[Deschler's Precedents, Volume 4, Chapters 15 - 17]
[Chapter 17. Committees]
[C. Committee Procedure]
[Â§ 23. Reporting Measure From Committee Requires Quorum]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[Page 2742-2748]
 
                               CHAPTER 17
 
                               Committees
 
                         C. COMMITTEE PROCEDURE
 
Sec. 23. Reporting Measure From Committee Requires Quorum

Quorum Consists of Majority of Members of Committee Who Must Be 
    Actually Present

Sec. 23.1 No measure is to be reported from any committee unless a 
    majority of the committee was actually present when the measure was 
    ordered reported.

    On May 11, 1950,(13) a resolution was withdrawn when a 
point of order was raised that the measure had been reported out of 
committee in the absence of a quorum. Mr. John E. Rankin, of 
Mississippi, then initiated the following exchange with Speaker pro 
tempore John W. McCormack, of Massachusetts:
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13. 96 Cong. Rec. 6920, 81st Cong. 2d Sess.
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        Mr. Speaker, under the rules of the House and the rules of 
    every committee, legislation is passed every day without a quorum 
    being present, and unless that question is raised they cannot go 
    into the courts and contest the legislation. The same thing applies 
    to the committee. A ruling to the contrary would simply demoralize 
    legislative procedure as far as the committees of this House are 
    concerned.

        The Speaker Pro Tempore: The Chair calls the attention of the 
    gentleman from Mississippi to paragraph (d) of section 133 of the 
    Legislative Reorganization Act [of 1946], which reads as follows:

            No measure or recommendation shall be reported from any 
        such committee unless a majority of the committee was actually 
        present.(l4)
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14. See Rule XI clause 2(l)(2)(A), House Rules and Manual Sec. 713(c) 
        (1979).
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Formal Meeting Requirement

Sec. 23.2 A standing committee cannot validly report a meas

[[Page 2743]]

    ure under the rules unless the report was authorized at a formal 
    meeting of the committee with a quorum present.

    On Sept. 30, 1966,(15) Omar T. Burleson, of Texas, 
Chairman of the Committee on House Administration, submitted a 
privileged report (H. Rept. No. 2158), to accompany a resolution (H. 
Res. 1028), providing funds for his committee and asked for its 
immediate consideration. At this juncture, Mr. Jonathan B. Bingham, of 
New York, rose to a point of order against the resolution on the ground 
that a quorum of the committee was not present when the resolution was 
reported.
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15. 112 Cong. Rec. 24548, 89th Cong. 2d Sess.
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    In the course of the ensuing discussion, the following exchange 
took place between Speaker John W. McCormack, of Massachusetts, and Mr. 
Burleson:

        The Speaker: . . . The Chair wants to ask the gentleman from 
    Texas, the chairman of the committee, was a committee meeting 
    called for the purpose of acting on this resolution? And, if so, 
    was a quorum present?
        Mr. Burleson: Mr. Speaker, I have explained in some detail the 
    procedure used in this instance.(16) There was an 
    agreement by a majority of the committee that the resolution may be 
    presented.
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16. Mr. Burleson was referring to a practice which the committee 
        employed on occasion in which a telephone poll of members would 
        be conducted to verify committee approval. For further details, 
        see Sec. 25.1, infra.
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        The Speaker: Was there a meeting? Did the committee meet? Was 
    there a quorum present and voting and acting on it?
        Mr. Burleson: Mr. Speaker, on infrequent occasions when we have 
    resorted to this procedure as a matter of convenience and of 
    expediting legislation, it has always been accepted as establishing 
    a quorum. As far as I know this procedure has not been challenged. 
    In this case a majority of the committee agreed to the resolution 
    and I insist that a quorum was established and that the report is 
    proper and that the resolution is privileged.
        The Speaker: The Chair is prepared to rule.
        The Chair does not inquire into the procedure of a committee, 
    in reporting a bill, unless a point of order as to the matter is 
    raised and thus called to the attention of the Chair. Unless a 
    Member makes a point of order, the Chair does not go into the 
    question of committee procedure.
        However, since the point of order has been raised, the Chair 
    will point out that the provisions of clause 26(e), rule 
    XI,(17) make it clear that no measure
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17. At the time, Rule XI clause 26(e) [H. Jour. 1483, 89th Cong. 2d 
        Sess. (1966)] stated: ``No measure or recommendation shall be 
        reported from any committee unless a majority of the committee 
        were actually present.'' This provision is now part of a 
        different clause [Rule XI clause 2(l)(2)(A), House Rules and 
        Manual Sec. 713(C) (1979)].
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[[Page 2744]]

    can be reported from a committee unless a majority of the committee 
    were actually present.

        The chairman of the Committee on House Administration has 
    stated that the resolution he now seeks to call up was not ordered 
    reported at a formal meeting of the committee where a quorum was 
    present.
        Therefore, the Chair sustains the point of order made by the 
    gentleman from New York [Mr. Bingham].
        The report and resolution are recommitted to the Committee on 
    House Administration.

    Shortly thereafter, Mr. Burleson asked for the immediate 
consideration of House Resolution 1028 by unanimous consent. Mr. 
Bingham voicing objection, however, the bill continued as recommitted 
because of the invalid report.

Presumption of Quorum Upon Issuance of Report

Sec. 23.3 Unless a point of order is raised, the House assumes that 
    reports from committees are authorized when a quorum of the 
    committee was present.

    On Sept. 30, 1966,(18) Omar T. Burleson, of Texas, 
Chairman of the Committee on House Administration, submitted a 
privileged report (H. Rept. No. 2158), to accompany a resolution (H. 
Res. 1028), providing funds for his committee and asked for its 
immediate consideration. Mr. Jonathan B. Bingham, of New York, then 
rose to make a point of order against the resolution on the ground that 
a committee quorum was not present when the resolution was reported. A 
discussion then ensued as to certain procedures undertaken by the 
committee with respect to measures of this kind.(l9)
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18. 112 Cong. Rec. 24548, 89th Cong. 2d Sess.
19. See Sec. 25.1, infra, for details.
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    Prior to announcing his decision (20) with respect to 
the point of order, Speaker John W. McCormack, of Massachusetts, made 
the following observation:
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20. See Sec. 23.2, supra.
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        The Chair does not inquire into the procedure of a committee, 
    in reporting a bill, unless a point of order as to the matter is 
    raised and thus called to the attention of the Chair. Unless a 
    Member makes a point of order, the Chair does not go into the 
    question of committee procedure.

Privileged Measure and Presence of Quorum

Sec. 23.4 Where the rules accord privileged status in the House to a 
    measure reported from a particular committee,

[[Page 2745]]

    such status is retained only if the measure is reported when a 
    quorum of such committee is present.

    On May 11, 1950,(1) Speaker pro tempore John W. 
McCormack, of Massachusetts, recognized Mary T. Norton, of New Jersey, 
Chairwoman of the Committee on House Administration, who offered a 
privileged (2) resolution (H. Res. 495), providing for the 
payment of certain investigatory expenses from the contingent fund of 
the House. She asked for its immediate consideration. A point of order 
having been raised against consideration of the measure on the ground 
that a quorum was not present when the committee reported it out, Mrs. 
Norton withdrew the resolution.
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 1. 96 Cong. Rec. 6920, 81st Cong. 2d Sess.
 2. The Committee on House Administration has ``leave to report at any 
        time'' on ``all matters of expenditure of the contingent fund 
        of the House;'' see Rule XI clause 4(a), House Rules and Manual 
        Sec. 726 (1979).
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    Shortly thereafter, Mr. Thomas B. Stanley, of Virginia, asked the 
following series of parliamentary inquiries regarding the status of 
House Resolution 495:

        What is the status of the resolution now that has just been 
    withdrawn?
        The Speaker Pro Tempore: The gentlewoman from New Jersey has 
    withdrawn the resolution. The matter is not before the House. 
    Therefore, there is no question for the Chair to pass upon.
        Mr. Stanley: Could the resolution be properly presented to the 
    House again without going back to the committee?
        The Speaker Pro Tempore: Of course, it could be taken up by 
    unanimous consent. In the event of its being presented again, a 
    point of order could be raised; but the Chair would not express any 
    opinion now on the point of order that might be raised at that 
    time.
        Mr. Stanley: A further parliamentary inquiry, Mr. Speaker. Is 
    this a privileged matter?
        The Speaker Pro Tempore: If it is reported out of committee 
    with a quorum present, it is a privileged matter.

Committee Reconsideration of Votes Taken in Absence of Quorum

Sec. 23.5 Where a committee votes to report several bills in the 
    absence of a quorum and proceeds by omnibus motion to reconsider 
    them en bloc with a quorum present, unless a point of order is 
    raised in the committee at that time demanding the bills' separate 
    consideration, such action is in accordance with the parliamentary 
    procedures of the House.

[[Page 2746]]

    On July 9, 1956,(3) Speaker Sam Rayburn, of Texas, 
recognized Mr. John L. McMillan, of South Carolina, who, by direction 
of the Committee on the District of Columbia (which he chaired), called 
up a bill (H.R. 4697), to amend the 1954 Alcoholic Beverage Control Act 
of the District of Columbia, and asked unanimous consent that the bill 
be considered in the House as in Committee of the Whole. Immediately 
thereafter, Mr. Albert P. Morano, of Connecticut, raised a point of 
order against consideration of the bill on the ground that a quorum was 
not present when the committee ordered the measure reported. This 
prompted some discussion and much confusion owing to the fact that Mr. 
McMillan, under the Chair's questioning, indicated that a quorum was 
not present when the bill was passed, while Mr. Howard W. Smith, of 
Virginia, who was also a member of the committee, recalled the presence 
of a quorum.
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 3. 102 Cong. Rec. 12199, 84th Cong. 2d Sess.
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    As the following exchange indicates, both gentlemen were correct:

        The Speaker: . . . The gentleman from South Carolina said that 
    when this bill was reported there was not a quorum present. Is the 
    Chair quoting the gentleman from South Carolina correctly?
        Mr. McMillan: That is correct, Mr. Speaker.
        Mr. Smith of Virginia: . . . It is true, I believe, there was 
    not a quorum present when any one of these bills was considered, 
    but before the session adjourned a quorum did appear, and then a 
    blanket motion was made to reconsider all of the bills that had 
    previously been passed upon and to vote them out, which motion was 
    carried. May I ask the chairman of the committee if that is a 
    correct statement of what occurred?
        Mr. McMillan: That is correct.

    These facts prompted Mr. Morano to initiate the ensuing exchange 
(4) with the Chair:
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 4. Id. at pp. 12199, 12200.
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        Mr. Morano: There is obviously a contradiction here, Mr. 
    Speaker. The chairman of the committee said there was not a quorum 
    present when this bill was considered. The issue before the 
    Speaker, as I understand it, is a ruling on this bill, not on other 
    bills that were considered en bloc.
        The Speaker: That is correct, but the gentleman from South 
    Carolina said that on the last action on the bill in the committee 
    a quorum was present.
        The Chair under the circumstances must overrule the point of 
    order made by the gentleman from Connecticut.

    Although a point of order based on other considerations 
(5) was subsequently sustained against

[[Page 2747]]

Mr. McMillan's motion, the Chair's initial ruling provoked several 
parliamentary inquiries, including the following question raised by Mr. 
John Taber, of New York:
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 5. The committee reported the bill while the House was in session 
        without having received permission to sit.
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        Mr. Speaker, is it proper to consider by a single vote a 
    reconsideration of the votes by which several bills have been 
    reported, and then make a single omnibus motion by which all those 
    bills that have been so reconsidered would be reported?
        The Speaker: If, as seems to be true in this instance, no point 
    of order was made, then the action of the committee is presumed to 
    have been in accordance with parliamentary procedure of the House 
    of Representatives.

Waiver of Committee Quorum Requirement

Sec. 23.6 The House rejected a resolution, reported from the Committee 
    on Rules, providing for the consideration of a bill improperly 
    voted on and reported by the Committee on Post Office and Civil 
    Service.

    On July 23, 1973,(6) by direction of the Committee on 
Rules, Mr. Claude D. Pepper, of Florida, called up House Resolution 495 
and asked for its immediate consideration. The measure provided that 
upon the adoption of the resolution, it would be in order to move, 
``clause 27(e), Rule XI (7) to the contrary, 
notwithstanding,'' that the House resolve itself into the Committee of 
the Whole for the consideration of a bill (H.R. 8929), affecting 
certain postal rates.
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 6. 119 Cong. Rec. 25476, 93d Cong. 1st Sess.
 7. This clause provides [Rule XI clause 27(e), House Rules and Manual 
        Sec. 735(e) (1973)] that: ``No measure or recommendation shall 
        be reported from any committee unless a majority of the 
        committee were actually present.''
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    As the discussion proceeded, Mr. Pepper sought to explain the 
origin of the waiver provision, resulting in the following 
(8) exchange:
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 8. 119 Cong. Rec. 25477, 25478, 93d Cong. 1st Sess.
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        Mr. Pepper: Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 495 provides for an 
    open rule with 2 hours of general debate on H.R. 8929, a bill to 
    provide relief from postal rate increases for certain mailers.
        House Resolution 495 provides that the provisions of clause 
    27(e), rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives are 
    waived.
        I will state to my able friend from Iowa, whose inquiry I 
    anticipate, if I may, that the occasion for this request for a 
    waiver by the Committee on Rules is this: The committee [the 
    Committee on Post Office and Civil Service] had before it H.R. 
    7554. The committee, on the 21st of June, I believe it was, voted, 
    with a quorum present, by

[[Page 2748]]

    a record vote of 33 to 10, to report out the committee bill, H.R. 
    7554, with amendments. The bill and the amendments were voted 
    favorably by the committee.
        Mr. [Edward J.] Derwinski [of Illinois]: Mr. Speaker, will the 
    gentleman yield?
        Mr. Pepper: I yield to the gentleman from Illinois.
        Mr. Derwinski: The gentleman said the vote was 33 to 10. It was 
    13 to 10.
        Mr. Pepper: I am sorry. It was 13 to 10. I understand that 
    there are 25 members of the committee, and 23 voted, and the vote 
    to report out the bill was 13 to 10.
        The committee [on Post Office and Civil Service] voted to 
    report out a clean bill, which would embody H.R. 7554 and the 
    amendments in a single clean bill.
        On the day following that meeting of the committee there was 
    introduced a clean bill, embodying exactly H.R. 7554 plus the 
    amendments that had been voted upon favorably by the committee. 
    There was not a subsequent meeting of the committee upon the clean 
    bill. But the clean bill embodying what was voted upon exactly by 
    the committee, as H.R. 8929, was reported out and presented to the 
    Rules Committee. The situation was reported to the Rules Committee, 
    and the Rules Committee voted to recommend consideration of the 
    bill to the House, but recommended that there be a waiver of points 
    of order so that any technicality which might arise out of that 
    situation would be cured by the waiver of the rule, if the House 
    adopted the waiver of the rule.

    Following further discussion, the resolution was rejected 
(9) by a rollcall vote.
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 9. Id. at p. 25482.
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