[Deschler-Brown Precedents, Volume 14,  Chapter 30]
[Chapter 30. Voting]
[C. Yeas and Nays and Other Votes of Record]
[Â§ 29. Voting by the Speaker]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[Page 11616-11621]
 
                               CHAPTER 30
 
                                 Voting
 
               C. YEAS AND NAYS AND OTHER VOTES OF RECORD
 
Sec. 29. Voting by the Speaker

    Rule I clause 6 provides:

        He [the Speaker] shall not be required to vote in ordinary 
    legislative proceedings, except where his vote would be decisive, 
    or where the House is engaged in voting by ballot; and in cases of 
    a tie vote the question shall be lost.

    The Speaker's name is not on the roll from which the yeas and nays 
are called (10) and is not called unless on his 
request.(11) It is then called at the end of the 
roll,(12) the Clerk calling him by name. On an electronic 
vote, the Chair directs the Clerk to record him and verifies that 
instruction by submitting a vote card.(13) The Chair may 
vote to make a tie and so decide a question in the negative, as he may 
vote to break a tie and so decide a question in the af

[[Page 11617]]

firmative.(14) The duty of giving a decisive vote may be 
exercised after the intervention of other business, or after the 
announcement of the result or on another day, if a correction of the 
roll shows a condition wherein his vote would be decisive; 
(15) and he also exercises the right to withdraw his vote in 
case a correction shows it to have been unnecessary.(16) The 
Speakers have the same right as other Members to vote (17) 
but rarely exercise it,(18) and the Chair may not vote 
twice.(19) The Chair may be counted on a vote by 
tellers.(20)
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10. 5 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 5970.
11. 5 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 5965.
12. 5 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 5965; 8 Cannon's Precedents Sec. 3075.
13. See Sec. 29.2, infra.
14. 8 Cannon's Precedents Sec. 3100; see also Sec. 29.3, infra.
15. 5 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 5969, 6061-6063; 8 Cannon's 
        Precedents Sec. 3075.
16. 5 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 5971.
17. 5 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 5966, 5967.
18. 5 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 5964 (footnote).
19. 5 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 5964.
20. 5 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 5996, 5997; 8 Cannon's Precedents 
        Sec. Sec. 3100, 
        3101.                          -------------------
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Method of Taking Vote

Sec. 29.1 The Clerk does not call the Speaker's name when the roll is 
    called on a yea and nay vote; if the Speaker wishes to be recorded, 
    he asks the Clerk to call his name at the conclusion of the call.

    On Nov. 6, 1967,(1) the House having discussed a motion 
to suspend the rules and pass a joint resolution (S.J. Res. 33) to 
establish a National Commission on Product Safety, the Speaker 
(2) put the question; it was taken, and an objection was 
heard on the ground that a quorum was not present. The Chair sustaining 
that point of order, the Clerk was instructed to call the roll.
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 1. 113 Cong. Rec. 31287, 90th Cong. 1st Sess.
 2. John W. McCormack (Mass.).
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    At the conclusion of the call, but prior to announcing the 
numerical totals, the Speaker stated, ``The Clerk will call my name.'' 
Immediately thereafter, the Record reveals, ``The Clerk called the name 
of Mr. McCormack and he answered `yea.' ''

Sec. 29.2 Before announcing the result of a vote by electronic device, 
    the Speaker may cast a decisive vote pursuant to clause 6, Rule I 
    by advising the Clerk directly of his vote to break a tie (and then 
    verifying that vote by handing the Clerk a ballot card).

    During the amendment process involving consideration of H.R. 5422, 
the Intelligence Authorization Act of 1991, in the House on Oct. 17, 
1990,(3) Speaker Thomas

[[Page 11618]]

S. Foley, of Washington, announced that the vote on the so-called 
Solarz amendment was 206 to 206. The Speaker then cast his vote in the 
affirmative. The proceedings were as follows:
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 3. 136 Cong. Rec. 30229-31, 101st Cong. 2d Sess.
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        Accordingly, the Committee rose, and the Speaker pro tempore 
    [Mr. Gephardt] having assumed the chair, Mr. Nelson of Florida, 
    Chairman of the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the 
    Union, reported that the Committee having had under consideration 
    the bill (H.R. 5422) to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 
    1991 for intelligence and intelligence-related activities of the 
    U.S. Government, the intelligence community staff, and the Central 
    Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability System, and for other 
    purposes, pursuant to House Resolution 487, he reported the bill 
    back to the House with sundry amendments adopted by the Committee 
    of the Whole.
        The Speaker Pro Tempore: Under the rule, the previous question 
    is ordered.
        Is a separate vote demanded on any amendment?
        Mr. [Henry J.] Hyde [of Illinois]: Mr. Speaker, I demand a 
    separate vote on the so-called Solarz amendment, as amended. . . .
        The Speaker Pro Tempore: The Clerk will report the amendment on 
    which a separate vote has been demanded.
        The Clerk read as follows:

            Amendment: Page 25, after line 18, add the following:

               title vi--incentives for peace in angola . . .

        The Speaker Pro Tempore: The question is on the amendment.
        The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced 
    that the noes appeared to have it.
        Mr. [Harold L.] Volkmer [of Missouri]: Mr. Speaker, on that I 
    demand the yeas and nays.
        The yeas and nays were ordered.
        The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 
    207, nays 206, not voting 21, as follows: . . .
        The Speaker: On this vote the yeas are 206, and the nays are 
    206.
        The Chair votes ``aye.''
        The yeas are 207.
        So the amendment was agreed to.
        The Speaker: The question is on the engrossment and third 
    reading of the bill.
        Mr. Hyde: Mr. Speaker, I have a parliamentary inquiry.
        The Speaker: The gentleman will state it.
        Mr. Hyde: Mr. Speaker, as I understood it, the vote was by 
    electronic device. I did not see you vote by electronic device. You 
    had announced the vote, Mr. Speaker. You passed the vote.
        The Speaker: The gentleman will suspend while the Chair 
    explains the result of the vote.
        The Chair's vote is entered into the electronic system upon the 
    announcement of the Chair of his vote and prior to the announcement 
    of the final result.
        The Chair's vote is entered into the system at the time of the 
    Chair's announced vote, the Chair will advise the gentleman.

Speaker's Vote as Decisive

Sec. 29.3 The Speaker voted in the negative on a yea and

[[Page 11619]]

    nay vote--thereby creating a tie and causing the rejection of two 
    amendments considered en bloc.

    On May 3, 1946,(4) the House had under consideration a 
bill (H.R. 6056) making appropriations for the Departments of State, 
Justice, Commerce, and the Judiciary, for the fiscal year ending June 
30, 1947. In the course of the bill's consideration, Mr. Louis C. 
Rabaut, of Michigan, sought unanimous consent that two amendments 
pertaining to the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce be considered 
en bloc. There was no objection.
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 4. 92 Cong. Rec. 4433, 4434, 4435, 79th Cong. 2d Sess.
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    Shortly thereafter, the Speaker (5) put the question on 
the en bloc amendments, and Mr. Rabaut demanded the yeas and nays. A 
sufficient number of Members having supported the demand, the yeas and 
nays were ordered.
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 5.  Sam Rayburn (Tex.).
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    After the Members voted but before announcing the result, the Chair 
noted:

        On this roll call the yeas are 127, the nays 126, and 2 
    answered present. The Chair votes ``nay.''

    While a recapitulation followed, the vote totals remained the same. 
Accordingly, the amendments were rejected--the Speaker's vote having 
proven decisive.

Sec. 29.4 The Speaker voted in the affirmative at the conclusion of an 
    automatic roll call, thereby breaking a tie and effecting the 
    passage of a bill.

    On Aug. 14, 1957,(6) an automatic roll call was had on 
the passage of a bill (S. 1383) amending section 410 of the Interstate 
Commerce Act, to change the requirements for obtaining a freight 
forwarder permit. The question was taken; and the Members commenced to 
vote.
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 6. 103 Cong. Rec. 14783, 85th Cong. 1st Sess.
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    After the Members cast their votes but before announcing the 
result, the Speaker made the following statement:

        The Speaker: (7) There is a tie vote. If any Member 
    asks for a recapitulation of the vote, the Chair will order a 
    recapitulation. If there is no request for a recapitulation, the 
    Clerk will call my name.
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 7. Sam Rayburn (Tex.).
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        The Clerk called the name of Mr. Rayburn and he answered 
    ``yea.''

    After the Speaker voted, the final tally on the passage of the bill 
was--yeas 177, nays 176. Accordingly, the bill was passed.
    Parliamentarian's Note: While the Clerk calls the Speaker by

[[Page 11620]]

name after he so requests, when the roll call vote is printed in the 
Congressional Record and in the Journal, the Chair is designated as 
``The Speaker.''

Speaker's Vote as Nondecisive

Sec. 29.5 The Speaker has voted on a yea and nay roll call where his 
    vote did not prove decisive.

    On June 30, 1939,(8) the Committee of the Whole had 
under consideration a joint resolution (H.J. Res. 306) popularly known 
as the Neutrality Act of 1939. Following debate, the Committee rose and 
reported the resolution with sundry amendments back to the House. 
Shortly thereafter, the Speaker (9) put the question on the 
joint resolution.
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 8. 84 Cong. Rec. 8502, 8511, 8512, 8513, 76th Cong. 1st Sess.
 9. William B. Bankhead (Ala.).
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    At this point, a motion to recommit was offered. When the question 
was taken on the motion to recommit, a division was demanded and there 
were--ayes 179, noes 185. Mr. Hamilton Fish, Jr., of New York, then 
requested the yeas and nays which were subsequently ordered.
    The question was taken, and the Record reveals the following:

        The Speaker: The Clerk will call my name.
        The Clerk called the name of Mr. Bankhead, and he answered 
    ``nay.''

    When the tally had been completed, there were--yeas 194, nays 196, 
answered ``present'' 1, and not voting 40. Thus, the motion was 
rejected, and the Speaker's vote was not decisive.

Speaker's Vote in Establishing Quorum

Sec. 29.6 The Speaker has voted on an automatic roll call where his 
    vote was necessary to establish a quorum.

    On Nov. 24, 1942,(10) the House resolved itself into the 
Committee of the Whole for the purpose of considering a bill (H.R. 
7096) to provide for the settlement of claims of the government of the 
United States on behalf of American nationals against the government of 
Mexico. After the Committee rose and reported the bill back to the 
House with an amendment, a motion to recommit was offered.
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10. 88 Cong. Rec. 9104, 9116, 9117, 77th Cong. 2d Sess.
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    Shortly thereafter, the Speaker (11) put the question on 
the motion to recommit. The question was taken; and, a division having 
been demanded, there were--ayes 15, noes 70. Mr. Robert F. Rich, of

[[Page 11621]]

Pennsylvania, then objected to the vote on the ground that a quorum was 
not present. The Speaker concurring, an automatic roll call was 
commenced.
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11. Sam Rayburn (Tex.).
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    Two hundred fourteen Members voted on the call. The Record then 
reveals the following:

        The Speaker: The Clerk will call my name.
        The Clerk called the name of Mr. Rayburn and he answered 
    ``no.''
        So the motion to recommit was rejected.

    Parliamentarian's Note: Normally, of course, it takes 218 Members 
to comprise a quorum in the House. However, on this particular day 
[Nov. 14, 1942], there were six vacancies in the membership--thus, the 
quorum figure had been lowered to 215 Members.