[Deschler's Precedents, Volume 1, Chapters 1 - 6]
[Chapter 3.  Party Organization]
[B. Party Caucus or Conference]
[Â§ 5. Time and Place of Meetings]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[Page 161-164]
 
                               CHAPTER 3
 
                           Party Organization
 
                     B. PARTY CAUCUS OR CONFERENCE
 
Sec. 5. Time and Place of Meetings

    A caucus rule, quoted above,(1) contains detailed 
provisions as to when caucus meetings may or must be held.
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 1. Rule 3, Democratic Caucus Rules (July 20, 1971), quoted in Sec. 3, 
        supra.
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    The Hall of the House may be used for caucus meetings. A rule

[[Page 162]]

of the House(2) provides that, with certain exceptions, 
``The Hall of the House shall be used only for the legislative business 
of the House and for the caucus meetings of its Members. . . .''
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 2. Rule XXXI. See Sec. 5.3, infra, for an announcement of a meeting to 
        be held in the Hall of the House.
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    Notice of caucus or conference meetings may be by letter from the 
caucus or conference chairman.(3) Notice of the meeting at 
which the caucus or conference organizes for a new Congress is given by 
the chairman of the caucus or conference of the preceding 
Congress.(4)
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 3. See Cannon's Procedure, H. Doc. No. 122, 86th Cong. 1st Sess. 
        (1959), p. 187.
 4. Id.
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    Although the caucus or conference chairman is the officer generally 
responsible for calling and announcing caucus or conference meetings, 
other party leaders have on occasion taken the initiative in this 
regard. Thus, announcements respecting such meetings have been made in 
the House by the party floor leaders(5) and even by the 
Speaker of the House.(6)
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 5. See Sec. Sec. 5.3 (Majority Leader), 5.4 and 5.5 (Minority Leader), 
        infra. For an occasion on which the Minority Leader, without 
        calling a conference meeting, asked on the floor of the House 
        for an informal indication of Republican sentiment on 
        particular legislation, see Sec. 19.2, infra.
            For discussion of the more recent procedures used in 
        calling organizational meetings of the caucus prior to the 
        convening of a new Congress, see supplements to this edition as 
        they appear.
 6. See Sec. 5.2, infra.
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    The demands of business in the House may prevent the scheduling of 
meetings at the times desired by the party leaders. On one occasion, 
the Minority Leader asked that the House take a recess so that a 
meeting of the Republican Conference could take place; the Speaker 
declined to entertain the request.(7)
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 7. See Sec. 5.5. infra.                          -------------------
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Announcement by Caucus Chairman

Sec. 5.1 On occasion, the caucus chairman has made an announcement in 
    the House respecting a caucus meeting to be held.

    On Jan. 12, 1937,(8) the Democratic Caucus Chairman, 
Robert L. Doughton, of North Carolina, announced:
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 8. 81 Cong. Rec. 190, 75th Cong. 1st Sess.
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        Mr. Doughton: Mr. Speaker, I have asked for this time to inform 
    the ma

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    jority Members of the House that there will be a Democratic Caucus 
    at 10:30 o'clock tomorrow morning to hear a report of the majority 
    Committee on Committees.

Announcement by Speaker

Sec. 5.2 The Speaker announced to the House the calling of a Democratic 
    Caucus to fill a vacancy on the Committee on Ways and Means.

    On July 23, 1968,(9) a Member's letter of resignation 
from the Committee on Ways and Means having been laid before the 
House,(10)  Speaker John W. McCormack, of Massachusetts, 
announced from the floor:
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 9. 114 Cong. Rec. 22800, 90th Cong. 2d Sess.
10. See 114 Cong. Rec. 22795, 90th Cong. 2d Sess., July 23, 1968.
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        Mr. Speaker, I want to announce publicly that there will be a 
    Democratic Caucus on Friday morning at 10 o'clock for the purpose 
    of filling a vacancy that exists on the Ways and Means Committee by 
    reason of the resignation of the gentleman from Florida [Mr. 
    Herlong], whose resignation has been accepted today. I want to make 
    this announcement for the benefit of my Democratic colleagues, so 
    we can have as democratic a caucus as possible.

Announcement by Floor Leader

Sec. 5.3 In the 90th Congress, the Majority Leader announced in the 
    House that the Democratic Caucus would meet to elect Members to the 
    Committee on Ways and Means.

    [Note: For discussion of procedures recently adopted with respect 
to announcement of organizational meetings of the caucus prior to the 
convening of a new Congress, see supplements to this edition as they 
appear.] 
    On July 30, 1968,(11) the following proceedings took 
place:
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11. 114 Cong. Rec. 24269, 90th Cong. 2d Sess.
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        Mr. [Carl] Albert [of Oklahoma]: Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous 
    consent to address the House for one minute and to revise and 
    extend my remarks.
        The Speaker: Is there objection to the request of the gentleman 
    from Oklahoma?
        There was no objection.
        Mr. Albert: Mr. Speaker, I take this time to advise the 
    Democratic Members that a caucus of the Democratic Members of the 
    House is called to meet in the Hall of the House of Representatives 
    on Thursday, August 1, 1968, at 10 a.m., for the purpose of 
    electing Members to the Ways and Means Committee.

Sec. 5.4 The Minority Leader made an announcement in the House 
    concerning a meeting of the Republican Conference.

    On Jan. 13, 1937,(12) the Minority Leader, Bertrand H. 
Snell, of New York, announced as follows:
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12. 81 Cong. Rec. 201, 75th Cong. 1st Sess.

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        Mr. Snell: Mr. Speaker, there will be a meeting of the . . . 
    Committee on Committees . . . and there will be a Republican 
    Conference in this Hall at 10 o'clock tomorrow morning.

Sec. 5.5 The Speaker having declined to entertain a request of the 
    Minority Leader that the House take a two-hour recess for a 
    Republican Conference, the Minority Leader subsequently announced a 
    meeting of the Republican Members to take place following 
    adjournment.

    On Apr. 11, 1951,(13)  the following proceedings took 
place:
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13. 97 Cong. Rec. 3673, 82d Cong. 1st Sess., considering the 1951 
        amendments to the Universal Military Training and Service Act.
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        Mr. [Joseph W.] Martin [Jr.] of Massachusetts: I inquire if the 
    Speaker would agree that the House would take a recess of two 
    hours. I make this request because of the tragic situation that 
    prevails in the world. I should like, if I could, to have a 
    Republican conference. .
        The Speaker [Sam Rayburn, of Texas]: The Chair will say that 
    that is a very unusual request. . . .
        . . . [T]here is an amendment coming up to the bill that the 
    Chair thinks will take some hours, in all probability.
        Mr. Martin: The Chair understands that in accordance with his 
    policies and the policies I have previously agreed with, too, we 
    desire all our membership to be on the floor when these various 
    bills are being read for amendment. Because of the tremendous 
    importance of the situation in the world today, I should like to 
    submit [the] request. . . .
        The Speaker: The gentleman from Massachusetts poses a very hard 
    question for the Chair. For the moment the Chair thinks he will not 
    entertain the request.

    Subsequently,(14) Mr. Martin made the following remarks:
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14. 97 Cong. Rec. 3676, 82d Cong. 1st Sess., Apr. 11, 1951.
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        . . . I should like to make one more statement: The Members 
    will recall that I was hopeful we might have a recess for two hours 
    in order that we could have a Republican Conference in which we 
    could discuss these latest developments. That request was not 
    granted. May I say, however, that I think the Speaker acted wholely 
    within his province when he did not entertain that request, I know 
    it was neither personal or partisan because I can understand how it 
    might lead to abuses. I am not finding any fault, but I am giving 
    notice that following the adjournment of the House today there will 
    be a meeting of the Republican Members of the House in this 
    Chamber.(15)
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15. For an occasion on which the Minority Leader, without calling a 
        conference meeting, asked on the floor of the House for an 
        informal indication of Republican sentiment on particular 
        legislation, see Sec. 19.2, infra.
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