[Deschler's Precedents, Volume 1, Chapters 1 - 6]
[Chapter 4.  House Facilities and Capitol Grounds]
[A. Introductory]
[Â§ 3. Hall of the House]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[Page 274-277]
 
                               CHAPTER 4
 
                  House Facilities and Capitol Grounds
 
                            A. INTRODUCTORY
 
Sec. 3. Hall of the House

    Under House Rule I clause 3, the Speaker has ``general control . . 
. of the Hall of the House.''(14) A more specific provision 
dealing with the use of the House Chamber, however, is Rule XXXI:
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14. House Rules and Manual Sec. 623 (1973).
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        The Hall of the House shall be used only for the legislative 
    business of the House and for the caucus meetings of its Members, 
    except upon occasions where the House by resolution agrees to take 
    a part in any ceremonies to be observed therein; and the Speaker 
    shall not entertain a motion for the suspension of this 
    Rule.(15)
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15. House Rules and Manual Sec. 918 (1973).
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    The House has been very reluctant to permit the Chamber to be used 
for other than legislative purposes. An occasion on which the House 
permitted the Chairman of the Isthmian Canal Commission to address the 
House, relative to the construction of the Panama Canal, was 
characterized as ``[a]n exceptional instance in which the Hall of the 
House was used for other than legislative business.'' 8 Cannon's 
Precedents Sec. 3632.
    Members may not entertain guests in the Hall,(16) but 
caucus meetings of Members are sometimes held in the Chamber, as Rule 
XXXI specifically authorizes them.(17) Occasionally the 
House votes to participate in ceremonies to be held in the 
Hall.(18)
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16. Sec. 3.2, infra.
17. Sec. 3.1, infra.
18. See Ch. 36, infra.
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    It is in violation of the common law of the House for a visitor, 
without authorization, to photograph the House Chamber.(19) 
However, the House, by resolution, sometimes permits special groups, 
such as historical societies, to photograph the House in 
session,(20) and the Speaker usually permits a photograph of 
the House in session to be taken on the first day of each 
Congress.(1)
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19. See Sec. 3.5, infra.
   It is not necessary, however, to clear the gallery when one visitor 
        is violating the rules by taking pictures. The Speaker may 
        order the offending party to leave the gallery. See Sec. 5.7, 
        infra.
20. See Sec. 3.5, infra.
 1. See Sec. 3.5, infra.
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Use of House Chamber

Sec. 3.1 The House Chamber is occasionally used for certain meetings of 
    Members.

    On Jan. 10, 1947,(2) an announcement was made in the 
House concerning a meeting to be

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held in the House Chamber for the veterans of all wars who were Members 
of the House at that time. The stated purpose of the meeting was the 
reorganization of a veterans' group, and this meeting, as well as all 
future ones, was to be nonpolitical, social, and educational in 
character.
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 2. 93 Cong. Rec. 255, 80th Cong. 1st Sess.
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Sec. 3.2 Permission to use the Hall of the House for purposes of 
    entertainment will ordinarily be refused.

    On Feb. 14, 1955,(3) Speaker Sam Rayburn, of Texas, 
after reading the text of Rule XXXI, made the following remarks 
concerning the use of the Hall of the House:
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 3. 101 Cong. Rec. 1512, 84th Cong. 1st Sess.
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        A great many Members have asked the Parliamentarian and the 
    present occupant of the chair about the use of the Hall of the 
    House of Representatives. At any time in the future when any Member 
    desires to entertain a group except Members of the House of 
    Representatives it will be held that the caucus room is open for 
    that purpose, but not the Hall of the House of Representatives.

    On June 18, 1934,(4) the House adopted a resolution 
forbidding certain entertainment, which was to be broadcast over radio, 
to be held in the House Chamber immediately after the adjournment of 
Congress.
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 4. 78 Cong. Rec. 12567, 73d Cong. 2d Sess.
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Sec. 3.3 The House controls the use of its Chamber even after it 
    adjourns for a session.

    On June 18, 1934,(5) a resolution was introduced to 
prevent the use of the House Chamber after the adjournment of Congress 
for certain entertainment which was to be broadcast over radio. A 
Member then raised the point of order that the resolution was not 
privileged, because it was contemplated that the entertainment would be 
held after the adjournment of the House. The Speaker(6) 
rendered the following ruling on the point of order:
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 5. Id.
 6. Henry T. Rainey (Ill.).
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        The object of the resolution is to reach something which might 
    occur after the adjournment of the House, but the Chair thinks it 
    is a close question. The House controls the use of its own Chamber 
    even after it adjourns; therefore the Chair prefers to submit the 
    question to the House.

    The previous question was then ordered, and the resolution was 
agreed to.

Sec. 3.4 On one occasion the House authorized a special group to use 
    the House Chamber when the House was not in session.

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    On Aug. 1, 1953,(7) the House by unanimous consent 
considered and adopted the following resolution:
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 7. 99 Cong. Rec. 10917, 83d Cong. 1st Sess.
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        Resolved, That the consent of the House is hereby granted for 
    the use by the Interparliamentary Union of the Hall of the House of 
    Representatives, and such committee rooms in the Capitol and the 
    House Office Buildings as the Speaker may direct, for its session 
    in the year 1953, during the month of October: Provided, however, 
    That this consent shall not be binding if the Congress shall be in 
    session when the said Interparliamentary Union shall convene: And 
    provided further, That such use shall be subject to the control and 
    management of the officers of the House.

Photographing the House Chamber

Sec. 3.5 Visitors may not, without authorization, photograph the House 
    Chamber.

    Parliamentarian's Note: Under the practice of the House, permission 
must be obtained before photographs may be taken inside the House 
Chamber. Permission may take the form of a House resolution similar to 
the one which permitted the United States Capitol Historical Society to 
photograph the House in session.(8)
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 8. See 110 Cong. Rec. 3224, 88th Cong. 2d Sess., Feb. 20, 1964.
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    The Speaker traditionally permits certain photographers to take 
photographs at the opening session of each new Congress, provided that 
they do so in accordance with carefully drawn guidelines. Occasionally 
members of the news media have violated these guidelines. At the 
opening session of the 91st Congress, members of the news media 
violated the restrictions by taking pictures during the period when the 
kleig lights were turned out. Speaker McCormack called this matter to 
the attention of the news media galleries and requested a report from 
each on the action taken by them with respect to the violations of the 
regulations as well as the provisions they were making to prevent such 
violations in the future.(9)
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 9. See the statement by Speaker John W. McCormack (Mass.) at 115 Cong. 
        Rec. 145, 91st Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 6, 1969.
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    On Jan. 14, 1946, photographers violated the guidelines by taking a 
picture of the House in session before the initial quorum call. The 
photograph, showing approximately 60 Members present in the Chamber, 
was published in newspapers throughout the country, along with a 
caption berating Congress for not attending to duties at the beginning 
of the ses

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sion. See the statement by Speaker pro tempore John W. McCormack, of 
Massachusetts, at 92 Cong. Rec. 20, 79th Cong. 2d Sess., Jan. 14, 1946.