[Deschler's Precedents, Volume 1, Chapters 1 - 6]
[Chapter 3.  Party Organization]
[E. Party Whips]
[Â§ 24. Duties and Functions]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[Page 261-263]
 
                               CHAPTER 3
 
                           Party Organization
 
                             E. PARTY WHIPS
 
Sec. 24. Duties and Functions

    It is frequently the province of the whip, as it is that of other 
leaders in the House, to perform duties of a ceremonial nature, make 
announcements respecting ceremonial or formal occasions, and extend 
various courtesies.

Resolution Thanking Speaker

Sec. 24.1 The minority whip, or someone acting for him, has customarily 
    assumed the Chair to preside over the consideration of a 
    resolution, offered at the end of a Congress, expressing the 
    gratitude of the House for the manner in which the Speaker has 
    performed the duties of the Chair.

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    The proceedings of Sept. 1, 1960, illustrative of honors accorded 
the Speaker at the end of a Congress, were as follows:(5)
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 5. 106 Cong. Rec. 19161, 19162, 86th Cong. 2d Sess.
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        The Speaker:(6) Will the gentleman from Illinois 
    [Mr. Arends](7) kindly take the chair?
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 6. Sam Rayburn (Tex.).
 7. Mr. Leslie C. Arends (Ill.) was the minority whip.
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        Mr. Arends assumed the Chair as Speaker pro tempore. . . .
        Mr. [Charles A.] Halleck [of Indiana]: Mr. Speaker, I offer a 
    resolution (H. Res. 647) and ask for its immediate consideration.
        The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:

            Resolved, That the thanks of the House are presented to the 
        Honorable Sam Rayburn, Speaker of the House of Representatives, 
        for the able, impartial, and dignified manner in which he has 
        presided over the deliberations and performed the arduous 
        duties of the Chair during the present term of Congress.

    Similarly proceedings have taken place in other 
Congresses,(8) although on occasion another Member has been 
designated to act for the whip in presiding over the 
resolution.(9)
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 8. See Sec. Sec. 12.3, 21.9, supra.
 9. See Sec. 12.3, supra.
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Committee to Notify President

Sec. 24.2 The majority whip has frequently been appointed to the 
    committee to notify the President that Congress has assembled.

    In the 90th(10) and 91st(11) Congresses, for 
example, the Speaker on each occasion appointed a committee comprised 
of the majority and minority floor leaders and the majority whip, to 
join with a similar committee from the Senate, to notify the President 
that a quorum of each House had assembled and the Congress was ready to 
receive any communication that the President might be pleased to 
make.(12)
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10. See 113 Cong. Rec. 327, 328, 90th Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 10, 1967.
11. See 115 Cong. Rec. 35, 91st Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 3, 1969.
12. See, for further discussion of the selection of the committee to 
        notify the President, Sec. Sec. 3.15, 21.4, supra.
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Announcements or Requests Relating to Formal Occasions

Sec. 24.3 The party whips have on occasion made announcements or 
    requests relating to formal occasions, visits by dignitaries, and 
    the like.

    The whips have made announcements respecting formal occasions. As 
an example, the minority whip, a member of the Joint Inaugural 
Committee, made an announcement on Jan. 16,

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1953,(13) respecting transportation arrangements on the 
occasion of the inauguration ceremonies.
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13. 99 Cong. Rec. 421, 83d Cong. 1st Sess.

    On Apr. 29, 1957, the majority whip, Carl Albert, of Oklahoma, made 
a unanimous-consent request that it should be in order on a designated 
day for the Speaker to declare a recess for the purpose of receiving 
the President of the Republic of Viet Nam.(14)
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14. 103 Cong. Rec. 6127, 85th Cong. 1st Sess. For similar requests made 
        by the Majority Leader, see Sec. 21.22, supra.

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Expressions of Courtesy

Sec. 24.4 The party whips have frequently made remarks in the House in 
    recognition of particular events, or extended courtesies as 
    appropriate.

    Illustrative of the remarks made by the party whips in recognition 
of particular events were those made by the majority whip, Hale Boggs, 
of Louisiana, on the occasion of a visit by members of the Indian 
Parliament. The remarks in part were as follows:(15)
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15. 109 Cong. Rec. 11746, 11747, 88th Cong. 1st Sess., June 26, 1963.

        Mr. Boggs: Mr. Speaker, one of the significant events of recent 
    years has been the exchange of visits by the members of the free 
    parliaments of the world. We are very fortunate today to have in 
    our midst a distinguished delegation of parliamentarians from the 
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    great country of India. . . .

    By way of further illustration, party whips have made appropriate 
remarks in the House on the occasion of consideration of a resolution 
commending John W. McCormack, of Massachusetts, on his length of 
service as Speaker,(16) on the occasion of the 
Parliamentarian's birthday,(17) and the like.
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16. 116 Cong. Rec. 17022, 17023, 91st Cong. 2d Sess., May 26, 1970.
17. 116 Cong. Rec. 5710, 91st Cong. 2d Sess., Mar. 3, 1970 (remarks of 
        Mr. Leslie C. Arends [Ill.]).

    On the last day of the 89th Congress, the majority whip, Mr. Boggs, 
acting for the Majority Leader, praised the work of the Congress and 
its Members and employees;(18) yielded to others for similar 
remarks; and asked unanimous consent that the Majority Leader be 
permitted to extend his remarks, of a similar nature, in the 
Record.(19)
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18. 112 Cong. Rec. 28866-28868, 89th Cong. 2d Sess., Oct. 22, 1966.
19. 112 Cong. Rec. 28867, 89th Cong. 2d Sess., Oct. 22, 1966.

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