[Deschler's Precedents, Volume 4, Chapters 15 - 17]
[Chapter 17. Committees]
[C. Committee Procedure]
[Â§ 16. Sitting of Committees While House Is in Session]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[Page 2698-2706]
 
                               CHAPTER 17
 
                               Committees
 
                         C. COMMITTEE PROCEDURE
 
Sec. 16. Sitting of Committees While the House Is in Session

    From 1935 through and including 1946, the House rules pro

[[Page 2699]]

vided that ``No committee, except the Committee on Rules, shall sit 
during the sitting of the House without special leave.'' 
(12) The clause was removed from the rules in 1947, but 
remained effective as a part of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 
1946, the applicable provisions of which were adopted as a part of the 
rules of the House.(13) In 1953, the provision was 
reinserted into the rules with the exception extended to include the 
Committees on Government Operations and Un-American 
Activities.(~14) Fifteen years later, the Committee on 
Standards of Official Conduct was included within the excepted 
group;(15) and in 1969, the Committee on Internal Security 
supplanted the Committee on Un-American Activities. In 1971, the rule 
was radically altered (16) so as to state that no House 
committee other than the four heretofore identified and the Committee 
on Appropriations could sit, without special leave ``while the House is 
reading a measure for amendment under the five minute rule'' [emphasis 
supplied]. By 1977,(1~7) however, only four committees (the 
Committees on Appropriations, the Budget, Rules, and Standards of 
Official Conduct) were granted this privilege under the rules. The 
Committee on Ways and Means traditionally obtains permission at the 
beginning of each Congress to sit during the five-minute 
rule.(18)
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12. See Rule XI clause 46, H. Jour. 1278, 74th Cong. 1st Sess. (1935).
13. See Note, House Rules and Manual Sec. 710 (1979).
14. See Rule XI clause 29, H. Jour. 781, 83d Cong. 1st Sess. (1953).
15. See Rule XI clause 31, H. Jour. 1319, 90th Cong. 2d Sess. (1968).
16. See Rule XI clause 31, House Rules and Manual Sec. 739 (1973).
17. Rule XI clause 2(i), House Rules and Manual Sec. 710 (1979).
18. See, for example, 121 Cong. Rec. 1677, 94th Cong. 1st Sess., Jan. 
        29, 1975.
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    Beginning with the 95th Congress, 10 objections were required to 
prevent the granting of a request of a committee to sit during the 
five-minute rule.(19)
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19. See Rule XI clause 2(i), House Rules and Manual Sec. 710 (1979). 
        This rule has been interpreted to permit a committee to sit if 
        there are fewer than 10 objectors on days when the legislative 
        program has been announced by the leadership. A single 
        objection can still prevent a committee meeting during the five 
        minute rule on a date so far in the future that the legislative 
        program is 
        undetermined.
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Generally; While House Reads Measure for Amendment

Sec. 16.1 Under the former rule, with certain exceptions spec

[[Page 2700]]

    ified in the House rules, no standing committee could sit without 
    special leave during the sessions of the House.

    On Apr. 2, 1962,(20) Speaker John W. McCormack, of 
Massachusetts, recognized Emanuel Celler, of New York, Chairman of the 
Committee on the Judiciary, whereupon the following exchange took 
place:
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20. 108 Cong. Rec. 5508, 87th Cong. 2d Sess.
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        Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the 
    Judiciary be privileged to sit tomorrow, Tuesday, during the 
    sessions of the House.
        The Speaker: Is there objection to the request of the gentleman 
    from New York? . . .
        Mr. [Charles A.] Halleck [of Indiana]: Reserving the right to 
    object, Mr. Speaker, did I correctly understand that the request is 
    for the Committee on the Judiciary to sit during the sessions of 
    the House?
        Mr. Celler: On tomorrow, during general debate.
        Mr. Halleck: That is the reason I have risen here. It has been 
    the rule as I have understood it that committees could sit only by 
    special permission during general debate. I subscribed to that 
    rule. I think that committee people should be here when bills are 
    actively under consideration.
        Mr. Celler: I amend the request.
        The Speaker: By implication it was there, but the gentleman 
    amended the request.
        Mr. Halleck: I withdraw my reservation of objection, Mr. 
    Speaker.

    Immediately thereafter, the Chair reiterated its inquiry as to 
whether there was any objection to the unanimous-consent request. No 
objection having been voiced, the Committee on the Judiciary was 
permitted to sit during general debate on the following 
day.(21)
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21. At the time, the rules [Rule XI clause 30, House Rules and Manual 
        (1962)] stated that ``No committee of the House, except the 
        Committees on Government Operations, Rules, and Un-American 
        Activities, shall sit, without special leave, while the House 
        is in session [H. Jour. 988, 87th Cong. 2d Sess. (1962)].''
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Sec. 16.2 Since 1971, the rules have provided with certain specified 
    exceptions, that no committee may sit without special leave while 
    the House is reading a measure for amendment under the five-minute 
    rule.

    On Jan. 22, 1971,(22) the House adopted its rules for 
the 92d Congress by agreement to a resolution (H. Res. 5), adopting the 
rules of the 91st Congress and incorporating the applicable provisions 
of both the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946, as amended,
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22. 117 Cong. Rec. 144, 92d Cong. 1st Sess.
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[[Page 2701]]

and the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970.

    In addition to the other changes it effected, the Legislative 
Reorganization Act of 1970 provided for the amendment of House Rule XI 
clause 31. In 1970,(23) this provision had stated that ``No 
committee of the House, except the Committees on Government Operations, 
Rules, Standards of Official Conduct, and Internal Security, shall sit, 
without special leave, while the House is in session.'' (24) 
As amended. clause 31 read, as follows:
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23. H. Jour. 1793, 91st Cong. 2d Sess. (1970).
24. In addition to the four specified committees, it should be noted, 
        the Committee on Appropriations enjoyed the privilege of 
        sitting while the House was in session by virtue of the 
        provisions of Rule XI clause 2. See Rule XI clause 2(b), H. 
        Jour. 1788, 91st Cong. 2d Sess. (1970) or Rule XI clause 2(b), 
        House Rules and Manual Sec. 679 (1973).
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        No committee of the House (except the Committee on 
    Appropriations, the Committee on Government Operations, the 
    Committee on Internal Security, the Committee on Rules, and the 
    Committee on Standards of Official Conduct) may sit, without 
    special leave while the House is reading a measure for amendment 
    under the five-minute rule.(25)
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25. 84 Stat. 1140, Sec. 117(b).
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    As stated in the committee report,(1)
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 1. H. Rept. No. 91-1215, p. 72.
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        . . . The effect of this revision is to permit the five House 
    committees listed above to continue to sit and act, without special 
    leave, while the House is in session and to permit all other House 
    committees also to sit and act, without special leave, in any 
    period in which the House is in session except that part of such 
    period devoted to the reading of a legislative measure for 
    amendment under the five-minute rule.

Sec. 16.3 The Speaker declined to entertain a unanimous-consent request 
    which would have permitted a subcommittee to sit during a 
    forthcoming session of the House in which a bill was to be read for 
    amendment.

    On July 1, 1947,(2) Speaker Joseph W. Martin, Jr., of 
Massachusetts, recognized Mr. Samuel K. McConnell, Jr., of 
Pennsylvania, and the following exchange took place:
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 2. 93 Cong. Rec. 8054, 80th Cong. 1st Sess.
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        Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that a subcommittee of the 
    Committee on Education and Labor holding hearings on minimum wages 
    be allowed to sit tomorrow during the session of the House.
        The Speaker: The Chair cannot recognize the gentleman for that 
    purpose. Tomorrow the House will be reading the civil functions 
    appropriation bill for amendment, and committees cannot sit during 
    sessions of the House while

[[Page 2702]]

    bills are being read for amendment; only during general debate.
        Mr. McConnell: We have a full schedule that we want to get 
    through.
        The Speaker: That is the policy that has been adopted. The 
    minority leader has stated that he would object to any requests of 
    that character.(3)
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 3. Compare Sec. Sec. 16.9, 16.10, infra, where in certain cases 
        committees were authorized to meet during House sessions.
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Sec. 16.4 The Speaker refused to entertain a unanimous-consent request 
    that a select committee be permitted to sit during sessions of the 
    House of a specified week after noting that such consent is not 
    granted while bills are being read for amendment in the House.

    On Dec. 4, 1944,(4) the following exchange took place 
between Speaker Sam Rayburn, of Texas, and Mr. Karl E. Mundt, of South 
Dakota, who chaired a select committee to investigate conditions of the 
American Indian:
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 4. 90 Cong. Rec. 8758, 78th Cong. 2d Sess.
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        Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Select Committee 
    to Investigate the Indian Conditions of America be permitted to sit 
    today during the session of the House, and any other times it may 
    be required to do so during the week.
        The Speaker: The Chair cannot entertain that request. The 
    policy has been adopted that that consent is not granted to 
    committees while bills are being read for amendment in the 
    House.(5)
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 5. See the introductory remarks at the beginning of this section for a 
        brief account of the history of the rule provisions allowing 
        committees to sit while the House is in session.
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Sec. 16.5 In the 80th Congress, no standing committee [other than the 
    Committee on Rules] was permitted to sit while the House was in 
    session without special leave from the House, and such leave could 
    only be granted with respect to those sessions in which general 
    debate [as opposed to the reading of bills for amendment] would be 
    in progress.

    On June 11, 1947,(6) Speaker Joseph W. Martin, Jr., of 
Massachusetts, recognized Edith Nourse Rogers, of Massachusetts, 
Chairwoman of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, who requested 
unanimous consent that that committee be permitted to sit during 
sessions of the House involving general debate for the remainder of the 
week.
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 6. 93 Cong. Rec. 6848, 80th Cong. 1st Sess.
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    Immediately thereafter, the following exchange took place:

        Mr. [George A.] Dondero [of Michigan]: Reserving the right to 
    object, Mr.

[[Page 2703]]

    Speaker, will there be general debate in the House the rest of the 
    week?
        The Speaker: The Chair cannot definitely state that. There will 
    be very little general debate tomorrow, the Chair thinks, and of 
    course there will be none on Friday when the bill from the 
    Committee on Foreign Affairs is being read for amendment.
        Mr. Dondero: I understand it is a ruling of the Speaker that 
    committees will not be permitted to sit unless the House is engaged 
    in general debate upon legislation.
        The Speaker: The rules under which we have been conducting the 
    House this year do not permit committees to hold hearings while the 
    House is in session except when general debate is in 
    progress.(7)
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 7. See the introductory remarks at the beginning of this section for a 
        brief account of the history of the rule provisions allowing 
        committees to sit while the House is in session.
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Sec. 16.6 The Speaker has declined to entertain unanimous-consent 
    requests that committees be allowed to sit during general debate 
    where the program contemplated for the day in question included 
    suspensions on several bills and roll call votes.

    On Feb. 2, 1960,(8) Speaker Sam Rayburn, of Texas, 
recognized Mr. Walter E. Rogers, of Texas, who initiated the following 
exchange:
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 8. 106 Cong. Rec. 1780, 86th Cong. 2d Sess.
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        Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on 
    Transportation of the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce 
    may be permitted to sit during general debate in the House this 
    afternoon.
        The Speaker: The Chair cannot entertain that request because we 
    have seven suspensions and there will be two rollcalls. The Chair 
    has already announced this to the Members.

Effect of Unauthorized Meeting on Committee Action

Sec. 16.7 The Speaker declared a committee meeting void and directed a 
    bill stricken from the calendar where it was shown that the 
    committee reporting it had sat and ordered it reported during the 
    session of the House without permission.

    On Apr. 20, 1934,(9) Speaker Henry T. Rainey, of 
Illinois, responded to a parliamentary inquiry posed by Mr. Henry B. 
Steagall, of Alabama, with reference to a bill (H.R. 7908) ordered to 
be reported by the Committee on Banking and Currency, as follows:
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 9. 78 Cong. Rec. 7057, 7058, 73d Cong. 2d Sess.
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        Mr. Steagall: Mr. Speaker, a parliamentary inquiry.
        The Speaker: The gentleman will state it.
        Mr. Steagall: What would the ruling of the Chair be on a point 
    raised that the report on a bill was ordered to

[[Page 2704]]

    be made in the committee while the House was in session, the 
    committee not having the permission of the House to sit during the 
    sessions of the House?
        The Speaker: The Chair understands the rule to be that a 
    committee can transact no business at all while the House is in 
    session unless that committee has the permission of the House to 
    sit during the sessions of the House. The Chair will read the rule.

            No committee of the House, except the Committee on Rules, 
        shall sit during the sittings of the House without special 
        leave.

        Mr. Steagall: I ask for information in connection with H.R. 
    7908, which was reported on the 12th of April.
        The Speaker: Does the Chair understand that it was reported out 
    by the committee while the House was in session?
        Mr. Steagall: That is correct.
        The Speaker: In reply to the parliamentary inquiry the Chair 
    will state that the action of the committee in so reporting the 
    bill is absolutely void, and the Chair will direct that the report 
    and the bill be stricken from the calendar. The purported report on 
    the bill (H.R. 7908) made to the House on April 12, 1934, being 
    invalid the Chair holds that the bill is still before the Committee 
    on Banking and Currency for such action as that committee thinks 
    fit and proper.(10)
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10. See the introductory remarks at the beginning of this section for a 
        brief account of the history of the rule provisions allowing 
        committees to sit while the House is in session.
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Sec. 16.8 A point of order having been raised against a pending bill on 
    the ground that the measure was reported at a committee meeting 
    held while the House was in session without such committee having 
    obtained permission to meet [and possessing no other authority to 
    do so] the point of order was sustained, and the Speaker stated 
    that the bill would remain in the committee until a valid report 
    was filed.

    On July 9, 1956,(11) John L. McMillan, of South 
Carolina, Chairman of the Committee on the District of Columbia, called 
up a bill (H.R. 4697), to amend the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act of 
the District of Columbia, 1954, as amended and requested unanimous 
consent that the bill be considered in the House as in Committee of the 
Whole.
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11. 102 Cong. Rec. 12199, 84th Cong. 2d Sess.
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    Shortly thereafter, Speaker Sam Rayburn, of Texas, recognized Mr. 
Samuel N. Friedel, of Maryland, and the following exchange took place: 
(12)
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12. Id. at p. 12200.
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        Mr. Speaker, I make the point of order that when this bill was 
    reported by the Committee on the District of Columbia the House was 
    in session and the committee did not have permission from the House 
    to sit at that time.

[[Page 2705]]

        The Speaker: The Chair will ask the chairman of the committee, 
    Did the Committee on the District of Columbia have authority from 
    the House to sit that day during the session of the House?
        Mr. McMillan: No, Mr. Speaker, it did not. The statement made 
    by the gentleman from Maryland is correct.
        The Speaker: Does the gentleman concede, then, that this bill 
    was reported when the House was in session and the committee did 
    not have the right to sit?
        Mr. McMillan: That is correct, Mr. Speaker.
        The Speaker: The Chair must sustain the point of order. . . .
        Mr. [Albert P.] Morano [of Connecticut]: Mr. Speaker, a 
    parliamentary inquiry.
        The Speaker: The gentleman will state it.
        Mr. Morano: Mr. Speaker, does that mean the decision of the 
    Chair prohibits the consideration of this bill at this time?
        The Speaker: That is correct. The committee must again take 
    action in conformance with the procedure heretofore outlined by the 
    Chair to properly report the bill to the House. As the bill now 
    stands it is still in the Committee on the District of Columbia 
    until a valid report is made.

Authorization to Sit During Sessions and Recesses

Sec. 16.9 By unanimous consent, the Committee on Ways and Means may be 
    authorized to sit during sessions of the House during a Congress.

    On Feb. 4, 1971,(~13~) Speaker Carl Albert, of Oklahoma, 
recognized Majority Leader Hale Boggs, of Louisiana, and the following 
events took place:
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13. 117 Cong. Rec. 1719, 92d Cong. 1st Sess.
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        Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Ways 
    and Means be authorized to sit during sessions of the House in the 
    92d Congress.
        The Speaker: Is there objection to the request of the gentleman 
    from Louisiana?
        There was no objection.(1)
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 1. For similar instances, see 111 Cong. Rec. 1177, 89th Cong. 1st 
        Sess., Jan. 26, 1965; 105 Cong. Rec. 939, 86th Cong. 1st Sess., 
        Jan. 20, 1959; and 95 Cong. Rec. 516, 81st Cong. 1st Sess., 
        Jan. 24, 1949.
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Sec. 16.10 The Committee on Appropriations and the subcommittees 
    thereof are frequently authorized by the House to sit during 
    sessions and recesses.

    On Jan. 23, 1967,(2) Speaker John W. McCormack, of 
Massachusetts, recognized George H. Mahon, of Texas, Chairman of the 
Committee on Appropriations, who called up House Resolution 164 and 
asked unanimous consent for its immediate consideration.
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 2. 113 Cong. Rec. 1086, 90th Cong. 1st Sess.
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    The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:

[[Page 2706]]

        Resolved, That the Committee on Appropriations and the 
    subcommittees thereof be authorized to sit during sessions and 
    recesses of the Ninetieth Congress.

    It was agreed to immediately thereafter.(3~)
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 3. For similar instances, see 111 Cong. Rec. 988, 89th Cong. 1st 
        Sess., Jan. 21, 1965; 109 Cong. Rec. 24, 88th Cong. 1st Sess., 
        Jan. 9, 1963; and 107 Cong. Rec. 1157, 87th Cong. 1st Sess., 
        Jan. 23, 1961.
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