending reduction account as the last
section of the bill. An order to report a general
appropriation bill to the House shall constitute authority
for the chair of the Committee on Appropriations to add such
a section to the bill or modify the figure contained therein.
(5) For purposes of this subsection, the term ``spending
reduction account'' means an account in a general
appropriation bill that bears that caption and contains
only--
(A) a recitation of the amount by which an applicable
allocation of new budget authority under section 302(b) of
the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 exceeds the amount of
new budget authority proposed by the bill; or
(B) if no such allocation is in effect, ``$0''.
(g) Scoring Conveyances of Federal Land.--
(1) In general.--In the One Hundred Eighteenth Congress,
for all purposes in the House, a provision in a bill or joint
resolution, or in an amendment thereto or a conference report
thereon, requiring or authorizing a conveyance of Federal
land to a State, local government, or tribal entity shall not
be considered as providing new budget authority, decreasing
revenues, increasing mandatory spending, or increasing
outlays.
(2) Definitions.--In this subsection:
(A) The term ``conveyance'' means any method, including
sale, donation, or exchange, by which all or any portion of
the right, title, and interest of the United States in and to
Federal land is transferred to another entity.
(B) The term ``Federal land'' means any land owned by the
United States, including the surface estate, the subsurface
estate, or any improvements thereon.
(C) The term ``State'' means any of the several States, the
District of Columbia, or a territory (including a possession)
of the United States.
(h) Member Day Hearing Requirement.--During the first
session of the One Hundred Eighteenth Congress, each standing
committee (other than the Committee on Ethics) shall hold a
hearing at which it receives testimony from Members,
Delegates, and the Resident Commissioner on proposed
legislation within its jurisdiction, except that the
Committee on Rules may hold such hearing during the second
session of the One Hundred Eighteenth Congress.
(i) Information to Committees of Congress on Request.--
During the One Hundred Eighteenth Congress, the chair of the
Committee on Oversight and Accountability must be included as
one of the seven members of the committee making any request
of an Executive agency pursuant to section 2954 of title 5,
United States Code.
(j) Remote Appearance of Witnesses.--
(1) In general.--During the One Hundred Eighteenth
Congress, at the discretion of the chair of a committee and
in accordance with regulations submitted for printing in the
Congressional Record by the chair of the Committee on Rules--
(A) witnesses at committee or subcommittee proceedings may
appear remotely;
(B) counsel shall be permitted to accompany witnesses
appearing remotely; and
(C) an oath may be administered to a witness remotely for
purposes of clause 2(m)(2) of rule XI.
(2) Applicability.--This subsection shall apply only to
witnesses appearing in a non-governmental capacity.
(k) Deposition Authority.--
(1) In general.--During the One Hundred Eighteenth
Congress, the chair of a standing committee (other than the
Committee on Rules), and the chair of the Permanent Select
Committee on Intelligence, upon consultation with the ranking
minority member of such committee, may order the taking of
depositions, including pursuant to subpoena, by a member or
counsel of such committee.
(2) Regulations.--Depositions taken under the authority
prescribed in this subsection shall be subject to regulations
issued by the chair of the Committee on Rules and printed in
the Congressional Record.
(3) Persons permitted to attend depositions.--Deponents may
be accompanied at a deposition by two designated personal,
nongovernmental attorneys to advise them of their rights.
Only members, committee staff designated by the chair or
ranking minority member, an official reporter, the witness,
and the witness's two designated attorneys are permitted to
attend. Other persons, including government agency personnel,
may not attend.
(l) Broadening Availability and Utility of Legislative
Documents in Machine-readable Formats.--The Committee on
House Administration, the Clerk, and other officers and
officials of the House shall continue efforts to broaden the
availability and utility of legislative documents in machine
readable formats in the One Hundred Eighteenth Congress in
furtherance of the institutional priorities of--
(1) improving public availability and use of legislative
information produced by the House and its committees; and
(2) enabling all House staff to produce comparative prints
showing the differences between versions of legislation, how
proposed legislation will amend existing law, and how an
amendment may change proposed legislation.
(m) Improving the Committee Electronic Document
Repository.--The Clerk, the Committee on House
Administration, and other officers and officials of the House
shall continue efforts to improve the electronic document
repository operated by the Clerk for use by committees of the
House in the One Hundred Eighteenth Congress, in furtherance
of the institutional priority of increasing public
availability and identification of legislative information
produced and held by House committees, including votes,
amendments, and witness disclosure forms.
(n) Providing for Transparency With Respect to Memorials
Submitted Pursuant to Article V of the Constitution of the
United States.--With respect to any memorial presented under
clause 3 of rule XII purporting to be an application of the
legislature of a State calling for a convention for proposing
amendments to the Constitution of the United States pursuant
to Article V, or a rescission of any such prior application--
(1) the chair of the Committee on the Judiciary shall, in
the case of such a memorial presented in the One Hundred
Fourteenth Congress or succeeding Congresses, and may, in the
case of such a memorial presented prior to the One Hundred
Fourteenth Congress, designate any such memorial for public
availability by the Clerk; and
(2) the Clerk shall make such memorials as are designated
pursuant to paragraph (1) publicly available in electronic
form, organized by State of origin and year of receipt, and
shall indicate whether the memorial was designated as an
application or a rescission.
(o) War Powers Resolution.--During the One Hundred
Eighteenth Congress, a motion to discharge a measure
introduced pursuant to section 6 or section 7 of the War
Powers Resolution (50 U.S.C. 1545-46) shall not be subject to
a motion to table.
(p) Further Expenses for Resolving Contested Elections.--
(1) Amounts for expenses of committee on house
administration.--There shall be paid out of the applicable
accounts of the House of Representatives such sums as may be
necessary for further expenses of the Committee on House
Administration for the One Hundred Eighteenth Congress for
resolving contested elections.
(2) Session limitation.--The amount specified in paragraph
(1) shall be available for expenses incurred during the
period beginning at noon on January 3, 2023, and ending
immediately before noon on January 3, 2024.
(3) Vouchers.--Payments under this subsection shall be made
on vouchers authorized by the Committee on House
Administration, signed by the chair of the Committee, and
approved in the manner directed by the Committee.
(4) Regulations.--Amounts made available under this
subsection shall be expended in accordance with regulations
prescribed by the Committee on House Administration.
(q) Ethics Reform.--The Speaker is directed to establish a
bipartisan task force to conduct a comprehensive review of
House ethics rules and regulations, and such task force shall
submit recommended improvements to the Speaker, the Majority
Leader, the Minority Leader, and the respective chairs and
ranking minority members of the committees on Ethics and
Rules.
(r) Exercise Facilities for Former Members.--During the One
Hundred Eighteenth Congress:
(1) The House of Representatives may not provide access to
any exercise facility which is made available exclusively to
Members and former Members, officers and former officers of
the House of Representatives, and their spouses to any former
Member, former officer, or spouse who is a lobbyist
registered under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 or any
successor statute or who is an agent of a foreign principal
as defined in clause 5 of rule XXV. For purposes of this
subsection, the term ``Member'' includes a Delegate or
Resident Commissioner to the Congress.
(2) The Committee on House Administration shall promulgate
regulations to carry out this subsection.
(s) Non-disclosure Agreements.--Any non-disclosure
agreement imposed by any employing or contracting authority
in the House of Representatives to which a paid or unpaid
employee or contractor is or was required to agree as a term
of employment shall--
(1) provide clear guidance that the employee or contractor
may communicate concerning any matter with the Committee on
Ethics, the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights, or any
other office or entity designated by the Committee on House
Administration without prior, concurrent, or subsequent
notice or approval; and
(2) not be binding and shall have no legal effect to the
extent to which it requires prior, concurrent, or subsequent
notice or approval from anyone on any matter with respect to
communications from an employee or contractor to any of the
committees, offices, or entities described in paragraph (1).
(t) Mandatory Anti-harassment and Anti-discrimination
Policies for House Offices.--
(1) Requiring offices to adopt policy.--Each employing
office of the House of Representatives under the
Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 shall adopt an anti-

[[Page H55]]

harassment and anti-discrimination policy for the office's
workplace.
(2) Regulations.--Not later than April 1, 2023, the
Committee on House Administration shall promulgate
regulations to carry out this subsection, and shall ensure
that such regulations are consistent with the requirements of
the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995, rule XXIII, and
other relevant laws, rules, and regulations.
(u) Displaying Statement of Rights and Protections Provided
to House Employees.--The Committee on House Administration
shall issue regulations to provide that each employing office
of the House of Representatives shall post in a prominent
location in the office (including, in the case of the office
of a Member, Delegate, or the Resident Commissioner, a
prominent location in each district office) a statement of
the rights and protections provided to employees of the House
of Representatives under the Congressional Accountability Act
of 1995, including the procedures available to employees of
the House under such Act for responding to and adjudicating
allegations of violations of such rights and protections.
(v) Requiring Members to Pay for Discrimination
Settlements.--
(1) In general.--In the case of a settlement of a complaint
under the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 in
connection with a claim alleging a violation described in
paragraph (2) which is committed personally by a Member,
Delegate, or Resident Commissioner, if the Member, Delegate,
or Resident Commissioner is not required under law to
reimburse the Treasury for the amount of the settlement, the
chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on House
Administration may not approve the settlement pursuant to
clause 4(d)(2) of rule X unless, under the terms and
conditions of the settlement, the Member, Delegate, or
Resident Commissioner is required to reimburse the Treasury
for the amount of the settlement.
(2) Violations described.--A violation described in this
paragraph is--
(A) a violation of section 201(a) or section 206(a) of the
Congressional Accountability Act of 1995; or
(B) a violation of section 208 of such Act which consists
of intimidating, taking reprisal against, or otherwise
discriminating against any covered employee under such Act
because of a claim alleging a violation described in
subparagraph (A).
(w) Congressional Member Organization Transparency
Reform.--
(1) Payment of salaries and expenses through account of
organization.--A Member of the House of Representatives and
an eligible Congressional Member Organization may enter into
an agreement under which--
(A) an employee of the Member's office may carry out
official and representational duties of the Member by
assignment to the Organization; and
(B) to the extent that the employee carries out such duties
under the agreement, the Member shall transfer the portion of
the Members' Representational Allowance (MRA) of the Member
which would otherwise be used for the salary and related
expenses of the employee to a dedicated account in the House
of Representatives which is administered by the Organization,
in accordance with the regulations promulgated by the
Committee on House Administration under paragraph (2).
(2) Regulations.--The Committee on House Administration
(hereafter referred to in this subsection as the
``Committee'') shall promulgate regulations as follows:
(A) Use of mra.--Pursuant to the authority of section
101(d) of the House of Representatives Administrative Reform
Technical Corrections Act (2 U.S.C. 5341(d)), the Committee
shall prescribe regulations to provide that an eligible
Congressional Member Organization may use the amounts
transferred to the Organization's dedicated account under
paragraph (1)(B) for the same purposes for which a Member of
the House of Representatives may use the Members'
Representational Allowance, except that the Organization may
not use such amounts for franked mail, official travel, or
leases of space or vehicles.
(B) Maintenance of limitations on number of shared
employees.--Pursuant to the authority of section 104(d) of
the House of Representatives Administrative Reform Technical
Corrections Act (2 U.S.C. 5321(d)), the Committee shall
prescribe regulations to provide that an employee of the
office of a Member of the House of Representatives who is
covered by an agreement entered into under paragraph (1)
between the Member and an eligible Congressional Member
Organization shall be considered a shared employee of the
Member's office and the Organization for purposes of such
section, and shall include in such regulations appropriate
accounting standards to ensure that a Member of the House of
Representatives who enters into an agreement with such an
Organization under paragraph (1) does not employ more
employees than the Member is authorized to employ under such
section.
(C) Participation in student loan repayment program.--
Pursuant to the authority of section 105(b) of the
Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2003 (2 U.S.C.
4536(b)), relating to the student loan repayment program for
employees of the House, the Committee shall promulgate
regulations to provide that, in the case of an employee who
is covered by an agreement entered into under paragraph (1)
between a Member of the House of Representatives and an
eligible Congressional Member Organization and who
participates in such program while carrying out duties under
the agreement--
(i) any funds made available for making payments under the
program with respect to the employee shall be transferred to
the Organization's dedicated account under paragraph (1)(B);
and
(ii) the Organization shall use the funds to repay a
student loan taken out by the employee, under the same terms
and conditions which would apply under the program if the
Organization were the employing office of the employee.
(D) Access to house services.--The Committee shall
prescribe regulations to ensure that an eligible
Congressional Member Organization has appropriate access to
services of the House.
(E) Other regulations.--The Committee shall promulgate such
other regulations as may be appropriate to carry out this
subsection.
(3) Eligible congressional member organization defined.--In
this subsection, the term ``eligible Congressional Member
Organization'' means, with respect to the One Hundred
Eighteenth Congress, an organization meeting each of the
following requirements:
(A) The organization is registered as a Congressional
Member Organization with the Committee on House
Administration.
(B) The organization designates a single Member of the
House of Representatives to be responsible for the
administration of the organization, including the
administration of the account administered under paragraph
(1)(B), and includes the identification of such Member with
the statement of organization that the organization files and
maintains with the Committee on House Administration.
(C) At least 3 employees of the House are assigned to
perform some work for the organization.
(D) During the One Hundred Seventeenth Congress, at least
30 Members of the House of Representatives used a portion of
the Members' Representational Allowance of the Member for the
salary and related expenses of an employee who was a shared
employee of the Member's office and the organization.
(E) The organization files a statement with the Committee
on House Administration and the Chief Administrative Officer
of the House of Representatives certifying that it will
administer an account in accordance with paragraph (1)(B).
(x) Determination With Respect to Placement of Measure on
Consensus Calendar.--During the One Hundred Eighteenth
Congress, not later than 2 legislative days after a measure
is placed on the Consensus Calendar pursuant to clause 7(c)
of rule XV, the Majority Leader shall, in the case such
measure is not in compliance with any legislative protocols
of the Majority Leader, submit to the Congressional Record a
determination with respect to such noncompliance.
(y) Transfer of Certain Committee Records to Committee on
House Administration.--
(1) Any committee designated by the Speaker pursuant to
section 7(b)(1) of House Resolution 503, One Hundred
Seventeenth Congress, is directed to transfer any records
obtained pursuant to such designation to the Committee on
House Administration, not later than January 17, 2023.
(2) The Archivist is directed to transfer any noncurrent
records of a committee designated by the Speaker pursuant to
section 7(b)(1) of House Resolution 503, One Hundred
Seventeenth Congress, and related to the select committee
established pursuant to such resolution which have been
archived pursuant to rule VII to the Committee on House
Administration not later than January 17, 2023.
(3) Any records transferred or withdrawn pursuant to this
subsection shall become the records of the Committee on House
Administration.
(z) Procedures During District Work Periods.--
(1) On any legislative day of the One Hundred Eighteenth
Congress occurring during a ``district work period'' as
designated by the Speaker--
(A) the Journal of the proceedings of the previous day
shall be considered as approved; and
(B) the Chair may at any time declare the House adjourned
to meet at a date and time, within the limits of clause 4,
section 5, article I of the Constitution, to be announced by
the Chair in declaring the adjournment.
(2) The Speaker may appoint Members to perform the duties
of the Chair for the duration of a district work period
described in paragraph (1) as though under clause 8(a) of
rule I.
(3) Each day during a district work period described in
paragraph (1) shall not constitute--
(A) a calendar day for purposes of section 7 of the War
Powers Resolution (50 U.S.C. 1546);
(B) a legislative day for purposes of clause 7 of rule
XIII;
(C) a calendar or legislative day for purposes of clause
7(c)(1) of rule XXII; or
(D) a legislative day for purposes of clause 7 of rule XV.
(aa) Reduction of Unauthorized Spending.--
(1) In general.--During the first session of the One
Hundred Eighteenth Congress, it

[[Page H56]]

shall not be in order to report an appropriation in a general
appropriation bill, for an expenditure not previously
authorized by law, in excess of the most recent level at
which an appropriation for such expenditure has been enacted
into law.
(2) Adoption of amendment to reduce appropriation.--If a
point of order under paragraph (1) is sustained, an amendment
shall be considered to have been adopted in the House and in
the Committee of the Whole reducing the amount of such
appropriation to the most recent level at which such
appropriation has been enacted in law.
(3) Requirement to entertain point of order.--The Chair
shall not entertain a point of order under paragraph (1)
unless any levels described in paragraph (2) have been
submitted to the Chair.
(bb) Numbering of Bills.--In the One Hundred Eighteenth
Congress, the first 10 numbers for bills (H.R. 1 through H.R.
10) shall be reserved for assignment by the Speaker and the
second 10 numbers for bills (H.R. 11 through H.R. 20) shall
be reserved for assignment by the Minority Leader.

SEC. 4. COMMITTEES, COMMISSIONS, AND HOUSE OFFICES.

(a) Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic.--
(1) Establishment; composition.--
(A) Establishment.--There is hereby established for the One
Hundred Eighteenth Congress a select investigative
subcommittee of the Committee on Oversight and Accountability
called the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic
(hereinafter referred to as the ``select subcommittee'').
(B) Composition.--
(i) The select subcommittee shall be composed of not more
than 12 Members, Delegates, or the Resident Commissioner
appointed by the Speaker, of whom not more than 5 shall be
appointed in consultation with the Minority Leader. The
Speaker shall designate one member of the select subcommittee
as its chair. Any vacancy in the select subcommittee shall be
filled in the same manner as the original appointment.
(ii) The chair and ranking minority member of the Committee
on Oversight and Accountability shall be ex officio members
of the select subcommittee but shall have no vote in the
select subcommittee and may not be counted for purposes of
determining a quorum.
(iii) Each member appointed to the select subcommittee
shall be treated as though a member of the Committee on
Oversight and Accountability for purposes of the select
subcommittee.
(2) Investigative functions and authority.--
(A) Investigative functions.--The select subcommittee is
authorized and directed to conduct a full and complete
investigation and study and, not later than January 2, 2025,
issue a final report to the House of its findings (and such
interim reports as it may deem necessary) regarding--
(i) the origins of the Coronavirus pandemic, including but
not limited to the Federal Government's funding of gain-of-
function research;
(ii) the efficiency, effectiveness, and transparency of the
use of taxpayer funds and relief programs to address the
coronavirus pandemic, including any reports of waste, fraud,
or abuse;
(iii) the implementation or effectiveness of any Federal
law or regulation applied, enacted, or under consideration to
address the coronavirus pandemic and prepare for future
pandemics;
(iv) the development of vaccines and treatments, and the
development and implementation of vaccination policies for
Federal employees and members of the armed forces;
(v) the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic and
associated government response on individuals, communities,
small businesses, health care providers, States, and local
government entities;
(vi) the societal impact of decisions to close schools, how
the decisions were made and whether there is evidence of
widespread learning loss or other negative effects as a
result of these decisions;
(vii) executive branch policies, deliberations, decisions,
activities, and internal and external communications related
to the coronavirus pandemic;
(viii) the protection of whistleblowers who provide
information about waste, fraud, abuse, or other improper
activities related to the coronavirus pandemic; and
(ix) cooperation by the executive branch and others with
Congress, the Inspectors General, the Government
Accountability Office, and others in connection with
oversight of the preparedness for and response to the
coronavirus pandemic.
(B) Authority.--
(i) The select subcommittee may report to the House or any
committee of the House from time to time the results of its
investigations and studies, together with such detailed
findings and legislative recommendations as it may deem
advisable.
(ii) The select subcommittee may not hold a markup of
legislation.
(3) Procedure.--
(A) Rule XI and the rules of the Committee on Oversight and
Accountability shall apply to the select subcommittee in the
same manner as a subcommittee except as follows:
(i) The chair of the select subcommittee may, after
consultation with the ranking minority member, recognize--

(I) members of the select subcommittee to question a
witness for periods longer than five minutes as though
pursuant to clause 2(j)(2)(B) of such rule XI; and
(II) staff of the select subcommittee to question a witness
as though pursuant to clause 2(j)(2)(C) of such rule XI.

(ii) The select subcommittee may not authorize and issue
subpoenas, but the Committee on Oversight and Accountability
(or the chair of the Committee on Oversight and
Accountability, if acting in accordance with clause
2(m)(3)(A)(i) of rule XI) may authorize and issue subpoenas
to be returned at the select subcommittee.
(B) The provisions of this resolution shall govern the
proceedings of the select subcommittee in the event of any
conflict with the rules of the House or of the Committee on
Oversight and Accountability.
(4) Service.--Service on the select subcommittee shall not
count against the limitations in clause 5(b)(2)(A) of rule X.
(5) Successor.--The Committee on Oversight and
Accountability is the ``successor in interest'' to the select
subcommittee for purposes of clause 8(c) of rule II.
(6) Sunset.--The select subcommittee shall cease to exist
30 days after filing the final report required under
paragraph (2).
(b) House Democracy Partnership.--House Resolution 24, One
Hundred Tenth Congress, shall apply in the One Hundred
Eighteenth Congress in the same manner as such resolution
applied in the One Hundred Tenth Congress, except that the
commission concerned shall be known as the House Democracy
Partnership.
(c) Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission.--Sections 1 through
7 of House Resolution 1451, One Hundred Tenth Congress, shall
apply in the One Hundred Eighteenth Congress in the same
manner as such provisions applied in the One Hundred Tenth
Congress, except that--
(1) the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission may, in addition
to collaborating closely with other professional staff
members of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, collaborate
closely with professional staff members of other relevant
committees;
(2) the resources of the Committee on Foreign Affairs which
the Commission may use shall include all resources which the
Committee is authorized to obtain from other offices of the
House of Representatives; and
(3) any amounts authorized to provide full-time
professional staff and resources to the Tom Lantos Human
Rights Commission shall be in addition to and separate from
the amounts authorized for salaries and expenses of the
Committee on Foreign Affairs as provided by resolution of the
House, shall be administered by the Committee on Foreign
Affairs, and shall be distributed equally between the co-
chairs of the Commission.
(d) Office of Congressional Ethics.--Section 1 of House
Resolution 895, One Hundred Tenth Congress, shall apply in
the One Hundred Eighteenth Congress in the same manner as
such provision applied in the One Hundred Tenth Congress,
except that--
(1) the Office of Congressional Ethics shall be treated as
a standing committee of the House for purposes of section
202(i) of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (2
U.S.C. 4301(i));
(2) references to the Committee on Standards of Official
Conduct shall be construed as references to the Committee on
Ethics;
(3) any requirement for concurrence in section 1(b)(1)
shall be construed as a requirement for consultation;
(4) any individual who is the subject of a preliminary
review or second-phase review by the board shall be informed
of the right to be represented by counsel and invoking that
right should not be held negatively against such individual;
(5) the Office may not take any action that would deny any
person any right or protection provided under the
Constitution of the United States;
(6) any member of the board currently serving a term in
excess of the limitations of section 1(b)(6) of such
resolution shall be considered as removed from the board; and
(7) the provision regarding appointment and compensation of
staff shall require an affirmative vote of at least 4 members
of the board not later than 30 calendar days after the date
of the adoption of this resolution.

SEC. 5. ORDERS OF BUSINESS.

(a) At any time after the adoption of this resolution the
Speaker may, pursuant to clause 2(b) of rule XVIII, declare
the House resolved into the Committee of the Whole House on
the State of the Union for consideration of the bill (H.R.
21) to provide for the development of a plan to increase oil
and gas production under oil and gas leases of Federal lands
under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of Agriculture, the
Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of the Interior, and the
Secretary of Defense in conjunction with a drawdown of
petroleum reserves from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The
first reading of the bill shall be dispensed with. All points
of order against consideration of the bill are waived.
General debate shall be confined to the bill and shall not
exceed one hour equally divided and controlled by the
Majority Leader and the Minority Leader or their respective
designees. After general debate the bill shall be considered
for amendment under the five-minute rule. The bill shall be
considered as read. All points of order against provisions in
the bill are waived. No amendment shall be in order except:
(1) those amendments to the bill received for printing in the
portion of the Congressional Record designated for that
purpose in clause 8 of rule XVIII dated at least

[[Page H57]]

one day before the day of consideration of the amendment; and
(2) up to 20 pro forma amendments for the purpose of debate,
10 of which may be offered by the Majority Leader or a
designee and 10 of which may be offered by the Minority
Leader or a designee. Each amendment so received may be
offered only by the Member who caused it to be printed or a
designee and shall be considered as read if printed. At the
conclusion of consideration of the bill for amendment the
Committee shall rise and report the bill to the House with
such amendments as may have been adopted. The previous
question shall be considered as ordered on the bill and
amendments thereto to final passage without intervening
motion except one motion to recommit.
(b) Upon adoption of this resolution it shall be in order
to consider in the House any bill specified in subsection
(c). All points of order against consideration of each such
bill are waived. Each such bill shall be considered as read.
All points of order against provisions in each such bill are
waived. The previous question shall be considered as ordered
on each such bill and on any amendment thereto to final
passage without intervening motion except: (1) one hour of
debate equally divided and controlled by the Majority Leader
and the Minority Leader or their respective designees; and
(2) one motion to recommit.
(c) The bills referred to in subsection (b) are as follows:
(1) The bill (H.R. 23) to rescind certain balances made
available to the Internal Revenue Service.
(2) The bill (H.R. 29) to authorize the Secretary of
Homeland Security to suspend the entry of aliens, and for
other purposes.
(3) The bill (H.R. 22) to prohibit the Secretary of Energy
from sending petroleum products from the Strategic Petroleum
Reserve to China, and for other purposes.
(4) The bill (H.R. 27) to amend the Omnibus Crime Control
and Safe Streets Act to direct district attorney and
prosecutors offices to report to the Attorney General, and
for other purposes.
(5) The bill (H.R. 28) to require the national instant
criminal background check system to notify U.S. Immigration
and Customs Enforcement and the relevant State and local law
enforcement agencies whenever the information available to
the system indicates that a person illegally or unlawfully in
the United States may be attempting to receive a firearm.
(6) The bill (H.R. 7) to prohibit taxpayer funded
abortions.
(7) The bill (H.R. 26) to amend title 18, United States
Code, to prohibit a health care practitioner from failing to
exercise the proper degree of care in the case of a child who
survives an abortion or attempted abortion.
(d) Upon adoption of this resolution it shall be in order
without intervention of any point of order to consider in the
House any resolution specified in subsection (e). Each such
resolution shall be considered as read. The previous question
shall be considered as ordered on each such resolution to
adoption without intervening motion or demand for division of
the question except one hour of debate equally divided and
controlled by the Majority Leader and the Minority Leader or
their respective designees.
(e) The resolutions referred to in subsection (d) are as
follows:
(1) The resolution (H. Res. 11) establishing the Select
Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United
States and the Chinese Communist Party.
(2) The resolution (H. Res. 12) establishing a Select
Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government
as a select investigative subcommittee of the Committee on
the Judiciary.
(f) Upon adoption of this resolution it shall be in order
to consider in the House the concurrent resolution (H. Con.
Res. 5) expressing support for the Nation's law enforcement
agencies and condemning any efforts to defund or dismantle
law enforcement agencies. All points of order against
consideration of the concurrent resolution are waived. The
concurrent resolution shall be considered as read. All points
of order against provisions in the concurrent resolution are
waived. The previous question shall be considered as ordered
on the concurrent resolution and preamble to adoption without
intervening motion or demand for division of the question
except one hour of debate equally divided and controlled by
the Majority Leader and the Minority Leader or their
respective designees.
(g) Upon adoption of this resolution it shall be in order
to consider in the House the concurrent resolution (H. Con.
Res. 3) expressing the sense of Congress condemning the
recent attacks on prolife facilities, groups, and churches.
All points of order against consideration of the concurrent
resolution are waived. The concurrent resolution shall be
considered as read. All points of order against provisions in
the concurrent resolution are waived. The previous question
shall be considered as ordered on the concurrent resolution
and preamble to adoption without intervening motion or demand
for division of the question except one hour of debate
equally divided and controlled by the Majority Leader and the
Minority Leader or their respective designees.
(h) The Speaker may recognize a Member for the reading of
the Constitution on any legislative day through February 28,
2023.

Mr. SCALISE. (During the reading). Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous
consent that the resolution be considered as read and printed in the
Record.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Womack). Is there objection to the
request of the gentleman from Louisiana?
There was no objection.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Louisiana is recognized
for 1 hour.
Mr. SCALISE. Mr. Speaker, I yield the remainder of my time to the
gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Cole), the chairman of the Committee on
Rules, and ask unanimous consent that he be permitted to control the
time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Louisiana?
There was no objection.
Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend, the distinguished
majority leader, Mr. Scalise, for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30
minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern), my good
friend, pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During
consideration of this resolution, all time is yielded for the purpose
of debate only.

General Leave

Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Oklahoma?
There was no objection.
Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the section-by-section
analysis of the resolution.

H. Res. 5

Adopting the Rules for the 118th Congress

Section-by-Section Analysis

Section 1. Adoption of the Rules of the One Hundred
Seventeenth Congress.
This section provides that the Rules of the 117th Congress
are the Rules of the 118th Congress, except for the
amendments contained in section 2 of the resolution and
orders contained in the resolution.
Section 2. Changes to the Standing Rules.
Initiatives to Reduce Spending and Improve Accountability.
Subsection (a)(l) replaces current ``pay-as-you-go''
requirements with ``cut-as-you-go'' requirements. The
provision prohibits consideration of a bill, joint
resolution, conference report, or amendment that has the net
effect of increasing mandatory spending within a five-year or
ten-year budget window. This provision continues the current
practice of counting multiple measures considered pursuant to
a special order of business which directs the Clerk to
engross the measures together after passage for purposes of
compliance with the rule and provides a mechanism for
addressing ``emergency'' designations.
Subsection (a)(2) strikes the ``Gephardt rule'' that
provides for the automatic engrossment and transmittal to the
Senate of a joint resolution changing the public debt limit,
upon the adoption by the House of a concurrent resolution on
the budget resolution, thereby avoiding a separate vote in
the House on the public debt limit legislation.
Subsection (a)(3) restores a point of order against net
increase in budget authority for amendments to general
appropriations bills.
Subsection (a)(4) restores a point of order against budget
reconciliation directives that increase net direct spending.
Increased Threshold for Tax Rate Increases. Subsection (b)
restores a requirement for a three-fifths supermajority vote
on tax rate increases.
Two Minute Votes. Subsection (c) provides that the Speaker
can reduce vote times in the House to not less than two
minutes on any question that follows another electronic vote.
The subsection also states that to the maximum extent
practicable, advance notice will be given when reduced voting
times are expected in a voting series.
Modifications to Calendar Wednesday. Subsection (d)
modifies the notice requirement to use Calendar Wednesday to
conform with the 72-hour notice requirement prior to
consideration of legislation.
Committee Authorization and Oversight Plans. Subsection (e)
restores the requirement that each standing committee (except
the Committees on Appropriations, Ethics, and Rules) vote to
adopt an authorization and oversight plan, which must be
submitted to the Committees on Oversight and Accountability
and House Administration no later than March 1 of the first
session of a Congress. The plan must include a list of
unauthorized programs and agencies within the committee's
jurisdiction that have received funding in the prior fiscal
year, or in the case of a permanent authorization, have not
received a comprehensive review by the committee in the prior
three Congresses. The subsection requires committees to
describe each program or agency that is intended to be
authorized in the current Congress or next Congress, and a
description of oversight to support reauthorization in the
current Congress. The subsection also requires the

[[Page H58]]

plan include any recommendations for moving such programs or
agencies from mandatory to discretionary funding. When
developing these plans, committee chairs must coordinate with
other committees of jurisdiction to ensure that programs and
agencies are subject to routine authorization efforts.
The subsection also provides that committee authorization
and oversight plans may make recommendations to consolidate
or terminate duplicative or unnecessary programs and
agencies. Committees may make recommendations for changes to
existing law to address Federal rules, regulations, statutes,
and court decisions related to programs that are inconsistent
with Congress' Article I authorities, as well as provide a
description of other oversight activities that may be
necessary.
The subsection also requires the Committee on Oversight and
Accountability to report to the House no later than April 15
the authorization and oversight plans submitted by committees
together with any recommendations it may make to ensure
effective coordination of the plans.
Cost Estimates for Major Legislation to Include
Macroeconomic Effects. Subsection (f) restores the
requirement that the Congressional Budget Office and Joint
Committee on Taxation, to the extent practicable, incorporate
the macroeconomic effects of major legislation into the
official cost estimates used for enforcing the budget
resolution and other rules of the House. The subsection
requires, to the extent practicable, a qualitative assessment
of the long-term budgetary and macroeconomic effects of major
legislation, which is defined to cover legislation that
causes a gross budgetary effect in any fiscal year covered by
the budget resolution that is equal to or greater than 0.25
percent of the projected GDP for that year. This subsection
also allows the chair of the Committee on the Budget, or in
the case of revenue legislation the House member serving
as the Chair or Vice Chair of the Joint Committee on
Taxation, to designate major legislation for purposes of
this rule.
Ethics Reform. Subsection (g) directs the Committee on
Ethics to adopt rules which provide for a process to receive
complaints directly from the public.
Empaneling Investigative Subcommittee of the Committee on
Ethics. Subsection (h) codifies House Resolution 451, 110th
Congress, directing the Committee on Ethics to empanel an
investigative subcommittee or issue a report within 30 days
of the date a Member, Delegate, or the Resident Commissioner
is indicted, or criminal charges are filed.
Treatment of Evidence in Committee and Subcommittee
Investigations. Subsection (i) eliminates a requirement that
the Committee on Ethics adopt a rule allowing the use during
an ethics investigation of evidence presented in a related
criminal case where the respondent was convicted because this
is already contained in the committee rules of the Committee
on Ethics.
Designating Committee on Oversight and Accountability.
Subsection (j) redesignates the Committee on Oversight and
Reform as the Committee on Oversight and Accountability.
Designating Committee on Education and the Workforce.
Subsection (k) redesignates the Committee on Education and
Labor as the Committee on Education and the Workforce.
Subcommittees of Committee on Agriculture. Subsection (1)
permits the Committee on Agriculture to have six
subcommittees, codifying a separate order in effect since the
114th Congress.
Cybersecurity. Subsection (m) modifies the jurisdiction of
the Committee on Homeland Security to include functions of
the Department of Homeland Security related to cybersecurity.
Committees currently holding jurisdiction over cybersecurity
functions of DHS will retain a shared jurisdictional interest
in such functions.
Scope of Authority to Act in Continuing Litigation Matters.
Subsection (n) eliminates ``including, but not limited to,
the issuance of subpoenas'' in the description of authority
to act as successor-in-interest in continuing litigation
matters, such language being superfluous.
Record Votes on Measures Reported by the Committee on
Rules. Subsection (o) requires reports from the Committee on
Rules to include a depiction of recorded votes.
Access to the Hall of the House. Subsection (p) strikes
language providing Governors of Territories and the Mayor of
the District of Columbia access to the Hall of the House.
Resolution Declaring the Office of Speaker Vacant.
Subsection (q) strikes language from rule IX to allow any
member to offer a privileged resolution declaring the Office
of Speaker vacant.
Section 3. Separate Orders.
Holman Rule. Subsection (a) reinstates the ``Holman Rule''
which allows amendments to appropriations legislation that
would reduce the salary of or fire specific federal
employees, or cut a specific program.
Restoring Legislative Branch Accountability. Subsection (b)
states regulations adopted pursuant to House Resolution 1096,
117th Congress will have no force or effect in the 118th
Congress.
Requirement with Respect to Single Subject Bill. Subsection
(c) provides that, effective February 1, 2023, a bill or
joint resolution may not be introduced unless the sponsor
submits a statement setting forth the single subject of the
bill or joint resolution. This statement must be included
with the statement required by clause 7(c) of rule XII
(Constitutional Authority Statements). A statement for any
bill or joint resolution introduced prior to the effective
date shall, to the extent practicable, be submitted by the
sponsor prior to committee or House consideration.
Question of Consideration for Germanenes. Subsection (d)
establishes a question of consideration on a special rule
that waives germaneness for an amendment. The question of
consideration is debatable for 20 minutes and is not subject
to any intervening motion.
Budget Matter. Subsection (e)(l)(A) provides the authority
for the chair of the Committee on the Budget to file
allocations, aggregates, and other appropriate budgetary
levels for the purpose of enforcing provisions of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974. Additionally, this
subsection states that the provisions of S. Con. Res. 14,
117th Congress shall have no force or effect.
Subsection (e)(l)(B) provides adjustment authority to the
chair of the Committee on the Budget for a bill, joint
resolution, amendment thereto, or conference report thereon
if the measure does not increase direct spending over five
or ten years. It additionally provides adjustment
authority to the chair of the Committee on the Budget to
take into account the most recent baseline published by
the Congressional Budget Office.
Subsection (e)(1)(C) allows the Majority Leader or his
designee, should the chair of the Committee on the Budget not
yet be elected, to file statements permitted under
subsections (f)(1)(A) and (f)(1)(B).
Subsection (e)(1)(D) allows the chair of the Committee on
the Budget (or the Majority Leader or his designee, should
the chair not yet be elected) to adjust an estimate under
clause 4 of rule XXIX to exempt the budgetary effects of
measures to protect taxpayers with taxable incomes below
$400,000 from an increase in audits above the most recent tax
year from the Internal Revenue Service.
Subsection (e)(2) establishes a point of order against
consideration of a bill or joint resolution reported by a
committee (other than the Committee on Appropriations) or an
amendment thereto, or a conference report thereon, which has
the net effect of increasing direct spending in excess of
$2,500,000,000 for any of the four consecutive 10 fiscal year
periods beginning with the first fiscal year that is 10
fiscal years after the current fiscal year. The levels of net
increases in direct spending shall be determined based on
estimates provided by the chair of the Committee on the
Budget.
Subsection (e)(3) requires the Congressional Budget Office
on any legislation that shows changes in mandatory spending
which cause a gross budgetary effect in any fiscal year
covered by the budget resolution that is equal to or greater
than 0.25 percent of the projected GDP for the current fiscal
year, to the extent practicable, to provide an estimate of
the inflationary impacts of that legislation. This subsection
also allows the chair of the Committee on the Budget to
designate major legislation for purposes of this order.
Subsection (e)(4) requires the Congressional Budget Office
on any legislation impacting either the Medicare Part A trust
fund or OASDI trust fund that causes a gross budgetary effect
in any fiscal year covered by the budget resolution that is
equal to or greater than 0.25 percent of the projected GDP
for the current fiscal year, to the extent practicable, to
display: (1) the impact of legislation on the Medicare Part A
trust fund's unfunded liabilities over a 25-year projection,
solvency projections, and the net present value of those
liabilities; and (2) the impact on the OASDI trust fund's
unfunded liabilities over a 75-year projection, solvency
projections, and the net present value of those liabilities.
This subsection also allows the chair of the Committee on the
Budget to designate major legislation for purposes of this
order.
Spending Reduction Amendments in Appropriations Bills.
Subsection (f) provides for spending reduction account
transfer amendments and requires a spending reduction account
section to be included in all general appropriations bills.
Scoring Conveyances of Federal Land. Subsection (g)
reinstates the separate order from the 115th Congress
providing that any provision in a bill, joint resolution,
amendment, or conference report requiring or authorizing a
conveyance of federal land to a State, local government, or
tribal entity, shall not be considered as providing new
budget authority, decreasing revenues, increasing mandatory
spending, or increasing outlays.
Member Day Hearing Requirement. Subsection (h) modifies the
Member Day hearing requirement to only occur at the full
committee level. Each standing committee (other than the
Committee on Ethics) must hold a Member Day Hearing during
the first session of the 118th Congress to receive testimony
from Members, Delegates, and the Resident Commissioner on
proposed legislation within its jurisdiction. The subsection
permits the Committee on Rules to hold its Member Day Hearing
during the second session to receive testimony on proposed
changes to the standing rules for the next Congress.
Information to Committees of Congress on Request.
Subsection (i) requires that the chair of the Committee on
Oversight and Accountability be included as one of the seven
members of the committee making any request of an Executive
agency pursuant to section 2954 of title 5, United States
Code.
Remote Appearance of Witnesses. Subsection (j) provides
limited authorization to a chair

[[Page H59]]

of a committee to allow witnesses to appear remotely at
committee and subcommittee proceedings. This subsection
applies only to witnesses appearing in a non-governmental
capacity and in accordance with regulations issued by the
chair of the Committee on Rules and printed in the
Congressional Record.
Deposition Authority. Subsection (k) provides the Permanent
Select Committee on Intelligence and each standing committee
of the 118th Congress (except for the Committee on Rules) the
authority to order the taking of a deposition by a member or
counsel of such committee and limits persons who can attend
depositions to members, committee staff, an official
reporter, the witness, and up to two, personal,
nongovernmental attorneys. Depositions taken under this
authority are subject to regulations issued by the chair of
the Committee on Rules and printed in the Congressional
Record.
Broadening Availability and Utility of Legislative
Documents in Machine-Readable Formats. Subsection (l)
instructs the Committee on House Administration, the Clerk,
an other officers and officials to advance
government transparency by continuing efforts to publish
documents of the House in machinereadable formats and
broaden their utility by enabling all House staff to
create comparative prints.
Improving the Committee Electronic Document Repository.
Subsection (m) directs the Clerk, the Committee on House
Administration, and other officers and officials to continue
to improve the existing electronic document repository
operated by the Clerk for use by committees. Such
improvements are intended to increase public availability and
identification of legislative information produced by House
committees, including votes, amendments, and witness
disclosure forms.
Providing for Transparency with Respect to Memorials
Submitted Pursuant to Article V of the Constitution of the
United States. Subsection (n) carries forward provisions that
clarify the procedures of the House regarding the receipt of
Article V memorials from the States by directing the Clerk to
make each memorial, designated by the chair of the Committee
on the Judiciary, electronically available, organized by
State of origin and year of receipt, and indicate whether the
memorial was designated as an application or rescission.
In carrying out this subsection, it is expected that the
chair of the Committee on the Judiciary will be solely
charged with determining whether a memorial purports to be an
application of the legislature of a state calling for a
constitutional convention or rescission of prior
applications. The Clerk's role will be entirely
administrative. The chair of the Committee on the Judiciary
will only designate memorials from state legislatures (and
not petitions from individuals or other parties), as it is
only state legislatures that are contemplated under Article V
of the Constitution.
In submitting each memorial to the Clerk, the chair of the
Committee on the Judiciary will include a transmission letter
that indicates it has been designated under this subsection.
The Clerk will make publicly available the memorial and the
transmission letter from the chair. Ancillary documentation
from the state or other parties is not expected to be
publicized.
War Powers Resolution. Subsection (o) continues a separate
order from the 117th Congress expressly providing that any
motion to discharge a measure introduced pursuant to section
6 or section 7 of the War Powers Resolution is not subject to
a motion to table.
Further Expenses for Resolving Contested Elections.
Subsection (p) authorizes such sums as may be necessary for
the Committee on House Administration to resolve contested
elections. Funds shall be available for expenses incurred
between January 3, 2023, and January 3, 2024. Amounts made
available under this subsection shall be expended in
accordance with regulations prescribed by the Committee on
House Administration.
Ethics Reform. Subsection (q) directs the Speaker to
establish a bipartisan task force to conduct a comprehensive
review of House ethics rules and regulations. The task force
is directed to submit a report to the Speaker, Majority
Leader, Minority Leader, and chair and ranking minority
members of the Committees on Ethics and Rules.
Exercise Facilities for Former Members. Subsection (r)
continues the prohibition on access to any exercise facility
that is made available exclusively to Members, Delegates, the
Resident Commissioner, former Members, former Delegates,
former Resident Commissioners, officers, and former officers
of the House and their spouses to any former Member, former
Delegate, former Resident Commissioner, former officer, or
spouse who is a lobbyist registered under the Lobbying
Disclosure Act of 1995 or any successor statute, or who is an
agent of a foreign principal as defined in clause 5 of rule
XXV.
Non-Disclosure Agreements. Subsection (s) continues a
separate order from the 117th Congress providing that non-
disclosure agreements required by offices as a condition of
employment for paid or unpaid staff or contractors cannot
require notice or approval for employees to communicate with
the Committee on Ethics, the Office of Congressional
Workplace Rights, or any other office or entity designated by
the Committee on House Administration; and that non-
disclosure agreements must also provide clear guidance to
that effect.
Mandatory Anti-Harassment and Anti-Discrimination Policies
for House Offices. Subsection (t) continues a separate order
from the 117th Congress requiring the Committee on House
Administration to issue regulations to carry out the
subsection by April 1, 2023. Additionally, each House office
is directed to adopt an anti-harassment and anti-
discrimination policy.
Displaying Statement of Rights and Protections Provided to
House Employees. Subsection (u) continues from the 117th
Congress a requirement that the Committee on House
Administration issue regulations requiring each House office
to prominently display a statement of the rights and
protections provided to House employees under the
Congressional Accountability Act of 1995, including
procedures available to employees for responding to and
adjudicating allegations of workplace rights violations.
Requiring Members to Pay for Discrimination Settlements.
Subsection (v) continues from the 117th Congress a
requirement for a Member, Delegate, or the Resident
Commissioner to reimburse the Treasury for any settlement of
a complaint related to a claim alleging a violation by the
Member, Delegate, or the Resident Commissioner of sections
201(a), 206(a), or 208 of the Congressional Accountability
Act of 1995, which cover discrimination based on race,
color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or
an employee's service in the uniformed services, and
retaliation for claims alleging such discrimination.
Congressional Member Organization Transparency Reform.
Subsection (w) modifies Congressional Member Organization
Transparency reform to allow participating Members to enter
into agreements with eligible Congressional Member
Organizations for the purpose of payment of salaries and
expenses. The subsection requires that for an organization to
be eligible during the 118th Congress, the organization must
register with the Committee on House Administration,
designate a single Member to be responsible for the
administration of the organization, have at least three
employees assigned to perform work for the organization, and
had at least 30 Members during the 117th Congress using a
portion of their Members' Representational Allowance to pay
for the salaries and expenses of the organization.
Determination with Respect to Placement of Measure on
Consensus Calendar. Subsection (x) directs the Majority
Leader to submit a statement to the Congressional Record if a
measure does not comply with his legislative protocols within
two legislative days of a measure being placed on the
Consensus Calendar.
Transfer of Certain Committee Records to the Committee on
House Administration. Subsection (y) directs those committees
designated by section 7(b)(l) of House Resolution 503, 117th
Congress, and the Archivist of the United States to transfer
any records related to the committee established pursuant to
House Resolution 503, 117th Congress, to the Committee on
House Administration not later than January 17, 2023.
Procedures During District Work Periods. Subsection (z)
provides that during district work periods throughout the
118th Congress, the Journal shall be approved; the Chair may
declare the House adjourned to meet within Constitutional
limits; the Speaker may appoint Members to perform the duties
of the Chair; and each day during this period shall not
constitute a day for purposes of section 7 of the War Powers
Resolution, clause 7 of rule XIII (resolutions of inquiry),
clause 7(c)(1) of rule XXII (motions to instruct conferees),
and clause 7 of XV (Consensus Calendar).
In carrying out this subsection, it is expected that the
designation of a district work period will be satisfied by a
letter submitted by the Speaker that is laid before the
House.
Reduction of Unauthorized Spending. Subsection (aa)
establishes a new point of order against an unauthorized
appropriation in a general appropriation bill in excess of
the most recent enacted level. If such a point of order is
sustained, an amendment shall be considered to have been
adopted reducing the amount of the appropriation to the most
recent enacted level. In order to entertain a point of order
under this subsection, the level of the most recently enacted
appropriation must be submitted to the Chair.
Numbering of Bills. Subsection (bb) reserves the first 10
numbers for bills (H.R. 1 through H.R. 10) for assignment by
the Speaker and the second 10 numbers for bills (H.R. 11
through H.R. 20) for assignment by the Minority Leader.
Section 4. Committees, Commissions, and House Offices.
Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic. Subsection
(a) establishes the Select Subcommittee on the Corona virus
Pandemic of the Committee on Oversight and Accountability to
investigate, make findings, and provide legislative
recommendations on the origins of the Coronavirus pandemic,
including the Federal Government's funding of gain-of-
function research, the use of taxpayer funds and relief
programs to address the pandemic, the effectiveness of laws
and regulations to address the Coronavirus pandemic and
prepare for future pandemics, the development of vaccines and
treatments and the implementation of vaccine mandates for
federal employees and the military, the economic impact of
the pandemic, including state and local government responses,
the impact of school closures on American children, Executive
Branch decisions and communications related to the pandemic,
the

[[Page H60]]

protection of whistleblowers who provided information about
improper activities, and inter-government cooperation
regarding oversight of the preparedness for and response to
the pandemic.
The Speaker is directed to appoint up to 12 Members,
Delegates, or the Resident Commissioner to serve on the
Select Subcommittee and to designate one of its members to
serve as the chair. Not more than five of the members may be
appointed on the recommendation of the Minority Leader. The
chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on
Oversight and Accountability shall be ex officio members of
the Select Subcommittee.
Rule XI and the rules of the Committee on Oversight and
Accountability shall apply to the Select Subcommittee, except
that the chair, after consultation with the ranking minority
member, may allow members to question witnesses for more than
five minutes and may allow staff to question witnesses.
The Select Subcommittee may not authorize and issue
subpoenas, but the Committee on Oversight and Accountability
may authorize and issue subpoenas to be returned at the
Select Subcommittee.
The Select Subcommittee may not markup legislation.
The Select Subcommittee must issue a final report of its
findings to the House by January 2, 2025 and will sunset 30
days after filing of the report.
House Democracy Partnership. Subsection (b) reauthorizes
the House Democracy Partnership.
Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. Subsection (c)
reauthorizes the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission.
Office of Congressional Ethics. Subsection (d) reauthorizes
the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE), reimposes the two-
term limit (a maximum of eight years) for board members, and
requires the board to, within 30 calendar days, appoint OCE
staff and set their compensation.
Section 5. Orders of Business
Subsection (a) provides for the consideration of a bill to
provide for the development of a plan to increase oil and gas
production under oil and gas leases of Federal lands under
the jurisdiction of the Secretary of Agriculture, the
Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of the Interior, and the
Secretary of Defense in conjunction with a drawdown of
petroleum reserves from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve under
a modified open rule. It provides one hour of debate equally
divided and controlled by the Majority and Minority Leaders
or their respective designees. After debate, the bill shall
be considered for amendment under the five-minute rule. Only
amendments that have been pre-printed in the Congressional
Record may be offered for consideration. Twenty pro forma
amendments may be offered for the purpose of debate, equally
divided and controlled by the Majority Leader and the
Minority Leader or their respective designees. At the
conclusion of consideration of the bill for amendment, one
motion to recommit is in order.
Subsection (b) provides for the separate consideration of
seven bills under a closed rule with one hour of debate
equally divided and controlled by the Majority Leader and the
Minority Leader or their respective designees and one motion
to recommit.
Subsection (c) provides the list of bills referred to in
subsection (b), which include:
A bill to rescind certain balances made available to the
Internal Revenue Service.
A bill to authorize the Secretary of Homeland Security to
suspend the entry of aliens, and for other purposes.
A bill to prohibit the Secretary of Energy from sending
petroleum products from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to
China, and for other purposes.
A bill to amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets
Act to direct district attorney and prosecutors offices to
report to the Attorney General, and for other purposes.
A bill to require the national instant criminal background
check system to notify U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement and the relevant State and local law enforcement
agencies whenever the information available to the system
indicates that a person illegally or unlawfully in the United
States may be attempting to receive a firearm.
A bill to prohibit taxpayer funded abortions.
A bill to amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit a
health care practitioner from failing to exercise the proper
degree of care in the case of a child who survives an
abortion or attempted abortion.
Subsection (d) provides for the separate consideration of
two resolutions under a closed rule with one hour of debate
equally divided and controlled by the Majority Leader and the
Minority Leader or their respective designees.
Subsection (e) provides the list of resolutions referred to
in subsection (d), which include:
A resolution establishing the Select Committee on the
Strategic Competition Between the United States and the
Chinese Communist Party.
A resolution establishing a Select Subcommittee on the
Weaponization of the Federal Government as a select
investigative subcommittee of the Committee on the Judiciary.
Subsection (f) provides for the consideration of a
concurrent resolution expressing support for the Nation's law
enforcement agencies and condemning any efforts to defund or
dismantle law enforcement agencies under a closed rule with
one hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the
Majority Leader and the Minority Leader or their respective
designees.
Subsection (g) provides for the consideration of a
concurrent resolution expressing the sense of Congress
condemning the recent attacks on prolife facilities, groups,
and churches under a closed rule with one hour of debate
equally divided and controlled by the Majority Leader and the
Minority Leader or their respective designees.
Subsection (h) allows the Speaker to recognize a member for
the reading of the Constitution on any legislative day
through February 28, 2023.

Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
Louisiana (Mr. Scalise), my good friend and the majority leader.
Mr. SCALISE. Mr. Speaker, again, thank my friend from Oklahoma for
yielding.
Mr. Speaker, we are here to discuss the rules of the House, actually
to debate the rules package. Why this is so important is because this
lays out the ability for the House to conduct business, for the House
to not only conduct business, but for the House to address the problems
that the American people across this country face.
Let's just be very clear up front. We saw a lot of debate about this
last week. At the heart of all of the discussions last week was very
clear, surely from our side, that Washington is broken. Not just is
Washington broken, but the way that this House has been running for the
last few years has not been designed to address the problems of the
people across this country.
In fact, we have seen many of the problems that families are facing
across America created by the things that have come out of this
Congress signed by President Biden. Why is inflation running away?
Because spending is out of control, because bills appear by dark of
night, bills that nobody has read that are thousands of pages long,
where Members aren't even allowed to give input in committee or on the
floor to address problems they know their constituents will face if
these bills pass. Yet, the bills are passed because they are written in
rooms behind closed doors by a small number of people, not concerned
about the consequences that will affect so many millions of people
across this Nation.
Mr. Speaker, for a long time, we have been saying this needs to
change. In fact, we ran on an agenda to change the way that Washington
works, to fix this broken system, to get our country back on track, and
we were awarded the majority by the people across this country. Today
starts that process of fixing what is broken in Washington so that
Washington can finally start working for the people of this country who
are struggling.
Let's start with one basic thing: reopening the people's House. For
years, the American people were shut out of coming and seeing their
government work. In fact, with proxy voting, which, by the way, ends in
this rules package, Members of Congress have to show up and work again.
Just look at the bill that passed a few weeks ago, the omnibus
spending bill, $1.7 trillion, mostly borrowed from countries like
China. You look at all the things that had absolutely nothing to do
with the general operations of government that were thrown in that.
Now, you can start looking at it today, but you surely couldn't look
it the day of the vote because very few people had an opportunity to
read it, over 4,000 pages dumped by dark of night, right before the
vote. Yes, a majority of this Congress voted by proxy on that bill.
They weren't even here showing up to vote.
You know what? Americans all across the country have to show up to
vote. They have to go to their worksite. They can't work remotely. In
fact, Congress doesn't work virtually. It is just not set up that way.
Yet, that is what we have seen the last 2 years; committees that don't
even meet in person. There are some committees that haven't had an in-
person hearing for 2 years.
We end that practice in this rules package, where committees actually
have to get to work again, not only meeting in person but in some cases
going out into the field, going into the real world, places like the
border between United States and Mexico, where, yes, despite the
President's

[[Page H61]]

claim, there is a crisis at the border. We have been talking about it
for a long time. We have been trying to bring legislation, but that
legislation has been rejected by a top-down structure.
This rules package changes that so we can finally start bringing
bills to the floor to address things like the border crisis, to finally
start addressing inflation and runaway spending. If a Member of
Congress has an idea and they want to bring an amendment to the floor,
for so long they were shut out of that ability. We had a bill that was
over $4 trillion in spending and taxes that was brought through
multiple committees in Congress, and not one amendment was allowed to
be brought forward and passed. In fact, even the majority was told in
the committees: Don't allow a single amendment to pass on a bill
dealing with trillions of dollars in taxes and spending that is
crushing families across America.
Let's make Congress work for families again. Let's empower Members of
Congress to be able to represent their constituents. We were all
elected by, on average, about 750,000 people. For too long, each of the
Members of Congress, Republican or Democrat, were denied the ability in
so many different ways because the rules were structured to shut their
ability down from representing their districts unless they were in a
leadership position. That has to change, and under this rules package,
that finally does change.
Let's make this Congress work for the people who sent us here. We
are, after all, the people's House. It is about time we start acting
like it. Let's pass this rules package, get to work addressing the
needs of the American people.
Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of this important piece of legislation.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr.
Cole) for yielding me the customary 30 minutes, and I yield myself such
time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, first, let me congratulate our incredible new House
Democratic leadership team: Hakeem Jeffries, Katherine Clark, and Pete
Aguilar. It is a dawn of a new day here in Congress, as a new
generation takes on the solemn responsibility of leadership.
Leader Jeffries has been tireless in his work to put people over
politics. His steady leadership as chair of our Democratic Caucus,
uniting our Members, harnessing their talent and diversity, and
fighting tirelessly to make life better for American people is a source
of inspiration for me and so many others.
It is also a privilege to be here with my good friend Tom Cole,
someone who I respect greatly and who I know greatly respects this
institution. We sit on opposite ends of the dais, but I admire Mr.
Cole's leadership and the example he sets. Even when we don't see eye
to eye, I am proud of our work to build an atmosphere of respectful
dialogue on the Rules Committee.

{time} 1715

We have done so not just among our Members but among our hardworking
staff, and I thank our minority and majority staff, led by Don Sisson
and Kelly Dixon, for all of their hard work.
I look forward to working with Mr. Cole and his team this Congress to
continue our collaboration on issues of shared concern.
Mr. Speaker, as Leader Jeffries put it so succinctly this weekend,
our Republican friends campaigned on the claim that they would fight
against inflation and fight for the American people. Instead, all they
have done is come to Washington and fight with each other.
In fact, what has become crystal clear over the past few days is the
extent to which the Republican Party has been hijacked by an extremist
MAGA faction, a faction not interested in governing but in their own
egos, a faction not interested in compromise but in their own power, a
faction not interested in putting people over politics but instead
interested in putting their own political ambition over the people we
serve.
Now here we are, nearly a week later, considering their deeply flawed
rules package, the first legislation on the floor by this new majority,
and they are using it to gut the Office of Congressional Ethics, attack
women's access to abortion, make it easier for big oil companies to
pollute, and interfere in ongoing criminal investigations into
President Trump.
They are making it easier for billionaires and big corporations to
avoid paying their taxes. Is that part of their contract with America?
Is that their big plan to help everyday people? Because most people who
read this package would think it must be a joke.
What I am concerned about is not just what is written down here. I am
concerned by the backroom deals that Speaker McCarthy made with the
Freedom Caucus in exchange for their votes. Like Republican
Congresswoman Nancy Mace said just this weekend: ``We don't have any
idea what promises were made.''
This is unconscionable. We are only 1 week into this, and this is how
they are running this place.
There is a report out by Punchbowl News, and let me read it. It said:
``There is also a secret 3-page addendum that McCarthy and his allies
hashed out during several days of grueling negotiations with the House
Freedom Caucus. This pact includes the most controversial concessions
McCarthy made in order to become Speaker--three seats on the Rules
Committee for conservatives, freezing spending at FY 2022 levels, a
debt ceiling strategy, coveted committee assignments, and more.'' Is
that what the Majority Leader meant when he talked about a new day and
transparency?
These rules are not a serious attempt at governing. They are
essentially a ransom note to America from the extreme right. The same
Members of Congress who held this body hostage last week are the ones
who ran interference for the January 6 insurrectionists, who tried to
overturn a free and fair election.
Even the new Speaker of the House voted to overturn the 2020
elections. We couldn't even get a public acknowledgment from him on the
2-year anniversary of that horrific day, not even a tweet.
It is clear that Republicans welcomed the election deniers into their
ranks with open arms, and now they are reaping what they have sown. The
insurrectionists are in charge.
I am reminded of the words of President Kennedy: ``In the past, those
who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up
inside.''
The American people get it. They rejected extremism in the last two
elections. That is why they picked Joe Biden, and that is why the red
wave turned into a pink splash.
My Republican friends still aren't listening, and in fact, they are
still empowering the extremists. Don't take my word for it. Let's go
through their rules package.
They are giving a single Member the ability to remove the Speaker at
any time, letting a small, far-right faction hold their leadership
hostage.
They are trying to shut down criminal investigations into the former
President's wrongdoing.
They are making it easier to slash taxes on billionaire corporations
while dismantling the social safety net.
They are giving committee chairs unbalanced discretion over which
witnesses can testify; rejecting pandemic safety procedures like remote
voting; trying to force an end to congressional staff unionization; and
the icing on the cake, a new subcommittee to push QAnon conspiracies
and launch fake investigations into nonexistent scandals. What is next,
a rule requiring we all wear tinfoil hats?
This package is disrespectful, not just to this institution, but to
the people who sent us here to govern.
Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``no'' vote, and I reserve the balance of my
time.
Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I begin by thanking my good friend from Massachusetts for his
leadership of the Rules Committee over the last 4 years. While we
certainly haven't always agreed, we have tried to always be agreeable
while working with one another. I certainly associate myself with his
remarks about the terrific work of the staff on both sides of the aisle
for helping us facilitate the operation of the House over that 4-year
period. I look forward again to working with my friend in the years
ahead.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to offer the rules resolution that will
govern the House during the 118th Congress.

[[Page H62]]

Determining the rules we will follow is one of the first and most
consequential decisions we must make as a body at the beginning of each
Congress. In many ways, the Rules of the House of Representatives serve
to demonstrate where our priorities and values lie as an institution.
Make no mistake, the priorities of the new Republican majority are
fully on display in this resolution.

First and foremost, Mr. Speaker, we are taking action to reopen the
people's House and ensure that we, the people's elected servants, are
here in Washington, D.C., doing our jobs.
For far too long, the House allowed Members to do their jobs from
home without ever setting foot in Washington. What started out as a
pandemic accommodation lasted far longer than necessary, but today,
even President Biden admits that the pandemic is over.
It is time for the House of Representatives to return to our normal
operating procedures, and it is time for the Members of Congress to
actually show up to work. Today's rules package eliminates proxy voting
and puts an end to remote committee proceedings.
We restore the requirement for committees to establish plans for how
they will conduct much-needed oversight. Republicans have robust plans
to ensure that we will hold the Biden administration accountable for
its actions, but being a counterbalance to the administration will not
stop there. With today's rules package, we will also establish a new
select subcommittee, modeled on the Church Committee, to investigate
the radical left's weaponization of the Federal Government in recent
years.
We will also modify the jurisdiction of the Select Subcommittee on
the Coronavirus Pandemic to ensure we investigate the origins of the
virus and finally look into the financial and societal impacts of
shutdowns.
We will establish a Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between
the United States and the Chinese Communist Party to respond to threats
posed by the CCP, ensure economic competitiveness for America, and
protect human rights.
Other important changes in this resolution are those that are
designed to address our out-of-control spending problem, which the
former majority made vastly worse last Congress. In fact, when
Democrats were in control of this Chamber, they spent so much money
through partisan bills that they managed to drive this country into an
inflationary crisis. Those aren't my words; those are the words of
former Clinton Treasury Secretary Larry Summers.
The American people elected Republicans to get our fiscal house in
order, and get our fiscal house in order we will. That starts with
making key changes to House rules to ensure we will instill some fiscal
sanity in Congress. These changes reflect a return to budgetary rules
that were in place for over a decade before Democrats removed them.
We will restore the CutGo rule, which requires us to offset any
increase in mandatory spending with a corresponding cut in mandatory
spending. No more will the House be able to use budget gimmicks and
tricks to pretend increases in mandatory spending are paid for when
they actually are not.
We will restore a requirement for a three-fifths majority to approve
any tax rate increase. If this rule had been in place, the House would
not have passed the massive tax increases the Democrats included in
last year's reconciliation bill.
We will eliminate the so-called Gephardt rule, which allows the House
to automatically suspend the debt ceiling upon passage of a budget
resolution. Just as the American people have to live within their
means, so, too, should the Federal Government.
Automatically suspending the debt limit may be the easy and expedient
way, but on a matter as important as the national debt limit, what is
easy and expedient is hardly appropriate. The American people expect us
to make a decision on the national debt limit only after full and fair
consideration and debate in the House. That starts with ensuring it
will receive a separate, standalone vote on the floor.
Finally, we will remove the rule that allowed Democrats to simply
ignore budget estimates for bills dealing with the COVID pandemic or
climate change. Although it may sound controversial to my friends on
the other side of the aisle, Republicans cannot and will not thrust our
heads in the sand and ignore the effects of out-of-control Federal
spending.
Mr. Speaker, I could go on and on, but on the whole, I am very proud
of today's rule package. It reflects Republican priorities and the
priorities of the voters who elected us. It reopens this institution
and ensures that all Members will be in Washington to do their work, as
our constituents expect. It ensures that we will hold the Biden
administration and the Chinese Communist Party accountable. It ensures
that we will get our fiscal house in order.
Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support the rules package, and I
reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record a Congressional
Budget Office report from today titled: ``Estimated Budgetary Effects
of H.R. 23, the Family and Small Business Taxpayer Protection Act.''
This nonpartisan report says that the GOP's IRS funding bill will add
$114 billion to the national debt, so when people talk about taking
steps to reduce the national debt, I am not sure what they are talking
about.

[From the Congressional Budget Office, January 9, 2023]

Estimated Budgetary Effects of H.R. 23, the Family and Small Business
Taxpayer Protection Act

Summary: The Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010
establishes budget-reporting and enforcement procedures for
legislation affecting direct spending or revenues. The net
changes in outlays and revenues that are subject to those
procedures are shown above.
The Congressional Budget Office adheres to laws and
Congressional rules concerning the federal budget and to a
set of principles (called the Scorekeeping Guidelines)
created by the Congress. Those principles guide how the House
and Senate Budget Committees, the Congressional Budget
Office, and the Office of Management and Budget attribute
budgetary effects to legislation, with the goal of promoting
consistent treatment of estimated effects among those
agencies. (For more information on those guidelines, see
Congressional Budget Office, CBO Explains Budgetary
Scorekeeping Guidelines, January 2021, www.cbo.gov/
publication/56507.)
When a provision in an authorization bill provides funding
for administrative or program management activities, such as
when the IRS receives additional funding for administrative
activities, spending of those amounts can result in increases
in receipts. Guideline 14, however, directs scorekeepers to
exclude those increases when estimating the budgetary effects
of proposals that would provide additional mandatory funding
for such activities.
Guideline 14 was adopted in part to avert cases in which
possible, but uncertain, receipts were used to offset near-
term increases in spending resulting from the same bill. That
guideline is asymmetrical, however. That is, even though
increased receipts cannot be credited to a bill that would
increase administrative funding, estimated receipt losses
that might result from a decrease in such funding are
included in the estimated budgetary effects.
H.R. 23 would rescind unobligated funds provided by
paragraphs (1)(A)(ii), (1)(A)(iii), (1)(B), (2), (3), (4),
and (5) of section 10301 of Public Law 117-169. CBO estimates
that the bill would decrease outlays by $71 billion and
decrease receipts by $186 billion over the 2023-2032 period.
Both of those effects are included in accordance with
Guideline 14.

ESTIMATED BUDGETARY EFFECTS OF H.R. 23, THE FAMILY AND SMALL BUSINESS TAXPAYER PROTECTION ACT, AS POSTED ON THE WEBSITE OF THE CLERK OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ON JANUARY 9, 2023 AS AN
ITEM THAT MAY BE CONSIDERED PURSUANT TO A RULE
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By fiscal year, millions of dollars--
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2023-2027 2023-2032
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Decreases (-) in Direct Spending
Total Changes in Direct Spending
Budget Authority................ -71,473 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -71,473 -71,473
Outlays......................... -2,359 -2,835 -4,124 -5,589 -7,252 -9,249 -11,423 -14,027 -14,605 0 -22,159 -71,463

[[Page H63]]

Decreases (-) in Revenues

Total Changes in Revenues........... -1,645 -6,186 -12,506 -17,394 -21,574 -25,416 -28,983 -31,441 -31,879 -8,814 -59,305 -185,838

Net Increase or Decrease (-) in the Deficit From Changes in Direct Spending and Revenues

Net Effect on the Deficit........... -714 3,351 8,382 11,805 14,322 16,167 17,560 17,414 17,274 8,814 37,146 114,375
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: The Congressional Budget Office.
The Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 establishes budget-reporting and enforcement procedures for legislation affecting direct spending or revenues. The net changes in outlays and revenues
that are subject to those procedures are shown above.
The Congressional Budget Office adheres to laws and Congressional rules concerning the federal budget and to a set of principles (called the Scorekeeping Guidelines) created by the Congress.
Those principles guide how the House and Senate Budget Committees, the Congressional Budget Office, and the Office of Management and Budget attribute budgetary effects to legislation, with
the goal of promoting consistent treatment of estimated effects among those agencies. (For more information on those guidelines, see Congressional Budget Office, CBO Explains Budgetary
Scorekeeping Guidelines, January 2021, www.cbo.gov/publicalion/56507.)
When a provision in an authorization bill provides funding for administrative or program management activities, such as when the IRS receives additional funding for administrative activities,
spending of those amounts can result in increases in receipts. Guideline 14, however, directs scorekeepers to exclude those increases when estimating the budgetary effects of proposals that
would provide additional mandatory funding for such activities.
Guideline 14 was adopted in part to avert cases in which possible, but uncertain, receipts were used to offset near-term increases in spending resulting from the same bill. That guideline is
asymmetrical, however. That is, even though increased receipts cannot be credited to a bill that would increase administrative funding, estimated receipt losses that might result from a
decrease in such funding are included in the estimated budgetary effects.
H.R. 23 would rescind unobligated funds provided by paragraphs (1)(A)(ii), (1)(A)(iii), (1)(B), (2), (3), (4), and (5) of section 10301 of Public Law 117-169. CBO estimates that the bill would
decrease outlays by $71 billion and decrease receipts by $186 billion over the 2023-2032 period. Both of those effects are included in accordance with Guideline 14.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, if we defeat the previous question, I will
offer an amendment to the rule to bring up the Women's Health
Protection Act.
I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of the amendment in the
Record immediately prior to the vote on the previous question.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Massachusetts?
There was no objection.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from
California (Ms. Chu) to discuss our proposal.
Ms. CHU. Mr. Speaker, Americans across the country sent a resounding
message at the ballot box. They support the right to access abortion
and for people to have the basic freedom to make decisions about their
own bodies with medical professionals and without the interference of
extremist politicians. In every State where abortion was on the ballot,
the American people called for freedom and bodily autonomy.
Now, House Democrats' first action of the 118th Congress is to answer
that call. If we defeat the previous question today, the House will
take up my bill, the Women's Health Protection Act, which will
guarantee abortion rights for everyone in every State.
In the wake of the extremist Supreme Court's devastating decision
last summer in Dobbs, Congress must stand up for the rights of every
person to be able to make decisions about their own bodies and their
own futures.
House Democrats trust people, not politicians, to make decisions
about their health and lives.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in defeating the
previous question.
Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas
(Mr. Burgess), my very good friend, a member of both the Rules
Committee and the Energy and Commerce Committee.
Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, let me just say at the outset, Mr. Cole has
probably had the hardest job in Washington the past 4 years. Being the
ranking member of the Rules Committee is a difficult position. He has
done it extremely well, so I know he is going to excel as the chairman
of the Rules Committee during this term of Congress.
Clearly, Mr. Speaker, the American public spoke with a clear voice.
They want the Nation to go in a new direction. They want a path away
from tax-and-spend politics advanced by the Democrats in the last
Congress. In this rules package, we have laid out how we intend to
accomplish just that.
The era of legislating for the few at the expense of the many is
over. This new majority today begins this serious task in ways that
will make this Congress more transparent, more accountable, and more
accessible to the public and the Members that serve the institution.
This majority will implement voting procedures on the floor so that
recorded votes can be conducted in a straightforward manner, rather
than what we have seen over the past 3 years that literally strands
Members of Congress on the floor for hours when they cannot do any
other work in their committee or anywhere else.
Mr. Speaker, I believe our friends in the previous Congress
squandered their opportunity by focusing on the politics of division
instead of what we were all sent here to do, and that is the people's
business.
Tackle inflation, tackle lawlessness, the threats abroad--these are
the urgent issues that the American public demands that their
Representatives address. Instead, Americans were treated to the petty
and divisive agenda of the last Congress.
Thankfully, Mr. Speaker, Republicans will utilize this majority.
Republicans have proposed an agenda that will address these vital
issues and put our Nation back on track to fiscal prosperity.
With this Republican majority, we offer Americans a governing agenda
that will ensure that the 21st century remains an American century.

{time} 1730

Mr. McGOVERN. We heard a lot about inflation, but none of the first
12 bills that my Republican friends are bringing up have anything to do
with inflation or mention inflation.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Colorado (Ms.
DeGette).
Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, if there was any overriding issue of
clarity in the last election it was that Americans feel strongly that
they should have the freedom to make their own healthcare decisions,
not politicians.
Apparently, House Republicans weren't listening because just 2 months
after a record number of Americans voted to vehemently oppose the GOP's
efforts to criminalize abortion care in this country, we have today a
set of rules that will make their extreme agenda a reality. These rules
will pave the way for the immediate passage of not one, not two, but
three bills that will limit women's rights to reproductive care.
Mr. Speaker, 25 percent of their initial agenda is anti-choice. This
is not what the American people want. Sixty-one percent of this country
strongly support a women's right to abortion care.
Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to stand up to this
extremism and stand up for the people who we were elected to serve.
Vote ``no'' on the previous question to bring up the Women's Health
Protection Act and vote ``no'' on the rule. Let's listen to our
constituents.
Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished
gentlewoman from Minnesota (Mrs. Fischbach), my colleague on the Rules
Committee.
Mrs. FISCHBACH. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman of the Rules
Committee and my friend from Oklahoma for yielding me the time and for
the experiences we have had on Rules in the last year.
Mr. Speaker, for far too long Democrats have run roughshod over the
norms and practices of the people's House, weaponizing our rules to
insulate themselves and protect their allies in the Biden
administration from proper oversight. That ends today.
I thank the chairman, Speaker McCarthy, and our leadership for
spending countless hours putting together this package that better
reflects the historical practices of this institution while receiving
feedback to ensure

[[Page H64]]

the work we do is by the people and for the people. There are numerous
items that I truly believe are vast improvements from the previous 2
years, but I will focus on three.
First and foremost, this package finally ends the ludicrous pandemic
procedures that have done lasting, if not permanent, damage to this
institution. Legislating requires us to see each other eye-to-eye in
order to understand where the other is coming from. Remote proceedings
and a locked-down Capitol have reduced this institution to a computer
screen, and the work product has deteriorated as a result. It is long
past time for us to get back to work.
Second, the rules package finally creates a more transparent process
by which we legislate. As then-Chairman McGovern once said, ``a lousy
process leads to bad legislating.'' Today, through a mandatory 72-hour
rule, we allow more thoughtful and deliberate consideration that will
improve what we pass out of this House.
Finally, this rules package helps restore some fiscal sanity. Over
the past 2 years, the American people have been hindered by out-of-
control spending by the government and now our constituents are saddled
with trillions in debt and the highest inflation levels in a
generation.
House Republicans today will once again ensure the Federal budget
operates like any other, requiring offsets for any additional spending
increase, eliminating budget gimmicks, and requiring inflationary
analyses of the bills we consider.
Mr. Speaker, I am proud to stand by my friend and colleague from
Oklahoma in support of this package, and I urge Members to do the same.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, let me just remind my friends that over a
million Americans died of COVID, including a Member-elect who was
supposed to be sworn in in the last Congress. These remote procedures
undoubtedly saved lives of Members and staff here in this Chamber. So,
please, let's not diminish what the point of all that was about.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Washington (Ms.
Jayapal).
Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Speaker, after a week of chaos, we now have a rules
package for MAGA extremists, attacking our freedoms and every major
responsibility of this body--from paying America's bills to funding our
government.
This package criminalizes abortion by advancing bills that attack
access and healthcare without a single hearing or markup, undermining
women's economic freedom and bodily autonomy.
Mr. Speaker, as one of the one-in-four women across this country who
have had an abortion, I join those in both parties--and the majority of
this country--who are saying: Not on our watch.
This package also reinstates a CutGo policy that gives wealthy
corporations more tax cuts and strips the right for congressional
workers to unionize. It eliminates our wins to strengthen witness
disclosure requirements for conflicts of interest and exempt climate
change and pandemic relief from senseless paygo rules.
Democrats delivered for the people. Republicans now want a package
that works for the wealthiest few. Vote ``no.''
Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Virginia (Mr. Griffith), my very good friend who had so much to do with
some of the extraordinary changes in this rules package.
Mr. GRIFFITH. Mr. Speaker, I come to talk today about getting back to
the basics. This place has, in fact, been broken, and a number of the
rules that we worked on were to bring authority back and bring us back
to the principles of Jefferson's parliamentary practice and procedure,
his manual on that.

I would say to the ladies and gentlemen that we should look at that
document for what its principles stand for. What it stands for is--and
it says right in the preamble, Jefferson writes: ``For some of the most
familiar and experienced members,''--referencing they are members of
parliament because that is what he based it on--``that nothing tended
more to throw power into the hands of administration, and those who
acted with the majority of the House of Commons, than a neglect of, or
departure from, the rules of proceeding; that these forms, as
instituted by our ancestors, operated as a check and control on the
actions of the majority, and that they were, in many instances, a
shelter and protection to the minority against the attempts of power.''
So when I go out there, Mr. Speaker, and ask that we change these
rules to make sure that we have rules that help protect all Members,
including the minority Members, you can imagine my surprise and shock
today when I hear that they are opposed to rules that do some very
basic things--things that the American people are going to be shocked
that we don't already do--such as a single purpose rule, that you
cannot introduce a bill that doesn't have a single purpose or theme to
that bill. That can be complicated, but it has to have an overarching
theme, something that this bill is attempting to do right from the get-
go. The sole purpose rule.
Mr. Speaker, then there is the germaneness, coming up with a stricter
germaneness interpretation. As we know, that also helps so that you
don't end up having happen what we had happen last summer where
somebody introduces a bill to mint a commemorative coin and it turns
into the Inflation Reduction Act. That is absolutely ridiculous.
Hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands of pages came out of a one-
paragraph bill. No. That is wrong.
Mr. Speaker, this allows us more power to say ``no'' on the floor by
the individual Members.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the
gentleman from Virginia.
Mr. GRIFFITH. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the additional time that the
gentleman yielded to me. As you can tell, I get fired up about these
issues.
The bottom line is that this rules package is the best rules package
of either party in a number of years because instead of worrying about
what might happen next week, this rules package worries about the
future of the United States Congress. It is a good package, and I
wholeheartedly support it.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from
California (Ms. Lee).
Ms. LEE of California. Mr. Speaker, after 4 days and 15 rounds of
votes, the new Republican majority has finally chosen a Speaker. Their
first order of business is to trample on the hopes of the people that
elected them.
The rules package that we see before us contains no less than three
bills that strip people in this country of their reproductive freedom.
These bills are a slap in the face to voters who proved time and time
again at the polls last year that they believe in reproductive freedom
and abortion access.
From Kentucky to Kansas to my home State of California, our
constituents believe that the right to make decisions about their life
and their health, including about abortion, lies with them, not with
you, not with me, not with any elected official.
This rules package is meant to help this body govern, not restrict
the personal autonomy of millions. As one who has had an abortion, I
know how horrific this rules package is. It is our bodies. It is our
choices.
Mr. Speaker, this dysfunction and hypocrisy is shameful, and the
people deserve better.
Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished
gentleman from South Dakota (Mr. Johnson), my good friend.
Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota. Mr. Speaker, quite a little bit of the
national narrative over the last week has been about Republican
disunity, and some have tried to apply that narrative to this rules
package. I get it. I get it. It makes for a good story, but it just
isn't so.
I rise today, Mr. Speaker, with a more accurate assessment. This
rules package is actually about Republican unity. This package, except
for one single change, is the same rules package that was released two
weekends ago.
This is the same rules package, except for one single change that the
Republican Conference had widespread agreement on weeks ago.
There are a tremendous number of conservative wins here:

[[Page H65]]

At least 72 hours for Members and the public to review legislation
before we vote on it.
Requiring every bill to deal with only a single subject.
Getting rid of proxy voting.
Bringing back the Holman rule, which will allow this body to target
specific spending line items.
And then the return of CutGo so that spending increases have to be
offset by spending reductions.
Mr. Speaker, every single one of these big conservative wins, and
many more like them were supported by the Republican Conference long
before the excitement of last week. Today's rules package is actually
proof of Republican unity, and it is proof that we are committed to
bringing increased accountability, transparency, and fiscal
responsibility for this Chamber and for our country.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman is taking credit for the 72-
hour rule, which we created in our rules package, but thank you very
much.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Massachusetts
(Ms. Clark), the Democrat whip.
Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, when Roe v. Wade was
overturned, the impact on Americans was swift and devastating. Women
were denied healthcare. Doctors were threatened with criminal charges.
Hospitals were forced to put their own liability over patients' lives.

As the GOP doubled down on its plan for a national abortion ban, the
American people saw it for what it was: anti-women, anti-choice, anti-
family, and anti-freedom.
Kansas, California, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, and Vermont--voters
across the country rejected this extremism.
With this anti-freedom agenda exposed, some of my Republican
colleagues started to scrub their websites, rolled back their rhetoric,
and dodged questions on abortion. But here we are again in this rules
package, within days of taking over the House majority, Republicans are
pushing legislation to limit women's rights.
Let's see where you truly stand. Today, House Democrats offer the
Women's Health Protection Act to make abortion access a Federal right,
no matter your ZIP Code or your income.
Do my colleagues across the aisle believe that families, in
consultation with their doctors, with their faith, with their life
circumstances, should decide when to have children, or do my colleagues
think that is a decision for Republican politicians?
Vote to make Roe v. Wade the law of the land. Vote for freedom.
Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished
gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Duncan).
Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support the Republican rules
package and our return to common sense in the people's House.
I want to point out a few line items in the rules package for
particular praise.
This bill returns to the historical norm of in-person meetings and
in-person votes. No more proxy voting or remote committee hearings.
Let's do the work in the people's House.
This bill returns to the Holman rule. If ever there was a time for
this House to stop paying the salaries of bad bureaucrats, it is now.
Tony Fauci deserves that step.

{time} 1745

I think knowing this rules package was coming is one of the reasons
why he has now mercifully left government service. The power to fire
unelectable bureaucrats who abuse their power is a central reason to
support this package.
In the past the 3-day rule has been abused--bills being dropped in
the dead of night to be voted on 2 mornings later is just wrong. Moving
to a true 72-hour rule will end that abusive practice.
Eliminating the Gephardt rule to ensure that this House has a true
debate over whether or not to raise the debt limit is a move in the
right direction for fiscal sanity in the people's House, and so is the
three-fifths majority requirement to raise taxes.
I thank my fellow Freedom Caucus members and my friends in House
leadership for making these necessary changes to the House rules
package, and I ask my colleagues to pass this package.
Now, since Ranking Member McGovern mentioned the IRS bill coming up,
let me just point out that we need to rescind that.
Mr. Speaker, do you know what 87,000 IRS agents equates to?
It equates to 200 new IRS agents in every congressional district in
this country. That is 1,740 new IRS agents in every State for one
purpose: to go after small businesses and hardworking Americans to try
to raise money to pay for reckless spending--reckless spending that has
cost $31 trillion in debt in this Nation.
This is the right thing to do.
I tell you what, Mr. Speaker, we could repurpose those agents to the
southern border, or we could repurpose them and let them build the
Keystone XL pipeline.
There were an estimated 61,000 lost jobs with the Keystone XL
pipeline when the Biden administration canceled that project. But yet
we turn around, and the government hires 87,000 new IRS agents to go
after your constituents and mine, Mr. Speaker.
I mentioned earlier the number. Look it up.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I remind my friend that the first bill
they are doing is going to add $114 billion to the deficit. Enough.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr.
Aguilar), who is the chairman of the Democratic Caucus.
Mr. AGUILAR. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Massachusetts
for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to the rules package which
was written behind closed doors.
What we are voting on this evening is nothing short of a complete
surrender to the demands of the most extreme Republicans on the other
side of the aisle.
Rather than taking this opportunity to bring us together, the
adoption of this rules package sets us on a path of division and
default. The extremists plan to use these rules to hold the economy
hostage in order to enact more cuts to Social Security and Medicare.
Mr. Speaker, last week our Nation saw the lowest unemployment in 50
years, a testament to the leadership of President Biden and House
Democrats. Yet, it is clear that the new majority is determined to
undermine that economic recovery at every turn.
Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``no'' vote.
Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished
gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. Cammack).
Mrs. CAMMACK. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of House
Resolution 5, adopting the rules for the 118th Congress.
First, this rules package is an incredible win not just for
conservatives but for all Americans.
Americans deserve a House of Representatives that serves the people,
not a political or a personal agenda. For decades we have heard a
series of questions, things like: Why can't we simply pass bills that
address a single issue?
Why do we have to Christmas tree these bills?
Why isn't there enough time to read the bills?
Heck, why don't Members have to show up to work to get paid?
I hear that all the time.
That, among other things, is what we have addressed in this rules
package.
To be sure folks back home understand, this rules package is the
document that dictates how we, as Members, conduct business up here,
and that is why it is so important to get this right.
This is the most conservative and transparent rules package in recent
history, and the thanks go to the Republican Conference at large for
working on this and approving this and debating these proposals on
three separate occasions since November.
Here is a sampling of just what is in this commonsense package:
First, every single Member of this body will have at least 72 hours
to review each bill.
Second, Members will now be forced to vote in person rather than via
proxy. Personally, I have never voted proxy, and for me it is pretty
simple. If you collect a paycheck, you should show up. After nearly 3
years of abusing this historic voting change, we are finally putting an
end to proxy voting.

[[Page H66]]

If my husband as a first responder along with thousands of other
first responders across this country showed up every single shift at
the height of COVID without complaint, then Members of Congress should
be able to do the same.
Now, on November 29 I testified before the Rules Committee that
single-issue bills are one of the single most important things we can
do to restore trust in this institution. I am proud to report that this
package includes this new requirement, and that is for all Members to
certify that bills introduced in the House address a single issue.
A huge thanks goes to my friend and colleague from Virginia,
Representative Morgan Griffith, for his work on this issue.
Additionally, this rules package establishes a brand new select
committee that will be tasked to investigate the weaponization of the
Federal Government. No longer will the Department of Justice be allowed
to target parents who show up for their kids. No longer will the FBI be
able to collude with social media companies to censor Americans.

Finally, in the ultimate move to drain the swamp and one that I am
particularly proud of, this rules package reinstates the Holman rule
which allows Members of this body to offer amendments to appropriations
bills to reduce the salary or to fire certain employees or cut Federal
programs. These unelected bureaucrats--the true, real swamp creatures
here in Washington, D.C.--have run roughshod over the American people
without consequence, and today marks our first, but certainly not our
last, move to hold them accountable.
Mr. Speaker, this package is a product that brings transparency and
trust to a broken process. I thank all of my colleagues from the
Republican Conference for their grit and grace in working to put this
package together, and I urge its passage.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, the gentlewoman mentioned the 72-hour
rule. Once again, I will say: You are welcome. Then she talked about
this being the most open and transparent rule ever. Maybe the
gentlewoman can share with us the secret 3-page addendum that we are
reading about, because none of us have seen it. So much for
transparency. I guess she is not going to share that with us.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from the District of
Columbia (Ms. Norton).
Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, these rules are a gratuitous attack on
already limited rights of D.C. residents. Our residents have all the
obligations of citizenship, including paying all Federal taxes, but are
denied voting rights in Congress and full local self-government. To add
insult to injury, these rules take away floor privileges of the D.C.
Mayor.
The rules continue to grant Governors and 16 other categories of
people, including foreign ministers, floor privileges. Not only does
D.C.'s Mayor operate like State Governors--including managing a
jurisdiction that has both a budget and population larger than those of
several States--but Congress has undemocratic plenary authority over
D.C. and regularly uses this authority to legislate on local matters.
While D.C. deserves statehood, if any non-member of Congress deserves
and needs floor privileges, it is D.C.'s Mayor.
Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the distinguished
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Roy).
Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Oklahoma (Mr. Cole) for
yielding.
I am delighted to be down here on the floor of the House of
Representatives in a Republican majority, and I am delighted to be
talking about a rules package crafted by that Republican majority and
that reflects what I think is a fundamental transformation of this
House to ensure that the people can be represented by their
Representatives. That is the point.
There is a reason that I have had great conversations with some of my
colleagues on the other side of the aisle about why having 72 hours to
read a bill, or why having a bill that isn't littered with Christmas
tree additional subjects rather than single subjects, as my friend from
Virginia (Mr. Griffith) articulated so well, or whether having germane
amendments and being able to open up the floor by virtue of changing
the rules or restoring the Holman rule so we can have an impact on
agencies that are out of control and not responding to the people's
House, there is a reason why those rules are so fundamentally
important: to restore this body and to restore the people's House.
That is why we are here. Everybody keeps running around in classic
swamp speak talking about secret deals, a secret addendum.
What we are talking about is how people come to an agreement in this
town to ensure that we are going to carry out what we have said we are
going to do.
The rules package is on full display. The rules package has been on
full display and publicly available since Friday or earlier last week.
The text of that rules package has been something we can look at. My
friends are right. A good chunk of that text is the agreement reached a
while back, a couple of weeks ago, 1 week or 2 weeks ago, with one
significant change: the single-person motion to vacate which is in the
spirit of that which goes all the way back to Jefferson. In fact, we
are currently now operating not under any rules. That is why we are
having a debate. We are about to debate on adopting the rules.
I can walk down right there into the well and file a motion to vacate
a single person right now because that is the precedent. That is what
we are operating under, because that goes back to Jefferson.
The whole point here is trying to ensure that we are continuing the
great history of the people's House.
Yes, we have had conversations and agreements as individuals are
supposed to do, looking each other in the eye and saying that we are
going to bring balanced budgets to the floor of the House.
You bet that we have agreements that we are going to do that. You bet
we have had agreements that we are going to bring the Texas border plan
to make sure that we secure the border rather than perpetuating the
fraud that the President of the United States continues to perpetuate
endangering the American people. You bet that we are bringing forward a
promise to have legislation that will set term limits because the
American people are tired of a House that doesn't represent them. You
bet that we have got agreements to do those things.
You bet that we have been talking about making sure that we can bring
amendments to the floor of this House--open debate amendments on
appropriations bills--that that was a part of the package that we were
talking about; and you bet that a part of our agreement was ensuring
that a Church-style committee under the leadership of my good friend,
the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Jordan) of the Judiciary Committee, will
target weaponization of government against the American people. You bet
that those agreements were reached.

I will not back away from that or shy away from it.
But this rules package is a rules package that reflects this body and
the entirety of the Republican Party on making sure that we restore the
people's House.
We are united to do that. We are coming out of last week strong and
united to make sure that we stand up for the American people.
Mr. Speaker, I encourage everybody to vote for this rules package.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to refrain from
engaging in personalities toward the President.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman, again, for mentioning the 72-hour
rule which has been mentioned many times. But I wrote it, and I thank
the gentleman for keeping it.
But when I hear people talking about balanced budgets, give me a
break. The first bill that my friends are bringing to the floor,
according to CBO, adds $114 billion to the debt. We don't need any
lectures from anybody on that side about balancing the budget. Give me
a break.
Maybe the gentleman can, again, share with us the secret addendum
that apparently was negotiated behind closed doors, so we actually know
what agreements were made.

[[Page H67]]

Four days and 15 votes, and there is only one change in the rules
package going from five to be able to vacate the Chair to one. Well,
there is a lot more to it. We all know that, but that is a big secret.
So much for transparency.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr.
Torres).
Mr. TORRES of New York. Mr. Speaker, the so-called rules package
proposed by House Republicans would perpetuate same disorder, division,
and dysfunction that nearly devoured the Republican nominee for
Speaker.
A single-Member threshold for filing a motion to vacate empowers
extremism and rewards rabble-rousing. It would make the House so
dysfunctional as to be ungovernable.
It would give the new Speaker only a Pyrrhic victory because a motion
to vacate makes him arbitrarily removable at any moment, at the whim of
any person, no matter how personal or petty the underlying grievance.
Simply put, this is no way to govern.
Moreover, House Republicans decry the weaponization of the Federal
Government. Yet the Holman rule would enable the Federal Government to
be weaponized against any Federal official who draws the wrath of the
Republican majority.
The Holman rule would enable House Republicans to zero out funding
for a criminal investigation into Donald Trump.
The new rules would defund the Office of Congressional Ethics.
The new rules would enable a Member being investigated by the FBI to
investigate the investigators investigating him.
Mr. Speaker, so much for draining the swamp.
Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the distinguished
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Clyde).
Mr. CLYDE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Last week I was part of the 20 conservative Members who fought for a
significant institutional change in order to restore the people's voice
in the people's House.
Of the many victories we secured for the American people, the Thomas
Jefferson motion to vacate the Chair is the most important to me, as it
holds the Speaker accountable to the people.
This Jeffersonian motion stood strong for more than 200 years before
then-Speaker Pelosi removed it in 2018, consolidating power in the
hands of a select few in leadership.
By restoring this historic rule, every solitary Member has the
authority to hold the Speaker accountable for following all of the
rules, including passing single-subject bills, allowing Members at
least 72 hours to read the legislation before voting on it, and
reinstating the Holman rule which allows amendments to decrease funding
for certain government programs all the way down to the individual job
description.
Mr. Speaker, I thank my Republican colleagues and Speaker McCarthy
for working in good faith to produce and pass a rules package that
ensures this body is working for the people and not for itself. I
encourage every Member to vote for it. Fixing a broken Washington,
D.C., is a major win for every citizen.

{time} 1800

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
Massachusetts (Mr. Neal).
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to this
legislation, the so-called rules package.
I can't wait for that term limits vote. When you ask Members on the
Republican side who have been here for 20 or 30 years to then codify
their votes that say that you can only be here for 12, try explaining
that one back home when you have a four-seat majority.
This is an extreme proposal that is in front of us. If they follow
the logic to its manifestation, this will pit Social Security,
Medicare, and Medicaid against defense spending. Our seniors will be
sold out; our military will be sold out; and the full faith and credit
of the United States will be under threat, all in a quest to organize
the House.
The gentleman from South Dakota, a nice enough fellow, said people
are making a lot about the chaos that ensued here over 4 days,
particularly last Saturday morning. Was the gentleman denying that he
was here, for the country to witness what happened here?
This is part of a rules package that is being foisted upon the
American people by a small minority within the Republican Party, and we
ought to turn it down.
Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from South
Carolina (Mr. Norman).
Mr. NORMAN. Mr. Speaker, it is a new day in Congress.
Mr. McGovern, you mentioned the 72-hour rule was put in by you and
the Democrats. Why didn't you enforce it? You didn't. We were forced to
vote on bills like the omnibus that was 4,155 pages long.
The American people are tired of it. Last week was a great week. You
saw democracy at its best.
Guess what? We were off 24 weeks during the last session. We can take
however many days it is to debate something that the American people
should see.
The great part about this rules package is it restores financial
sanity. That is why I am proud to support, along with Speaker McCarthy,
this new rules package that implements fiscal and budgetary restraints
on Congress. Provisions included are huge wins for the American people
for everybody to see.
We were given the assurance that this package will do the job, and we
could not continue the downward trajectory that your party has put the
American people on over the last 2 years and last 4 years.
Now is the time that we deal with what is the growing insanity. I am
just thankful that we are here.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to direct their remarks
to the Chair.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I would just say to the gentleman that in
the vast majority of cases we did comply with the 72-hour rule.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Nevada (Mr.
Horsford).
Mr. HORSFORD. Mr. Speaker, this Republican rules package is more like
rules wreckage, and it has very little to do with governance.
Adding insult to the American people, Speaker McCarthy and MAGA
Republicans want to defund the IRS so that their millionaire and
billionaire friends don't have to pay their fair share in taxes while
hardworking people in Nevada's Fourth District pick up the tab.
There is a persistent problem with the wealthiest Americans evading
taxes or hiding their money in secret, offshore bank accounts in order
to avoid paying their tax obligations. In fact, according to a new
Syracuse University analysis, low-income wage earners were audited 5.5
times more than the people in every other tax bracket in 2022.
Democrats put people over politics and provided the resources and
funding that the IRS needs to go after the super-rich tax cheats. It is
not fair that taxpayers with lower incomes are more likely to be
audited than high-income taxpayers.
Adding additional insult, their first bill adds more than $100
billion to the deficit over the next 10 years. What does that say about
reducing our deficit?
Mr. Speaker, I urge the body to vote down this hypocritical package.
Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Speaker be
authorized to postpone the vote on ordering the previous question on
House Resolution 5 to a designated time later today.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Oklahoma?
There was no objection.
Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Chair may
reduce to 5 minutes the minimum time for electronic voting on any
question relating to House Resolution 5 that follows a 15-minute vote.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Oklahoma?
There was no objection.
Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, following the vote on the previous
question, Representative DeLauro will offer a motion to commit.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Connecticut
(Ms. DeLauro) to discuss that proposal.

[[Page H68]]

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, when we conclude this rules debate, I will
offer a motion to commit to add the expanded child tax credit.
In the face of the Republican majority's draconian agenda, we want to
provide a tax cut, yes, to children and families to make ends meet. The
child tax credit is the most effective tool we have in the fight
against rising costs, an antidote to inflation. It is about financial
stability for families.
Nothing in this rules package helps American families. Make no
mistake, a vote against a motion to commit means Republicans are
willing to raise taxes on working families.
The expanded child tax credit was the largest tax cut for working
families in generations, a lifeline to the middle class. It drove the
largest decrease in child poverty in history. People could pay their
electric bills, fill their gas tanks, pay for childcare. It reached
more than 61 million children, lifted 4 million out of poverty, and led
to a 26 percent decline in hunger in families with children. There has
never been a Federal program that has had such a profound impact in
such a short amount of time.

Do the right thing. Vote ``yes'' on the motion to commit.
Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from
Washington (Ms. DelBene).
Ms. DelBENE. Mr. Speaker, later this evening, my colleague and
friend, Congresswoman DeLauro, will offer a motion to add the expanded
child tax credit to the rules package, This gives us an opportunity to
start the 118th Congress on the right foot.
Instead of focusing on an extremist agenda, we can advance a proven
solution to an issue that impacts every community in our country--
childhood poverty.
The United States, shamefully, has one of the highest rates of
childhood poverty in the developed world. We have a solution that we
know works, the expanded child tax credit that delivered up to $300 per
child each month to over 40 million families. These resources helped
parents pay for food, rent, gas, and other essentials.
We must bring back the expanded child tax credit and deliver for
children and families.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this motion to
commit. Reducing childhood poverty should be a bipartisan effort.
Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, again, let me just ask, will anybody on
the other side share with us the secret 3-page addendum that Speaker
McCarthy negotiated with the Freedom Caucus so we can know what else
was decided on, given away? I guess not.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms.
Barragan).
Ms. BARRAGAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the rule.
The rules package is anti-Latino. It makes in order bills that attack
abortion rights and reproductive health that Latinas rely on. It
doubles down on Republicans' inhumane treatment of Latino migrants
fleeing violence and persecution.
Later today, Republicans plan to rush a vote on a bill that protects
wealthy and ultrawealthy tax cheats, leaving low-income Black and
Latino communities to bear the brunt of tax audits because they make
easy targets.
Republicans have begun this Congress with chaos and now plan to push
extreme policies that do nothing to help Latinos in this country.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote against this rule.
Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished
gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Hill), my good friend.
Mr. HILL. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Oklahoma for yielding.
Certainly, my colleague from Massachusetts knows my deep affection
for him, but since I walked on the House floor tonight, I keep hearing
this reference to this rules package, that somehow it is not posted on
our website and that we are debating something else called an addendum
to the rules package.
I wanted to come to the House floor as someone who worked quite
passionately last week on behalf of our new Speaker, working on an
agreement with all of my colleagues so that we are unified in the House
Republican Conference, to say that there is no addendum to this
package, Mr. Speaker.
There is no 3-page addendum. There is no extra stuff. Everything in
the House rules package is posted on the House website.
We made one addition as a Conference, and that was the change in the
vacate the chair motion.
Mr. Speaker, I want to be clear in the Congressional Record, for
those watching on C-SPAN, and to my colleagues: There is not a 3-page
addendum to the rules package.
I greatly respect my good friend from Massachusetts and my friend
from Oklahoma.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I have great respect for my friend, but
really? I mean, come on.
What were the last 4 days about? I mean, again, days and days, and 15
roll call votes, and reporting by multiple sources tell us that there
is this signed agreement with the House Freedom Caucus that deals with
some of the most controversial concessions.
So, you know, I know it exists. It will come out sooner or later.
Everybody is talking about transparency and openness. It would be nice
if there was a little bit more transparency and openness from the other
side.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms.
Jackson Lee).
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the rules and
the rules package.
In particular, I support the Women's Health Protection Act so women
seeking reproductive rights will not be hunted down by bounty hunters.
As well, I am opposed to this rule because of the creation of a
potential committee that, in fact, threatens our safety, security, and
freedom. It is an unprecedented attack on our Nation's law enforcement
agencies, our justice system, and our intelligence community, all for
the extreme MAGA Republican political activities.
This does nothing to solve the actual problems facing the American
people and even includes a possibility of defunding police.
Finally, I am glad that the last Congress indicated that when a
million Americans died, for continuity of government, we had proxy
voting. They wanted to save lives.
Mr. Speaker, I oppose the underlying rules and the rules package. I
ask my colleagues to join me in voting ``no.''
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to H. Res. 5, Adopting the
Rules of the 118th Congress. Instead of building on the extraordinary
work done by House Democrats in the 117th Congress, Republicans are
choosing to lead off this term with legislation that attacks women's
health freedoms, make it easier for companies to pollute without
consequence, and hand out tax breaks to the wealthy and well connected.
This problematic Rules package is the product of non-transparent
negotiations, backroom deals and promises that were made to appease the
demands made by extremist members of the Republican Party to get them
to vote or in some cases vote present for Speaker of the House.
Last week's catastrophic Speaker's election showed Americans how
disorganized, chaotic, and inefficient the Republican leadership and
Caucus can be.
Last week's chaos showed the American people how Republicans plan to
govern for the next two years. This body will be ill managed, less
transparent, slow moving, and will put forth legislation that will
attack our freedoms and undermine our Nation's values.
Concessions made by Republican leadership last week will have
devastating effects on this institution. The passage of this Rules
package will pave the way for:
Any member to file a ``motion to vacate the chair,'' effectively
holding the Speaker hostage;
Extreme right-wing members on key committees;
Putting an end to the possibility of Congressional staff
unionization;
Reinstating the Holman Rules so Republicans can target civil servants
who challenge them; and
Shut down criminal investigations into the previous president.
This problematic rule is creating more turmoil in the Republican
ranks as members wrestle with the image of witnessing the Speaker being
coerced into agreeing to give a small faction of the Republican
Conference treats to appease them--including concessions to individual
members for votes he needed to become Speaker.

[[Page H69]]

It is not inconceivable that Republican members of the conference
must show they are not being bullied into voting for this Rules bill.
The most problematic aspect of the rule is that it does not spell out
what the Speaker agreed to give to his opponents so that the Congress
and the American people know what the Speakership actually cost them.
This is the People's House--not the Republican or Democratic House--
any bargaining should be focused on the needs of the American people--
they must come first.
Throughout the last election cycle, Republicans campaigned on
addressing inflation and lowering the cost of living for millions of
Americans.
Ironically, the first bill they are introducing repays the wealthy
donors that got them their majority through dark money contributions by
making it easier for the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans to cheat on
their taxes.
We all may have varying beliefs about taxes, but we as Americans know
that nothing in this life is free and that in order for our Nation to
be a beacon of freedom we must have a strong defense, public assistance
programs to help those in need, an education system that prepares young
minds to lead, retirement programs that provided for our elder and
disabled, and a healthcare system that cares for all in need of
healthcare.
Passage of the rule will pave the way for Republicans to continue
their assault on a woman's bodily autonomy and impede on medical
decisions that should remain between medical professionals and their
patient.
Although the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act does not
criminalize abortion nationwide, make no mistake, that is their end
goal, and the passage of this bill will get them one step closer to
their sick idea of stripping all women of their rights.
There are concerns that language in the House Rules package would
eliminate rules requiring spending offsets for bills that sell or
transfer federal public lands and waters.
This will result in a loss of public access enjoyed by the 70 million
American hunters and anglers that help support the $862 billion outdoor
recreation economy in the United States. Additionally, giving away
public assets with no return would be a loss for American taxpayers.
As a result, hunters and anglers are strongly opposed to this rule
change, which would eliminate the necessity of spending offsets to sell
or transfer public lands.
I urge all my colleagues to oppose this bill and see it for what it
truly is:
An effort by Republicans to give tax breaks to the ultra-rich and the
corporations who fund their campaigns, and
An effort to continue carrying out their distorted notion of America
by decimating the programs set in place to help the Americans who
depend on government assistance the most.
Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, let me continue what I was beginning in
the last exchange.
At least one GOP office apparently has the much-fabled 3-page House
rules addendum. ``We are taking a look at it . . . we're just going
through it,'' Rep. Ken Calvert, a Steering Committee member, tells
Axios. Asked if Members have received a copy: ``I don't know if
everybody has.''
Again, don't come to the floor and talk about transparency and
openness and a new day. This is backroom politics. That is what this is
about, secret deals that no one is going to know anything about until
it is too late.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Maryland (Mr. Hoyer).
Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I lament that the 2 minutes are no longer
magic.
Mr. Speaker, these rules are largely the rules that we have had for
some period of time over the years, but they have important changes.
Unfortunately, I view those changes as not facilitating our work but
seeking to impede our work. I think that is unfortunate.
They are also designed to target Federal employees if Members of
Congress don't like what they do. There, of course, is a process to do
that, but as the leader on the other side did at one point in time, he
just cut out the salary for an employee he didn't like or thought was
acting improperly. That was not appropriate, and of course, that did
not prevail.
I regret that we don't have an opportunity to look at these rules in
the way that so many on this floor talked about doing.
First of all, of course, they are not single issues. There are a lot
of issues. It is the rules.
Secondly, there are ways and means to provide for consideration in a
transparent, open fashion in which I could offer an amendment to a rule
that I thought was not in the benefit of this House or the American
people.
Unfortunately, this is the process, which is the very first process
under which we have considered a piece of business, not necessarily
legislation, and that is ironic. It is what it is, but it will, as such
a process does, force us to vote against a piece of organizational
rules because we don't agree with some of those rules. That is what I
will do.

{time} 1815

Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire of the gentleman from
Oklahoma how many more speakers he has?
Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close whenever my friend is.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, as well, and I
yield myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, the last time House Republicans were in charge, they
ended their time in power with a government shutdown. They controlled
the House, the Senate, and the White House, and they shut the
government down and walked away.
Upon taking power once again, they began with a legislative shutdown,
a shutdown where a far-right fringe held the incoming Republican
leadership hostage and got them to give away everything, including
their own dignity.
What is clear from all of this is that the Republican Party no longer
cares about governing. This rules package is exhibit number one.
The American people sent us here because they want us to put people
over politics. Sadly, this rules package puts politics first,
empowering the extremists who are only interested in their own power.
As I have said again and again, if this new majority wants to work
together in good faith, my door is open. If this is their plan, they
have clearly chosen to become a party that embraces election deniers
and extremists, and Democrats will not go along to get along.
Finally, Mr. Speaker, let me say that I have had some harsh words for
this rules package. Call it ``tough love.'' I care very deeply about
this institution, about the work we do here, and the awesome
responsibility of the decisions we make. I am glad that my friends kept
the McGovern rule on the 72-hour and the McGovern rule that committees
have to do hearings and markups before they come to the Rules
Committee.
We weren't perfect, but overwhelmingly we kept our word.
This legislation does a great disservice to the people we represent,
and it does not live up to the high standards that we should have for
this institution. I believe that calling this House to a higher
standard is the right thing to do.
But let me be clear that my criticism is reserved for the resolution
we are considering and not for the distinguished gentleman from
Oklahoma (Mr. Cole), whom I respect and admire as a person even when we
strongly disagree, as we do today.
These rules are a giveaway to the far right, but this Congress need
not be. If my Republican colleagues want to get anything done, it is
clear that they are going to have to work together with Democrats to
get things done.
Let's end the extremism and put people over politics to get stuff
done.
People do not want government shutdowns.
People do not want to see us default on our financial obligations.
People want us to get stuff done and to keep the lights on.
The last two elections were a rejection of extremism. My friends
predicted an overwhelmingly Republican majority in the last election,
and instead, they got a pink splash because the American people,
Democrats, Independents, and a lot of Republicans said: You are too
extreme.
So put the extremism behind you. I urge the Speaker to work with
Democrats and not just work with the small fringe group in the
Republican Conference, but to work in a way to move the people's agenda
forward.
I urge a ``no'' vote on this resolution, a ``no'' on the previous
question, and I yield back the balance of my time.

[[Page H70]]

Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
In closing, I urge all my colleagues to support this resolution
establishing the rules of the 118th Congress. The changes we are
proposing today will ensure that the institution is set on a path of
success for the new Congress.
They will ensure that Members return to Washington and do their work
here.
They will set up an institution to hold the Biden administration
accountable.
They will put in place budgetary rules designed to prevent the kind
of reckless spending spree Democrats recently engaged in.
I urge all Members to vote ``yes'' on the previous question and
``yes'' on the rule.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to H. Res.
5, Adopting the Rules of the 118th Congress. Instead of building on the
extraordinary work done by House Democrats in the 117th Congress,
Republicans are choosing to lead off this term with legislation that
attacks women's health freedoms, make it easier for companies to
pollute without consequence, and hand out tax breaks to the wealthy and
well connected.
This problematic Rules package is the product of non-transparent
negotiations, backroom deals and promises that were made to appease the
demands made by extremist members of the Republican Party to get them
to vote or in some cases vote present for Speaker of the House.
Last week's catastrophic Speaker's election showed Americans how
disorganized, chaotic, and inefficient the Republican leadership and
Caucus can be.
Last week's chaos showed the American people how Republicans plan to
govern for the next two years. This body will be ill managed, less
transparent, slow moving, and will put forth legislation that will
attack our freedoms and undermine our Nation's values.
Concessions made by Republican leadership last week will have
devastating effects on this institution. The passage of this Rules
package will pave the way for:
Any member to file a ``motion to vacate the chair,'' effectively
holding the Speaker hostage;
Extreme right-wing members on key committees;
Putting an end to the possibility of Congressional staff
unionization;
Reinstating the Holman Rules so Republicans can target civil servants
who challenge them; and
Shut down criminal investigations into the previous president.
This problematic Rule is creating more turmoil in the Republican
ranks as members wrestle with the image of witnessing the Speaker being
coerced into agreeing to give a small faction of the Republican Caucus
treats to appease them--including concessions to individual members for
votes he needed to become Speaker.
It is not inconceivable that Republican members of the delegation
must show they are not being bullied into voting for this Rules Bill.
The most problematic aspect of the Rule is that it does not spell out
what the Speaker agreed to give to his opponents so that the Congress
and the American people know what the Speakership actually cost them.
This is the People's House--not the Republican or Democratic House
any bargaining should be focused on the needs of the American people--
they must come first.
Throughout the last election cycle, Republicans campaigned on
addressing inflation and lowering the cost of living for millions of
Americans.
Ironically, the first bill they are introducing repays the wealthy
donors that got them their majority through dark money contributions by
making it easier for the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans to cheat on
their taxes.
We all may have varying beliefs about taxes, but we as Americans
know that nothing in this life is free and that in order for our Nation
to be a beacon of freedom we must have a strong defense, public
assistance programs to help those in need, an education system that
prepares young minds to lead, retirement programs that provided for our
elder and disabled, and a healthcare system that cares for all in need
of healthcare.
Passage of the rule will pave the way for Republicans to continue
their assault on a woman's bodily autonomy and impede on medical
decisions that should remain between medical professionals and their
patient.
Although the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act does not
criminalize abortion nationwide, make no mistake, that is their end
goal, and the passage of this bill will get them one step closer to
their sick idea of stripping all women of their rights.
There are concerns that language in the House Rules Package would
eliminate rules requiring spending offsets for bills that sell or
transfer federal public lands and waters.
This will result in a loss of public access enjoyed by the 70 million
American hunters and anglers that help support the $862 billion outdoor
recreation economy in the United States. Additionally, giving away
public assets with no return would be a loss for American taxpayers.
As a result, hunters and anglers are strongly opposed to this rule
change, which would eliminate the necessity of spending offsets to sell
or transfer public lands.
I urge all my colleagues to oppose this bill and see it for what it
truly is:
an effort by Republicans to give tax breaks to the ultra-rich and the
corporations who fund their campaigns, and
an effort to continue carrying out their distorted notion of America
by decimating the programs set in place to help the Americans who
depend on government assistance the most.
The text of the material previously referred to by Mr. McGovern is as
follows:
At the end of the resolution, add the following new
section:

SEC.__. WOMEN'S HEALTH PROTECTION ACT.

Not later than January 12, 2023, the Speaker shall,
pursuant to clause 2(b) of rule XVIII, declare the House
resolved into the Committee of the Whole House on the State
of the Union for consideration of a bill consisting of the
text of H.R. 8296 of the One Hundred Seventeenth Congress, as
passed by the House on July 15, 2022, to protect a person's
ability to determine whether to continue or end a pregnancy,
and to protect a health care provider's ability to provide
abortion services. The first reading of the bill shall be
dispensed with. All points of order against consideration of
the bill are waived. General debate shall be confined to the
bill and shall not ceed one hour equally divided and
controlled by the Majority Leader and the Minority Leader or
their respective designees. After general debate the bill
shall be considered for amendment under the five-minute rule.
The bill shall be considered as read. All points of order
against provisions in the bill are waived. No amendment shall
be in order except: (1) those amendments to the bill received
for printing in the portion of the Congressional Record
designated for that purpose in clause 8 of rule XVIII dated
at least one day before the day of consideration of the
amendment; and (2) up to 20 pro forma amendments for the
purpose of debate, 10 of which may be offered by the Majority
Leader or a designee and 10 of which may be offered by the
Minority Leader or a designee. Each amendment so received may
be offered only by the Member who caused it to be printed or
a designee and shall be considered as read if printed. At the
conclusion of consideration of the bill for amendment the
Committee shall rise and report the bill to the House with
such amendments as may have been adopted. The previous
question shall be considered as ordered on the bill and
amendments thereto to final passage without intervening
motion except one motion to recommit.

Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I
move the previous question on the resolution.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on ordering the previous
question.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the ayes appeared to have it.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of today,
further proceedings on this question are postponed.

____________________