[Deschler-Brown Precedents, Volume 17, Chapters 34 - 40]
[Ch. 34. Constitutional Amendments]
[B. House Consideration]
[Â§ 3. Committee Jurisdiction]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


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                               CHAPTER 34
 
                       Constitutional Amendments
 
                         B. House Consideration
 
Sec. 3. Committee Jurisdiction


    Under Rule X clause 1,(1) jurisdiction in the House of 
Representatives over joint resolutions proposing amendments to the 
Constitution is vested in the Committee on the Judiciary. That 
jurisdiction was established by the amendments to the standing rules of 
the House made by the Legislative Reorganization Act of 
1946.(2) Before the revisions to House committee 
jurisdiction made by that law, other committees had exercised 
jurisdiction over joint resolutions proposing amendments to the 
Constitution,(3) and the House on occasion had changed the 
referral of such a resolution from another committee to the Committee 
on the Judiciary.(4)
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 1. House Rules and Manual Sec. 729 (2007).
 2. 60 Stat. 812, 818, ch. 753, Aug. 2, 1946.
 3. See Sec. 3.1, infra. See also 4 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 4247 (former 
        Committee on Labor reported a resolution in 1884 proposing an 
        amendment to the Constitution limiting the hours of labor).
 4. In 1900, and again in 1932, the House, by unanimous consent, 
        rereferred a joint resolution proposing an amendment to the 
        Constitution addressing taxation from the Committee on Ways and 
        Means to the Committee on the Judiciary. See 4 Hinds' 
        Precedents Sec. 4056; 7 Cannon's Precedents Sec. 1780.
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    In recent practice, jurisdiction in the House over joint 
resolutions proposing amendments to the Constitution has been vested 
solely in the Committee on the Judiciary.(5) That committee 
also has jurisdiction over memorials from States either requesting the 
calling of a constitutional convention or for the rescinding of such a 
request.(6)
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 5. See Sec. 3.2, infra.
 6. See examples in footnote 1 of Sec. 1, supra.  
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Sec. 3.1 Proposed amendment regarding elections and terms of office 
    referred to former Committee on Election of the President, Vice 
    President, and Representatives in Congress.

    On Mar. 29, 1933,(1) the Speaker referred to the 
Committee on

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Election of the President, Vice President, and Representatives in 
Congress a joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution 
relating to the election of the President and Vice President. That 
committee reported the joint resolution to the House with an amendment 
on June 13, 1933.(2)
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 1. H. Jour. p. 122 (1933). The Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 
        abolished the Committee on Election of the President, Vice 
        President, and Representatives in Congress and vested the 
        jurisdiction of that committee in the new Committee on House 
        Administration. 60 Stat. 812, 818, ch. 753, Aug. 2, 1946.
 2. H.J. Res. 136 of the 73d Congress. See H. Jour. p. 421 (1933).
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Sec. 3.2 In recent practice, all joint resolutions proposing amendments 
    to the Constitution have been referred to the Committee on the 
    Judiciary.

    The Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 reduced the number of 
standing committees of the House from 48 to 19 and consolidated and 
further delineated their jurisdiction. In so doing, the House made 
express the jurisdiction of the Committee on the Judiciary over the 
subject matter of constitutional amendments.
    Before 1946, Rule XI [now Rule X] read, in relevant part, as 
follows:

                        powers and duties of committees.

        All proposed legislation shall be referred to the committees 
    named in the preceding rule, as follows, viz, subjects relating . . 
    .
        4. To judicial proceedings, civil and criminal law--to the 
    Committee on the Judiciary.(1)
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 1. House Rules and Manual Sec. Sec. 675, 680 (1945).
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    In the House Rules and Manual (1945), the annotations to that rule 
included the following: ``The committee [on the Judiciary] also has 
general but not exclusive jurisdiction over joint resolutions proposing 
amendments to the Constitution.''(2) Thus it was that most 
but not all joint resolutions proposing amendments to the Constitution 
were referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
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 2. Id.  at Sec. 680. See also 4 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 4056.
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    Section 121(b) of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 
1946(3) amended Rule XI [now Rule X] to read, in relevant 
part, as follows:
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 3. 60 Stat. 812, 818, ch. 753 (Aug. 2, 1946).
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                        Powers and Duties of Committees

        (1) All proposed legislation, messages, petitions, memorials, 
    and other matters relating to the subjects listed under the 
    standing committees named below shall be referred to such 
    committees, respectively . . .
        (l) Committee on the Judiciary.
            1. Judicial Proceedings, civil and criminal, generally.
            2. Constitutional amendments.
            3. Federal courts and judges.

    Parliamentarian's Note: The practice since the enactment of the 
Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 has been to recognize sole 
jurisdiction in the Committee on the Judiciary over matters relating to 
amendments to the Constitution, regardless of the subject matter of a 
proposed amendment.

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