[Deschler's Precedents, Volume 1, Chapters 1 - 6]
[Chapter 1.  Assembly of Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[Page 1-4]
 
                               CHAPTER 1
 
                          Assembly of Congress

                         
[[Page 1]]



A. Meeting and Organization

    Sec. 1. In General; Law Governing
    Sec. 2. Types of Meeting; Sessions
    Sec. 3. Time of Meeting
    Sec. 4. Place of Meeting
    Sec. 5. Clerk as Presiding Officer; Authority
    Sec. 6. Election of the Speaker
    Sec. 7. Business Under Speaker as Presiding Officer

B. Procedure

    Sec. 8. Procedure before Adoption of Rules
    Sec. 9. --Motions
   Sec. 10. Adoption of Rules; Applicability
   Sec. 11. Resumption of Legislative Business
   Sec. 12. Action on Bills and Resolutions During Organization


                          INDEX TO PRECEDENTS

Administration of oath to Speaker, Sec. 6.4
Amend, motion to, before rules adoption, Sec. 9.6
Amendments
    germaneness of, before rules adoption, Sec. Sec. 12.6, 12.7
    restriction on, before rules adoption, Sec. 12.8
Announcements during organization
    communications of foreign governments, Sec. 7.9
    official actions during adjournment, Sec. Sec. 7.7, 7.8
    resignations, Sec. 7.10
Bills
    consideration of, before rules adoption, Sec. Sec. 12.8, 12.9
                         
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    Commentary and editing by Peter D. Robinson, J.D.
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    introduction of, before rules adoption, Sec. Sec. 12.2, 12.8, 12.9
    opening day, Sec. Sec. 12.1, 12.2
    referral of, before rules adoption, Sec. 12.2
    referral of, opening day, Sec. Sec. 11.3, 12.1
    Senate action on, during organization, Sec. 12.10
Call of the House, before rules adoption, Sec. 9.8
Chamber, meeting outside
    consent of other House for, Sec. 4.1
    joint meetings and ceremonies, Sec. Sec. 4.5-4.7
    reconvening in Chamber, resolution for, Sec. 4.2
    secret meetings, Sec. Sec. 4.3, 4.4
Clerk as presiding officer
    during election of Speaker, Sec. Sec. 6.1, 6.6, 6.7
    organizational procedure under, Sec. 5.1
Committee investigation, resolution for resumption of, Sec. 11.1
Convening, consecutive session
    organizational business and procedure, Sec. Sec. 7.5, 7.6
    presiding officer at, in absence of Speaker, Sec. 7.4
    procedure at, intervening death of Speaker, Sec. Sec. 6.6-6.8
    resumption of business at, Sec. Sec. 11.2, 11.3
    Senate practice at, resumption of business, Sec. Sec. 11.4, 11.5
    Speaker presiding at, Sec. Sec. 7.5, 7.6
Convening date
    amending resolution to fix, Sec. 3.8
Convening in Chamber, after sitting in another structure, Sec. 4.2
Convening, new Congress
    Clerk presiding at, Sec. 5.1
    date of, determined by twentieth amendment, Sec. 3.5
    organizational business and procedure, Sec. Sec. 5.1, 6.1, 7.1
    Speaker presiding at, Sec. 7.1
Day of meeting
    after July, Sec. 3.7
    change in, effect on business, Sec. 3.2
    holiday as, Sec. 3.6
    leadership authority over, Sec. Sec. 3.16, 3.17
    pro forma meetings, Sec. 3.9
    resolution to set, Sec. Sec. 3.7-3.9
    twentieth amendment determines, for convening, Sec. 3.5
Death of Members, proceedings as to, Sec. Sec. 8.1, 8.2
Election of Speaker
    by resolution, Sec. 6.3
    Clerk as presiding over, Sec. Sec. 6.1, 6.6, 6.7
    during the term of Congress, Sec. Sec. 6.6-6.8
    procedure of, Sec. Sec. 6.1, 6.2
Extension of remarks during organization, Sec. 8.2
Extraordinary sessions
    appropriations for, Sec. 2.3
    history of, Sec. 2.1
    proclamations convening, Sec. 2.2
Germaneness of amendments, before rules adoption, Sec. Sec. 12.6, 12.7
Hour of daily meeting
    construction as to ``noon,'' Sec. 3.15
    fixing the hour when legislative day extends beyond calendar day, 
        Sec. 3.1
    leadership authority over special meeting, Sec. Sec. 3.18, 3.19
    privileged motion to fix, Sec. 3.11
    resolution fixing hour of night meeting, Sec. 3.4
    resolution to fix, Sec. 3.10
    unanimous-consent request to fix, Sec. Sec. 3.3, 3.11-3.14
Hour of daily meeting, request to change in Committee of the Whole, 
    Sec. 3.14
    unanimous consent for, remainder of week, Sec. 3.12
                         
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    vacating order for, Sec. 3.13
Introduction of opening day bills, Sec. Sec. 12.1, 12.2
Joint meetings
    in Library of Congress, Sec. 4.5
    informal invitation to Senate Chamber, Sec. 4.6
    leadership authority over time of, Sec. Sec. 3.18, 3.19
Leadership
    recall of Congress, by announcement, Sec. 3.17
    recall of Congress, pursuant to resolution, Sec. 3.16
Legislative Reorganization Act
    meeting beyond July under, Sec. 3.7
    portions of not in effect, prior to rules adoption, Sec. 12.9
Messages received during organization, Sec. 8.3
Motion to set time and date of meeting, Sec. 3.11
Motions, before rules adoption
    for call of the House, Sec. 9.8
    for previous question, Sec. Sec. 9.3, 9.4
    for yeas and nays, Sec. Sec. 9.1, 9.2
    to amend, Sec. 9.6
    to postpone, Sec. 9.7
    to recommit, Sec. 9.5
Night meeting, resolution for, Sec. 3.4
``Noon,'' construction of, Sec. 3.15
Opening day bills, Sec. Sec. 12.1, 12.2
Parliamentary law, before rules adoption, Sec. Sec. 12.8, 12.9
Postpone, motion to, before rules adoption, Sec. 9.7
Presiding officer at organization
    during election of Speaker, Sec. Sec. 6.1, 6.6
    in absence of Clerk, Sec. 5.2
    in absence of Speaker, Sec. 7.4
Previous question, motion for, before rules adoption, Sec. Sec. 9.3, 
    9.4
Pro forma meetings, resolution for, Sec. 3.9
Proclamation convening Congress
    Clerk reads, Sec. 2.2
    form of, Sec. 2.2
    instances of, Sec. 2.1
Recall of Congress, resolution authorizing, Sec. 3.16
Recess during organization
    Speaker's authority to declare, Sec. Sec. 7.2, 7.3
Recommit, motion to, before rules adoption, Sec. 9.5
Resolution electing a Speaker, Sec. 6.3
Resolution to adopt rules
    amendment of, Sec. Sec. 10.9, 10.10
    correction of, Sec. 10.12
    debate on, Speaker's participation in, Sec. 10.11
    form of, Sec. 10.5
    introduction of, Sec. Sec. 10.3, 10.4
    nondivisibility of, Sec. 10.8
    postponement of, Sec. 10.7
    withdrawal of, Sec. 10.6
Resolutions, before rules adoption
    action on, Sec. Sec. 12.3-12.5
    amendment of, Sec. Sec. 12.5-12.7
    debate on, Sec. 12.3
    postponement of, Sec. Sec. 9.7, 10.7
    withdrawal of, Sec. Sec. 10.6, 12.4
Resumption of committee investigation, new Congress, Sec. 11.1
Resumption of old business, consecutive session, Sec. Sec. 11.2, 11.3
Rules Committee
    jurisdiction of pro forma meetings, Sec. 3.9
Rules of proceeding
    prior Congress may not prescribe, Sec. 10.1
    right of House to determine, Sec. 10.1
    under general parliamentary law, before rules adoption, 
        Sec. Sec. 10.2, 12.8, 12.9
                         
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Secret meetings
    outside of Chamber, Sec. 4.3
    place of, kept confidential, Sec. 4.4
Senate organization
    introduction of bills during, Sec. 12.10
    resumption of business, Sec. Sec. 11.4, 11.5
Sessions
    extraordinary, Sec. Sec. 2.1-2.3
    interval between, Sec. 2.4
Speaker
    actions of during adjournment, Sec. Sec. 7.7, 7.8
    asked unanimous consent to set hour of meeting, Sec. 3.3
    as to communications of foreign governments, Sec. 7.9
    authorized to determine time of joint meeting, Sec. 3.19
    election of, procedure for,  Sec. 6.1
    minority leader presents, after election, Sec. 6.2
    oath administered to, Sec. 6.4
    participation in debate on adoption of rules, Sec. 10.11
    presides at convening of Congress, Sec. 7.1
    presides at convening of consecutive session, Sec. Sec. 7.5, 7.6
    resignation from committees, Sec. 6.5
    resignations received by, Sec. 7.10
    vacancy in office of, during term, Sec. Sec. 6.6-6.8
State of the Union Message
    precedence of, over Senate business, Sec. Sec. 11.4, 11.5, 12.10
Twentieth amendment, operation of, Sec. 3.5
Unanimous consent requests during organization, Sec. Sec. 8.1, 8.2
                         
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                               CHAPTER 1
 
                          Assembly of Congress
 
                      A. MEETING AND ORGANIZATION
 
Sec. 1. In General; Law Governing



    An understanding of the body of procedure through which the United 
States House of Representatives fulfills its functions and exercises 
its prerogatives must be based, in the beginning, on a comprehension of 
how the Congress comes together, and of the methods through which it 
arrives at an organizational structure and at a body of rules to govern 
its proceedings.
    This chapter is principally confined to the specific steps and 
principles of procedure which apply to the initial organization of the 
House of Representatives. The discussion is chronological, following 
the progression which the House itself follows at organization. 
Although this chapter focuses on circumstances indigenous to the 
organization of a new Congress, parallels are drawn to the mode of 
operation at the start of new sessions during a term of Congress as 
well.
    This chapter discusses the general law which governs the House as 
soon as it has come together, but before organization has been 
consummated, the provisions of law directing the assembly of Congress, 
and the steps of organization which occur at the convening of Congress. 
The four types of ``assembly,'' and their relationship to the sessions 
of Congress, are described, as are the time and place at which Congress 
meets both at assembly and during sessions.
    The first division of this chapter sets forth, schematically, the 
various organizational steps, including the election of the Speaker, 
and describes the proceedings over which he presides in completing 
organization. The functions and authority of the Speaker and of the 
other officers of the House at the opening of Congress are detailed.
    The second division deals with the principles of organizational 
proceedings, before and after standing rules have been adopted. The use 
of motions, miscellaneous floor procedure, and the consideration and 
passage of bills and resolutions during the organizational period are 
covered, as well as the
                         
[[Page 6]]

procedure and substantive law relating to the adoption of the rules 
themselves. How the House resumes business, and what business is 
resumed, is likewise included.
    A word first is in order about the general body of procedural law 
which governs the House during the period of organization. It is a 
general principle that in the absence of the adoption of rules of 
procedure and in the absence of statutory regulation, a public 
deliberative body is governed by the generally accepted rules of 
parliamentary procedure.(1) In the House of Representatives, 
however, the general parliamentary law applicable is that body of 
parliamentary law generally based upon precedents and rules of past 
Houses.(2) Obsolete provisions of Jefferson's Manual, 
inconsistent with the prevailing practice of the House, do not 
apply.(3)
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 1. See 59 Am Jur 2d Parliamentary Law Sec. 3. The general rules of 
        parliamentary procedure applicable to any membership 
        organization have been variously described as: those treating 
        participants with fairness and good faith, Re Election of 
        Directors of Bushwick Sav. & Loan Assoc., 189 Misc. 316, 70 
        N.Y.S. 2d 478 (1947); those used by all American deliberative 
        assemblies, Theofel v Butler, 134 Misc. 259, 236 N.Y.S. 81, 
        affd. 227 App. Div. 626, 235 N.Y.S. 896 (1929).
            Collateral references: George S. Blair, American 
        Legislatures; Structure and Process, Harper and Row (N.Y., 
        1967). Lewis A. Froman, Jr., ``Organization Theory and the 
        Explanation of Important Characteristics of Congress,'' 62 
        American Political Science Review 518-562 (June, 1968). Guide 
        to the Congress of the United States, Congressional Quarterly, 
        Inc. (Wash., D.C. 1971). Paul Riddick, The United States 
        Congress Organization and Procedure, National Capitol 
        Publishers (Manassas, Va. 1949).
 2. See House Rules and Manual Sec. 60 (comment) (1973). See also 5 
        Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 6758-63; 8 Cannon's Precedents 
        Sec. Sec. 3383-86.
 3. See 5 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 6757, 6761-63. Rule XLII, House 
        Rules and Manual Sec. 938 (1973) provides for the application 
        of Jefferson's Manual to House procedure where not inconsistent 
        with standing rules.
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    Past rules from a prior Congress may be relied upon to admit 
certain motions before the adoption of rules,(4) and those 
relating to organization procedures, though technically inapplicable, 
exert persuasive effect.(5) This is
                         
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not to infer, however, that past rules are generally 
controlling.(6) A rule of a past Congress assuming to 
control a future House as to rules at organization is not 
binding,(7) and a statutory enactment incorporated into the 
rules of a preceding Congress and enacted under the rule-making power 
of the House and Senate has no effect in a new Congress until expressly 
adopted.(8)
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 4. For example, the motion to recommit was admitted before the 
        adoption of rules on Dec. 7, 1931, 71 Cong. Rec. 12, 72d Cong. 
        1st Sess. (Speaker John N. Garner), because it was within the 
        ``spirit'' of the rules of the preceding Congress (see 
        Sec. 9.5, infra).
 5. Rule II (election of officers and administration of oath to them), 
        Sec. 635, and Rule III clause 1 (duties of Clerk at 
        commencement of new Congress), Sec. 637, House Rules and Manual 
        (1973), prescribe the procedure at organization which is 
        generally followed, although the rules are not technically in 
        force at that time.
 6. See, e.g., 5 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 5590, 5604.
 7. 5 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 6765-66.
 8. The requirements of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970, 
        Pub. L. No. 91-510, 84 Stat. 1140, incorporate as an exercise 
        of the rule-making power into the rules of the 91st Congress, 
        were ruled not applicable to the proceedings of the 92d 
        Congress before the adoption of rules. 117 Cong. Rec. 132, 92d 
        Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 22, 1971 (Speaker Carl Albert, Okla.) 
        (see Sec. 12.9, infra).
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                               CHAPTER 1
 
                          Assembly of Congress
 
                      A. MEETING AND ORGANIZATION
 
Sec. 2. Types of Meeting; Sessions

    Congress assembles in various ways, as determined by the status of 
Congress at its last meeting and by the provisions of the twentieth 
amendment, requiring assembly at least once a year.(9) The 
two types of ``assembly'' contemplated by the twentieth amendment 
include the convening of the first session of a new Congress and the 
convening of the second or following session of an existing 
Congress.(10) A third category of assembly, the extra 
session, may arise when the Congress is convened pursuant to 
Presidential proclamation after the final adjournment of one session 
but before the constitutional day for the convening of the next 
session.(11) When the President ex
                         
[[Page 8]]

ercises his power to convene, a Congress may hold three or more 
sessions during its term.(12) The last category of assembly, 
as the term is used generally to connote a meeting, occurs during a 
session of Congress, after adjournment either to a day certain or from 
day to day.
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 9. Section 2. The twentieth amendment, ratified Feb. 6, 1933, 
        superseded U.S. Const. art. I, Sec. 4, clause 2.
10. See House Rules and Manual Sec. 590 (1973). See Sec. 3, infra, for 
        determination of the meeting time of Congress.
11. For the President's authority to convene Congress, see U.S. Const. 
        art. II, Sec. 3. For characterization of meetings called by the 
        President, and whether they constitute a new session, see 
        Sec. 3, infra. See also Ashley v Keith Oil Corp., 7 F.R.D. 589 
        (D. Mass. 1947); compare Jefferson's Manual, House Rules and 
        Manual Sec. 588 (1973). For instances of extra sessions since 
        1936, see Sec. Sec. 2.1-2.2, infra.
            In the 93d Congress, the concurrent resolution adjourning 
        sine die the 1st session (H. Con. Res. 412) provided that the 
        leadership could reassemble Congress.
12. For historical commentary on the number of sessions per term, see 
        Sec. 3, infra.
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    The final adjournment of one session, preceding the opening of a 
new session, is usually but not always accomplished by a sine die 
adjournment resolution.
    For example, the 76th Congress, 3d session, terminated and the 77th 
Congress, 1st session, began at noon on Jan. 3, 1941, pursuant to the 
twentieth amendment; neither a concurrent resolution providing for 
adjournment sine die nor a law changing the convening date of the 77th 
Congress had been passed. The House adopted a simple motion to adjourn 
on Jan. 2, and the Senate stayed in session up to noon on Jan. 3 when 
the 3d session of the 76th Congress expired.(13)
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13. See 86 Cong. Rec. 14059, 76th Cong. 3d Sess., Jan. 3, 1941. See 
        also Sec. 2.4, infra, and 8 Cannon's Precedents Sec. 3375.
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    These distinctions are important in determining the procedure of 
the House and the power of its Members when it meets. At the beginning 
of the first session of a new Congress, the House is without the 
anchors of rules of procedure, elected officers, or duly sworn Members. 
At the beginning of a consecutive session of an existing Congress, on 
the other hand, Members have been sworn and rules and officers remain 
the same. The openings of new sessions, however, whether of a new 
Congress, or of an old Congress, or by Presidential proclamation, share 
one common procedural characteristic: the ascertainment of a quorum 
must be the first order of business. Congress is not ``assembled'' 
until a quorum is present in both Houses, and each House has been 
notified of the quorum in the other.(14) That re
                         
[[Page 9]]

quirement distinguishes the opening of a session from the assembly of 
Congress during a session, where a quorum is not required unless the 
lack thereof is challenged.(15) There are, of course, other 
proceedings on the opening day of a session which do not occur at 
regular daily meetings, such as the notification to the President of 
the assembly of Congress.(16)
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14. 6 Cannon's Precedents Sec. 5.
            A message from one House that a quorum has appeared is not 
        delivered in the other until a quorum has appeared there also. 
        1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 126.
            Although art. I, Sec. 5, clause 1 of the Constitution 
        requires a quorum to do business, the House has proceeded to 
        business at the beginning of a second session despite the lack 
        thereof in the Senate (1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 126), and both 
        Houses have permitted the oath to be administered in the 
        absence of a quorum (1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 174, 181, 
        182; 4 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 875).
15. See Ch. 20, infra. On at least one occasion, a quorum was not 
        present at the opening day of the second session. 10 Annals of 
        Cong. 782, 6th Cong., 2d Sess., Nov. 17, 1800 (the date 
        Congress moved permanently to the District of Columbia).
16. See Sec. 7.1, infra.
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    The point in time at which the elected Congress becomes the 
Congress ``assembled'' has been a subject of much discussion, as the 
determination of that question may define the authority of Congress to 
act in an official capacity.(17) The language of the 
Constitution, in empowering each House to determine the rules of its 
proceedings and to elect its officers, clearly contemplates the 
assembly as being a ``House'' before the adoption of rules or election 
of officers.(18) No definitive rule can, however, be laid 
down as to the authority of Congress to act before organization, 
without looking specifically at the act in question and at the stage of 
organization, factors which receive detailed analyses elsewhere in this 
chapter. As a rule, only housekeeping resolutions are considered during 
organization, although a major bill may on occasion be acted upon 
before organization is completed by the adoption of 
rules.(19) A related question, whether Congress was in 
session at a particular time, may become a justifiable controversy when 
the effectiveness of a congressional or Presidential act depends on the 
determination.(20)
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17. See 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 87-88.
18. See 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 82.
19. See, in general, Sec. 12, infra. For consideration of legislation 
        before rules adoption, see Sec. 12.8, infra.
20. On the question whether a legislative body was technically in 
        session at the time a bill was passed, there are two rules of 
        statutory construction: under the conclusive presumption rule, 
        courts refuse to go beyond authenticated bills to inquire 
        whether the legislative body was in session; the opposite view 
        admits extrinsic evidence. Sutherland, Statutes and Statutory 
        Construction Sec. 406 (3d. ed. 1943). Federal courts accord a 
        presumption in favor of regularity to the proceedings of 
        Congress. See Yellin v U.S., 374 U.S. 109, 146 (1963); Barry v 
        U.S. ex rel Cunningham, 279 U.S. 597, 619 (1929).
            Whether Congress was in session at a particular time may 
        become a justifiable controversy when the effectiveness of a 
        Presidential veto depends on the determination. Wright v U.S., 
        302 U.S. 583 (1938); Pocket Veto Case, 279 U.S. 655 (1929). 
        Generally, see Ch. 24, infra.

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[[Page 10]]

Extra Sessions; Presidential Proclamation

Sec. 2.1 On two occasions since 1936, Congress has held three sessions, 
    the second, or special session, being convened by Presidential 
    proclamation following the sine die adjournment of the first 
    session.

    Following the sine die adjournment of the first session of the 75th 
Congress on Aug. 21, 1937,(21) Congress was convened for its 
second session on Nov. 15, 1937, before the constitutional day of 
meeting, by Presidential proclamation.(22) The third session 
of the 75th Congress met on the constitutional day, Jan. 3, 
1938,(23) following the final adjournment of the second 
session.
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21. 81 Cong. Rec. 9678, 75th Cong. 1st Sess.
22. 82 Cong. Rec. 7, 75th Cong. 2d Sess.
23. 83 Cong. Rec. 6, 75th Cong. 3d Sess.
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    Similarly, the second session of the 76th Congress was convened by 
Presidential proclamation on Sept. 21, 1939,(24) before the 
constitutional day of meeting for the second session, Jan. 3, 1940. The 
third session of the 76th Congress convened on Jan. 3 subsequent to the 
final adjournment of the second session.(25)
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24. 85 Cong. Rec. 7, 76th Cong. 2d Sess.
25. 86 Cong. Rec. 5, 76th Cong. 3d Sess.
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Sec. 2.2 When the House convenes, pursuant to Presidential 
    proclamation, following the sine die adjournment of a session, the 
    Speaker calls the House to order and the Clerk reads the 
    proclamation of the President convening the extraordinary session.

    On Nov. 15, 1937,(26) following the sine die adjournment 
of the first session on Aug. 6, 1937, Speaker William B. Bankhead, of 
Alabama, called the House to order and directed the Clerk to read the 
following proclamation:
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26. 82 Cong. Rec. 7, 75th Cong. 2d Sess.
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        Convening the Congress in Extra Session by the President of the 
                            United States of America

                                 a proclamation

        Whereas public interests require that the Congress of the 
    United States should be convened in extra session at 12 o'clock 
    noon on the 15th day of November 1937, to receive such 
    communication as may be made by the Executive:
                         
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        Now, therefore, I, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the 
    United States of America, do hereby proclaim and declare that an 
    extraordinary occasion requires the Congress of the United States 
    to convene in extra session at the Capitol in the City of 
    Washington on the 15th day of November 1937, at 12 o'clock noon, of 
    which all persons who shall at that time be entitled to act as 
    Members thereof are hereby required to take notice. . . .

Sec. 2.3 When Congress is convened by the President for a special and 
    additional session, it may provide appropriations, by joint 
    resolution, for extra mileage expenses of Members and additional 
    wages of House employees thereby incurred.

    On Sept. 25, 1939,(27) the House agreed to a joint 
resolution appropriating payment for expenses incident to the second 
and extraordinary session of the 76th Congress, convened by 
Presidential proclamation. The appropriations covered mileage expenses 
incurred by the Members, Delegates, and Commissioners of Congress and 
by the Vice President, and wages for the pages of the Senate and the 
House during the term of the second session.
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27. 85 Cong. Rec. 16, 76th Cong. 2d Sess.
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Interval Between Sessions

Sec. 2.4 On one occasion since 1936, the Senate stayed in session until 
    the date and hour when one Congress expired and the next one began 
    pursuant to the twentieth amendment.(28)
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28. For other instances where one session of Congress followed another 
        without appreciable interval, see 5 Hinds' Precedents 
        Sec. 6690; 8 Cannon's Precedents Sec. 3375.
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    On Jan. 3, 1941,(1) the Senate of the 76th Congress, 3d 
session, convened at 11:30 a.m. At 11:43 a.m. the Senate took a recess 
until 11:55 a.m. Further proceedings were carried as follows in the 
Record:
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 1. 86 Cong. Rec. 14059, 76th Cong. 3d Sess. The House had adjourned 
        pursuant to a simple motion to adjourn on Jan. 2, 1941.
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        The third session of the Seventy-sixth Congress expired 
    automatically, under constitutional limitation, when the hour of 12 
    o'clock arrived.

 
                               CHAPTER 1
 
                          Assembly of Congress
 
                      A. MEETING AND ORGANIZATION
 
Sec. 3. Time of Meeting

    The Constitution requires that the Congress assemble at least once 
a year on either the date specified by the Constitution--January 3--or 
on a date appointed by the Congress.(2) Since
                         
[[Page 12]]

the First Congress, the Senate and House have frequently provided by 
law for a convening date different than that designated by the 
Constitution: by resolution of the Continental Congress the first 
session of the First Congress convened on Mar. 4, 1789,(3) 
up to and including May 20, 1820, 18 acts were passed altering the 
constitutional day;(4) between 1820 and 1934 Congress met 
regularly for a new session on the first Monday in 
December.(5) Since January of 1934 the Congress has convened 
pursuant to the twentieth amendment, requiring the Congress to meet on 
the third day of January unless otherwise provided.
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 2. U.S. Const. art. I, Sec. 4, clause 2, providing for annual assembly 
        on the first Monday in December, was superseded by the 
        twentieth amendment, ratified Feb. 6, 1933, requiring in 
        section 2 that Congress assemble on the third day of January, 
        unless otherwise provided.
            Laws appointing a different day for assembling since 
        ratification of the twentieth amendment, see House Rules and 
        Manual Sec. 279 (1973) (comment). Time of convening for a 
        session, see Everett S. Brown, The Time of Meetings of 
        Congress, American Political Science Review 955-960 (Nov. 
        1931).
 3. 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 3; 8 Cannon's Precedents Sec. 3371.
 4. 8 Cannon's Precedents Sec. 3371.
 5. 8 Cannon's Precedents Sec. 3371.
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    The twentieth amendment is not the only law relating to the time of 
meeting. Not only the Congress, but also the President has 
constitutional authority to convene the Congress earlier than on the 
constitutional day;(6) in addition, the twenty-fifth 
amendment to the Constitution requires Congress to assemble to 
determine the President's ability, when challenged, to discharge the 
powers and duties of his office,(7) and section 15 of title 
III, United States Code, appoints the sixth day of January for the 
count of the electoral vote by the Senate and the House of 
Representatives.(8)
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 6. U.S. Const., art. II, Sec. 3. The President has often convened the 
        Congress, and on one occasion reassembled Congress on a day 
        earlier than Congress itself had provided for. 1 Hinds' 
        Precedents Sec. Sec. 2, 10-12. Congress provided in the 
        concurrent resolution adjourning sine die the 1st session of 
        the 93d Congress (H. Con. Res. 412) that the leadership could 
        call the Houses back into session.
 7. Ratified Feb. 23, 1967.
 8. On at least one occasion Congress has changed the date for the 
        electoral count. Act of Mar. 24, 1956, Ch. 92, 70 Stat. 54. For 
        the procedure of the count, see Ch. 10, infra.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The constitutional provisions relating to the time of meeting and 
to the annual assembly were construed by early Congresses to permit 
them to convene early, either by resolution or by proclamation,
and then to continue the same 
                         
[[Page 13]]

session up to and beyond the day 
appointed by the Constitution for annual assembly.(9) The 
ambiguity of that construction and the extension of power over the time 
of meeting to the President led to the current practice under which an 
existing session necessarily terminates with the day appointed by the 
Constitution for the regular annual session.(10)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 9. The majority of the first 15 Congresses held only two legislative 
        sessions. 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 5-11; see also 8 
        Cannon's Precedents Sec. 3371, describing the first instance 
        where four sessions were convened.
10 2 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 1160; 5 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 6690; 8 
        Cannon's Precedents Sec. 3375. See Sec. 2.4, supra.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Since the adoption of the twentieth amendment, Congress has met 
either on Jan. 3 or shortly thereafter, maintaining two sessions per 
Congress with the exception of the 75th and 76th.(11) In the 
event that Congress adjourns sine die and the President convenes an 
extraordinary session, an entirely new session is begun, and is 
terminated by the arrival of the constitutional day.(12) 
Where, however, the President convenes Congress while adjourned to a 
day certain, the existing session is maintained; no longer is the 
presidentially-convened session necessarily an extra or additional 
one.(13)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
11. A second session of the 75th Congress was convened by the President 
        on Nov. 15, 1937, between the sine die adjournment of the first 
        session and the convening of the third session on the 
        constitutional day, Jan. 3, 1938. 82 Cong. Rec. 7, 75th Cong. 
        2d Sess. The second session of the 76th Congress was convened 
        in like manner on Sept. 21, 1939. 85 Cong. Rec. 7, 76th Cong. 
        2d Sess. See Sec. 2.1, supra.
12. 2 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 1160; 5 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 6690.
13. Ashley v Keith Oil Corporation, 7 F.R.D. 589 (D. Mass. 1947) held 
        that the first session of the 80th Congress was not terminated 
        by a Presidential proclamation convening Congress while 
        adjourned to a day certain, where the Congress itself had 
        construed the reconvention as a continuation of the first 
        session and where the Presidential proclamation did not refer 
        to an extra or additional session. (The issue before the court 
        was the effective date of amendments to the Rules of Civil 
        Procedure, to become law three months after the termination of 
        the first regular session of Congress.) Ashley departed from 
        the early view expressed in Jefferson's Manual (House Rules and 
        Manual Sec. 588 [1973]) that the convening of Congress by the 
        President automatically begins a new session, a theory formerly 
        propounded in the House. 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 12.
            See also the remarks in the Senate of Sen. Alexander Wiley. 
        (Wis.) on the Ashley issue, 93 Cong. Rec. 10575, 10576, 80th 
        Cong. 1st Sess., Nov. 17, 1947, and a Library of Congress 
        memorandum inserted by him in the Record at 10576, concluding 
        that the Congress was reconvening pursuant to the Presidential 
        proclamation to resume the first regular session.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                         
[[Page 14]]

    The opening date of the First Congress operated to fix not only the 
start of a session, but also the beginning of the terms of the Members 
of the House and of the Senate; thus the term of Congress began on the 
fourth of March of odd numbered years and extended through two 
years.(14) Under the twentieth amendment, however, the terms 
of the Members begin on January 3 of the odd-numbered years, regardless 
of an alternate convening date.(15)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
14. A joint committee of the First Congress determined that under the 
        resolution of the Continental Congress and under art. I, 
        Sec. 2, clause 1, of the U.S. Constitution, the terms of 
        Representatives and Senators of the first class commenced on 
        the fourth of March, to terminate with the third of March of 
        the odd-numbered years. 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 3. That 
        construction was followed until the adoption of the twentieth 
        amendment. See the act of Jan. 22, 1867, Ch. 10, Sec. 1, 14 
        Stat. 378, cited at 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 11.
15. Section 1 of the twentieth amendment. The amendment was ratified on 
        Feb. 6, 1933. For commentary, see House Rules and Manual Sec. 6 
        (1973). See also 2 USC Sec. 34 (salary begins for 
        Representatives-elect at beginning of term, even if before 
        Congress assembles).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In addition to the authority of Congress to set the convening date 
of a session or of a new Congress, each House has plenary power over 
the time of its meetings during the session. By simple day-to-day 
adjournment, the House meets on the next following day, with the usual 
exclusion of Saturday and Sunday;(16) similarly, an 
adjournment to a day certain fixes the next meeting day of the House. 
If the time of meeting has not been previously set by either a standing 
order or by a resolution, the simple resolution to adjourn may be 
amended to set the convening time.(17)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
16. The House may provide for Sunday sessions, although Sunday is a 
        dies non in the regular practice of the House. 5 Hinds' 
        Precedents Sec. Sec. 6728-32, 7245.
17. 5 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 5360-63. For adjournments for a 
        specified time and adjournments for a specified purpose, see 
        Ch. 40, infra.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    By a new procedure adopted at the opening of the 93d 
Congress,(18) a privileged and non-debatable motion may be 
made at any time to provide for adjournment to a day and time 
certain.(19) On some occasions, particularly 
                         
[[Page 15]]

when the Senate does not acquiesce in 
the request of the House for an adjournment for more than three days, 
the House may provide that meetings be held only on specified days of 
the week, often for merely pro forma sessions without transaction of 
legislative business.(20)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
18. 119 Cong. Rec. 26, 27, 93d Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 3, 1973.
19. Rule XVI clause 4, House Rules and Manual Sec. 782 (1973).
20. 5 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 6675; 8 Cannon's Precedents Sec. 3369.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Any proposition relating to the days on which the House shall sit 
is within the jurisdiction of the Committee on Rules;(1) the 
Committee on the Judiciary considers proposed bills to change the 
convening date of Congress or to amend the constitutional provisions as 
to the time of meeting.(2)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. 4 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 4325; see also Rule XI, House Rules and 
        Manual Sec. 715, and comment thereto, Sec. 717 (1973).
 2. Rule XI clause 13, House Rules and Manual Sec. Sec. 707, 708 
        (1973); 4 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 4077. Formerly, proposed 
        constitutional changes as to the terms of Congress and as to 
        the time of annual meetings were considered by the Committee on 
        the Election of the President, Vice President, and 
        Representatives in Congress. 7 Cannon's Precedents 2026.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    On the opening day of a new Congress, or on the opening day of a 
new session of an existing Congress, the House meets at 12 o'clock 
meridian time. That hour of meeting, a practice dating from 1816, has 
come to have the force of common law.(3)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3. 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 4, 210.
            In 1784 the first order of the House fixing the time of 
        meeting provided that the House meet at 9 in the morning, 
        adjourn at 2 in the afternoon, meet again at 4 o'clock p.m., 
        and adjourn at 8 o'clock p.m. in the evening. Beginning with 
        the Eighth Congress, a standing order was adopted for the daily 
        hour of meeting, and since 1816 the hour has been fixed at 12 
        o'clock meridian. For the history of the hour of daily meeting, 
        see the remarks of Mr. George A. Dondero (Mich.), on Mar. 4, 
        1946, 92 Cong Rec. 1855, 79th Cong. 2d Sess. See also 1 Hinds' 
        Precedents Sec. Sec. 4, 6, and 10.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    On the opening day of a new Congress, one of the first steps in 
organization is the adoption of a standing order fixing the hours of 
daily meeting for the remainder of the session;(4) that 
order expires with the termination of the first session, and a new 
order must be adopted at the beginning of each new session of the same 
Congress.(5) While a motion to adjourn does not usually fix 
the hour of the next meeting, it may so fix the hour where no standing 
order has yet been adopted.(6) In early Congresses, a motion 
to change the 
                         
[[Page 16]]

hour of daily meeting was made at any 
time as a privileged motion;(7) later rulings characterized 
the resolution fixing the hour as a standing order rather than as a 
rule.(8) The new section of Rule XVI clause 4, provides for 
a privileged motion to adjourn, subject to majority vote, which may fix 
the day and hour to which the House may adjourn.(9) In 
current practice, a resolution to fix the hour of meeting or to change 
the hour of meeting is offered by the Committee on Rules(10) 
(the committee may also provide for the convening of daily sessions at 
a specific hour while a certain bill is under 
consideration).(11)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4. 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 104; see also House Rules and Manual 
        Sec. 6 (1973) (comment).
 5. 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 104-109.
 6. 5 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 5362-63.
 7. 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 110-112.
 8. 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 110, 113-116.
 9. See House Rules and Manual Sec. 182 (1973). For debate on the 
        measure when first proposed, see 119 Cong. Rec. 26, 27, 93d 
        Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 3, 1973.
            For the former practice, requiring unanimous consent to 
        change the hour of meeting, see Sec. 3.11, infra. If the 
        Committee of the Whole is sitting when the time for the daily 
        meeting of the House arises, the Committee and not the Chairman 
        decides whether the Committee will rise. 5 Hinds' Precedents 
        Sec. 6736.
10. 4 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 4325.
11. Where a special order so provides, the House meets at the specific 
        hour only on days when consideration of the bill is in order. 7 
        Cannon's Precedents Sec. 763.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The exercise by the House of its formal rule-making power over the 
time of meeting is strictly construed.(12) In this regard, 
the leadership of the House has extensive informal authority over the 
time of meeting during a session sub
ject to approval by the House itself. For example, the leadership 
                         
[[Page 17]]

may propose, in advance, the time of each adjournment to a day certain 
for the entire session,(13) and may propose times for 
ceremonies, joint sessions, and joint meetings, whose scheduled dates 
are announced to the Members by the Speaker or by the Majority Leader 
or whip. (Such assemblies must be distinguished from regular meetings 
to conduct legislative business; the House usually stands in recess for 
attendance at joint meetings and ceremonies.)(14) The House 
on occasion authorizes the Speaker or the congressional leadership to 
determine the date on which a meeting shall be held. Likewise, 
authority may be vested in the Speaker to designate a date on which the 
regular routine of the House should be resumed.(15) 
Similarly, a resolution of adjournment to a day certain or a sine die 
adjournment resolution may provide that the congressional leaders may 
recall the Congress, on a date earlier than that adjourned to, when in 
their opinion legislative expediency warrants such 
action.(16)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
12. A general rule of statutory construction is that the acts of a 
        legislature meeting at an unauthorized time may be invalidated. 
        Sutherland, Statutes and Statutory Construction Sec. 401 (3d 
        ed. 1943). Federal courts do not, however, question the 
        regularity of the proceedings of Congress as a general rule. 
        Barry v U.S. ex rel Cunningham, 279 U.S. 597, 619 (1929); 
        Yellin v U.S., 374 U.S. 109, 146 (1963).
            The Senate has on occasion met in regular session more than 
        once on the same day. 91 Cong. Rec. 5470, 79th Cong. 1st Sess., 
        June 4, 1945. (A quorum having failed at the noon session, the 
        Senate adjourned, to await the arrival of absentees, until 2:30 
        p.m., when a new session began.) See 5 Hinds' Precedents 
        Sec. 6724 for a similar instance, in the House, occurring in 
        1793.
            In one instance, the Senate met at an earlier hour than 
        that provided for at adjournment, adopted a resolution, and 
        then met at the hour to which it had originally adjourned to 
        ratify the earlier ultra vires action. 109 Cong. Rec. 22697-99, 
        88th Cong. 1st Sess., Nov. 25, 1963. (The Senate amended the 
        previous adjournment resolution in order to authorize the 
        earlier meeting.)
13. See, e.g., announcement of Majority Leader Carl Albert (Okla.) on 
        Jan. 9, 1969, 115 Cong. Rec. 368, 91st Cong. 1st Sess.
14. For procedure in relation to joint meetings, see Ch. 35 and 36, 
        infra. For ceremonial procedure, see Ch. 36, infra.
15. The House may require the giving of notice, issued by the Clerk, 
        for resuming regular business. 8 Cannon's Precedents Sec. 3369.
16. 5 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 6686. For a sine die adjournment 
        resolution containing such a provision, see H. Con. Res. 412.
            On one occasion, the congressional leadership has exercised 
        authority with respect to a joint resolution changing the 
        meeting day of a new Congress; the resolution was pocket vetoed 
        by the President at the request of the leaders, since the date 
        provided for conflicted with the constitutionally required day 
        for the count of the electoral vote. The veto message, alluding 
        to the request of the congressional leadership, appears at 102 
        Cong. Rec. 15152, 84th Cong. 2d Sess., July 27, 1956. (The 
        message was dated Aug. 8, 1956.)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Setting the Hour or Date of Meeting; Preliminary Matters

Sec. 3.1 When the legislative day of the House extends beyond the 
    calendar day, the House then adjourns to meet at noon of the same 
    calendar day on which it has adjourned, unless otherwise provided.

    On Dec. 9, 1970,(17) Mr. Wilbur C. Daniel, of Virginia, 
moved that the House adjourn. The House agreed to the motion at 1 o'clock 
                         
[[Page 18]]

and 3 minutes a.m., Thursday, Dec. 10, 1970, and adjourned to 12 o'clock 
noon on Dec. 10.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
17. 116 Cong. Rec. 40803, 91st Cong. 2d Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sec. 3.2 Enactment of a joint resolution changing the convening date of 
    the second session of Congress does not affect the status of 
    pending legislative matters of the first session.

    On Dec. 19, 1945,(18) Mr. John W. McCormack, of 
Massachusetts, asked for immediate consideration of a joint resolution 
convening the second session of Congress on Jan. 14, 1946. After some 
debate on the request, Mr. John H. Folger, of Georgia, arose to state a 
parliamentary inquiry:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
18. 91 Cong. Rec. 12346, 79th Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Mr. Folger: I have a discharge petition on the desk, No. 10, in 
    which I am very, very much interested. I have no objection to this 
    adjournment until the 14th unless I have to go back and get that 
    signed anew. Will that carry over?
        The Speaker:(1) It will carry over.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Sam Rayburn (Tex.).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Mr. Folger: If it will I am all right.
        The Speaker: Everything remains on the calendar just as it is 
    now.

Sec. 3.3 The Speaker may take the floor to ask unanimous consent that 
    the House meet at an early hour on the following day.

    On Sept. 11, 1968,(2) Speaker John W. McCormack, of 
Massachusetts, took the floor to state a unanimous-consent request:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 2. 114 Cong. Rec. 26488, 90th Cong. 2d Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Mr. McCormack: Mr. Speaker,(3) I ask unanimous 
    consent that when the House adjourns today it adjourn to meet 
    tomorrow at 11 a.m.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3. Mr. Daniel D. Rostenkowski (Ill.) was the Speaker pro tempore.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        The Speaker Pro Tempore: Is there objection to the request of 
    the gentleman from Massachusetts?

There was no objection.

Sec. 3.4 The Congress provides by concurrent resolution for a joint 
    session to hear the President deliver a message in person.

    On Jan. 3, 1936,(4) Speaker Joseph W. Byrns, of 
Tennessee, laid the following Senate resolution before the House:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4. 80 Cong. Rec. 9, 74th Cong. 2d Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
    concurring), That the two Houses of Congress assemble in the Hall 
    of the House of Representatives on Friday, the 3d day of January, 
    1936, at 9 o'clock p.m. for the purpose of receiving such 
    communications as the President of the United States shall be 
    pleased to make to them.

The House agreed to the resolution.


[[Page 19]]

Sec. 3.5 The House began convening under the twentieth amendment to the 
    Constitution with the 74th Congress.

    On Jan. 3, 1935,(5) the Clerk of the House, South 
Trimble, of Kentucky, addressed the opening session as follows:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 5. 79 Cong. Rec. 9, 74th Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        This is the first time in 146 years that an old Congress dies 
    and a new one is born on the 3d day of January.
        Since the birth of the First Congress in 1789 this historical 
    event has taken place every two years on the 4th day of March.
        Today we inaugurate the first session of the Seventy-fourth 
    Congress, convened under the provision of the twentieth amendment 
    of the Constitution of the United States.

Sec. 3.6 Any legal holiday, such as Christmas day,(6) is a 
    regular meeting day of the House of Representatives unless the 
    House adjourns over by unanimous consent (or by motion under Rule 
    XVI clause 4).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 6. 5 USC 87 (c); Executive Order 10358 of June 11, 1952.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    On Dec. 23, 1963,(7) in response to a parliamentary 
inquiry by Mr. Charles A. Halleck, of Indiana, Speaker John W. 
McCormack, of Massachusetts, ruled that unanimous consent was required 
to adjourn over Christmas.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 7. 109 Cong. Rec. 25496, 88th Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Resolutions to Set the Date of Meeting

Sec. 3.7 No concurrent resolution is necessary to authorize meetings of 
    Congress beyond the end of July where a continuing national 
    emergency prevents statutory adjournment under the Legislative 
    Reorganization Act of 1946.(8)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 8. Ch. 753, Sec. 132, 60 Stat. 812, as amended, Act of Oct. 26, 1970, 
        Pub. L. No. 91-510, Sec. 461, 84 Stat. 1140.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    On July 27, 1949,(9) Mr. Joseph W. Martin, Jr., of 
Massachusetts, arose to state a parliamentary inquiry as to the 
continuation of the session of Congress beyond July 31, 1949. Mr. 
Martin stated that under Sec. 132 of the Legislative Reorganization Act 
of 1946, the Congress could continue to legally meet through either the 
passage of a concurrent resolution so providing or the proclaiming by 
the President of a national emergency; he proposed that there was doubt 
as to the actual continuation of the national emergencies declared by 
the President on Sept.
8, 1939, and May 27, 1941. Speaker Sam Rayburn, of Texas, held 
                         
[[Page 20]]

that the national emergencies declared by the President on those dates were 
still in existence, despite the cessation of actual hostilities. He 
then ruled that it was not necessary to pass a concurrent resolution 
for the continued meeting of Congress beyond the first of August.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 9. 95 Cong. Rec. 10290, 81st Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sec. 3.8 A joint resolution changing the convening date of a new 
    Congress may be amended, subsequent to passage, by passage of 
    another joint resolution substituting a newly agreed upon date.

    On Dec. 14, 1942,(10) Mr. John W. McCormack, of 
Massachusetts, addressed the Speaker(11) to ask for 
immediate consideration of the following joint resolution:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
10. 88 Cong. Rec. 9518, 77th Cong. 2d Sess.
11. Sam Rayburn (Tex.).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Resolved, etc., That the joint resolution entitled ``Joint 
    resolution fixing the dates of meeting of the second session of the 
    Seventy-seventh Congress and of the first session of the Seventy-
    eighth Congress,'' approved January 2, 1942, is amended by striking 
    out ``Monday, January 4, 1943'' and inserting in lieu thereof 
    ``Wednesday, January 6. 1943.''

The House agreed to the resolution.

Sec. 3.9 The Committee on Rules has jurisdiction to report a House 
    resolution providing for pro forma meetings on only specified days 
    of the week, for a certain period of time.

    On Aug. 25, 1949,(12) Mr. Edward E. Cox, of Georgia, of 
the Committee on Rules, submitted the following resolution:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
12. 95 Cong. Rec. 12287, 81st Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Resolved, That until Wednesday, September 21, 1949, the House 
    shall meet only on Tuesday and Friday of each week unless otherwise 
    ordered.

    The House agreed by a two-thirds vote to consider the resolution 
the same day, and the resolution itself was then agreed to. Speaker Sam 
Rayburn, of Texas, announced that no business would be transacted on 
the Tuesday and Friday meetings provided for in the resolution. He also 
alluded to the failure of the Senate to pass the concurrent resolution 
seeking adjournment of the House until Sept. 21, which motivated the 
House leadership to submit the resolution.

Fixing the Hour of Daily Meeting

Sec. 3.10 On the convening day of a new session of Congress a
    simple House resolution establishes the daily hour of meeting.

[[Page 21]]

    On Jan. 15, 1968,(13) Mr. Ray J. Madden, of Indiana, 
offered the following resolution and asked for immediate consideration:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
13. 114 Cong. Rec. 8, 90th Cong. 2d Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Resolved, That until otherwise ordered, the daily hour of 
    meeting of the House of Representatives shall be at 12 o'clock 
    meridian.

The resolution was agreed to and a motion to reconsider was laid on the 
table.

Sec. 3.11 Where the House met by standing order at noon, unanimous 
    consent was required to meet at a different hour, before the 
    adoption of rules changes by the 93d Congress authorizing a 
    privileged motion to adjourn to a time certain.

    On Dec. 23, 1963,(14) after an announcement by the 
Speaker(15) that funeral services would be held the next day 
for a late Member of Congress, Mr. Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr., of 
Massachusetts, arose to state a parliamentary inquiry:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
14. 109 Cong. Rec. 25498, 88th Cong. 1st Sess.
15. John W. McCormack (Mass.).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Mr. O'Neill: Would it be in order to move that the House meet 
    forthwith when we adjourn today?
        The Speaker: Will the gentleman advise the Chair what he means 
    by ``forthwith''?
        Mr. O'Neill: When we adjourn we will have a new legislative 
    day. Can we then meet at the call of the Chair?
        The Speaker: It would require unanimous consent to meet at any 
    hour other than 12 o'clock noon.

    Mr. Carl Albert, of Oklahoma, then obtained unanimous consent to 
address the House for one minute.

        Mr. Albert: Mr. Speaker, of course any meeting of the House at 
    any hour for the consideration of this matter other than at 12 
    o'clock noon tomorrow would require unanimous consent, as I 
    understand it. May I inquire of the Speaker, so as to have the 
    matter official, would not any meeting of the House other than 12 
    o'clock noon tomorrow require unanimous consent?
        The Speaker: The gentleman has made a correct statement.

    On Jan. 3, 1973,(16) the House agreed to several 
amendments to the rules of the 92d Congress, including the following:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
16. 119 Cong. Rec. 26, 27, 93d Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        In Rule XVI, insert at the end of clause 4 the following:

            It shall be in order at any time during a day for the 
        Speaker, in his discretion, to entertain a motion that when the 
        House adjourns it stand adjourned to a day and time certain. 
        Such a motion shall be of equal privilege with the motion to 
        adjourn provided for in this clause and shall be determined 
        without debate.
                         
Changing the Hour of Meeting

Sec. 3.12 The House may agree by unanimous consent to meet, 

[[Page 22]]

    for the remainder of the week, at an hour earlier than that provided 
    for in the standing order of the hour of meeting.

    On July 25, 1956,(17) Mr. John W. McCormack, of 
Massachusetts, requested unanimous consent that for the balance of the 
week the House meet at 10 o'clock a.m. when adjourning from day to day. 
There was no objection.(18)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
17. 102 Cong. Rec. 14456, 84th Cong. 2d Sess.
18. Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sec. 3.13 The House may vacate, by unanimous consent, a previous order 
    that the House convene at an early hour on the following day.

    On Sept. 1, 1965,(19) the House agreed to a unanimous-
consent request offered by Mr. Carl Albert, of Oklahoma, that the House 
convene at 11 o'clock the following morning. Later on the same day Mr. 
Albert addressed the Speaker(20) to request unanimous 
consent to vacate the order providing for an earlier meeting on the 
next day. There was no objection.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
19. 111 Cong. Rec. 22496, 89th Cong. 1st Sess.
20. John W. McCormack (Mass.).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Parliamentarian's Note: The request to rescind the early order was 
undertaken by the leadership because several committees had notified 
the Speaker that conflicting committee sessions were scheduled for the 
morning of the next day.

Sec. 3.14 A unanimous-consent request that the House meet at an earlier 
    hour is not entertained in the Committee of the Whole.

    On Sept. 26, 1966,(1) following agreement on the limit 
of debate for an appropriations bill to be considered the following 
day, Mr. Sam M. Gibbons, of Florida, stated that the remaining question 
was to obtain unanimous consent to convene at 11 o'clock the following 
morning. The Chairman(2) responded:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. 112 Cong. Rec. 23785, 89th Cong. 2d Sess.
 2.  Jack Brooks (Tex.).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        As to any agreement as to when the House comes back tomorrow, 
    that will be settled, of course, when the Committee rises.

    The Committee then rose and the House agreed by unanimous consent 
to convene the following morning at 11 o'clock a.m.

Construction of ``Noon'' (Senate Decision)

Sec. 3.15 A standing order of the Senate providing for daily
                         
[[Page 23]]

    meeting at 12 o'clock meridian was construed to permit meeting at 
    12 o'clock noon when daylight savings time is in effect.

    On Apr. 30, 1948,(3) Senator John H. Overton, of 
Louisiana, arose to make the point of order that the Senate was not 
legally in session, since the meeting was convened at 12 o'clock noon, 
daylight savings time, and the Senate had formerly provided that the 
hour of daily meeting be at 12 o'clock meridian unless otherwise 
ordered. President pro tempore Arthur H. Vandenburg, of Michigan, 
stated that the Senate had agreed to recess from Apr. 30, 1948, to May 
3, 1948, to meet at 12 o'clock ``noon'', and not 12 o'clock 
``meridian.'' The President pro tempore stated further:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3. 94 Cong. Rec. 5167-68, 80th Cong. 2d Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Under such circumstances, the real question submitted to the 
    Chair is this: What is ``noon'' in the Senate when the District 
    Commissioners, acting under authority of a law passed by this 
    Congress, advance standard time by 1 hour by an order effective 
    yesterday; particularly when the District Commissioners are acting 
    under a law favorably acted upon by the Senate within the last 60 
    days which it itself asserts that when daylight-saving time is 
    established by the District Commissioners for the period for which 
    it is applicable, it shall ``be the standard time for the District 
    of Columbia.''
        In the opinion of the Chair, Congress is bound by its own 
    legislation in this respect, and any statutes or rules must be read 
    in this interpretation. There is a vast body of precedent--as, for 
    example, when the Senate recognized so-called daylight-saving time 
    all through the first session of the present Eightieth Congress and 
    consistently fixed its meeting time as 12 o'clock noon instead of 
    12 o'clock meridian. In the opinion of the Chair, borne out by the 
    clocks in the Senate Chamber, it is now 12 o'clock noon, which is 
    the hour to which the Senate recessed.
        The point of order is overruled.

Authorizing the Leadership to Reassemble Congress

Sec. 3.16 The two Houses may authorize, in the concurrent resolution to 
    adjourn to a day certain, that the Speaker of the House and the 
    President of the Senate, or the party leaders of both Houses, 
    convene the Houses on a date prior to that set in the resolution, 
    on the grounds of legislative expediency.

    On July 8, 1943,(4) the House agreed to the following 
resolution:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4. 89 Cong. Rec. 7516, 78th Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
    concurring), That when the two Houses adjourn on Thursday, July 8, 
    1943, they shall stand ad
                         
[[Page 24]]

    journed until 12 o'clock meridian on Tuesday, September 14, 1943, 
    or until 12 o'clock meridian on the third day after their 
    respective Members are notified to reassemble in accordance with 
    section 2 of this resolution, whichever event first occurs.
        Sec. 2. The President of the Senate and the Speaker of the 
    House of Representatives shall notify the Members of the Senate and 
    House, respectively, to reassemble whenever in their opinion 
    legislative expediency shall warrant it or whenever the majority 
    leader of the Senate and the majority leader of the House, acting 
    jointly, or the minority leader of the Senate and the minority 
    leader of the House, acting jointly, file a written request with 
    the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House that the 
    Congress reassemble for the consideration of legislation.

Sec. 3.17 Form of announcement of congressional leaders calling for 
    reassembly of Congress on an earlier date than that to which it was 
    adjourned.

    On Sept. 5, 1945,(5) the House met at 12 o'clock noon 
and was called to order by Speaker Sam Rayburn, of Texas. After prayer 
was offered and the Journal was read and approved, the Speaker laid 
before the House the formal notification, sent to the Members of the 
House on Sept. 1, 1945, of the reassembling of Congress:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 5. 91 Cong. Rec. 8320, 79th Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        In our opinion legislative expediency warrants the reassembly 
    of Congress and therefore, pursuant to the authority granted us by 
    House Concurrent Resolution 68, Seventy-ninth Congress, you are 
    hereby notified that Congress will reassemble in Washington at 12 
    o'clock meridian on Wednesday, September 5, 1945.

    The notification was signed by the Speaker, the President pro 
tempore of the Senate, and the Majority and Minority Leaders of both 
Houses.

Leadership Authority Over Time of Joint Meetings

Sec. 3.18 The Majority Leader of the House may announce to the House 
    the time and the place of an informal joint meeting of the Members 
    of both Houses.

    On May 23, 1950,(6) House Majority Leader John W. 
McCormack, of Massachusetts, made the following announcement:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 6. 96 Cong. Rec. 7561, 81st Cong. 2d Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        . . . On Wednesday [May 31, 1950], at the auditorium of the 
    Library of Congress, at 12:30 p.m., the Members of both Houses of 
    Congress, as on previous occasions when General Marshall has 
    addressed us, will have the opportunity and the pleasure of having 
    Secretary of State Acheson address us. . . . This will be a very 
    important talk. After the Secretary of State has finished his 
    remarks, Members will be in a position to and may ask him 
    questions.
                         
[[Page 25]]

    The House then granted unanimous consent for the Speaker pro 
tempore(7) to declare a recess, subject to the call of the 
Chair, on the scheduled date.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 7.  James P. Priest (Tenn.).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sec. 3.19 By unanimous consent the House may authorize the Speaker, in 
    advance, to determine the date of the joint meeting to hear a 
    guest.

    On Oct. 17, 1945,(8) Mr. Brooks Hays, of Arkansas, arose 
to state a unanimous-consent request:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 8. 91 Cong. Rec. 9756, 79th Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Mr. Speaker,(9) I have learned that Gen. Douglas 
    MacArthur will shortly return to this country. I am sure that all 
    the Members of the House will want to hear him address the 
    Congress. I therefore ask unanimous consent, having discussed the 
    matter with the Speaker and having consulted both the majority and 
    minority leaders, that it be in order for the Speaker to declare a 
    recess subject to the call of the Chair, at a date to be later 
    named, during which period a joint meeting shall be held in this 
    Chamber, at which time General MacArthur will address us.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 9. Sam Rayburn (Tex.).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Mr. Hays later added that according to his request, the joint 
meeting be held on a date agreeable to General MacArthur and to the 
Speaker. There was no objection.


 
                               CHAPTER 1
 
                          Assembly of Congress
 
                      A. MEETING AND ORGANIZATION
 
Sec. 4. Place of Meeting

    A constitutional provision relating to the location of the meetings 
of Congress (article I, section 5, clause 4) requires that either House 
obtain the consent of the other to sit in ``any other Place than that 
in which the two Houses shall be sitting.'' However, in none of its 
provisions does the Constitution direct where the annual assembly under 
the twentieth amendment is to take place.(10)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
10. A general rule of statutory construction is that the acts of a 
        legislative body meeting at an unauthorized place may be 
        invalidated. Sutherland, Statutes and Statutory Construction 
        Sec. 401 (3 ed. 1943). Federal courts do not, however, 
        generally question the regularity of the proceedings of 
        Congress. Barry v U.S. ex rel Cunningham, 279 U.S. 597, 619 
        (1929); Yellin v U.S., 374 U.S. 109, 146 (1963).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Congress has appointed by statute a seat of the federal government 
for the location of public offices and for the place of its meetings. 
Congress has affirmed its authority, as an attribute of national 
sovereignty, to establish a permanent seat of 
government,(11)
                         
[[Page 26]]

to change the seat of government,(12) and to permit the 
President to remove public offices or Congress itself under specified 
conditions.(13)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
11. See the Act of Mar. 3, 1790, Ch. 28, 1 Stat. 30, establishing the 
        seat in the District of Columbia and locating it temporarily in 
        Philadelphia. 4 USC Sec. Sec. 71-72 now locates the permanent 
        seat of government in the District.
12. Act of Mar. 3, 1790, Ch. 28, 1 Stat. 30. See also the post-Civil 
        War debates on the authority of Congress to remove the seat of 
        government, 28 Annals of Cong. 346-75, 13th Cong. 3d Sess., 
        Oct. 5-6, 1814.
13. The President is authorized under 2 USC Sec. 27 to convene Congress 
        elsewhere than the seat of government in the case of contagious 
        disease or other hazardous conditions. He may also remove all 
        public offices from the seat of government in the event of 
        disease. 4 USC Sec. 73. The Sixth Congress authorized the 
        President by the Act of Apr. 24, 1800, Ch. 37, 2 Stat. 55, to 
        accelerate preparations for the establishment of the seat of 
        government in the District of Columbia.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Congress therefore convenes for an opening session at the place 
determined by law to be the seat of government. The first two sessions 
of the First Congress assembled in New York City pursuant to a 
resolution of the Continental Congress.(14) By the Act of 
Mar. 3, 1790, the First Congress provided for the permanent seat of 
government to be located in the District of Columbia as of December 
1800, and designated Philadelphia as the interim seat between 1790 and 
1800.(15) Since Nov. 17, 1800, the opening of the second 
session of the Sixth Congress, Congress has met in Washington, 
D.C.,(16) although there was extended debate after the War 
of 1812 on a Senate bill to move the seat of government 
elsewhere.(17)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
14. Resolution of Sept. 13, 1788, 4 Journal of Continental Congress 866 
        (1823 ed.), cited at 3 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 3.
15. Ch. 28, 1 Stat. 30.
16. Congress had originally provided to begin meeting in the District 
        of Columbia on the first Monday in December, 1800. Act of Mar. 
        3, 1790, Ch. 28, Sec. 6, 1 Stat. 30. By the Act of May 13, 
        1800, Ch. 67, 2 Stat. 85, the effective date was moved forward 
        to the third Monday in November, Nov. 17, 1800. On that date a 
        quorum of the House was not present in Washington and the House 
        adjourned to begin legislative business on Nov. 18. 10 Annals 
        of Cong. 782, 6th Cong. 2d Sess.
17. 28 Annals of Cong. 346-75, 13th Cong. 3d Sess., Oct. 5-6, 1814. The 
        Senate bill was defeated in the House.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Although the Congress has had but three seats of government, it has 
occupied numerous structures or buildings. The New York and 
Philadelphia Chambers were located in public halls,(18) and 
Con
                         
[[Page 27]]

gress has frequently been forced to vacate the Capitol building in 
Washington due to repairs. Since 1800, the longest period during which 
Congress has absented itself from the Capitol building was because of 
the War of 1812, when the British Army nearly destroyed the Capitol by 
fire.(19) For over a year following the war, Congress sat in 
a makeshift Chamber located in another public building appointed by 
Presidential proclamation for the use of Congress.(20) For 
another five years both Houses sat at a temporary Capitol built on 
Capitol Hill by private citizens for the express use of 
Congress,(1) and leased by the federal 
government.(2) On three occasions during the 20th century, 
the House and the Senate have vacated their respective Chambers in the 
Capitol building pending repairs or remodeling.(3) Although 
the Senate remained during those periods within the Capitol, occupying 
the former Supreme Court Chamber,(4) the House moved across 
the street to the caucus room of the New House Office 
Building.(5) Neither the House nor the Senate construed 
those temporary shifts in the place of meeting, which altered the 
structural location but
                         
[[Page 28]]

not the place of the seat of government, to require the consent of the 
other House.(6) Therefore, a simple House resolution 
suffices to adjourn the House to meet in another structure at the seat 
of government.(7)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
18. In New York City the Congress sat in Federal Hall, Broad and Wall 
        Streets, and in Philadelphia it occupied Congress Hall, 6th and 
        Chestnut. Guide to the Congress of the United States 370 
        (1971), Congressional Quarterly, Inc.
19. Guide to the Congress of the United States 373 (1971), 
        Congressional Quarterly, Inc.
20. A Presidential message appointed the ``public building heretofore 
        allotted for the Post and other public offices.'' 28 Annals of 
        Cong. 10, 13th Cong. 3d Sess., Sept. 19, 1814 (message dated 
        Sept. 17, 1814).
 1. See 29 Annals of Cong. 10 14th Cong. 1st Sess., Dec. 4, 1815.
 2. Act of Dec. 8, 1815, Ch. 1, 3 Stat. 251 (authorizing the President 
        to lease the new building on Capitol Hill pending repairs to 
        the Capitol building).
 3. The first occasion lasted from Nov. 22, 1940, 86 Cong. Rec. 13715, 
        76th Cong. 3d Sess., until Jan. 2, 1941. See the letter of Mr. 
        David Lynn, Architect of the Capitol, at 13715, recommending 
        that the entire roof construction over both Chambers be taken 
        down and replaced by modern fire-proof construction. From July 
        1, 1949, to Jan. 2, 1950, Congress once again left its Chambers 
        pending repairs. See House resolution, June 28, 1949, 90 Cong. 
        Rec. 8571, 81st Cong. 1st Sess. The last period of repairs 
        requiring the removal of the House lasted from Sept. 1, 1950 to 
        Jan. 1, 1951. See House resolution returning the House to its 
        Chamber, Dec. 28, 1950, 96 Cong. Rec. 17021-22, 81st Cong. 2d 
        Sess.
 4. See, e.g., Senate resolution of Nov. 22, 1940, 86 Cong. Rec. 13709, 
        76th Cong. 3d Sess.
 5. See, e.g., House resolution of June 28, 1949, 95 Cong. Rec. 8571, 
        81st Cong. 1st Sess.
 6. See Sec. 4.1, infra. Compare the remarks of Mr. Clare E. Hoffman 
        (Mich.), at 90 Cong. Rec. 11683, 81st Cong. 1st Sess., Aug. 17, 
        1949, contending that the House was not a competent, legal 
        tribunal since it was sitting in the caucus room without having 
        obtained prior Senate consent. Mr. Hoffman argued in his 
        remarks that the ``over-whelming weight of legal authority . . 
        . is to the effect that, as to courts and legislative bodies, 
        the word 'place' cannot be stretched to cover the territorial 
        limits of the city, township, county, or state.'' He concluded 
        that a joint resolution was required to ratify the otherwise 
        ultra vires action of the House.
 7. A simple House resolution provided for the removal of the House 
        from the old Chamber to the new Hall in the south wing of the 
        extension of the Capitol on Dec. 14, 1857. 5 Hinds' Precedents 
        Sec. 7271.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    On occasion the House provides for meetings elsewhere than in its 
Chamber for reasons other than repair. Joint meetings may be held in 
the Senate Chamber,(8) and informal meetings may be held in 
other facilities, such as the Library of Congress.(9) Those 
types of assemblies, as well as ceremonies and processions held outside 
the House Chamber,(10) do not usually constitute official 
sessions of the House,(11) which stands in recess in order 
to attend.(12) The House is, however, officially in session 
for inaugural ceremonies at the east front of the Capitol, as reflected 
by the traditional form of the resolution to participate in inaugural 
ceremonies.(13)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 8. For attendance of the House in the Committee of the Whole at 
        impeachment proceedings in the Senate Chamber, see 3 Hinds' 
        Precedents Sec. 2351. See Ch. 36, infra, for joint meetings.
 9. See Sec. Sec. 4.3-4.5, infra.
10. The House does not attend ceremonies outside the Capitol building 
        as an organized body. 5 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 7061-64. 
        The House has discussed but not settled the question as to its 
        power to compel a Member to attend an occasion of ceremony 
        outside the Hall. 2 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 1139.
11. Rule XXXI, House Rules and Manual Sec. 918 (1973), requires that 
        the Hall of the House be used only for legislative business and 
        caucus meetings, except where the House by resolution agrees to 
        participate in ceremonies therein. Rule XXIX, House Rules and 
        Manual Sec. 914 (1973), provides for secret sessions to be held 
        in the Hall of the House.
12. For an instance where the House attended funeral services in the 
        Senate Chamber without an adjournment or recess, see 5 Hinds' 
        Precedents Sec. 7045.
13. See Sec. 4.7, infra.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                         
[[Page 29]]

Meeting in a Structure Other Than the Capitol

Sec. 4.1 The House may, without the consent of the Senate, provide for 
    a meeting of the House in the caucus room of a House office 
    building without violating the constitutional prohibition against 
    meeting in another place without the consent of the other House.

    On Aug. 17, 1949,(14) Mr. Clare E. Hoffman, of Michigan, 
stated a point of order, as follows;
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
14. 95 Cong. Rec. 11651, 81st Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Mr. Hoffman: Mr. Speaker, I make a point of order. My point of 
    order is that inasmuch as the House is now sitting in the committee 
    room of the Ways and Means Committee in the New House Office 
    Building and that the Senate has not consented to the action which 
    the House took some time previously, the House is not a competent, 
    legal tribunal, qualified under the Constitution to act. I want to 
    be heard.
        The Speaker:(15) The Chair is ready to rule. The 
    Chair overrules the point of order.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
15. Sam Rayburn (Tex.).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Mr. Hoffman: May I not cite the provision of the Constitution?
        The Speaker: The Chair is ready to rule and has ruled on that 
    question four times.(16) The Chair does not desire to 
    hear the gentleman on the point of order.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
16. The Speaker had ruled on Aug. 1, Aug. 2, Aug. 4, and Aug. 5, 1949, 
        that the House was legally in session despite the provisions of 
        the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946, Ch. 753, Sec. 132, 
        60 Stat. 812, requiring adjournment by the end of July; he 
        based his ruling on the decision that a continually existing 
        national emergency precluded the operation of the Legislative 
        Reorganization Act. 95 Cong. Rec. 10486, 10591, 10777, 10858, 
        81st Cong. 1st Sess. See also Sec. 3.7, supra.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Mr. Hoffman: May I cite the section?
        The Speaker: The gentleman may extend his remarks to do 
    that.(17)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
17. Mr. Hoffman's extension of remarks, at 95 Cong. Rec. 11683, 81st 
        Cong. 1st Sess., proposed that the term ``place'' in art. I, 
        Sec. 5, clause 4 of the Constitution could not be stretched to 
        include the territorial limits of a city, and that Senate 
        consent was required for the House to sit as an authorized 
        tribunal in the caucus room of the House office building.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sec. 4.2 A resolution is necessary to authorize the House to resume 
    sitting in its Chamber after sitting in another structure.

    On Dec. 28, 1950,(18) Mr. Albert Thomas, of Texas, 
offered a resolution to adjourn, as follows:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
18. 96 Cong. Rec. 17021-22, 81st Cong. 2d Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Mr. Thomas: Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent for the 
    immediate consideration of House Resolution 894.
                         
[[Page 30]]

        The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:

            Resolved, That when the House adjourns Thursday, December 
        28, 1950, it adjourn to meet on Monday, January 1, 1951, at 12 
        o'clock meridian in the Hall of the House.

        The Speaker pro Tempore:(19) Is there objection to 
    the request of the gentleman from Texas?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
19. Wilbur D. Mills (Ark.).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Mr. Arends:(20) Reserving the right to object, Mr. 
    Speaker, will the gentleman explain the resolution to the House? I 
    am sure we are interested in it.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
20. Mr. Leslie C. Arends (Ill.).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Mr. Thomas: This resolution simply makes it legal for the House 
    to move back into the Hall of the House, in the Capitol. It will be 
    ready Monday.

The House agreed to the resolution.

Secret Meetings

Sec. 4.3 An off-the-record meeting on war progress has been ruled not 
    an executive session of the House required to be held in the House 
    Chamber.(1)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Compare Rule XXIX, House Rules and Manual Sec. 914 (1973) which 
        provides for secret sessions to be held in the House Chamber.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    On Oct. 18, 1943,(2) Majority Leader John W. McCormack, 
of Massachusetts, announced that the Members of the House would meet 
with the Chief of Staff of the Army and other generals in the 
auditorium of the Library of Congress, for an off-the-record meeting of 
the status of the war. Mr. John E. Rankin, of Mississippi, then 
addressed the Speaker as follows:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 2. 89 Cong. Rec. 8433, 78th Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Mr. Rankin: Mr. Speaker, If I remember correctly, the statement 
    of the gentleman is that this would be an executive session?
        Mr. McCormack: Yes.
        Mr. Rankin: Now, if we are going to hold executive sessions of 
    the House, there is only one place that we are authorized by law to 
    hold them, and that is in this Hall.

        Mr. McCormack: This is not an executive session of Congress.
        Mr. Rankin: It is going to be a secret session, and it ought to 
    be, and it ought to be held in the Hall of the House of 
    Representatives.
        Mr. McCormack: This is not an executive session of Congress.
        Mr. Rankin: It is unnecessary for the Congress of the United 
    States to be going off to some other building to hear these leaders 
    report on the war when we have the Hall of the House of 
    Representatives built and equipped for that purpose.

        Will not the gentleman modify his request to have that meeting 
    here in this Hall?
        The Speaker:(3) The Chair would not recognize the 
    gentleman for that purpose and the gentleman would not make such a 
    request.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3. Sam Rayburn (Tex.).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        The time of the gentleman has expired.
                         
[[Page 31]]

Sec. 4.4 The Majority Leader of the House, in setting the time of a 
    secret briefing of Members of Congress, did not state the place of 
    meeting, where the place was to be kept confidential.

    On Jan. 23, 1945,(4) Speaker Sam Rayburn, of Texas, 
recognized Majority Leader John W. McCormack, of Massachusetts, to make 
the following announcement:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4. 91 Cong. Rec. 435, 79th Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Mr. Speaker, I desire again to announce to the Members of the 
    House that there will be a meeting held tomorrow morning at 9 
    o'clock. . . .
        I am sure it will be a meeting we will all be pleased to attend 
    as General Marshall and Admiral King will be there. I am unable to 
    say who else will he there but these two outstanding leaders of our 
    armed forces will be there to speak to us, as I have said, in an 
    off-the-record discussion.

    Parliamentarian's Note: The Members of the House were asked to keep 
the place of the meeting secret; it was held in the Coolidge Auditorium 
of the Library of Congress. The meeting, which dealt with the progress 
of the war, was attended by 316 House Members, the Commissioners from 
the Philippines and from Puerto Rico, the Delegate from Alaska, and 60 
Members of the Senate.

Joint Meetings and Ceremonies Outside the House Chamber

Sec. 4.5 The Majority Leader of the House announced an informal joint 
    meeting of the Members of the two Houses, to be held in the Library 
    of Congress.

    On May 23, 1950,(5) Majority Leader John W. McCormack, 
of Massachusetts, announced that on Wednesday next, May 31, 1950, the 
Members of the House would meet informally at the auditorium of the 
Library of Congress to hear Secretary of State Dean Acheson in 
connection with the meetings of the foreign ministers of the Atlantic 
Pact countries. The Speaker was authorized to declare a recess subject 
to the call of the Chair on Wednesday, May 31.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 5. 96 Cong. Rec. 7561, 81st Cong. 2d Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sec. 4.6 A joint meeting has been held in the Senate Chamber pursuant 
    to an informal Senate invitation to the House, the unexpectedness 
    of a guest's arrival precluding formal arrangements.

    On Dec. 26, 1941,(6) the Speaker pro tempore, William P. 
Cole, Jr.,
                         
[[Page 32]]

of Maryland, made the following announcement:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 6. 87 Cong. Rec. 10119, 77th Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        . . . On Wednesday last the majority leader of the Senate 
    informed the Chair that he had, in the name of the Senate, extended 
    an invitation to the Right Honorable Mr. Winston Churchill, Prime 
    Minister of Great Britain, to attend the session of the Senate 
    today at 12:30 o'clock p.m. and address them. Senator 
    Barkley,(7) on behalf of the Senate, asked me to extend 
    to the Members of the House an invitation to be present in the 
    Senate Chamber today at that time to hear the Prime Minister. Owing 
    to the shortness of the time, it was found impossible to make any 
    formal arrangements. The Chair has informally accepted for the 
    House the invitation of Senator Barkley, and those Members of the 
    House who wish to hear the Prime Minister will form in line in the 
    middle aisle, after the present occupant of the chair and the 
    majority and minority leaders, and proceed to the Senate Chamber.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 7. Sen. Alben W. Barkley (Ky.).

The House then recessed to attend the joint meeting in the Senate 
Chamber.

Sec. 4.7 Pursuant to resolution, the House stands in session while 
    attending the inaugural ceremonies on the east front of the 
    Capitol.

    On Jan. 16, 1961,(8) the House agreed to the following 
resolution, offered by Mr. John W. McCormack, of Massachusetts:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 8. 107 Cong. Rec. 730, 87th Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Resolved, That when the House adjourns on Wednesday, January 
    18, 1961, it stand adjourned until 11 a.m. Friday, January 20, 
    1961; that upon convening at that hour the House proceed to the 
    east front of the Capitol for the purpose of attending the 
    inaugural ceremonies of the President and Vice President of the 
    United States; and that upon the conclusion of the ceremonies the 
    House stand adjourned until Monday, January 23, 1961.


 
                               CHAPTER 1
 
                          Assembly of Congress
 
                      A. MEETING AND ORGANIZATION
 
Sec. 5. Clerk as Presiding Officer; Authority

    On the opening day of the first session of a new Congress, the 
elected Clerk of the preceding Congress calls the House to order and 
presides until the election of a Speaker.(9) The main duties 
of the Clerk at the organization of the House are ascertaining a quorum 
through a call of the Clerk's roll, and presiding over the election of 
a Speaker.(10) In current practice, the organizational steps 
over which the Clerk presides consume only a small portion of opening 
day. The practice has not always been so, as Clerks have presided at 
some Congresses for a period of days and even weeks.(11)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 9. 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 64-65.
10. For a description of the organizational steps over which the Clerk 
        presides, see Sec. 5.1, infra. See also 1 Hinds' Precedents 
        Sec. 81. For detail on the preparation of the Clerk's roll, see 
        Ch. 2, infra.
11. 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 65, 67, 70, 204. In those instances, 
        difficulties in the call of the roll and in the election of the 
        Speaker kept the Clerk in the chair for long periods of time.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                         
[[Page 33]]

    The authority of the Clerk to preside at the assembly of a new 
Congress is derived from custom as well as statutory 
sources.(12) Unlike the Speaker, whose term ceases with the 
assembly of a new Congress, the Clerk continues in office by tradition 
until the election of new officers.(13) In early Congresses, 
the House provided by a special rule that the Clerk should continue in 
office until another should be chosen,(14) but later 
constructions determined that one House could not by rule bind its 
successor.(15) In requiring the Clerk of the preceding House 
to prepare the roll of Representatives-elect for the new Congress, 
Title 2 of the United States Code provides for the functioning of the 
Clerk beyond the term of office for which elected; similarly, the code 
provides for the Sergeant at Arms, and in his absence the Doorkeeper of 
the preceding House, to perform the Clerk's functions in the case of 
vacancy in his office.(16) The Code also enumerates duties 
of the Sergeant at Arms, under the direction of the Clerk of the 
preceding Congress, at the assembly of a new House.(17)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
12. See also Rule III clause 1, House Rules and Manual Sec. 637 (1973).
13. 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 187, 188, 235, 244.
14. 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 187, 235; 5 Hinds' Precedents 
        Sec. 6743.
15. 5 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 6747.
16. 2 USC Sec. 26. See also Sec. 5.2, infra.
17. See 2 USC Sec. 79. Like Rule III of the House Rules and Manual, 
        Sec. 637 (1973), Rule IV clause 1, Sec. 648, pertaining to the 
        Sergeant at Arms' duties pending the election of a Speaker, and 
        Rule V clause 1 Sec. 651, relating to the Doorkeepers' duties 
        pending the election, are not technically in effect at the time 
        those duties are performed.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    At the beginning of early Congresses, the Clerk of the preceding 
House refused to decide many questions of order, referring them instead 
to the House.(18) Beginning in 1860, however, Rule III of 
the House rules(19) took on in substance its present form, 
authorizing the Clerk to decide questions of order subject to appeal; 
although not binding while the Clerk is presiding, the rule exerts 
persuasive effect on the construction of the Clerk's authority to 
decide points of order.(20) As pre
                         
[[Page 34]]

presiding officer, the Clerk has consistently refused to entertain 
propositions not consistent with the organization of the 
House;(1) he has refused, for example, to entertain 
protests,(2) and has declined to hear motions referring a 
subject to committee(3) or relating to contested election 
cases.(4)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
18. See 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 68-72.
19. Rule III clause 1, House Rules and Manual Sec. 637 (1973).
20. For the history and effect of the rule, see 1 Hinds' Precedents 
        Sec. 64. When coupled with the former provision that rules of 
        one House applied to the organization of its successor (5 
        Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 6743-46), Rule III gave the Clerk 
        explicit authority to decide points of order (1 Hinds' 
        Precedents Sec. Sec. 76-77). In 1890, however, the theory that 
        one House could by rule bind its successor was overthrown (5 
        Hinds' Precedents Sec. 6747).
 1. See, in general, 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 68-80.
            As to the capacity of the House to transact general 
        legislative business while the Clerk is presiding and before 
        the election of a Speaker, the House has determined such 
        procedure to be foreclosed by the Act of 1789, Ch. 1, Sec. 2, 1 
        Stat. 23, as amended, 2 USC Sec. 25 (1948), requiring the 
        administration of the oath to the Speaker, Members, and the re-
        elected Clerk before the House enters into other business. See 
        1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 6647-49 (rulings by the House 
        that the Clerk could receive a message from the President but 
        could not read it, as reading the message constituted 
        business). For other rulings on the requirement that 
        legislative business await the election of officers and the 
        swearing in of Members and of the Clerk, see 1 Hinds' 
        Precedents Sec. Sec. 130, 241, 243; contra (allowing business 
        before the election of the Clerk), 1 Hinds' Precedents 
        Sec. Sec. 242, 244, 245.
 2. 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 80.
 3.  1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 78.
 4.  See 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 67. According to Alexander, History 
        of Procedure of the House of Representatives 14 (1916), the 
        Clerk of the House attempted in one instance (cited at 1 Hinds' 
        Precedents Sec. 67) to use his powers and duties at the opening 
        of the new Congress to determine which political party would 
        control the House of Representatives. In 1839, Clerk Hugh A. 
        Garland ``discovered that by omitting the names of contestants 
        from New Jersey the roll would stand 118 in favor of his own 
        party, a sufficient number to elect a Speaker. Accordingly, 
        when New Jersey was reached in the roll call, Garland cunningly 
        explained that as he had no authority to settle contests he 
        would complete the call and then submit the New Jersey matter 
        to the House for its decision.''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The House may, in lieu of having the Clerk preside, choose one of 
the Members-elect to preside as Chairman until the election of a 
Speaker.(5) This method has been taken by the House when 
organizational business was impeded by the refusal of the Clerk to 
entertain certain questions or motions.(6)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 5. 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 66-67.
 6. See 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 67.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Clerk may preside at the opening of a new session of an 
existing Congress, or even at the beginning of a daily meeting during a 
session, when the Speaker has died in office,(7) since the 
authority of the Speaker pro tempore
                         
[[Page 35]]

terminates upon the death of the Speaker.(8) If the Clerk 
presides in that situation, he first ascertains the presence of a 
quorum, and then proceeds immediately to the election of a 
Speaker.(9)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 7. See 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 234.
 8. See Sec. Sec. 6.6, 6.7, infra.
 9. For the procedure of the election of the Speaker, both at a new 
        Congress and at a new session of the same Congress, see Sec. 6, 
        infra.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Clerk as Presiding Officer; Organizational Procedure

Sec. 5.1 Following opening prayer and before the election of the 
    Speaker at the opening of a new Congress, the Clerk of the 
    preceding Congress takes the following organizational steps: 
    announces the receipt of credentials; causes the roll to be called 
    alphabetically by states to establish a quorum; announces the 
    establishment of a quorum; announces vacancies in the House 
    occurring since national elections.

    On Jan. 10, 1967,(10) the Clerk of the 89th Congress, 
Ralph R. Roberts, of Indiana, announced as follows after the House had 
been called to order and had heard prayer:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
10. 113 Cong. Rec. 11, 12, 90th Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Representatives-elect for the 90th Congress . . . this is the 
    day fixed for the meeting of the 90th Congress.
        As the law directs, the Clerk of the House has prepared the 
    official roll of the Representatives-elect.
        Credentials covering the 435 seats in the 90th Congress have 
    been received and are now on file with the Clerk of the 89th 
    Congress.
        The names of those persons whose credentials show they were 
    regularly elected in accordance with the laws of the several States 
    and of the United States will be called; and as the roll is called, 
    following the alphabetical order of the States, beginning with the 
    State of Alabama, Representatives-elect will answer to their names 
    to determine whether or not a quorum is present.
        The reading clerk will call the roll.
        The Clerk called the roll by States and the following 
    Representatives-elect answered to their names: . . .
        The Clerk: The roll call discloses that 434 Representatives-
    elect have answered to their names.
        A quorum is present.
        The Clerk will state that credentials are on file showing the 
    election of the Honorable Santiago Polanco-Abreu as Resident 
    Commissioner from the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
        The Clerk also wishes to announce there is a vacancy in the 
    Second District of Rhode Island occasioned by the recent death of 
    the Honorable John E. Fogarty.

Presiding Officer in Absence of Clerk

Sec. 5.2 In the absence of both the Clerk of the House and the Sergeant 
    at Arms, the Doorkeeper of the preceding Con
                         
[[Page 36]]

    gress calls the House to order on the opening day of a new 
    Congress.

    On Jan. 3, 1947,(11) the assembly date of the first 
session of the 80th Congress, following the death of the Clerk of the 
House and in the absence of the Sergeant at Arms, the Doorkeeper of the 
House of Representatives of the 79th Congress, Ralph R. Roberts, of 
Indiana, called the House to order and directed the call of the 
roll.(12)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
11. 93 Cong. Rec. 33, 80th Cong. 1st Sess.
12. 2 USC Sec. 26 appoints the Sergeant at Arms and in his absence the 
        Doorkeeper of the preceding House to assume the Clerk's 
        functions at the opening of Congress, if the Clerk's office 
        should become vacant between Congresses.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------


 
                               CHAPTER 1
 
                          Assembly of Congress
 
                      A. MEETING AND ORGANIZATION
 
Sec. 6. Election of the Speaker

    Ordinarily, the second order of business at the opening of a new 
Congress, after the ascertainment of a quorum through the calling of 
the Clerk's roll, is the election of the Speaker.(13) 
Although a motion, of privileged character, was formerly made to 
proceed to the election of the Speaker,(14) in contemporary 
practice the Clerk simply declares to the House that the election of 
the Speaker is the next order of business.(15) In early 
Congresses, the motion was used to determine the method by which the 
Speaker would be elected;(16) since 1839, however, the 
Speaker has been chosen by viva voce vote on a roll call with tellers, 
and Members respond with the name of the nominee of their choice when 
called on the roll.(17) Although the Clerk appoints tellers 
for the election,(18) the House and
                         
[[Page 37]]

not the Clerk determines what method of voting to use.(1) A 
majority vote of those Members or Members-elect present, if a quorum, 
suffices to elect a Speaker.(2)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
13. ``The House of Representatives shall chose their Speaker and other 
        Officers. . . .'' U.S. Const. art. I, Sec. 2, clause 5. For the 
        procedure of the election in general, see Sec. 6.1, infra.
            The priority of the election of the Speaker is dictated by 
        2 USC Sec. 25, requiring the administration of the oath to him, 
        and by him to Members and to the Clerk, before the House enters 
        into other business.
14. 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 212-14. The motion is debatable (1 
        Hinds' Precedents Sec. 213), and is of higher privilege than a 
        motion to correct the Clerk's roll. 1 Hinds' Precedents 
        Sec. Sec. 19-24.
            On one occasion, the Speaker held the motion to adjourn 
        preferential over a resolution declaring the office of Speaker 
        vacant and providing for the election of a Speaker. 8 Cannon's 
        Precedents Sec. 2641.
15. See Sec. 6.1, infra.
16. See 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 204-11.
17. 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 187 (the Speaker was, in early Congresses, 
        elected by ballot).
18. 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 217. See Sec. 6.1, infra.
 1. 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 210.
 2. 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 215-16. Twice the Speaker has been 
        chosen by a plurality vote, but on both occasions the vote was 
        confirmed by a majority vote. 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 221. For 
        one instance where the Speaker was elected by resolution, see 
        Sec. 6.3, infra. Members not on the Clerk's roll are not 
        allowed to vote for Speaker (see Ch. 2, infra).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    After announcing that the House will proceed to the election of a 
Speaker, the Clerk accepts nominations of candidates for the office. 
There are usually two nominations, one from the chairman of each party 
caucus or conference.(3) The Clerk announces the result of 
the vote, and declares the chosen Member to be the duly elected Speaker 
of the House.(4) A committee, appointed by the Clerk, then 
escorts the Speaker-elect to the Chair. The Minority Leader presents 
the Speaker-elect to the membership,(5) and he addresses the 
House and requests a Member-elect, usually the oldest Member in 
continuous service, to administer the oath to him.(6) The 
codified oath administered to the Speaker is the same as that used by 
him to swear in the Members-elect.(7)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3. See Sec. 6.1, infra.
 4. If the House authorizes the election of the Speaker by a plurality 
        vote instead of a majority vote, the declaration naming the 
        elected Speaker must be made by the House, through a 
        resolution, and not by the Clerk or by a Member. 1 Hinds' 
        Precedents Sec. 222.
 5. After the election of the Speaker and before he has been conducted 
        to the chair no debate or business is in order. 1 Hinds' 
        Precedents Sec. 219.
 6. ``[T]he oath of office shall be administered by any Member to the 
        Speaker . . . . '' 2 USC Sec. 25.
            Although the practice is to have the dean of the House 
        administer the oath to the Speaker (1 Hinds' Precedents 
        Sec. Sec. 130-33), the custom is not always followed. 6 
        Cannon's Precedents Sec. Sec. 6-7.
 7. The Constitution requires, in art. VI, clause 3, that all Members 
        (including the Speaker) take the oath, whose form is found at 5 
        USC Sec. 3331.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In most Congresses a Speaker has been elected and sworn well before 
the end of opening day; however, election contests for the office of 
Speaker have consumed up to nineteen days at the beginning of new 
Congresses.(8) On one occasion, the House requested all 
candidates for the Speaker's office
                         
[[Page 38]]

to state their opinions upon important political questions before 
proceeding to the election.(9) The most recent protracted 
contest over the Speaker's election, in 1923, could not be resolved 
until after the procedure for the adoption of rules had been 
presented,(10) contrary to the usual practice of postponing 
consideration or adoption of rules until after the election of the 
Speaker.(11)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 8. See 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 221-23; 5 Hinds' Precedents 
        Sec. Sec. 5356, 6647, 6649; 6 Cannon's Precedents Sec. 24.
 9. 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 218.
10. See 6 Cannon's Precedents Sec. 24.
11. Although specific rules as to debate and decorum have been adopted 
        before the election of the Speaker (1 Hinds' Precedents 
        Sec. Sec. 94-102), the House has construed the Act of June 1, 
        1789, Ch. 1, Sec. 2, 1 Stat. 23, as amended, 2 USC Sec. 25 
        (1948), to require the election of the Speaker and the 
        administration of the oath to him and to Members-elect to take 
        precedence over other organizational business. 1 Hinds' 
        Precedents Sec. Sec. 130, 140.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The election of a new Speaker may occur at the beginning of a 
second or third session, or during a session, when the Speaker dies in 
office. The procedure followed by the House in that situation is 
substantially the same as that used at the beginning of a new 
Congress;(12) the Clerk, by tradition and by rule, presides 
at such elections since the authority of the Speaker pro tempore, if 
one has been appointed or elected, terminates with the death of the 
Speaker.(13) One difference in election procedure between 
that at the opening of a Congress and that during the term is that in 
the latter situation the quorum to elect is established through the 
calling of the roll alphabetically by name and not by 
state,(14) although in former times the call was by state in 
both instances.(15) One further distinction is that a 
Speaker elected during a Congress must resign from the committees on 
which he has served while a Member,(16)
                         
[[Page 39]]

whereas at the beginning of a new Congress the election of the Speaker 
takes place well before the making of committee assignments.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
12. See, in general, 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 224-26, 231-34; see 
        also Sec. Sec. 6.6-6.7, infra.
            Although a Member who is chosen Speaker after organization 
        of the House has already taken the oath of office as a Member, 
        it must be administered to him again upon election as Speaker. 
        1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 225.
13. Rule III clause 1, House Rules and Manual Sec. 637 (1973), 
        specifically provides for the Clerk to preside pending the 
        Speaker's election. See also 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 232, 
        234, and Sec. 6.6, infra.
14. See Sec. 6.8, infra. For an occasion where a quorum was not 
        established before the election of the Speaker, see Sec. 6.3, 
        infra (the Speaker was elected by resolution).
15. See 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 232, 234.
16. 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 230. See Sec. 6.5, infra. For the 
        Speaker's competence to hold committee assignments, see Ch. 6, 
        infra.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Procedure for Election of Speaker

Sec. 6.1 The election of the Speaker at the beginning of a new 
    Congress, presided over by the Clerk of the previous Congress, 
    proceeds as follows: declaration by the Clerk of the election of 
    the Speaker as the next order of business; recognition by the Clerk 
    of the Chairman of the Democratic Caucus and the Chairman of the 
    Republican Conference for nominations for Speaker; appointment of 
    tellers for the election of the Speaker; calling of the roll; 
    announcement of the result of the vote; declaration by the Clerk 
    naming the new Speaker of the House; appointment by the Clerk of a 
    committee to escort the Speaker-elect to the chair; Minority Leader 
    presents the Speaker-elect to the membership; address of the 
    Speaker-elect to the House from the chair; request by the Speaker-
    elect of a Member-elect to administer the oath of office to the 
    Speaker; administration of the oath to the Speaker.

    On Jan. 10, 1967,(17) after the establishment of a 
quorum on the opening day of the 90th Congress, the House proceeded as 
follows, with Ralph R. Roberts, of Indiana, presiding as Clerk:

17. 113 Cong. Rec. 12-14, 90th Cong. 1st Sess.

        The Clerk: The next order of business is the election of a 
    Speaker of the House of Representatives for the 90th Congress.
        Nominations are now in order.
        Mr. Rostenkowski:(1) Mr. Clerk, as chairman of the 
    Democratic caucus, I am directed by the unanimous vote of that 
    caucus to present for election to the Office of the Speaker . . . 
    the name of the Honorable John W. McCormack [Mass.]. . . .
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Mr. Daniel D. Rostenkowski (Ill.).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Mr. Laird:(2) Mr. Clerk, as chairman of the House 
    Republican conference and by authority, by direction, and by 
    unanimous vote of the Republican conference, I nominate for Speaker 
    . . . the Honorable Gerald R. Ford [Mich.] . . . .
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 2. Mr. Melvin R. Laird (Wisc.).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        The Clerk: The Honorable John W. McCormack . . . and the 
    Honorable Gerald R. Ford . . . have been placed in nomination.
        . . . There being no further nominations, the Clerk will 
    appoint tellers.
                         
[[Page 40]]

        The Clerk appoints. . . .
        Tellers will come forward. . . .
        The roll will now be called, and those responding to their name 
    will indicate by surname the nominee of their choice.
        The following is the result of the vote. . . .
        Therefore, the Honorable John W. McCormack, of Massachusetts, 
    is the duly elected Speaker of the House of Representatives for the 
    90th Congress, having received a majority of the votes cast.
        The Clerk appoints the following committee to escort the 
    Speaker-elect to the chair. . . .
        The Doorkeeper announced the Speaker-elect of the House of 
    Representatives of the 90th Congress, who was escorted to the chair 
    by the committee of escort. . . .
        [The Minority Leader presents the Speaker-elect to the 
    Membership.]
        Mr. McCormack: My dear 
    friends. . . .
        I am now ready to take the oath of office and will ask the dean 
    of the House of Representatives, the Honorable Emanuel Celler, of 
    New York, to administer the oath.
        Mr. Celler then administered the oath of office to Mr. 
    McCormack. . . .

Sec. 6.2 The Minority Leader of the House addressed the House from the 
    Speaker's rostrum and presented the Speaker-elect.

    On Jan. 10, 1962,(3) Minority Leader Charles Halleck, of 
Indiana, presented to the House, after the election but before the oath 
of office, Speaker-elect John W. McCormack, of Massachusetts.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3. 108 Cong. Rec. 6, 87th Cong. 2d Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Election of Speaker by Resolution

Sec. 6.3 On occasion, the Speaker has been elected by resolution.

    On June 4, 1936,(4) following the death, during the 
session of Congress, of Speaker Joseph W. Byrns, of Tennessee, the 
House elected a Speaker by the following resolution:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4. 80 Cong. Rec. 9016, 74th Cong. 2d Sess.

        Resolved, That Hon. William B. Bankhead, a Representative from 
    the State of Alabama, be, and he is hereby elected Speaker of the 
    House of Representatives.
        Resolved, That the President and the Senate be notified by the 
    Clerk of the election of Hon. William B. Bankhead as Speaker of the 
    House of Representatives.

    On Sept. 16, 1940,(5) following the death, during the 
session, of Speaker Bankhead, the House elected a Speaker by the 
following resolution:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 5. 86 Cong. Rec. 12231, 76th Cong. 3d Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

                              House Resolution 602

        Resolved, That Hon. Sam Rayburn, a Representative from the 
    State of
                         
[[Page 41]]

    Texas, be, and he is hereby, elected Speaker of the House of 
    Representatives.
        Resolved, That the President and the Senate be notified by the 
    Clerk of the election of Hon. Sam Rayburn as Speaker of the House 
    of Representatives.

Administration of Oath to Speaker; Resignation From Committees

Sec. 6.4 The oath of office is administered to the Speaker-elect, at 
    his request, by the dean of the House.

    On Jan. 10, 1962,(6) after Speaker-elect John W. 
McCormack, of Massachusetts, had been escorted to the chair, he was 
administered the oath of office, at his request, by the dean of the 
House, Mr. Carl Vinson, of Georgia.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 6. 108 Cong. Rec. 6, 87th Cong. 2d Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sec. 6.5 If elected after the organization of the House, the Speaker 
    resigns from the committees of the House on which he had served 
    while a Member.

    On Jan. 10, 1962,(7) the first day of the second 
session, newly-elected Speaker John W. McCormack, of Massachusetts, 
resigned, without objection, from the Committees on Government 
Operations and Science and Astronautics, and from the Franklin Delano 
Roosevelt Memorial Commission.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 7. 108 Cong. Rec. 8, 87th Cong. 2d Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Election of Speaker During a Session or at Opening of Second Session

Sec. 6.6 Following the death of the Speaker, between sessions of a 
    Congress, the authority of an elected Speaker pro tempore 
    terminates, and the Clerk presides at the reconvening until the 
    election of a new Speaker.

    On Jan. 10, 1962,(8) the Clerk of the House, Ralph R. 
Roberts, of Indiana, called the second session of the 87th Congress to 
order for the purpose of electing a new Speaker. The Honorable John W. 
McCormack, of Massachusetts, elected Speaker pro tempore in the first 
session during the last absence of Speaker Rayburn, was elected Speaker 
of the second session.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 8. 108 Cong. Rec. 5, 87th Cong. 2d Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sec. 6.7 When a Speaker dies during a session of Congress the Clerk 
    calls the House to order, makes announcement
                         
[[Page 42]]

    thereof, and presides over the election of a new Speaker.

    On June 4, 1936,(9) the Clerk of the House, South 
Trimble, called the House to order during the second session and 
announced the sudden death, during the early morning hours, of the 
Speaker, the Honorable Joseph W. Byrns, of Tennessee. The Clerk then 
presided over the election of a new Speaker.(10)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 9. 80 Cong. Rec. 9016, 74th Cong. 2d Sess.
10. Before the House proceeded to the election, the roll was not called 
        to establish a quorum, as the House chose to elect the Speaker 
        by resolution. See Sec. 6.3, supra. See also 86 Cong. Rec. 
        12231, 76th Cong. 3d Sess., where the Clerk presided following 
        the death of Speaker Bankhead during the session.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sec. 6.8 When a vacancy arises in the Speaker's office during the term 
    of a Congress, the quorum to elect a new Speaker is established by 
    an alphabetical roll call.

    On Jan. 10, 1962,(11) following the death, in office, of 
Speaker Sam Rayburn, of Texas, a quorum to elect a Speaker was 
established by Clerk Ralph R. Roberts, of Indiana, who directed the 
call of the roll alphabetically by Members' names.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
11. 108 Cong. Rec. 5, 87th Cong. 2d Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------


 
                               CHAPTER 1
 
                          Assembly of Congress
 
                      A. MEETING AND ORGANIZATION
 
Sec. 7. Business Under Speaker as Presiding Officer

    After the Speaker has been elected and sworn at the beginning of a 
new Congress, he presides over the completion of all organizational 
business.(12) The three most important stages that remain 
after the election of the Speaker, and which are required by the 
Constitution, are the administration of the oath to Members-
elect,(13) the election of officers,(14) and the 
adoption of the rules of the House.(15) Another essential 
step which the Speaker takes, although not required by the 
Constitution, is the administration of the oath of office to the Clerk 
and to the other officers of the House.(16) There are 
various
                         
[[Page 43]]

other necessary orders of business which take place before organization 
is finished, such as notification to the Senate and to the President of 
the assembly of the House,(17) provision for a joint session 
to hear the President,(18) and adoption of standing 
orders.(19)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
12. See Sec. 7.1, infra.
13. U.S. Const. art. VI, clause 3. For detailed analysis, see Ch. 2, 
        infra.
14. U.S. Const. art. I, Sec. 2, clause 5. See Ch. 6, infra.
15. U.S. Const. art. I, Sec. 5, clause 2. See Sec. 10, infra.
16. 2 USC Sec. 25 requires the administration to the Clerk of the oath 
        to support the Constitution of the United States. Rule II, 
        House Rules and Manual Sec. 635 (1973) provides for Clerk, 
        Sergeant at Arms, Doorkeeper, Post Master, and Chaplain to take 
        the oath to support the Constitution; although not binding at 
        organization, the law and rule exert persuasive effect upon the 
        administration of that oath to the officers. The rule also 
        provides for an oath of secrecy to be taken by the officers of 
        the House, but this requirement has faded into obsolescence. 1 
        Hinds' Precedents Sec. 187.
17. See 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 198 and Sec. 7.1, infra.
18. U.S. Const. art. II, Sec. 3, provides for the President to give to 
        the Congress from time to time information on the state of the 
        Union and to recommend measures. Up to 1801 the President made 
        a speech to Congress upon its assembly, but between 1801 and 
        1913 messages were sent in writing, 5 Hinds' Precedents 
        Sec. 6629. The practice of an oral state of the Union message 
        at assembly has been followed since 1913 to the present, with 
        several exceptions. 8 Cannon's Precedents Sec. 3333. No 
        Presidential message was delivered at the opening of the 93d 
        Congress, but the President transmitted his intention to send 
        messages from time to time to the Congress. See, in general, 
        Ch. 35, infra.
19. The only standing order commonly used is that to fix the hour of 
        daily meeting; see Sec. 3, supra.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Swearing in the Members, electing the officers, and adopting the 
rules are only mentioned here, as these topics are dealt with elsewhere 
in this work. It should be briefly stated, however, that the Speaker's 
authority in presiding over those procedural steps is carefully 
restricted by precedent: he possesses no arbitrary power to administer 
the oath, and must ask a Member-elect to step aside if his right to 
take the oath is challenged;(20) a majority vote is required 
for the election of officers,(1) who are usually chosen by 
resolution and not by the viva voce vote suggested by Rule II of the 
House Rules and Manual;(2) in proceeding to the adoption of 
rules, the House is governed by general parliamentary law, with weight 
given to the precedents and usages of past Congresses.(3) 
There is, in addition, a traditional sequence of organizational busi
                         
[[Page 44]]

ness which the House follows, although minor variations have been 
permitted in past Congresses.(4)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
20. See Ch. 2, infra.
 1. See Ch. 6, infra.
 2. House Rules and Manual Sec. 635 (1973). If the officers are elected 
        before the adoption of rules, as is the usual practice, Rule 
        II, requiring a viva voce vote, is not followed (see Sec. 7.1, 
        infra). If elected after adoption of rules, the officers may be 
        chosen by resolution if no objection is made. 1 Hinds' 
        Precedents Sec. Sec. 191-96.
 3. See 5 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 6758-60. See also, in general, 
        Sec. 10, infra.
 4. The sequence of organizational steps, which appears at Sec. 7.1, 
        infra, is derived both from custom (see 1 Hinds' Precedents 
        Sec. 81) and from statute. ``At the first session of Congress 
        after every general election of Representatives, the oath of 
        office shall be administered by any Member of the House of 
        Representatives to the Speaker; and by the Speaker to all the 
        Members and Delegates present, and to the Clerk, previous to 
        entering on any other business. . . .'' 2 USC Sec. 25. For 
        rulings upholding the priority of the swearing in of Members 
        and the election of the Clerk before adoption of the rules or 
        other business, based upon the Act of June 1, 1789, Ch. 1, 
        Sec. 2, 1 Stat. 23 (the former version of 2 USC Sec. 25, whose 
        1948 amendments left untouched the language above), see 1 
        Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 130, 140, 180, 237, 241, 243; 5 
        Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 6647-49. For occasions where 
        variations were upheld, see: 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 242, 
        244 (business transacted before election of the Clerk); 1 
        Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 93, 245 (rules adopted before 
        election of the Clerk); 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 198-203, 
        240 (in the practice of early Congresses, the Senate and the 
        President were informed of the organization of the House and 
        election of the Speaker before the election of the Clerk); 6 
        Cannon's Precedents Sec. 24 (procedure for adoption of rules 
        presented before the election of the Speaker).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Besides initiating organizational steps enumerated above, the 
Speaker has other related duties to perform.(5) He relays to 
the House information from the Speaker of the preceding Congress on 
official actions taken during the adjournment sine die, such as 
appointments to commissions, certification to the U.S. Attorney of 
contempt cases arising in committees of the preceding Congress, 
resignations effective during adjournment, and communications from 
foreign governments received during adjournment.(6) In 
addition, recesses have been declared by the Speaker during 
organization, without a motion being put.(7)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 5. One of the informal functions of the Speaker has been control of 
        press coverage on the opening day of a session. See, e.g., 92 
        Cong. Rec. 20, 79th Cong. 2d Sess., Jan. 15, 1946.
 6. See Sec. Sec. 7.7-7.10, infra.
 7. See Sec. Sec. 7.2, 7.3, infra.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    At the opening day of a new session of the same Congress, the 
Speaker similarly presides over organization, which consists primarily 
of ceremonial and informational activities.(8) As Members 
have already been sworn, rules have already been adopted, and officers 
have been elected, the Speaker merely lays before the
                         
[[Page 45]]

House letters of resignations effective during adjournment and then 
ascertains the presence of a quorum.(9) The Senate and the 
President are notified of the assembly of the House, and a joint 
session is fixed for the receipt of the Presidential message. Standing 
orders of the first session must be renewed.(10)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 8. For the procedure, in general, see Sec. Sec. 7.5, 7.6, infra.
 9. See Sec. 7.5, infra.
10. Standing orders expire with the session. Jefferson's Manual, House 
        Rules and Manual Sec. 386 (1973).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    If the Speaker is to be absent on the day set for the convening of 
a consecutive session of the same Congress, the House may be called to 
order by a Speaker pro tempore if the Speaker has designated one for 
that specific purpose.(11)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
11. See Sec. 7.4. If a Speaker pro tempore has not been designated, the 
        Clerk calls the House to order in the Speaker's absence. 1 
        Hinds' Precedents Sec. 227.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Organizational Steps With Speaker Presiding

Sec. 7.1 Following the election of the Speaker at the opening of a new 
    Congress, he presides over the following organizational steps in 
    sequence: administration of the oath to Members-elect; election of 
    officers and administration of oath to them; passage of resolution 
    to notify the Senate of a quorum in the House; passage of 
    resolution authorizing the Speaker to appoint a committee to notify 
    the President of Congress' assembly; report of that committee, 
    informing the House of the time of the Presidential message; 
    passage of concurrent resolution for a joint session to hear the 
    President; adoption of the rules of the House; passage of 
    resolution fixing the daily hour of meeting.

    On Jan. 10, 1967,(12) after the House had elected John 
W. McCormack, of Massachusetts, Speaker, he swore in the Members-elect 
all at one time, directing those whose right to be sworn was challenged 
to step aside. After debate on the swearing in of a challenged Member, 
the House elected by resolution the Clerk, Sergeant at Arms, 
Doorkeeper, Post Master, and Chaplain, who were all administered the 
oath of office by the Speaker. There were then passed three 
resolutions, one to notify the Senate of the organization of the House, 
one to appoint a committee to notify the President of the assembly of 
Con
                         
[[Page 46]]

gress, and one to notify the President of the election of the Speaker 
and the Clerk of the House. A resolution to adopt the rules of the 
preceding Congress was offered, and the House passed the resolution, 
with an amendment. After resignations were laid before the House, a 
resolution was passed fixing the daily hour of meeting, and the report 
of the committee to notify the President of the assembly of Congress 
was received. The concurrent resolution providing for a joint session 
to hear the state of the Union message from the President was offered 
and passed by unanimous consent.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
12. 113 Cong. Rec. 14-34, 90th Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Authority of Speaker to Declare Recess During Organization

Sec. 7.2 The House may authorize the Speaker to declare recesses at any 
    time, subject to the call of the Chair, during organization.

    On Jan. 10, 1967,(13) the opening day of a new Congress, 
the House granted unanimous consent that it be in order for Speaker 
John W. McCormack, of Massachusetts, to declare a recess at any time 
during the day.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
13. 113 Cong. Rec. 34, 90th Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sec. 7.3 On the opening day of a session, the Speaker declared the 
    House in recess, on his own initiative and without objection.

    On Jan. 7, 1964,(14) Speaker John W. McCormack, of 
Massachusetts, declared the House to stand in recess, without the 
motion being put, in order to await the report of the committee 
appointed to ask the President if he had any communication to make to 
the Congress.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
14. 110 Cong. Rec. 5, 88th Cong. 2d Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Presiding Officer in Absence of Speaker at Convening

Sec. 7.4 The Speaker being absent on the day set for the convening of 
    the second session, the House is called to order by a Speaker pro 
    tempore if he has been previously designated by the Speaker for 
    that purpose.

    On Jan. 10, 1966,(15) the convening date of the second 
session of the 89th Congress, Speaker pro tempore Carl Albert, of 
Oklahoma, called the House to order and laid the following 
communication before the House:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
15. 112 Cong. Rec. 5, 89th Cong. 2d Sess. For the procedure where the 
        Speaker has died between sessions, see Sec. 6, supra.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                         
[[Page 47]]

        The Speaker's Rooms,
        U.S. House of Representatives,
        Washington, D.C., January 10, 1966:

            I hereby designate the Honorable Carl Albert to act as 
        Speaker pro tempore today.

                                                John W. McCormack,
                            Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Procedure at Opening of Consecutive Session

Sec. 7.5 After calling the House to order and following the opening 
    prayer at the beginning of a new session of an existing Congress, 
    the Speaker lays before the House letters of resignations which 
    became effective during the adjournment and then causes the roll to 
    be called alphabetically to establish a quorum.

    On Jan. 10, 1966,(16) following the call to order and 
prayer at the beginning of the second session, Speaker pro tempore Carl 
Albert, of Oklahoma, laid before the House the resignation of a Member 
of the House effective Dec. 30, 1965, and then directed the Clerk to 
call the roll to establish a quorum. The roll was called in 
alphabetical order.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
16. 112 Cong. Rec. 5, 6, 89th Cong. 2d Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sec. 7.6 After a quorum is established at the opening of a second 
    session, the House takes the following organizational steps: 
    provision for recess on the day of the joint session to receive the 
    President's state of the Union message; authorization to the 
    Speaker to appoint a committee to notify the President of the 
    assembly of Congress; notification to the Senate of the assembly of 
    the House; receipt of the report of the committee to notify the 
    President; passage of resolution to fix the daily hour of meeting; 
    passage of concurrent resolution to set the joint session for the 
    President's message.

    On Jan. 6, 1948,(17) Speaker Joseph W. Martin, Jr., of 
Massachusetts, called the House to order. By unanimous consent, the 
Speaker was then authorized to declare a recess at any time subject to 
the call of the Chair on Jan. 7, 1948, and was empowered by resolution 
to appoint three members of the committee to notify the President of 
the United States of the assembly of Congress. A resolution was then 
offered and passed to direct the Clerk of the House to inform the 
Senate that a quorum was established in the House and that 
                         
[[Page 48]]

the House was ready to proceed
with business. The committee to notify the President reported that the 
President would deliver his message to the Congress on Jan. 7, 1948. 
The House passed a resolution fixing the daily hour of meeting of the 
House, and a concurrent resolution setting Jan. 7 as the date for the 
joint session to hear the state of the Union message from the 
President.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
17. 94 Cong. Rec. 4, 5, 80th Cong. 2d Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Announcement of Official Actions During Adjournment

Sec. 7.7 When the Speaker of the preceding Congress, acting under 
    authority conferred by the House, makes appointments during 
    adjournment sine die, he informs the House thereof at the convening 
    of a new Congress.

    On Jan. 4, 1965,(18) Speaker John W. McCormack, of 
Massachusetts, informed the House that he had appointed four Members of 
the House of Representatives to the Lewis and Clark Trail Commission 
during adjournment sine die.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
18. 111 Cong. Rec. 25, 89th Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sec. 7.8 Where the Speaker, subsequent to sine die adjournment, 
    certifies to the U.S. Attorney a contempt case arising in a 
    committee, he notifies the House at the opening day of the new 
    Congress through its new Speaker.

    On Jan. 5, 1955,(19) Speaker Sam Rayburn, of Texas, laid 
the following communication before the House:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
19. 101 Cong. Rec. 11 84th Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                  January 5, 1955.  
        The Speaker,
        House of Representatives,
        United States, Washington, D.C.

        Dear Mr. Speaker: I desire to inform the House of 
    Representatives that subsequent to the sine die adjournment of the 
    83d Congress the Committee on Un-American Activities reported to 
    and filed with me as Speaker a statement of facts concerning the 
    refusal of Lee Lorch, Robert M. Metcalf, and Norton Anthony Russell 
    to answer questions before the said committee of the House, and I, 
    pursuant to the mandatory provisions of Public Resolution 123, 75th 
    Congress, certified to the United States attorney, southern 
    district of Ohio, the statement of facts concerning the said Lee 
    Lorch and Robert M. Metcalf on December 7, 1954, and certified to 
    the United States attorney, District of Columbia, the statement of 
    facts concerning the said Norton Anthony Russell on December 7, 
    1954.
        Respectfully,
                                             Joseph W. Martin, Jr.  

[[Page 49]]

Announcements of Resignations and Communications of Foreign Governments

Sec. 7.9 At the organization of a new Congress, the Speaker laid before 
    the House responses of foreign governments to resolutions extending 
    greetings to them.

    On Jan. 5, 1955,(20) Speaker Sam Rayburn, of Texas, laid 
before the House a communication from Thruston B. Morton, Assistant 
Secretary of State, informing the House that the legislative assembly 
of the Gold Coast had passed a resolution on Oct. 27, 1954, thanking 
the Congress of the United States for the greetings contained in a 
joint resolution of the 83d Congress, and extending an invitation to a 
congressional delegation to represent the United States at the 
ceremonies marking the attainment of independence for the Gold Coast.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
20. 101 Cong. Rec. 11, 12, 84th Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sec. 7.10 Letters notifying the Speaker of resignations effective 
    during adjournment sine die are laid before the House upon the 
    convening of a new Congress.

    On Jan. 4, 1965,(1) Speaker John W. McCormack, of 
Massachusetts, laid before the House a letter from Mr. Ross Bass, of 
Tennessee, resigning his seat in the House of Representatives, and a 
letter from Frank G. Clement, the Governor of Tennessee, informing the 
Speaker of the receipt of the resignation of Mr. Bass.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. 111 Cong. Rec. 25, 89th Cong. 1st 
        Sess.                          -------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------


 
                               CHAPTER 1
 
                          Assembly of Congress
 
                              B. PROCEDURE
 
Sec. 8. Procedure Before Adoption of Rules


    Before the House has reached the stage of organization where the 
standing rules are adopted, no specific rules of procedure are 
technically binding upon the House,(2) except those required 
by the Constitution.(3) Where organi
                         
[[Page 50]]

zation proceeds smoothly, the lack of rules does not hamper the House 
in its completion of opening business.(4) Where, however, 
election contests arise, or debate and challenges prevent the 
completion of the call of the Clerk's roll, the House may find it 
necessary to adopt, before the Speaker's election, specific rules as to 
debate and decorum, in order to facilitate the organization of the 
House.(5) The House may either draft a specific rule 
authorizing the officers of the preceding Congress to preserve order 
and decorum,(6) or temporarily adopt from the rules of the 
preceding House only that portion relating to order and 
decorum(7) Similarly, the House may provide by specific 
rule, before the election of the Speaker, for limitation on 
debate,(8) and for opening sessions with 
prayer.(9)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 2. Although at one time the House provided for adopted rules to 
        continue in succeeding Congresses (5 Hinds' Precedents 
        Sec. 6743), it was finally determined in 1889 and 1890 that one 
        House could not by rule bind its successor (5 Hinds' Precedents 
        Sec. 6747).
 3. The Constitution requires in art. I, Sec. 5, clause 1 that a quorum 
        be present to do business but authorizes a smaller number to 
        adjourn from day to day and to compel the attendance of absent 
        Members. Art. I, Sec. 5, clause 3 requires a Journal to be kept 
        and authorizes one-fifth of the Members present to order the 
        yeas and nays.
 4. See, e.g., Sec. Sec. 5.1, 6.1, and 7.1, supra.
 5. See, generally, 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 93-102.
 6. See 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 101.
 7. See 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 96-98, 102.
 8. See 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 94-95.
 9. See 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 99-100.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    While the Clerk is presiding he does recognize 
Members,(10) but only those whose names are on the 
roll,(10) and will entertain the motion to 
adjourn,(12) the demand for a yea and nay 
vote,(13) the motion to correct the roll,(14) the 
motion to proceed to the election of a Speaker,(15) and the 
motion to elect a chairman in place of the Clerk.(16)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
10. 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 74.
11. 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 86. The Clerk may refuse to recognize a 
        Member-elect who seeks to interrupt the call of the roll, 
        particularly if the name of the Member-elect is not on the 
        roll. 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 84.
12. See 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 67, 89, 92. The House may adjourn 
        for more than one day prior to the election of a Speaker. 1 
        Hinds' Precedents Sec. 89.
13. 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 91.
14. 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 19-21, 25. In some cases, it has been 
        held that the Clerk may not entertain the motion to correct the 
        roll, on the ground that the preparing of the Clerk's roll is 
        governed by statute (2 USC Sec. 26) and is not discretionary. 
        See 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 22-24.
15. See 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 212-14.
16. See 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 66. When the Clerk refused to put any 
        motion except that to adjourn, a Member-elect offered a 
        resolution to elect a chairman from the floor. 1 Hinds' 
        Precedents Sec. 67.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    As to other proposed motions, the general rule is that the Clerk 
may entertain only those propo
                         
[[Page 51]]

sitions consistent with the organization of the House.(17) One 
Clerk refused to entertain any motion but that to adjourn, and even declined 
to put a motion to approve the last day's Journal.(18) Other 
Clerks have presided at convening over the passage of resolutions, 
pertinent to organization, where the previous question and the motion 
to lay on the table were invoked.(19)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
17. 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 80. See. in general, Sec. 5, supra.
18. 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 67, 92. The refusal of the Clerk to 
        entertain the motion to approve the last day's Journal 
        prevented the reading of the Journal for several days. 1 Hinds' 
        Precedents Sec. 92.
19. See 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 68-70, 75 20.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Debates over the Clerk's authority as presiding 
officer(20) have, however, established a number of 
procedural guidelines; there is no longer any question as to the 
Clerk's power to preside at the beginning of a Congress,(1) 
nor is there doubt that he lacks authority to resolve election contests 
before the election of a Speaker.(2)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
20. See, in general, 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 64-80.
 1. For the derivation of the Clerk's authority to preside, see Sec. 5, 
        supra.
 2. 2 USC Sec. 26 and 2 USC Sec. Sec. 381-96 strictly govern the 
        preparation of the Clerk's roll and the procedure for election 
        contests. See 6 Cannon's Precedents Sec. 2, for an instance 
        where the Clerk stated, as a basis for his actions, the terms 
        of 2 USC Sec. 26.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In recent years, Members-elect have refrained from challenging the 
Clerk's roll or impeding the swift election of a Speaker,(3) 
and there has been little if any contemporary dispute as to the 
procedure to be followed before the election of a Speaker.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3. The last major contest over the election of a Speaker occurred in 
        1923. See 6 Cannon's Precedents Sec. 24.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    After the election of the Speaker and before adoption of the 
standing rules, he entertains those motions which have been recognized 
by precedent to apply under general parliamentary law (Sec. 9 discusses 
those motions in detail). As no rule establishing an order of business 
has at that point been adopted, it is in order for any Member who is 
recognized by the Chair to offer a proposition relating to organization 
without asking the consent of the House.(4) However, 
unanimous-consent requests and extensions of remarks are permitted at 
organization only in the Speaker's discretion, and when they are 
pertinent to organization. For example, remarks in honor of late 
Members of Congress are regularly admitted.(5) (The House 
often adjourns out of 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4. 4 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 3060.
 5. See Sec. Sec. 8.1, 8.2, infra.

[[Page 52]]

respect to deceased Members on opening day, after 
completing organizational business.)(6) Mes
sages are received during organization at the Speaker's discretion; an 
important Senate message may be received and read even between the 
ordering of the previous question on a proposition and the actual 
calling of a yea and nay vote.(7)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 6. See Sec. 8.2, infra.
 7. See Sec. 8.3, infra. While the Clerk is presiding, however, 
        messages even from the President are received but not read 
        pending the election of a Speaker. See 5 Hinds' Precedents 
        Sec. Sec. 6747-49.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Unanimous-Consent Requests During Organization

Sec. 8.1 The Speaker announced, prior to the adoption of the rules, 
    that he would recognize a Member to announce the death of the 
    President pro tempore of the Senate, but that no other unanimous-
    consent request would be permitted except to correct the Record.

    On Jan. 22, 1971,(8) Speaker Carl Albert, of Oklahoma, 
made the following announcement:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 8. 117 Cong. Rec. 131, 92d Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        The Chair would like to make an announcement at this time. The 
    Chair is going to recognize the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. 
    Landrum) at this time. This is for the purpose of announcing the 
    death of a great Member of Congress.(9)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 9. Senator Richard B. Russell, Jr. (Ga.).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        The Chair will take requests to correct the Record, but until 
    we have adopted the rules of the House, the Chair will appreciate 
    the indulgence of Members on other personal requests.
        The Chair now recognizes the gentleman from Georgia.

Sec. 8.2 The Speaker may grant permission to all Members to extend 
    remarks in the Record on opening day, where the House adjourns out 
    of respect to a deceased Member.

    On Jan. 10, 1966,(10) Mr. Hale Boggs, of Louisiana, made 
the following request:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
10. 112 Cong. Rec. 7, 36, 89th Cong. 2d Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Mr. Speaker,(11) I ask unanimous consent that on 
    today, and without making the procedure a precedent, all Members 
    may have permission to extend their remarks in the Record and to 
    include pertinent material therewith.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
11. Speaker pro tempore Carl Albert (Okla.).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    There were no objections. After further business, the House 
adjourned as a mark of respect to the late Honorable Herbert C. Bonner.

                         
[[Page 53]]

Interruption at Organization by Messages

Sec. 8.3 Before the adoption of rules, the Chair received a
    message from the Senate between the time the yeas and nays were 
    ordered on the previous question and the time the roll was called.

    On Jan. 3, 1969,(12) after the ordering of the yeas and 
nays on a motion for the previous question, Speaker John W. McCormack, 
of Massachusetts, received a message from the Senate as to a concurrent 
resolution to fix the date of the electoral count. Following receipt of 
that message the roll was called on the pending yea and nay vote.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
12. 115 Cong. Rec. 22, 91st Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------


 
                               CHAPTER 1
 
                          Assembly of Congress
 
                              B. PROCEDURE
 
Sec. 9. Motions

    As previously indicated, the House has before it, following the 
election of the Speaker, several substantive matters to resolve without 
the aid of standing rules.(13) The swearing in of Members, 
the election of officers, and even the adoption of rules themselves 
necessitate the putting of motions from the floor. Before rules are in 
effect, motions are governed in their admissibility and effect by 
precedent and by the general parliamentary law as applied in the House 
of Representatives.(14) That general authority does not, 
however, preclude reliance by the Speaker on the rules of past 
Congresses as a basis for admitting certain motions. For example, the 
motion to recommit after the ordering of the previous question has been 
ruled applicable in the House prior to the adoption of rules because it 
was within the ``spirit'' of the rules of the past 
Congress.(15) Therefore, in many instances the use of 
motions before the adoption of rules resembles more closely their use 
under the House rules than under Jefferson's Manual.(1)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
13. There are often introduced, before the adoption of standing rules, 
        resolutions relating to the adoption of the rules or to the 
        swearing in of Members or to other organizational business. 
        Action on such resolutions (as well as on any legislation that 
        may be considered), including debate, withdrawal, amendment, 
        and consideration, raises a variety of procedural questions 
        covered elsewhere (see Sec. 12, infra).
14. See, in general, 5 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 6757-63; 8 Cannon's 
        Precedents Sec. Sec. 3383-86.
15. See Sec. 9.5, infra.
 1. For motion practice generally, see Ch. 23, infra. Ch. 5, infra, 
        discusses the applicability of Jefferson's Manual to the 
        procedure of the House of Representatives.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Page 54]]

    There are motions, of regular use in the House, whose admissibility 
prior to the adoption of rules is unquestioned, since they
are authorized by the Constitution:(2) the demand for the 
yeas and nays(3) and the motion for a call of the House. The 
motion to adjourn is likewise admissible before the adoption of rules, 
either before or after the election of the Speaker; the motion is of 
standard usage under general parliamentary law(4) and is 
authorized by the Constitution as well.(5) The House may 
adjourn for more than one day before the election of the 
Speaker,(6) but since a concurrent resolution is necessary 
to adjourn for more than three days,(7) the House cannot 
move to adjourn for more than three days before the Speaker is elected 
and each House is notified of a quorum in the other.(8) The 
motion to adjourn is accorded preferential treatment before the 
adoption of the rules as well as after.(9)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 2. Art. I, Sec. 5, clause 3 authorizes one-fifth of those Members 
        present to call for the yeas and nays, and under art. I, 
        Sec. 5, clause 1, less than a majority of Members may compel 
        the attendance of absent Members when a quorum is lacking. The 
        question has arisen whether the body of Representatives 
        assembled has all the powers of the ``House,'' as contemplated 
        by the constitutional provisions, before organization is 
        completed. As discussed at 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 82, 
        however, that body may elect officers and adopt rules under the 
        Constitution and is therefore authorized to follow, before 
        organization is completed, at least those constitutional 
        provisions relating to procedure and to organization.
 3. See 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 91; 5 Hinds' Precedents 
        Sec. Sec. 6012-13. For an instance where the Speaker has 
        entertained a second demand for the yeas and nays after being 
        once refused on the same question, before rules adoption, see 
        Sec. 9.1, infra.
 4. See Jefferson's Manual, House Rules and Manual Sec. 584 (1973).
 5. Art. I, Sec. 5, clause 1 authorizes less than a majority of the 
        House to adjourn from day to day.
 6. 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 89
 7. U.S. Const. art. I, Sec. 5, clause 4. Generally, see Ch. 40, infra.
 8. Since a message from one House that a quorum has appeared is not 
        delivered in the other until a quorum has appeared there also 
        (1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 126), and the message of a quorum is 
        not sent until after the election of a Speaker (Sec. 7.1, 
        supra), official consent for adjournment for more than three 
        days could presumably not be obtained until that point in time.
 9. See Jefferson's Manual, House Rules and Manual Sec. 439 (1973), for 
        the parliamentary rule. On occasion, the Clerk presiding at the 
        opening has entertained no other motion than the motion to 
        adjourn (1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 67). On one instance, after 
        organization had been completed, the Speaker held the motion to 
        adjourn of higher precedence than the privileged motion to 
        proceed to the election of a new Speaker (8 Cannon's Precedents 
        Sec. 2641). The motion cannot, however, defer the right of a 
        Member-elect to take the oath (1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 622).

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                         
[[Page 55]]

    When a motion is made from the floor, it must be read to the House 
and then put to the question under general parliamentary law as well as 
under the standing rules of the House.(10) (After the 
Speaker is elected, he puts motions to the House; while the Clerk is 
presiding, however, he may decline to put a question to the House, 
whereupon a Member-elect may put it from the floor.)(11) The 
Speaker must recognize Members proposing motions which are privileged 
at the stage of organization.(12)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
10. See Jefferson's Manual, House Rules and Manual Sec. 392 (1973). 
        Under House practice, however, a motion does not require a 
        second as stated in Jefferson's Manual.
11. See 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 67.
12. 8 Cannon's Precedents Sec. 3383. Motions relating to the 
        organization of the House are privileged; an example is the 
        motion to proceed to the election of officers (1 Hinds' 
        Precedents Sec. 290).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    When a Member offers a resolution prior to the adoption of standing 
rules, he is entitled to one hour of debate on the 
resolution;(13) under general parliamentary law he may yield 
time for debate to others and still retain the right to resume debate 
or to move the previous question.(14) The previous question 
is a standard motion under parliamentary law,(15) and may be 
moved before the adoption of the rules.(16) However, the 40 
minutes of debate allowed by Rule XXVII of the rules, on a question on 
which there has been no debate, does not apply before the rules are 
effective.(17) The House may recommit, refer, lay on the 
table, or refuse to pass on the pending resolution in any shape, under 
general parliamentary prin
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
13. 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 6759; see also Sec. 12.3, infra.
14. 8 Cannon's Precedents Sec. 3383.
15. See Jefferson's Manual, House Rules and Manual Sec. 461 (1973). As 
        used in the House, however, the previous question no longer has 
        the purpose stated by Jefferson (House Rules and Manual 
        Sec. 450 [1973]), to avoid lengthy debate on embarrassing 
        questions or to suppress motions.
16. 5 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 6758; 8 Cannon's Precedents 
        Sec. Sec. 3383. 3386; Sec. 9.3 infra.
17. If ordered without previous debate, the previous question allows 40 
        minutes' debate under Rule XXVII clause 3, House Rules and 
        Manual Sec. 907 (1973). Prior to rules adoption, the 40 minutes 
        is not in order (8 Cannon's Precedents Sec. 3385). See also 
        Sec. 9.4, infra.
                         
[[Page 56]]

ciples.(18) In allowing the motion 
to recommit after the previous question has been moved, Speakers have 
based their rulings not only on the general parliamentary law, but also 
on the usage of the House of Representatives, includ
ing the standing rules of past Congresses;(19) such reliance 
was necessary to admit the motion to recommit, as Jefferson's Manual 
does not authorize it after the moving of the previous 
question.(20) If a resolution is recommitted before the 
adoption of rules, it will be recommitted to a select or special 
committee appointed by the Speaker.(1)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
18. See 5 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 6758.
19. See 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 3383-84; 5 Hinds' Precedents 
        Sec. 5604; Sec. 9.5, infra.
20. See Jefferson's Manual, House Rules and Manual Sec. 461 (1973).
 1. See 5 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 5604; 8 Cannon's Precedents Sec. 3383. 
        Committees are not constituted before the adoption of rules.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The House may utilize the motion to postpone consideration of a 
resolution before adoption of rules,(2) and it may amend by 
germane amendment a resolution on which the previous question is 
rejected.(3)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 2. See Sec. 9.7, infra.
 3. See Sec. Sec. 9.3, 12.6, 12.7, infra.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    On an occasion where the House was voting on the previous question, 
the Speaker declined to record the vote of a Member who failed to 
qualify as being in the Hall and listening when his name was called, 
before the adoption of rules.(4)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4. 8 Cannon's Precedents Sec. 3386.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Demand for Yeas and Nays

Sec. 9.1 The yeas and nays may not be demanded after they have been 
    once refused on the same question; but before the adoption of the 
    rules a second demand has been entertained where the Speaker was in 
    doubt of the result of a viva voce vote on the question.

    On Jan. 3, 1969,(5) after the yeas and nays were refused 
on the previous question, a parliamentary inquiry was stated:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 5. 115 Cong. Rec. 29, 30, 91st Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Mr. Gerald R. Ford [of Michigan]: Is this yea-and-nay vote on 
    the previous question?
        The Speaker [John W. McCormack, of Massachusetts]: It is.
        Mr. Ford: I thank the Chair.
        The Speaker: The question is on ordering the previous question.
The question was taken; and the Speaker announced that the yeas 
appeared to have it.

        Mr. Gross:(6) Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas 
    and nays.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 6. Mr. Harold R. Gross (Iowa).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                         
[[Page 57]]

The yeas and nays were ordered.

Sec. 9.2 Prior to the adoption of rules, one-fifth of the Members 
    present may order a yea and nay vote pursuant to the Constitution.
    On Jan. 4, 1965,(7) prior to the adoption of standing 
rules, Speaker John W. McCormack, of Massachusetts, stated in response 
to a parliamentary inquiry that under the Constitution, it would 
require one-fifth of the Members present to rise to order a yea and nay 
vote.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 7. 111 Cong. Rec. 19, 89th Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Motions for the Previous Question

Sec. 9.3 Prior to the adoption of rules, the previous question is 
    applicable in the House; after the previous question has been 
    moved, the resolution before the House is not subject to amendment 
    unless the previous question is rejected.

    On Jan. 4, 1965,(8) prior to rules adoption, Speaker 
John W. McCormack, of Massachusetts, stated in response to a 
parliamentary inquiry that if the previous question was voted down, it 
would then be in order to offer a proper amendment.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 8. 111 Cong. Rec. 19, 89th Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sec. 9.4 Prior to the adoption of rules, when the motion for the 
    previous question is moved without debate, the 40 minutes' debate 
    prescribed by House rules during the previous Congress does not 
    apply.

    On Jan. 7, 1959,(9) after the previous question was 
moved on a House resolution, Mr. Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr., of 
Massachusetts, arose to state a parliamentary inquiry:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 9. 105 Cong. Rec. 14, 86th Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Mr. O'Neill: Mr. Speaker, when the previous order has been 
    moved and there is [sic] no debate, under the rules of the House 
    are we not entitled to 40 minutes debate?
        The Speaker:(10) Under the precedents, the 40-minute 
    rule does not apply before the adoption of the rules.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
10. Sam Rayburn (Tex.).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Motion to Recommit

Sec. 9.5 A ruling to admit the motion to recommit after the ordering of 
    the previous question, before the adoption of rules, was based upon 
    a construction of the standing rules of prior Congresses.

[[Page 58]]

    On Dec. 7, 1931,(11) Mr. Carl E. Mapes, of Michigan, 
stated a parliamentary inquiry:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
11. 75 Cong. Rec. 12, 72d Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        I understood the gentleman from North Carolina to say that he 
    would not yield the floor for the purpose of al
    lowing an amendment to his motion. I would like to ask the Speaker 
    if it is not a fact, even though he does not yield the floor for 
    that purpose and the previous question should be ordered on the 
    resolution, that some Member on this side would have the right to 
    move to recommit or move to amend the resolution?

        The Speaker:(12) Within the spirit of the rules of 
    the 71st Congress on the motion to recommit, the Chair thinks that 
    they should have that right.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
12. John N. Garner (Tex.).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Mr. Mapes: I think the ruling of the Chair is correct. If the 
    Chair will recollect, Speaker Clark, at the beginning of the 63d 
    Congress, ruled to the same effect.
        The Speaker: The Chair is familiar with that 
    ruling.(13)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
13. Speaker Clark's ruling was made on Apr. 7, 1913, 50 Cong. Rec. 77, 
        63d Cong. 1st Sess., and is cited at 8 Cannon's Precedents 
        Sec. 3384.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Motion to Amend

Sec. 9.6 A resolution authorizing the Speaker to administer the oath to 
    a Representative-elect was open to amendment when the House refused 
    to order the previous question thereon, prior to the adoption of 
    rules.

    On Jan. 3, 1969,(14) after the House refused to order 
the previous question on a resolution to authorize the Speaker to 
administer the oath of office to Member-elect Adam C. Powell, of New 
York, an amendment was offered providing that the Speaker administer 
the oath but including several conditions of punishment for acts 
committed in a prior Congress.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
14. 115 Cong. Rec. 22, 23, 91st Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Motion to Postpone

Sec. 9.7 A motion to postpone consideration of a resolution to a day 
    certain is in order prior to adoption of the rules.

    On Jan. 21, 1971,(15) it was moved that an amendment to 
the rules of the House be considered as read and printed in the Record 
and that further consideration be put over until the next day. The 
House agreed to the motion.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
15.  117 Cong. Rec. 15, 92d Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Call of the House

Sec. 9.8 Prior to the adoption of the rules, a motion for a call of the 
    House is in order 
                         
[[Page 59]]

    when the absence of a quorum is announced; 
    following the establishment of a quorum, further proceedings under 
    the call may be dispensed with by unanimous consent.
    On Jan. 21, 1971,(16) before the adoption of rules, a 
call of the House was ordered in the absence of a quorum. After a 
quorum of 395 Members had answered to their names, further proceedings 
under the call were dispensed with by unanimous consent.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
16. 117 Cong. Rec. 14, 92d Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------


 
                               CHAPTER 1
 
                          Assembly of Congress
 
                              B. PROCEDURE
 
Sec. 10. Adoption of Rules; Applicability

    Under the Constitution of the United States, ``Each House may 
determine the Rules of its Proceedings . . . .''(17) The 
Supreme Court has interpreted this clause to mean that the House 
possesses nearly absolute power to adopt its own procedural rules. In 
United States v Ballin,(18) judicial inquiry into the 
validity of a House rule was limited to the question of whether the 
House possessed the power to adopt the rule. The Court determined the 
only limitations on that power to be that the rule must not violate 
constitutional rights, and the method of proceeding must be reasonably 
related to the desired result. The wisdom or folly of the rule was held 
not to be subject to judicial scrutiny.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
17. U.S. Const. art. I, Sec. 5, clause 2.
18. 144 U.S. 5 (1892).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The House, through the rulings of the Speaker, has interpreted its 
constitutional power to determine its own procedural rules very 
broadly. Since the late 1800s,(19) the rulings of the 
Speaker on the subject have consistently embodied the principle that 
such power must be exercised by each Congress. The procedural rules of 
the preceding Congress are no longer in effect at the opening session 
of the new Congress,(20) and the House proceeds under 
general parliamentary law until the rules are adopted.(1) 
Similarly, Congress may not, by rule or statute, provide that the House 
is to be governed by certain procedural rules during a future 
Congress.(2) Such 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
19. See 5 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 6743-6755.
20. 8 Cannon's Precedents Sec. 3383; 5 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 6002.
 1. See Sec. 1, supra, and Sec. Sec. 10.1, 10.2, infra; see also 8 
        Cannon's Precedents Sec. Sec. 3383-3386; 5 Hinds' Precedents 
        Sec. Sec. 6758-6763.
 2. See Sec. 1, supra, and Sec. 10.1, infra; see also 1 Hinds' 
        Precedents Sec. Sec. 187, 210. At one time, the theory that a 
        House might make its rules binding on the succeeding House was 
        much discussed, and even followed in practice. See 5 Hinds' 
        Precedents Sec. Sec. 6743-6755.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                         
[[Page 60]]

provisions must be incorporated into the standing rules by the current 
House if they are to be in effect.(3)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3. See 8 Cannon's Precedents Sec. 3383; 5 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 6002.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The House traditionally exercises its constitutional power to adopt 
the rules at the opening session of each Congress.(4) The 
resolution adopting the rules, which is usually offered by the former 
Chairman of the Committee on Rules,(5) at the direction of 
the majority party caucus, generally provides that the rules of the 
preceding House, with amendments, if any, shall be the rules of the 
current House.(6) Thus despite the fact that the rules are 
adopted de novo at the beginning of each Congress, in actual practice, 
a system of permanent standing rules has been developed.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4. See Sec. 10.3, infra. For the sequence of the adoption of rules in 
        relation to other organizational business, see Sec. 7, supra.
 5. See Sec. 10.4, infra.
 6. See Sec. 10.5, infra. The resolution incorporates applicable 
        provisions of the Legislative Reorganization Acts of 1946 and 
        1970.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The resolution adopting the rules is one of several resolutions 
considered under general parliamentary law each Congress, before 
standing rules are adopted. This body of general parliamentary law, 
which is further defined by each new ruling on the subject by the 
Speaker, has traditionally been construed to embrace those rules of 
procedure which embody practices of long established 
custom.(7)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 7. 6 Cannon's Precedents Sec. 191.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Thus the Speaker follows as closely as practicable the customs and 
practices of the House under former rules,(8) and gives 
weight to the precedents of the House in interpreting general 
parliamentary law.(9) It is important to note, however, that 
general parliamentary law may differ substantially from the rules 
adopted by the House in the preceding Congress, in which case the rules 
may be deemed inapplicable.(10)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 8. 8 Cannon's Precedents Sec. 3386.
 9. 8 Cannon's Precedents Sec. 3384. For a general discussion of the 
        parliamentary law applied in the House, see Sec. 1, supra. For 
        general procedure before rules adoption, see Sec. 8, supra, and 
        for motions practice before rules adoption, see Sec. 9, supra.
10. For example, on Jan. 7, 1959, Speaker Sam Rayburn (Tex.), when the 
        previous question was moved without debate, ruled that the 
        House rule, as adopted by the previous Congress, which 
        prescribed 40 minutes of debate in such situations, was not 
        applicable. 105 Cong. Rec. 14, 86th Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Page 61]]

    On a number of occasions the Speaker has been called upon to 
interpret general parliamentary law in connection with the adoption of 
the rules.(11) It has been ruled, for example, that 
amendments to the resolution may be offered only when the Member in control 
of it yields for that purpose or when the previous question is 
rejected,(12) and that 
clerical errors may be corrected in the engrossment of the resolution 
after adoption.(13)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
11. See Sec. Sec. 10.1, and 10.2, infra. For general parliamentary law 
        relating to action on resolutions, see Sec. 12, infra.
12. See Sec. 10.9, infra.
13. See Sec. 10.12, infra.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Right of Each House To Determine Its Procedural Rules

Sec. 10.1 Congress may not, by rule or statute, prescribe rules of 
    procedure for a future House.

    On Jan. 22, 1971,(14) during the debate on the 
resolution adopting the rules, the following point of order was raised:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
14. 117 Cong. Rec. 132, 92d Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Mr. Hall:(15) Mr. Speaker, I do desire to make a 
    point of order against consideration of Resolution 5 [the 
    resolution adopting the rules], inasmuch as it is against the law 
    of the land.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
15. Mr. Durward G. Hall (Mo.).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        The Speaker:(16) The gentleman will state his point 
    of order.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
16. Carl Albert (Okla.).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Mr. Hall: Mr. Speaker, the Legislative Reorganization Act of 
    1970 is in fact now the law of the land, Public Law No. 91-510, and 
    section 601 (6) thereof states that the effective date of the act 
    is January 1, 1971. . . .
        Now, Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Missouri full well 
    realizes the precedents of the House, the fact that we operate 
    until such time as rules are adopted, under ``general parliamentary 
    procedure,'' and that this is subject to wide interpretation.
        On the other hand, Mr. Speaker, my point of order is lodged on 
    the fact that the law of the land, first, says that any committee 
    report or legislation, resolution, must be available to Members for 
    3 calendar days prior to consideration--section 108(b)(4); and, 
    second that any minority has 3 calendar days to file views with the 
    clerk of any subcommittee--section 107(b). . . .
        . . . I pray that, based on the precedents, based on 
    Jefferson's Rules of Procedure, which a former Speaker has ruled 
    are indeed the greater bulk of existing parliamentary procedure, 
    that we do not go forward with consideration of this resolution at 
    this time until we have had due process, the Members have had the 
    resolution in their hands for a minimum of 3 days, that minority 
    reports have had an opportunity for preparation and distribution, 
    and so that true compliance of the law of the land be accomplished.
        The Speaker: The Chair is ready to rule. . . .
                         
[[Page 62]]

        The Constitution is, of course, superior to any public statute 
    and the Constitution in article I, section 5, gives each House the 
    authority to determine the rules of its proceedings, and it has 
    been repeatedly held that the power of each new House to make its 
    own rules may not be impaired or controlled by the rules or actions 
    of a preceding House.

        These principles are, in fact, recognized and enunciated in 
    Public Law 91-510, the Legislative Reorganization
    Act. Section 101 of the act states in part that the rules changes 
    recommended therein are enacted ``as an exercise of the rule-making 
    power of the House subject to and with full recognition of the 
    power of the House to enact or change any rule of the House at any 
    time in its exercise of its constitutional right to determine the 
    rules of its proceedings.''
        The Chair overrules the point of order.

Sec. 10.2 The House proceeds under general parliamentary law before 
    rules are adopted at the beginning of each Congress.

    On Jan. 3, 1953, after the previous question was moved on the 
resolution adopting the rules for the 83d Congress, the following 
parliamentary inquiry was raised:

        Mr. Eberharter:(17) Mr. Speaker, are we proceeding 
    now under the rules we are going to adopt later, and which have not 
    yet been adopted? Under what rules is the House proceeding, or is 
    it proceeding under any rules?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
17. Mr. Herman P. Eberharter (Pa.).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        The Speaker:(18) The House is proceeding under the 
    general parliamentary rules we have had for many years.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
18. Joseph W. Martin, Jr. (Mass.).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Mr. Eberharter: Mr. Speaker, a further parliamentary inquiry.
        The Speaker: The gentleman will state it.
        Mr. Eberharter: Mr. Speaker, if the rules are not adopted today 
    and the question goes over until next week, would we still proceed 
    under some other rules that have not yet been adopted by the 
    Eighty-third Congress?
        The Speaker: If the rules were not adopted today, we would 
    proceed as we are this very moment, under general parliamentary 
    law.(19)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
19. 99 Cong. Rec. 24, 83d Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 3, 1953. For a more 
        recent statement, by Speaker Carl Albert (Okla.), that the 
        House proceeds under general parliamentary law prior to the 
        adoption of the rules, see 117 Cong. Rec. 132, 92d Cong. 1st 
        Sess., Jan. 22, 1971.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Introduction of Resolution Adopting the Rules

Sec. 10.3 Traditionally the resolution adopting the rules is offered at 
    the opening session of the new Congress after the adoption of the 
    resolution authorizing the Clerk to inform the President of the 
    election of the Speaker and the Clerk of the House of 
    Representatives.

[[Page 63]]

    At the opening session of the 91st Congress,(1) 
following the adoption of a resolution authorizing the appointment of a 
committee to notify the President of the
assembly of Congress (H. Res. 5), the House adopted a resolution 
instructing the Clerk to inform the President that the House had 
elected John W. McCormack, Speaker, and W. Pat Jennings, Clerk (H. Res. 
6). Mr. William M. Colmer, of Mississippi, then introduced the 
resolution providing for the adoption of the rules for the 91st 
Congress (H. Res. 7), which was agreed to without debate.(2)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. 115 Cong. Rec. 35, 91st Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 3, 1969. For other 
        recent examples of this order of proceedings see 117 Cong. Rec. 
        13, 92d Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 21, 1971; 113 Cong. Rec. 28, 90th 
        Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 10, 1967.
 2. While this order of proceeding is generally followed, several 
        deviations are noted in Hinds' Precedents. In one instance the 
        rules were adopted immediately after the election of the 
        Speaker (1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 93), and in another the rules 
        were adopted before the election of the Clerk (1 Hinds' 
        Precedents Sec. 245).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    On occasion, the resolution adopting the rules has been immediately 
preceded by a unanimous-consent request,(3) or by another 
resolution.(4) And in the 73d Congress,(5) the 
House passed a bill of major importance before the adoption of the 
rules.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3. See 84 Cong. Rec. 13, 76th Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 3, 1939; 79 Cong. 
        Rec. 13, 74th Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 3, 1935 (unanimous consent 
        requested for permission for the House to recess).
 4. See 111 Cong. Rec. 20, 21, 89th Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 4, 1965 
        (resolution on clerk-hire).
 5. 77 Cong. Rec. 83, 73d Cong. 1st Sess., Mar. 9, 1933 (see Sec. 12.8, 
        infra).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sec. 10.4 Generally, the resolution adopting the rules is offered by 
    the former Chairman of the Committee on Rules at the direction of 
    the majority caucus.

    In the 92d Congress, Mr. William M. Colmer, of Mississippi, 
introduced the resolution adopting the rules,(6) and later 
during the debate thereon remarked that he was presenting the 
resolution by direction of the Democratic Caucus, but was opposed to 
one of the provisions contained therein.(7)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 6. 117 Cong. Rec. 13, 92d Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 21, 1971. For other 
        recent examples, see 115 Cong. Rec. 35, 91st Cong. 1st Sess., 
        Jan. 3, 1969; 107 Cong. Rec. 25, 87th Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 3, 
        1961; 105 Cong. Rec. 15, 86th Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 7, 1959.
 7. 117 Cong. Rec. 132, 92d Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 22, 1971.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Parliamentarian's Note: When the former Chairman of the Com
                         
[[Page 64]]

mittee on Rules is opposed to key provisions of the resolution adopting 
the rules, the resolution may be offered by the Majority Leader.

    In the 88th,(8) 89th,(9) and 90th 
Congresses,(10) the resolution was introduced by Majority 
Leader Carl Albert, of Oklahoma, at the
direction of the Democratic Caucus.(11) The debate over the 
adoption of the rules for the 88th Congress was focused on the merits 
of a provision which would increase the size of the Committee on Rules 
from 12 to 15 members.(12) Howard W. Smith, of Virginia, the 
former Chairman of the Committee on Rules, indicated his opposition to 
that provision as follows:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 8. 109 Cong. Rec. 14, 88th Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 9, 1963.
 9. 111 Cong. Rec. 21, 89th Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 4, 1965.
10. 113 Cong. Rec. 28, 90th Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 10, 1967.
11. 111 Cong. Rec. 23, 89th Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 4, 1965 (remarks of 
        Mr. Albert).
12. 109 Cong. Rec. 14, 88th Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 9, 1963.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        If this resolution passes, you all know what it means, and it 
    will happen again, and that is to say whenever the President wants 
    a bill passed or the Speaker wants a bill submitted to the floor, 
    he gets it. Now, I think that there ought to be some discretion 
    about this matter so that the Committee on Rules could do now like 
    they have done in the past, at least give the matter some looking 
    over, give it some consideration and a little time, so that the 
    country might know what some of these measures are about. I hope 
    none of my southern friends are going to be complaining around here 
    when certain measures come up that are going to come up, and come 
    up quite promptly, if the Committee on Rules is packed again. And, 
    I hope that when they go to vote on this resolution that they will 
    remember that there are some things involved in this that will 
    greatly and adversely affect their States; not just how many people 
    should be on the Committee on Rules or who shall govern the 
    Committee on Rules.(13)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
13. 109 Cong. Rec. 18, 88th Cong., 1st Sess., Jan. 9, 1963.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In the 89th and 90th Congresses, the resolution adopting the rules 
incorporated the 21-day rule, providing for the discharge of the 
Committee on Rules from the consideration of a special order by a 
majority vote of the House. On both occasions, the former Chairman of 
the Committee on Rules demonstrated his opposition to the resolution by 
voting against the motion on the previous question.(14)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
14. 111 Cong. Rec. 24, 89th Cong., 1st Sess., Jan. 4, 1965 (Howard W. 
        Smith, [Va.], former Chairman of the Committee on Rules); 113 
        Cong. Rec. 31, 90th Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 10, 1967 (William M. 
        Colmer, [Miss.], former Chairman of the Committee on Rules).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Form of Resolution

[[Page 65]]

Sec. 10.5 The resolution adopting the rules usually provides that the 
    rules of the preceding House, with or without amendments shall be 
    the rules of the current House.

    The following proceedings in the 87th Congress(15) 
illustrate the practice whereby the House
adopts the rules of the preceding Congress:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
15. 107 Cong. Rec. 25, 87th Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 3, 1961. For similar 
        examples, see 113 Cong. Rec. 28, 90th Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 10, 
        1967; 105 Cong. Rec. 15, 86th Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 7, 1959; 
        103 Cong. Rec. 47, 85th Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 3, 1957.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Mr. Howard W. Smith, of Virginia: Mr. Speaker, I offer a 
    resolution.
        The Clerk read as follows:

            Resolved, That the Rules of the House of Representatives of 
        the 86th Congress, together with all applicable provisions of 
        the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946, as amended, be, and 
        they are hereby, adopted as the Rules of the House of 
        Representatives of the 87th Congress.

    In recent Congresses,(16) the resolution adopting the 
rules of the previous Congress frequently has provided for amendments 
to those rules. Such a resolution(17) routinely contains 
language substantially similar to the resolution adopting the rules of 
the previous Congress intact, with the following addition:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
16. See, e.g., 117 Cong. Rec. 13, 92d Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 21, 1971; 
        115 Cong. Rec. 35, 91st Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 3, 1969; 111 
        Cong. Rec. 21, 89th Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 4, 1965.
17. See, e.g., 109 Cong. Rec. 14, 88th Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 9, 1963.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        [The rules of the preceding Congress are adopted], with the 
    following amendment therein as a part thereof, to wit: . . .

    Although a resolution adopting the rules usually takes the above 
form, the entire set of standing rules may be drafted as part of the 
resolution. In the 83d Congress(18) the resolution adopting 
the rules provided in part:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
18. 99 Cong. Rec. 15-24, 83d Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 3, 1953.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Resolved, That the following be, and they are hereby, adopted 
    as the rules of the Eighty-third Congress. . . .

Withdrawing or Postponing the Resolution to Adopt Rules

Sec. 10.6 The resolution adopting the rules may be withdrawn at any 
    time before action is taken thereon.

    In the 92d Congress(19) the reading of the resolution 
adopting the rules by the Clerk was interrupted by the following 
proceedings:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
19. 117 Cong. Rec. 13, 92d Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 21, 1971.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        The Speaker:(20) The Clerk will suspend the reading 
    of the resolution.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
20. Carl Albert (Okla.).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Page 66]]

        The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. 
    William M. Colmer).
        Mr. Colmer: Mr. Speaker, I am advised that an error was made in 
    the haste here and that the wrong resolution was submitted. 
    Therefore, I ask unanimous consent----
        The Speaker: The gentleman from Mississippi can withdraw the 
    resolution.
        Mr. Colmer: Mr. Speaker, I withdraw the resolution.
        Mr. Gross:(1) Mr. Speaker, reserving the right to 
    object----
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Mr. Harold R. Gross (Iowa).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Mr. Speaker: The reservation of objection is not in order.
        Mr. Gross: Mr. Speaker, did not the gentleman from Mississippi 
    offer a resolution to the House?
        The Speaker: Yes, he did; but he has withdrawn it; and he has 
    that right to withdraw it.

Sec. 10.7 Consideration of the resolution adopting the rules may be 
    postponed, on motion, until the following day.

    At the opening session of the 92d Congress,(2) after the 
resolution adopting the rules was read and a point of order was 
reserved against it, the following motion was offered:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 2. 117 Cong. Rec. 15, 92d Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 21, 1971.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Mr. Colmer:(3) Mr. Speaker, I move that further 
    consideration of the resolution be put over until tomorrow, and 
    that the resolution be printed in the Record.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3. Mr. William M. Colmer (Miss.).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        The Speaker:(4) The question is on the motion 
    offered by the gentleman from Mississippi.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4. Carl Albert (Okla.).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The motion was agreed to.

Non-Divisibility of the Resolution

Sec. 10.8 The Speaker indicated, in response to a parliamentary 
    inquiry, that a resolution adopting the rules of the preceding 
    Congress with three amendments was not subject to a demand for a 
    division of the question.

    A question as to the divisibility of the vote on the resolution 
arose in the 89th Congress(5) in the form of a parliamentary 
inquiry:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 5. 111 Cong. Rec. 21, 89th Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 4, 1965. In Hinds' 
        Precedents, a similar situation is noted in which the Speaker, 
        David B. Henderson (Iowa), ruled that it was not in order to 
        demand a separate vote on each rule. 5 Hinds' Precedents 
        Sec. 6159.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Mr. Smith:(6). . .
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 6. Mr. Howard W. Smith (Va.)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        There is another question I want to ask, and I think maybe the 
    gentleman might yield. There are three distinct changes of existing 
    rules of the House which have been in effect for a long time. . . .

        . . . Under the rules perhaps this is a parliamentary inquiry. 
    Is the oppor
                         
[[Page 67]]

    tunity for a division of the question going to be had 
    so we can vote for what we want to vote for and vote against what 
    we do not want to vote for instead of having to swallow the whole 
    dose at one time.
        The Speaker:(7) The gentleman is making a 
    parliamentary inquiry. In reply, the Chair may say this resolution 
    is not divisible.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 7. John W. McCormack (Mass.)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Amending the Resolution

Sec. 10.9 When the Member in control of the resolution adopting the 
    rules refuses to yield for the introduction of amendments, they may 
    be offered only if the previous question on the resolution is first 
    voted down.
    At the opening session of the 83d Congress,(8) the 
Member who had offered the resolution adopting the rules indicated that 
he would not yield for the introduction of amendments. The following 
parliamentary inquiry was then raised:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 8. 99 Cong. Rec. 24, 83d Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 3, 1953.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Mr. Celler:(9) Mr. Speaker, do I correctly 
    understand that the parliamentary situation is that if the motion 
    for the previous question is not voted down, no opportunity will be 
    given to offer an amendment by way of liberalizing the rules?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 9. Mr. Emanuel Celler (N.Y.).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        The Speaker:(10) The gentleman states the situation 
    accurately.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
10. Joseph W. Martin, Jr. (Mass.).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The proceedings in connection with the adoption of the rules of the 
92d Congress are illustrative of the procedure usually followed when 
amendments to the resolution are offered. On Jan. 22, 
1971,(11) the previous question on the resolution, which 
incorporated the controversial 21-day rule for discharging the 
Committee on Rules as part of the standing rules, was rejected. An 
amendment deleting that provision was then offered, and subsequently 
agreed to by the House.(12)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
11. 117 Cong. Rec. 140. 92d Cong. 1st Sess.
12. 117 Cong. Rec. 143, 92d Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 22, 1971.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sec. 10.10 Although generally, an amendment may be offered only after 
    the previous question is voted down on the resolution to adopt 
    rules,(13) there are exceptions to this rule.

    In the 79th Congress,(14) an amendment to the resolution 
adopting the rules was introduced without objection even though the 
Member in charge of the resolu
                         
[[Page 68]]

tion had not yielded for that purpose, nor had he moved the previous 
question.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
13. 113 Cong. Rec. 31, 90th Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 10, 1967; 97 Cong. 
        Rec. 17, 92d Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 3, 1951; 95 Cong. Rec. 10, 
        81st Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 3, 1949.
14. 91 Cong. Rec. 10, 79th Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 3, 1945.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Speaker's Participation in Debate on the Resolution

Sec. 10.11 The Speaker may participate in the debate on the resolution 
    adopting the rules.

    In the 89th Congress,(15) the Speaker, John W. 
McCormack, of
Massachusetts, took the floor in support of the resolution adopting the 
rules, and in the course of his remarks, explained his reasons for so 
doing:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
15. 111 Cong. Rec. 23, 89th Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 4, 1965. See also 109 
        Cong. Rec. 14-22, 88th Cong. 1st Sess., where Speaker McCormack 
        took the floor to debate the resolution adopting the rules and 
        increasing the membership of the Committee on Rules.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Mr. McCormack: Mr. Speaker, as this resolution involves changes 
    in the rules, I feel that my views should be known to the Members 
    of the House. I strongly favor the resolution offered by the 
    gentleman from Oklahoma [Mr. Albert]. I think the 21-day rule is a 
    rule that is for the benefit of the individual Member of the House 
    without regard to party affiliation in giving [him] the opportunity 
    of passing upon legislation that has been reported out of a 
    standing committee.

Correction of the Resolution

Sec. 10.12 The House, by unanimous consent, may direct the Clerk to 
    correct clerical errors in the engrossment of the resolution 
    adopting the rules.

    The resolution adopting the rules for the 90th Congress, as passed 
by the House on Jan. 10, 1967,(16) contained several errors. 
On Jan. 12, 1967,(17) Majority Leader Carl Albert, of 
Oklahoma; who had introduced the resolution, asked the House for 
unanimous consent to direct the Clerk to make the following corrections 
in the engrossment of the resolution: First, to strike out ``Ninetieth 
Congress'' and insert ``Eighty-ninth Congress''; and second, to insert 
the clause ``With the following amendment, to wit:'', which was 
necessary to integrate the amendment into the resolution. There was no 
objection to the request. Mr. Albert then obtained unanimous consent 
for the resolution as corrected to be printed in the Journal and in the 
Record.(18)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
16. 113 Cong. Rec. 33, 90th Cong. 1st Sess.
17. 113 Cong. Rec. 430, 90th Cong. 1st Sess.
18. 113 Cong. Rec. 431, 90th Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 12, 1967.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------


 
                               CHAPTER 1
 
                          Assembly of Congress
 
                              B. PROCEDURE
 
Sec. 11. Resumption of Legislative Business

    Once the two Houses of Congress have assembled, elected offi 
                         
[[Page 69]]

cers, sworn Members, and adopted rules, the resumption of legislative 
business is in order.(19) Two
important questions arise, however, as to the taking up of business: 
first, at what point in time does Congress actually begin legislating 
after organization, and second, to what extent does business carry over 
from the previous session. As to the time the two new Houses begin 
transacting business, there is a long established custom of postponing 
business not pertinent to organization until after the President has 
delivered his state of the Union message to the 
Congress.(20) In the Senate, this principle applies both at 
the beginning of a new session of a new Congress, and at the 
commencement of a consecutive session of an existing 
Congress.(1) Although the House does not transact 
legislative business at the beginning of a new Congress until after the 
Presidential message, that body does resume business at the beginning 
of a second or third session before the Presidential 
message,(2) and even on occasion before a quorum has 
appeared in the Senate.(3)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
19. The Act of 1789, Ch. 1, Sec. 2, 1 Stat. 23, as amended, 2 USC 
        Sec. 25 (1948) requires that the oath be administered to the 
        Speaker, Members and Clerk ``previous to entering on any other 
        business. . . .'' See also 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 130, 
        140, 237, 241, 243; 5 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 6647-49; 
        contra (allowing business before the election of the Clerk), 1 
        Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 242, 244, 245.
            The Speaker has suggested that bills should not be acted 
        upon prior to the adoption of rules. 117 Cong. Rec. 16, 92d 
        Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 20, 1971 (Speaker Carl Albert); the 
        announcement is cited at Sec. 12.2, infra. For an occasion 
        where a major bill was considered and passed before rules 
        adoption, see 77 Cong. Rec. 83, 73d Cong. 1st Sess., Mar. 9, 
        1933 (cited at Sec. 12.8, infra).
20. See 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 81, 122-125; Sec. 7.1, supra; 
        Sec. 12.10, infra. See the remarks, in explanation of the 
        custom, by Mr. Michael J. Mansfield, 114 Cong. Rec. 4-5, 90th 
        Cong. 2d Sess., Jan. 15, 1968 (quoted at Sec. 11.4, infra).
 1. See Sec. 12.10, infra (first session) and Sec. 11.4, infra 
        (subsequent session).
 2. See Sec. Sec. 11.2 and 11.3, infra.
 3. See 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 126.
 4. House Rules and Manual Sec. 901 (1973).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Upon convening for a second or third session during the term of a 
Congress, the House resumes all business that was pending either before 
the House or before committees at the adjournment sine die of the 
preceding session. That practice of resuming business grows out of Rule 
XXVI of the House rules,(4) which specifically continues all 
business before committees as if no adjournment had taken place; actual 
practice under 
                         
[[Page 70]]

the rule continues all business before the House, not 
just that before committees.(5)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 5. For the history and the scope of the rule, see 5 Hinds' Precedents 
        Sec. 6727. The practice of resuming all old business at the 
        start of a session during the term of a Congress departed from 
        the rule of the English Parliament, as stated in Jefferson's 
        Manual. House Rules and Manual Sec. 592 (1973).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The vast majority of business remaining at the end of one Congress 
does not, however, carry over to the beginning of a new Congress, since 
Congress does not allow the past proceedings of one Congress to bind its 
successor. Few 
categories have carried over from one Congress to the next; impeachment 
proceedings pending on the last day of one Congress have been continued 
at the beginning of the succeeding one,(6) and a 
Presidential veto message to the House was on one occasion read and 
received at the beginning of the next Congress.(7)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 6. Jefferson's Manual, House Rules and Manual Sec. 620 (1973). On two 
        occasions, the impeachment trial was conducted by the Senate 
        following the impeachment by the House in the prior Congress 
        (see 3 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 2320, 2321; 6 Cannon's 
        Precedents Sec. Sec. 515, 516). Whether the House itself may 
        continue unfinished impeachment proceedings is discussed in Ch. 
        14, infra.
 7. See 5 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 6645.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The committees of a new Congress do not routinely resume the 
business that was pending at the end of the prior 
Congress.(8) However, should the House membership wish to 
authorize a special committee of investigation to continue its business 
into a new Congress, the new House may so authorize by 
resolution.(9) On one occasion, the House accepted as 
binding a concurrent resolution of the last Congress requiring the 
appointment of a joint committee; although the joint committee was 
never actually created, the House was prepared to accord to the 
resolution the force of a binding joint rule.(10)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 8. See Rule XXXVI, House Rules and Manual Sec. 932 (1973).
 9. See Sec. 11.1, infra.
10. 4 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 4445.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In contrast to the House principle that committees and their 
functions regularly expire with the term of the Congress, Senate 
committees may carry over to a new Congress, since the Senate is a 
continuing legislative body as opposed to the House.(11)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
11. See 4 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 4544.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Resumption of Committee Investigation in New Congress

Sec. 11.1 A new Congress may, by resolution, continue a special 
    committee investigation begun by a former Congress.

[[Page 71]]

    On Jan. 3, 1935,(12) the House agreed to the following 
resolution:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
12. 79 Cong. Rec. 24, 74th Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Resolved, That the Special Committee on Un-American Activities, 
    appointed by the Speaker to conduct certain investigations under 
    authority of House Resolution 198 of the Seventy-third Congress, is 
    hereby granted additional time until February 4, 1935, to prepare 
    and file its report and recommendations for legislation with the
    House. Any unexpended balance of the total amount authorized for 
    the use of said special committee under House Resolution 199 and 
    House Resolution 424 of the Seventy-third Congress is hereby 
    continued available until said date.

Resumption of Old Business- Second Session

Sec. 11.2 On the opening day of the second session the House conducted 
    business, the call of the Consent Calendar.

    On Jan. 19, 1970,(13) Speaker John W. McCormack, of 
Massachusetts, stated that as it was Consent Calendar day, the Clerk 
would call the first bill on the Consent Calendar.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
13. 116 Cong. Rec. 150, 91st Cong. 2d Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sec. 11.3 A Senate bill, messaged to the House following sine die 
    adjournment, was referred to committee on the opening day of the 
    second session.

    On Jan. 10, 1966, the opening day of the second session of the 89th 
Congress,(14) Senate bill 2471, messaged to the House during 
the sine die adjournment, was taken from the Speaker's table and 
referred to committee.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
14. 112 Cong. Rec. 36, 89th Cong. 2d Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Senate Practice

Sec. 11.4 While the Senate rules do not prohibit business on the 
    opening day of a new session, it is the custom of that body to 
    defer all business until after the President has delivered his 
    state of the Union address.

    On Jan. 15, 1968,(15) the opening day of the second 
session, Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey, Jr. ruled in response to a 
series of parliamentary inquiries that there was no rule in the Senate 
rules that required adjournment on opening day without consideration of 
speeches, resolutions, or petitions, or that prohibited a Senator from 
making a speech or prohibited the Senate from receiving a petition of 
grievance from citizens. The Vice President stated, how
                         
[[Page 72]]

ever, that there was a long-established historical precedent in the 
Senate for postponing business until after the state of the Union message 
to the Congress by the President. The Majority Leader of the Senate, Michael 
J. Mansfield, of Montana, then arose and stated his intention to 
shortly move for adjournment, for the following reasons:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
15. 114 Cong. Rec. 4, 5, 90th Cong. 2d Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        I have had some conversations with various Senators relative to 
    their desire to have a petition read to the Senate today.
        I appreciate the courtesy which they showed in telling me of 
    what they intended to do.
        I explained to them, or at least I tried to, that, I had been 
    asked by many other Senators whether there was to be any business 
    today, and I had told them all that under custom and procedures, 
    there would be no business, there would be no morning hours, and 
    there would be no introduction of bills because that was the 
    custom, based on practice and precedent. It was a custom which gave 
    to the President of the United States a courtesy, and it was a 
    custom which was predicated on the idea that no business of any 
    sort should be transacted until after the delivery of the 
    President's state of the Union message.
        It is my understanding that only on one occasion was this 
    practice abrogated and that was when Congress received notice that 
    the President of the United States would not be in the position to 
    deliver his state of the Union message until 2 weeks after Congress 
    convened.

    The Senate then adjourned, without transacting any business, until 
the following day.

Sec. 11.5 Contrary to the usual custom in the Senate of deferring all 
    business at the opening of a session until after the President's 
    message on the state of the Union, the Senate agreed to begin 
    business on the second day of the session, before the President's 
    message.

    On Jan. 18, 1972,(16) the Senate agreed by unanimous 
consent to take up unfinished business from the first session on Jan. 
19, the following day. The President informed the Senate that he would 
deliver the state of the Union message to the Congress on Jan. 20, 
1972.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
16. 118 Cong. Rec. 4, 92d Cong. 2d Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------


 
                               CHAPTER 1
 
                          Assembly of Congress
 
                              B. PROCEDURE
 
Sec. 12. Action on Bills and Resolutions During Organization

    As a general principle, resolutions may be offered and acted upon 
in both Houses of Congress during the entire period of organization, 
from the first call to order to the President's message on the state of 
the Union. In addition, a 
                         
[[Page 73]]

major bill may on a rare occasion be considered and passed in both Houses 
before organization is completed by the adoption of rules,(17) 
although a bill will not be considered in the House before the 
administration of the oath to Members-elect.(18) Major bills are 
not usually considered by the House as a body before rules have been 
adopted and before the President has delivered his message to 
Congress.(19) In prevailing practice, numerous ``opening day 
bills'' are introduced by House Members at the beginning of a new 
Congress, although they may not actually be referred to committee until 
a later time.(20) However, in the Senate the introduction of 
bills at the opening of a new Congress, or even at the opening of a new 
session, is not generally permitted until after the Presidential 
message.(1)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
17. See Sec. 12.8, infra.
18. 2 USC Sec. 25 requires that the oath be administered to the 
        Speaker, to Members, and to the Clerk before the House enters 
        into general business. If the right of individual Members to be 
        sworn is challenged, however, the House may proceed to business 
        before resolving the challenges (see Ch. 2, infra). On 
        occasion, the House has transacted business, including the 
        adoption of rules, before the election of a Clerk (see 1 Hinds' 
        Precedents Sec. Sec. 93, 198-203, 240, 242, 244, 245).
19. See Sec. 11, supra, for the time of taking up of legislative 
        business.
20. See, e.g., Sec. Sec. 12.1, 12.2, infra.
 1. See Sec. 12.10, infra (first session); Sec. 11.4, supra (subsequent 
        session).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In order to complete organizational business, it is of course 
necessary to offer various House resolutions before the adoption of 
rules; many of those resolutions, which are customarily drafted to 
complete organizational business, are discussed in the preceding 
sections of this chapter, and will not be discussed here.(2) 
This section will deal with the general principles that govern the 
consideration and passage of bills and resolutions offered before the 
adoption of rules.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 2. Examples of such standardized resolutions, whose adoption by the 
        House is usually perfunctory, are the resolution to proceed to 
        the election of a Speaker (see Sec. 6, supra), the resolution 
        to elect officers of the House (see Sec. 7, supra), and the 
        resolutions to notify the Senate and the President of the 
        assembly of the House (see Sec. 7, supra).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Primarily, any resolution affecting the organization of the House 
is privileged and takes precedence over other matters before the 
adoption of standing rules.(3) Under general parliamentary 
law, one hour of debate is in order on a resolution, the time to be con
                         
[[Page 74]]

trolled by the proponent thereof;(4) a resolution offered 
before rules are adopted may be withdrawn at any time before action is 
taken thereon, without obtaining the consent of the 
House.(5) A pending resolution is not subject to amendment 
unless the Member in control yields for that purpose,(6) or 
unless the previous question is moved and rejected.(7) Any 
amendment offered to a resolution during organization is subject to the 
requirement that it must be germane.(8) For example, when an 
amendment proposing punishment was offered to a resolution authorizing 
the Speaker to administer the oath of office to a Member-elect, the 
amendment was ruled not germane, prior to the adoption of standing 
rules.(9)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3. See 6 Cannon's Precedents Sec. 3.
 4. See 5 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 6759; Sec. 12.3, infra.
 5. See Sec. 12.4, infra.
 6. See Sec. 12.5, infra.
 7. See Sec. 12.6, infra. For the treatment of the motion to amend and 
        the motion for the previous question, prior to the adoption of 
        rules. see Sec. Sec. 8, 9, supra.
 8. See 5 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 6760; Sec. 12.6, infra (resolution 
        open to germane amendment when previous question rejected).
 9. See Sec. 12.7, infra.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    When bills and resolutions are offered on the floor before the 
House is organized, they cannot be offered by committee, as committees 
have not yet been formally constituted. Most of the organizational 
resolutions are offered by ranking party leaders.(10) The 
House does, however, maintain informal committee jurisdiction over some 
of the opening functions which require resolutions, such as the 
adoption of rules and the fixing of the hour of daily 
meeting.(11) (A bill or resolution on the floor during 
organization may be recommitted to a special committee to be appointed 
by the Speaker.)(12)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
10. See, e.g., opening day of the 92d Congress, 117 Cong. Rec 13-16, 
        Jan. 21, 1971. Olin E. Teague, Chairman, Democratic Caucus, 
        offered the resolution to elect officers; Wilbur Mills, former 
        Chairman, Committee on Ways and Means of the 92d Congress, 
        offered the resolution to notify the Senate of the organization 
        of the House; Hale Boggs, Majority Leader, offered resolutions 
        to notify the President of the assembly of Congress and to set 
        a joint session for the Presidential message; George Mahon, 
        former Chairman, Committee on Appropriations of the 92d 
        Congress, offered a resolution to notify the President of the 
        election of the Speaker and of the Clerk.
11. The resolution to adopt rules and the resolution to fix the hour of 
        daily meeting were offered at the beginning of the 92d Congress 
        by William Colmer, former Chairman of the Committee on Rules of 
        the 92d Congress. 117 Cong. Rec. 14, 15, Jan. 21, 1971.
12. For the motion to recommit and its effect before adoption of rules, 
        see Sec. 9, supra.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Page 75]]

    As to consideration of bills and resolutions before the adoption of 
rules, the House proceeds not only under general parliamentary law but 
also under the precedents and the rules of prior Congresses. When the 
House considered an emergency bill at the beginning of the 73d 
Congress, the provision was considered, by unanimous consent, as if 
under a rule of the previous Congress restricting debate and 
amendments.(13) But a statute requiring that 
proposed resolutions and reports be made available to Members within a 
certain time before their consideration on the floor has no effect 
prior to the adoption of the rules. Such a statute has been determined 
an exercise of the rule making power of the preceding Congress and 
therefore not binding on the House before the adoption of current 
rules.(14)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
13. See Sec. 12.8, infra.
14. 117 Cong. Rec. 132, 92d Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 22, 1971, cited at 
        Sec. 12.9, infra. The statutory provisions referred to above 
        were part of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970, Pub. 
        L. No. 91-510, 84 Stat. 1140 [Sec. Sec. 108(b)(4) and 107(b)]. 
        The ruling of the Chair (Speaker Carl Albert) was based in part 
        on the language of the statute itself, at Sec. 101, 
        characterizing its own provisions ``as an exercise of the rule-
        making power of the House, subject to and with full recognition 
        of the power of the House to enact or change any rule of the 
        House at any time in its exercise of its constitutional right 
        to determine the rules of its proceedings.''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    As stated above, the Senate postpones action on bills at the 
beginning of a second or third session until after the Presidential 
message. The Senate has also refrained from legislative business during 
those protracted periods when the House was unable to elect a 
Speaker.(15) Although there is no occasion where the House 
has resumed business before the organization of the Senate at the 
beginning of a new Congress, the House has proceeded with general 
legislative business at the beginning of a second session before a 
quorum had appeared in the Senate.(16)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
15. See 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 122-25.
16. See 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 126.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Introduction of ``Opening Day Bills''

Sec. 12.1 Where a large number of bills are introduced on the opening 
    day of the Congress, the Speaker may announce that those bills that 
    cannot be referred on that day may be included in the next day's 
    Record and printed with the date of the opening day.

[[Page 76]]

    On Jan. 3, 1957,(17) Speaker Sam Rayburn, of Texas, made 
the following announcement:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
17. 103 Cong. Rec. 50, 85th Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        As Members are aware, they have the privilege today of 
    introducing bills. Heretofore on the opening day of a new Congress 
    several thousand bills have been introduced. It will be readily 
    apparent to all Members that it may be a physical impossibility for 
    the Speaker to examine each bill for reference today. The Chair 
    will do his best to refer as many bills as possible, but he will ask 
    the indulgence of Members if he is unable to refer all the bills 
    that may be introduced. Those bills which are not referred and do not 
    appear in the Record as of today will be included in the next day's 
    Record and printed with a date as of today.

Sec. 12.2 The Speaker stated that prior to the adoption of rules, bills 
    could not be introduced and immediately referred to committee, in 
    the absence of procedure to govern them.

    On Jan. 21, 1971,(18) Speaker Carl Albert, of Oklahoma, 
made a statement concerning the introduction and reference of bills 
during the organization of the House. He alluded to the practice of 
Members of introducing several thousand bills on the opening day of 
Congress and to the announcements of past Speakers in relation to the 
impossibility of referring them all to committee on opening day. He 
then stated:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
18. 117 Cong. Rec. 16, 93d Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Since the rules of the 93d Congress have not yet been adopted, 
    the right of Members to introduce bills, and the authority of the 
    Speaker to refer them, is technically delayed. The Chair will state 
    that bills dropped in the hopper will be held until the adoption of 
    the rules, at which time they will be referred as expeditiously as 
    possible to the appropriate committee. At that time, the bills 
    which are not referred and do not appear in the Record as of that 
    day will be included in the next day's Record and printed with a 
    date as of the time the rules were adopted.

Action on Resolutions Prior to Adoption of Rules

Sec. 12.3 A resolution offered in the House prior to the adoption of 
    the standing rules is debatable under the hour rule.

    On Jan. 3, 1969,(19) Speaker John W. McCormack, of 
Massachusetts, ruled, prior to the adoption of rules, that one hour of 
debate would be in order on a pending resolution, the time to be 
controlled by the proponent thereof.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
19. 115 Cong. Rec. 15, 91st Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sec. 12.4 Prior to the adoption of the rules, a resolution may 
                             
[[Page 77]]

    be withdrawn at any time before action is taken thereon.

    On Jan. 21, 1971,(20) after immediate consideration was 
asked by Mr. William M. Colmer, of Mississippi, on a resolution, he 
stated that the wrong resolution had been submitted and requested 
unanimous consent to withdraw the resolution. Speaker Carl Al
bert, of Oklahoma, ruled, over objection, that Mr. Colmer had the right 
to withdraw the resolution without obtaining unanimous consent.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
20. 117 Cong. Rec. 13, 92d Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sec. 12.5 Prior to the adoption of the rules, a pending resolution is 
    not subject to amendment unless the Member in control yields for 
    that purpose, or unless the previous question is rejected.

    On Jan. 4, 1965,(1) Mr. James C. Cleveland, of New 
Hampshire, stated a parliamentary inquiry:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. 111 Cong. Rec. 20, 89th Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Mr. Cleveland: If the resolution is adopted, will it be 
    impossible for me to offer my own resolution pertaining to the same 
    subject matter, either as an amendment or a substitute?
        The Speaker:(2) If the resolution is agreed to, it 
    will not be in order for the gentleman to offer a substitute 
    resolution or an amendment, particularly if the previous question 
    is ordered.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 2. John W. McCormack (Mass.).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Mr. Cleveland: Is it now in order, Mr. Speaker?
        The Speaker: Not unless the gentleman from Oklahoma yields to 
    the gentleman for that purpose.(3)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3. The pending resolution was offered by Mr. Carl Albert (Okla.).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Germaneness of Amendments Prior to Rules Adoption

Sec. 12.6 Ruling by the Speaker that prior to the adoption of the 
    rules, a pending resolution on which the motion for the previous 
    question is rejected is open to any germane amendment.

    On Jan. 10, 1967,(4) Speaker John W. McCormack, of 
Massachusetts, held that prior to the adoption of rules any germane 
amendment would be in order on a resolution for which the previous 
question was voted down.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4. 113 Cong. Rec. 31, 90th Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sec. 12.7 The Speaker held not germane, prior to the adoption of rules, 
    an amendment adding punishment to a resolution providing that the 
    Speaker administer the oath of office to a Member-elect.

    On Jan. 3, 1969,(5) following a point of order, Speaker 
                         
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 5. 115 Cong. Rec. 25, 91st Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Page 78]]

John W. McCormack, of Massachusetts, held as follows on the germaneness 
of an amendment, prior to the adoption of the rules:

        The Chair will state . . . that while we are operating under 
    general parliamentary law . . . volume VIII, section 3384 of 
    Cannon's Precedents states: ``While the House is governed by 
    general parliamentary usage prior to the adoption of rules, the 
    Speakers have been inclined to give weight to the precedents of the 
    House in the interpretation of that usage.''
        The Chair anticipated that the question of germaneness would be 
    raised and has had the precedents of the House thoroughly 
    researched.
        The Chair might state there was no comparable case that the 
    Chair can ascertain as a result of research in the annals of the 
    House. However, it appears to the Chair that the punishment of Mr. 
    Powell(6) for acts committed in the 88th or 89th 
    Congresses, or declaring his seat vacant in the 91st Congress, is 
    not germane to the proposition that he be now sworn in.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 6. Mr. Adam C. Powell (N.Y.).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        The Chair sustains the point of order.

Consideration of Measures Before Adoption of Rules

Sec. 12.8 When the House considers a major bill before the adoption of 
    rules, the legislation is considered under general parliamentary 
    law, embracing not only the forms and precedents recognized over a 
    period of years but also the rules of prior Congresses, including 
    past rules restricting debate and amendments.

    On Mar. 9, 1933,(7) the opening day of the 73d Congress, 
the House considered a bank bill transmitted by President Franklin D. 
Roosevelt to the Majority Leader. Passage was moved on the bill before 
printed copies were available for Members, and the bill was considered 
under a unanimous-consent procedure restricting debate and amendments:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 7. 77 Cong. Rec. 83, 73d Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Mr. Byrns:(8) Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent 
    for the immediate consideration of H.R. 1491, and in its 
    consideration that there shall be 40 minutes of debate, one half of 
    such time to be controlled by the gentleman from Alabama [Mr. 
    Steagall] and the other half by the gentleman from Pennsylvania 
    [Mr. McFadden]; that at the conclusion of the debate the previous 
    question shall be considered as ordered on the bill to final 
    passage.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 8. Mr. Joseph W. Byrns (Tenn.).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Before the request had been agreed to, Mr. William B. Bankhead, of 
Alabama, stated a parliamentary inquiry:

        As far as I am advised, the House has not yet adopted rules of 
    procedure for this Congress. As I understand it, 
                             
[[Page 79]]

    unless objection is raised, the ordinary proceedings governing the 
    House during the 72d Congress would prevail in the consideration of 
    this unanimous consent request?
        The Speaker:(9) The gentleman is correct. . . .
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 9. Henry T. Rainey (Ill.).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Mr. O'Connor:(10) Just to clear up the parliamentary 
    situation, as I understand the request of the gentleman from 
    Tennessee, it involves the consideration of this bill in the House 
    as though the rules of the 72d Congress
    had been adopted, and, as it were, under suspension of the rules; 
    and the bill will not be subject to amendment. Is this correct?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
10. Mr. John J. O'Connor (N.Y.).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Mr. Byrns: The bill will not be subject to amendment.

Sec. 12.9 Prior to the adoption of rules, the House operates under 
    general parliamentary law, and statutory enactments incorporated 
    into rules of prior Congresses as an exercise of the rule-making 
    power do not control proceedings of the next House until it adopts 
    rules incorporating those provisions. Accordingly, prior to the 
    adoption of rules, the requirement of the Legislative 
    Reorganization Act of 1970 that proposed resolutions must be 
    available to Members for three calendar days prior to 
    consideration(11) is not in effect.

    On Jan. 22, 1971,(12) Mr. Durwood G. Hall, of Missouri, 
made a point of order against a proposed resolution on the ground that 
consideration thereof would be ``against the law of the land'', in that 
the requirements of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970, 
Sec. Sec. 108(b) (4) and 107(b), as to the time of availability of 
printed reports and resolutions to Members, had not been complied with. 
Speaker Carl Albert, of Oklahoma, ruled as follows:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
11. Pub. L. No. 91-510, Sec. Sec. 108(b)(4) and 107(b), 84 Stat. 1140.
12. 117 Cong. Rec. 132, 92d Cong. 1st Sess.
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        The Chair would point out to the gentleman from Missouri [Mr. 
    Hall] that at the present time, as the gentleman from Missouri [Mr. 
    Richard W. Bolling] has just stated, the House is operating under 
    the general parliamentary law. No rules have yet been adopted. The 
    provisions of the Legislative Reorganization Act, while enacted 
    into law in the 91st Congress, cannot restrict the authority of 
    this present House, in this 92d Congress, to adopt its own rules.
        The Constitution is, of course, superior to any public statute 
    and the Constitution in article I, section 5, gives each House the 
    authority to determine the rules of its proceedings, and it has 
    been repeatedly held that the power of each new House to make its 
    own rules may not be impaired or controlled by the rules or actions 
    of a preceding House.
                         
[[Page 80]]

        These principles are, in fact, recognized and enunciated in 
    Public Law 91-510, the Legislative Reorganization Act. Section 101 
    of that act states in part that the rules changes recommended 
    therein are enacted ``as an exercise of the rule-making power of 
    the House, subject to and with full recognition of the power of the 
    House to enact or change any rule of the House at any time in its 
    exercise of its constitutional right to determine the rules of its 
    proceedings.''
        The Chair overrules the point of order.

Senate Practice as to Introduction of Bills During Organization

Sec. 12.10 At the beginning of a Congress the Senate does not 
    customarily permit the introduction of bills until after the 
    President has delivered his message on the state of the Union.

    On Jan. 5, 1955,(13) the opening day of the 84th 
Congress, Senator Lyndon B. Johnson, of Texas, made an announcement to 
the Senate:
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13. 101 Cong. Rec. 7, 84th Cong. 1st Sess.
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        As is customary, the Senate will transact no further business 
    in the way of the introduction of bills or other matters until 
    after the President has delivered his message on the state of the 
    Union.(14)
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14. For an explanation of the custom and its rationale, see Sec. 11.4, 
        supra.