[Deschler's Precedents, Volume 7, Chapters 22 - 25]
[Chapter 22. Calendars]
[C. Private Calendar; Private Bills]
[Â§ 11. Calling Up]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[Page 4486-4492]
 
                               CHAPTER 22
 
                               Calendars
 
                   C. PRIVATE CALENDAR; PRIVATE BILLS
 
Sec. 11. Calling Up

    The Private Calendar is called on the first and third Tuesdays of 
the month. It is mandatory on the first Tuesday and discretionary with 
the Speaker on the third Tuesday.(20)
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20. See Rule XXIV clause 6, House Rules and Manual Sec. 893 (1981)
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    Individual private bills have been considered at other times by 
special order or by unanimous consent.(1) The call of the 
Private Calendar itself has by unanimous consent been transferred to 
other days(2) or dispensed with altogether due to other 
pressing House business.(3)
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 1. See Sec. 11.5, 11.7, infra.
 2. See Sec. 11.8, infra.
 3. The Private Calendar was dispensed with during the week of 
        consideration of the Civil Rights Act of 1963. 110 Cong. Rec.  
        1552, 88th Cong. 2d Sess., Jan. 31, 1964.
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    Omnibus private bills are numerous private bills grouped together 
under one bill number for consideration and passage and resolved into 
individual bills for presentation to the President or transmittal to 
the Senate. They have precedence on the third Tuesday, and are not in 
order on the first Tuesday.(4)
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 4. See Sec. Sec. 11.1, 11.2, infra.
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    Under the rule the Private Calendar is called on the first and 
third Tuesdays ``. . . after the disposal of such business on the 
Speaker's table as requires ref

[[Page 4487]]

erence only. . . .'' (5) However, the House has agreed by 
unanimous consent to consider business other than referrals before the 
Private Calendar is called at its regular time.(6)
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 5. Rule XXIV clause 6, House Rules and Manual Sec. 893 (1981).
 6. See Sec. Sec. 11.11, 11.12, infra.
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                                 Forms

        Form of resolution providing for the consideration of the 
    Private Calendar at an evening session.

                                  H. Res. 364

        Resolved, That on Friday, January 27, 1933, it shall be in 
    order to move that the House take a recess until 8 o'clock p.m., 
    and that at the evening session until 10:30 p.m. it shall be in 
    order to consider bills on the Private Calendar unobjected to in 
    the House as in Committee of the Whole. The call of bills on said 
    calendar to begin at No. 536.(7)
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 7. 76 Cong. Rec. 2328, 72d Cong. 2d 
        Sess.                          -------------------
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Time for Consideration of Private Bills

Sec. 11.1 The consideration of Private Calendar bills on the first 
    Tuesday of the month is mandatory unless the House by a two-thirds 
    vote dispenses with such business, and the rule has been 
    interpreted to prohibit the consideration of omnibus bills on that 
    day.

    On June 18, 1935,(8) before the consideration of the 
bill (H.R. 8492) to amend the Agricultural Adjustment Act, Mr. Thomas 
L. Blanton, of Texas, raised a parliamentary inquiry as to whether 
certain bills on the Private Calendar would be in order.
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 8. 179 Cong. Rec. 9548, 9549, 74th Cong. 1st Sess.
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        The Speaker: (9) . . . The Chair may say in 
    explanation of the statement made a while ago and in further 
    amplification of that statement that the first section of the rule 
    which applies to the first Tuesday in the month does not include 
    omnibus bills. It provides that on the first Tuesday of the month 
    the Speaker shall direct the calling of the Private Calendar, and 
    the rule cannot be dispensed with except by a two-thirds vote of 
    the House. The second paragraph, which covers the third Tuesday in 
    the month, provides that the Speaker may direct the calling of the 
    Private Calendar, and there is no provision to the effect it shall 
    not be dispensed with.
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 9. Joseph W. Byrns (Tenn.).
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Sec. 11.2 Omnibus private bills may not be considered on the first 
    Tuesday of the month other than by unanimous consent.

    On Feb. 3, 1936,(10) Mr. John J. Cochran, of Missouri, 
raised a parliamentary inquiry:
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10. 80 Cong. Rec. 1377, 74th Cong. 2d Sess.

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[[Page 4488]]

        Mr. Cochran: Mr. Speaker, I received notice from the Whip this 
    morning to the effect that bills on the Private Calendar would be 
    called tomorrow. Does that mean that an omnibus claim bill may be 
    called up tomorrow? . . .
        The Speaker: (11) The House may by unanimous consent 
    agree to the consideration of such a bill, but . . . omnibus bills 
    may not be considered unless unanimous consent is given. Only 
    individual bills on the Private Calendar may be considered 
    tomorrow.
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11. Joseph W. Byrns (Tenn.).
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Precedence of Omnibus Bills

Sec. 11.3 Consideration of omnibus private bills on the third Tuesday 
    of the month is discretionary with the Speaker inasmuch as under 
    the rules such business does not take precedence over other 
    privileged business of the House.

    On Apr. 20, 1937,(12) Mr. Samuel Dickstein, of New York, 
raised a parliamentary inquiry:
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12. 81 Cong. Rec. 3645, 75th Cong. 1st Sess.
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        Mr. Dickstein: Mr. Speaker, this is the (third Tuesday) day on 
    which omnibus bills on the Private Calendar could be taken up. I 
    thought this would be the appropriate day to bring before the House 
    the omnibus bill that has been reported by our committee for the 
    consideration of the House. I understand that under the rule it is 
    not mandatory.

    The Speaker (13) responded, citing a decision of Speaker 
Byrns, that the call of the Private Calendar on the third Tuesday of 
the month is discretionary with the Speaker under the rule:
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13. William B. Bankhead (Ala.).
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        . . . This question was raised when the late lamented Speaker 
    Byrns was in the chair, and he gave the following construction to 
    the provision of the rule which the Chair has just 
    read,(14) as appears in the Congressional Record of June 
    18, 1935, Seventy-fourth Congress, first session:
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14. Rule XXIV clause 6, paragraph 2.
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            The consideration of private bills on the third Tuesday of 
        the month is discretionary with the Speaker, inasmuch as under 
        the rules such business does not take precedence over other 
        privileged business of the House.(15)
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15. 79 Cong. Rec. 9548, 74th Cong. 1st Sess., June 18, 1935.
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Sec. 11.4 Where the Speaker in his discretion directs the Clerk to call 
    the Private Calendar on the third Tuesday of the month, omnibus 
    bills on the calendar are called before individual bills thereon.

    On Feb. 17, 1970,(16) the House considered and passed 
the omnibus private bill (H.R. 15062) for the relief of sundry 
claimants.
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16. 116 Cong. Rec. 3605-13, 91st Cong. 2d Sess.
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    The Speaker pro tempore then directed the Clerk to call the first

[[Page 4489]]

individual bill on the Private Calendar.(17)
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17. ``On the third Tuesday of each month . . . the Speaker may direct 
        the Clerk to call the bills and resolutions on the Private 
        Calendar, preference to be given to omnibus bills containing 
        bills or resolutions which have previously been objected to on 
        a call of the Private Calendar. . . .'' Rule XXIV clause 6, 
        House Rules and Manual Sec. 893 (1981).
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Consideration by Special Order

Sec. 11.5 The House may provide for the consideration of a private bill 
    in the Committee of the Whole pursuant to a special order.

    On Aug. 13, 1940,(18) the House considered and agreed to 
House Resolution 407 providing for the immediate consideration in the 
Committee of the Whole of a private bill (H.R. 7230) authorizing an 
appeal to the Supreme Court from a decision of the Court of Claims. The 
resolution further provided for the reporting of such bill to the House 
with any amendments. The bill itself was later defeated in the House--
ayes 60, noes 115.(19)
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18. 86 Cong. Rec. 10258-74, 76th Cong. 3d Sess.
19. Id. at p. 10282.
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Sec. 11.6 Pursuant to a special order from the Rules Committee, the 
    House may provide for the consideration of a private bill in the 
    Committee of the Whole and for the reporting of such bill to the 
    House with any amendments.

    On June 13, 1940,(20) the House considered and agreed to 
the following resolution:
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20. 86 Cong. Rec. 8181, 76th Cong. 3d Sess.
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                            House Resolution 511

        Resolved, That immediately upon adoption of this resolution it 
    shall be in order to move that the House resolve itself into the 
    Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union for 
    consideration of H.R. 9766, a bill to authorize the deportation of 
    Harry Renton Bridges. That after general debate, which shall be 
    confined to the bill and shall continue not to exceed 1 hour, to be 
    equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority 
    member of the Committee on Immigration and Naturalization, the bill 
    shall be read for amendment under the 5-minute rule. At the 
    conclusion of the reading of the bill for amendment the Committee 
    shall rise and report the same to the House with such amendments as 
    may have been adopted, and the previous question shall be 
    considered as ordered on the bill and amendments thereto to final 
    passage without intervening motion except one motion to recommit.

Consideration of Private Bill Before Call of Calendar

Sec. 11.7 By unanimous consent, a bill on the Private Calendar

[[Page 4490]]

    was brought up and passed just prior to the call of that calendar.

    On Aug. 3, 1965,(1) before the call of the Private 
Calendar, Mr. George F. Senner, Jr., of Arizona, asked unanimous 
consent for the immediate consideration of the private bill (S. 618) 
for the relief of Nora Isabella Samuelli. There was no objection to Mr. 
Senner's request.
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 1. 111 Cong. Rec. 19202-05, 89th Cong. 1st Sess.
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Call of Calendar Transferred to Another Day

Sec. 11.8 The call of the Consent and Private Calendars was by 
    unanimous consent made in order on the second Tuesday of the month 
    due to the adjournment of the House for Easter recess.

    The Private Calendar is frequently made in order on days other than 
that specified in the rules by special order of the House. For example, 
on Mar. 29, 1961,(2) Mr. John W. McCormack, of 
Massachusetts, asked unanimous consent that on Tuesday, Apr. 11, 1961, 
it be in order to consider business on the Consent Calendar and the 
Private Calendar.
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 2. 107 Cong. Rec. 5289, 5290, 87th Cong. 1st Sess.
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    There was no objection.(3)
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 3. The transfer of call of the Private Calendar to other days has been 
        effected for numerous other reasons. For example: (1) Fourth of 
        July recess, 109 Cong. Rec. 11774, 88th Cong. 1st Sess., June 
        26, 1963; (2) before expected adjournment sine die, 113 Cong. 
        Rec. 25952, 25953, 90th Cong. 1st Sess., Dec. 12 1967; and (3) 
        death of a Member, 110 Cong. Rec. 5, 88th Cong. 2d Sess., Jan. 
        7, 1964.
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Consideration on District Monday

Sec. 11.9 It is in order on District Monday for the Committee on the 
    District of Columbia to call up bills on the Private Calendar that 
    have been reported by that committee.

    On May 26, 1930,(4) it being District of Columbia Day, 
Mr. Clarence J. McLeod, of Michigan, asked unanimous consent to take up 
the bill on the Private Calendar (H.R. 3048) to exempt from taxation 
certain property of the National Society of the Sons of the American 
Revolution in the District of Columbia.
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 4. 73 Cong. Rec. 9607, 71st Cong. 2d Sess.
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    Mr. William H. Stafford, of Wisconsin, reserved the right to object 
and noted that this being a Pri

[[Page 4491]]

vate Calendar bill it was not in order at that time. The Speaker pro 
tempore (5) responded that the measure was in order at that 
time and cited 4 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 3310, holding that on District 
of Columbia Day a motion is in order to go into Committee of the Whole 
House to consider a private bill reported by the Committee on the 
District of Columbia.
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 5. Carl R. Chindblom (Ill.).
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Consideration on Calendar Wednesday

Sec. 11.10 Private bills are not eligible for consideration on Calendar 
    Wednesday.

     On June 5, 1940,(6) during consideration of Calendar 
Wednesday business, Mr. John Lesinski, of Michigan, called up a bill 
(H.R. 9766) to authorize the deportation of an individual. The Chair 
ruled:
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 6. 86 Cong. Rec. 7629, 76th Cong. 3d Sess.
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        The Speaker: (7) . . . There is no question about 
    bills that may and may not be called up on Calendar Wednesday. The 
    rules specifically provide that on a call of committees under this 
    rule bills may be called up from either the House or the Union 
    Calendars except bills which are privileged under the 
    rules.(8) This bill which the gentleman from Michigan 
    has called up is on the Private Calendar, and in the opinion of the 
    Chair, under the rules, it is not eligible for consideration on 
    Calendar Wednesday.
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 7. William B. Bankhead (Ala.).
 8. See Rule XXIV clause 7, House Rules and Manual Sec. 897 (1981).
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Preempting Time for Call of Calendar

Sec. 11.11 By a unanimous-consent agreement the House may provide for 
    the taking up of certain business during the time for the call of 
    the Private Calendar.

    On Mar. 4, 1958,(9) the House commemorated the 53d 
anniversary of the inauguration of President Theodore Roosevelt during 
the time for the call of the Private Calendar, having previously agreed 
to do so by unanimous consent.(10)
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 9. 104 Cong. Rec. 3388, 85th Cong. 2d Sess.
10. See also the unanimous-consent request to commemorate Pan American 
        Day before the call of the Private Calendar. 104 Cong. Rec. 
        6436, 6437, 85th Cong. 2d Sess., Apr. 15, 1958.
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Precedence of Conference Report

Sec. 11.12 The Speaker has recognized a Member to call up a conference 
    report before directing the call of the Private Calendar on the 
    first Tuesday of the month.

[[Page 4492]]

    On Aug. 3, 1965,(11) Mr. Emanuel Celler, of New York, 
before the call of the Private Calendar on a Private Calendar day, was 
recognized to call up the conference report on the bill (S. 1564) to 
enforce the 15th amendment to the U.S. Constitution and asked unanimous 
consent that the statement of the managers on the part of the House be 
read in lieu of the report.
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11. 111 Cong. Rec. 19187, 89th Cong. 1st Sess.
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    There was no objection.

Private Calendar Bills as Unfinished Business

Sec. 11.13 When the House adjourns before completing action upon an 
    omnibus private bill such bill goes over as unfinished business 
    until that class of business is again in order under the rule.

    On Mar. 17, 1936,(12) during consideration of an omnibus 
bill, Mr. John M. Costello, of California, moved that the House 
adjourn. Mr. Fred Biermann, of Iowa, inquired as to the status of the 
bill upon adjournment. The Speaker pro tempore (13) 
indicated that the bill would be the unfinished business of the House 
at the next call of the Private Calendar when that class of business 
was again in order.
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12. 80 Cong. Rec. 3901, 74th Cong. 2d Sess.
13. Edward T. Taylor (Colo.).
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