    [Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and the Rules of the House of Representatives, 104th Congress]
    [104th Congress]
    [House Document 103-342]
    [Rules of the House of Representatives]
    [Pages 451-515]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 451]]

                                    Rule XI.

                       RULES OF PROCEDURES FOR COMMITTEES.

                                   In General

    Sec. 703a. Committee procedure.

      1.  (a)(1) The Rules of the
    House are the rules of its committees and subcommittees so far as
    applicable, except that a motion to recess from day to day, and a motion
    to dispense with the first reading (in full) of a bill or resolution, if
    printed copies are available, are nondebatable motions of high privilege
    in committees and subcommittees.

      (2) Each subcommittee of a committee is a part of that committee, and
    is subject to the authority and direction of that committee and to its
    rules so far as applicable.

      Paragraph (a)(1) was first adopted December 8, 1931 (VIII, 2215), and
    amended March 23, 1955, pp. 3569, 3585. In the 92d Congress (H. Res. 5,
    Jan. 22, 1971, p. 144), paragraph (a)(2) was incorporated into the
    rules, together with the reference to subcommittees contained in
    paragraph (a)(1), having been contained in the Legislative
    Reorganization Act of 1970 (84 Stat. 1140). This clause was amended in
    the 99th Congress to allow a privileged motion in committee and
    subcommittee to dispense with the first reading of a measure where
    printed copies are available (H. Res. 7, Jan. 3, 1985, p. 393). See
    Jefferson's Manual at Sec. 412, supra, for the requirement that a bill
    or resolution be read in full upon demand, prior to being read by
    paragraphs of sections for amendment. Each committee may appoint
    subcommittees (VI, 532), which should include majority and minority
    representation (IV, 4551), and confer on them powers delegated to the
    committee itself (VI, 532) except such powers as are reserved to the
    full committee by the rules of the House; but express authority has also
    been given subcommittees by the House (III, 1754-1759, 1801, 2499, 2504,
    2508, 2517; IV, 4548).

    [[Page 452]]
    sponsibilities under rule X, and (subject to the adoption of expense
    resolutions as required by clause 5) to incur expenses (including travel
    expenses) in connection therewith.

    Sec. 703b. Investigative authority.

      (b)  Each committee is
    authorized at any time to conduct such investigations and studies as it
    may consider necessary or appropriate in the exercise of its re

    Sec. 703c. Printing and binding.

      (c)  Each committee is
    authorized to have printed and bound testimony and other data presented
    at hearings held by the committee. All costs of stenographic services
    and transcripts in connection with any meeting or hearing of a committee
    shall be paid from the contingent fund of the House.

    Sec. 703d. Activity reports.

      (d)(1)  Each committee shall
    submit to the House not later than January 2 of each odd-numbered year,
    a report on the activities of that committee under this rule and rule X
    during the Congress ending on January 3 of such year.

      (2) Such report shall include separate sections summarizing the
    legislative and oversight activities of that committee during that
    Congress.

      (3) The oversight section of such report shall include a summary of
    the oversight plans submitted by the committee pursuant to clause 2(d)
    of rule X, a summary of the actions taken and recommendations made with
    respect to each such plan, and a summary of any additional oversight
    activities undertaken by that committee, and any recommendations made or
    actions taken thereon.

    [[Page 453]]
    tee on Rules. Paragraph (c) was also made part of the rules on that
    date. The provisions of paragraph (d)(1) were first made requirements of
    the rules in the 92d Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 22, 1971, p. 144,
    incorporating the provisions of sec. 118(b) of the Legislative
    Reorganization Act of 1970 (84 Stat. 1140)), and effective on January 3,
    1975 (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470) exemptions from
    the reporting requirements for the Committees on Appropriations, the
    Budget, House Administration, Rules and Standards of Official Conduct
    were removed, so the paragraph from that point applied to all
    committees. The 104th Congress added subparagraphs (d)(2) and (3) to
    require that activity reports include separate sections on legislative
    and oversight activities, including a summary comparison of oversight
    plans and eventual recommendations and actions (sec. 203(b), H. Res. 6,
    Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----).
      Paragraph (b) was incorporated into the rules under the Committee
    Reform Amendments of 1974, effective January 3, 1975 (H. Res. 988, 93d
    Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470), and, together with clauses 2(m) and 2(n)
    of rule XI, eliminated the necessity that each committee obtain such
    authority each Congress by a separate resolution reported from the
    Commit

      Under the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995, effective on January
    1, 1996, or 90 days after appropriations are made available to the
    Congressional Budget Office pursuant to that Act (whichever is earlier),
    the Committee on Rules is required to include in its activity report a
    separate item identifying all waivers of points of order relating to
    Federal mandates, listed by bill or joint resolution number and subject
    matter (sec. 107(b), P.L. 104-4; 109 Stat. 63).

    Adoption of written rules
                                 Committee Rules

    704a. Committee rules.

      2.  (a) Each standing committee of
    the House shall adopt written rules governing its procedure. Such
    rules--

          (1) shall be adopted in a meeting which is open to the public
    unless the committee, in open session and with a quorum present,
    determines by rollcall vote that all or part of the meeting on that day
    is to be closed to the public;

          (2) shall be not inconsistent with the Rules of the House or with
    those provisions of law having the force and effect of Rules of the
    House; and

    [[Page 454]]

    Each committee's rules specifying its regular meeting days, and any
    other rules of a committee which are in addition to the provisions of
    this clause, shall be published in the Congressional Record not later
    than thirty days after the committee is elected in each odd-numbered
    year. Each select or joint committee shall comply with the provisions of
    this paragraph unless specifically prohibited by law.

          (3) shall in any event incorporate all of the succeeding
    provisions of this clause to the extent applicable.

      The requirement that standing committees adopt written rules was first
    incorporated into the rules in the 92d Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 22,
    1971, p. 144), having been included in the Legislative Reorganization
    Act of 1970 (84 Stat. 1140). Under the Committee Reform Amendments of
    1974, clause 2(a) became effective in essentially its present form on
    January 3, 1975 (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470). In the
    94th Congress subparagraph (1) was amended to permit a rollcall vote to
    close the committee meeting at which committee rules are adopted only on
    the day of the meeting (H. Res. 5, Jan. 14, 1975, p. 20). In the 102d
    Congress the clause was amended to allow a committee 30 days after the
    election of its members, rather than after the convening of the
    Congress, to publish its rules in the Congressional Record (H. Res. 5,
    Jan. 3, 1991, p. ----). Committees have historically adopted rules under
    which they function (I, 707; III, 1841, 1842; VIII, 2214). Committee
    rules are compiled by the Committee on Rules each Congress as a
    committee print. It is the responsibility of the committees, and not the
    House, to construe and enforce additional committee rules on the calling
    of committee meetings (Speaker Albert, July 22, 1974, pp. 24436-47). A
    Court has interpreted the statute, from which the last two sentences
    derive, providing for publication of committee rules in the
    Congressional Record, to be mandatory: where a Senate committee had
    adopted a rule setting one senator as a quorum for the purpose of taking
    sworn testimony, but had not published that rule in the Record by the
    date of the hearing, the rule was not valid at that time, and there was
    no ``competent'' tribunal before which alleged false testimony was given
    to support a perjury conviction. United States v. Reinecke, 524 F. 2d
    435 (1975).

    [[Page 455]]
    may in some instances be the basis for a point of order in the House,
    resulting in the recommitment of the bill. But a point of order does not
    ordinarily lie in the House against consideration of a bill by reason of
    defective committee procedures occurring prior to the time the bill is
    ordered reported to the House (Procedure, ch. 17, sec. 11.1).

    Sec. 704b. Committee Procedure generally.

      Failure  to follow
    certain procedural requirements imposed on committees by this rule may
    invalidate committee actions. Violation of the requirements as to open
    meetings and hearings and other hearing irregularities improperly
    overruled (see clause 2(g)(5) of rule XI) or the prescribed committee
    procedures for reporting bills and resolutions (clause 2(1) of rule XI)
    or failure to adhere to the prohibition against committees meeting
    without permission while the House is operating under the five-minute
    rule (clause 2(i) of rule XI)

      Many of the procedures applicable to committees derive from
    Jefferson's Manual, which govern the House and its committees in all
    cases to which they are applicable (rule XLII). A committee may act only
    when together, and not by separate consultation and consent, nothing
    being the report (or recommendation) of the committee except what has
    been agreed to in committee actually assembled (see Jefferson's Manual
    at Sec. 407, supra). A measure before a committee for consideration must
    be read for amendment by section as in the House (see Jefferson's Manual
    at Secs. 412-414), and reading of the measure and of amendments
    thereto must be in full. The procedures applicable in the House as in
    the Committee of the Whole (see Secs. 424 and 427, supra) generally
    apply to proceedings in committees of the House of Representatives,
    except that since a measure considered in committee must be read for
    amendment, a motion to limit debate under the five-minute rule in
    committee must be confined to the portion of the bill then pending. The
    previous question may only be moved on the measure in committee if the
    entire measure has been read, or considered as read, for amendment.

      Committees generally conduct their business under the five-minute rule
    but may employ the ordinary motions which are in order in the House,
    such as under clause 4 of rule XVI, and may also employ the motion to
    limit debate under the five-minute rule on a proposition which has been
    read.
    Regular meeting days

    [[Page 456]]

    Additional and special meetings

    705. Committee meetings.

      (b)  Each standing committee of the
    House shall adopt regular meeting days, which shall be not less frequent
    than monthly, for the conduct of its business. Each such committee shall
    meet, for the consideration of any bill or resolution pending before the
    committee or for the transaction of other committee business, on all
    regular meeting days fixed by the committee, unless otherwise provided
    by written rule adopted by the committee.

      (c)(1) The chairman of each standing committee may call and convene,
    as he or she considers necessary, additional meetings of the committee
    for the consideration of any bill or resolution pending before the
    committee or for the conduct of other committee business. The committee
    shall meet for such purpose pursuant to that call of the chairman.

    [[Page 457]]
    measure or matter to be considered; and only the measure or matter
    specified in that notice may be considered at that special meeting.
    Vice chairman or ranking majority Member to preside in absence of
      (2) If at least three members of any standing committee desire that a
    special meeting of the committee be called by the chairman, those
    members may file in the offices of the committee their written request
    to the chairman for that special meeting. Such request shall specify the
    measure or matter to be considered. Immediately upon the filing of the
    request, the clerk of the committee shall notify the chairman of the
    filing of the request. If, within three calendar days after the filing
    of the request, the chairman does not call the requested special
    meeting, to be held within seven calendar days after the filing of the
    request, a majority of the members of the committee may file in the
    offices of the committee their written notice that a special meeting of
    the committee will be held, specifying the date and hour of, and the
    measure or matter to be considered at, that special meeting. The
    committee shall meet on that date and hour. Immediately upon the filing
    of the notice, the clerk of the committee shall notify all members of
    the committee that such special meeting will be held and inform them of
    its date and hour and the

            chairman

      (d) A member of the majority party on any standing committee or
    subcommittee thereof designated by the chairman of the full committee
    shall be vice chairman of the committee or subcommittee, as the case may
    be, and shall preside at any meeting during the temporary absence of the
    chairman. If the chairman and vice chairman of the committee or
    subcommittee are not present at any meeting of the committee or
    subcommittee, the ranking member of the majority party who is present
    shall preside at that meeting.

      Paragraphs (b), (c), and (d) were first adopted on December 8, 1931
    (VIII, 2208), were amended on January 3, 1953 (p. 24), and were revised
    both by the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 (84 Stat. 1140) and
    in the 92d Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 22, 1971, p. 144). In the 102d
    Congress paragraph (d) was amended to provide that the ranking majority
    Member of each committee and subcommittee be designated as its vice-
    chairman (H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 1991, p. ----). In the 104th Congress
    paragraph (d) was amended to permit the chairman of a full committee to
    designate vice-chairmen of the committee and its subcommittees (sec.
    223(c), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----).

      A committee scheduled to meet on stated days, when convened on such
    day with a quorum present may proceed to the transaction of business
    regardless of the absence of the chairman (VIII, 2213, 2214).

    [[Page 458]]

    Committee records
      A committee meeting being adjourned for lack of a quorum, a majority
    of the members of the committee may not, without the consent of the
    chairman, call a meeting of the committee on the same day (VIII, 2213).

    706a. Required records.

      (e)(1)  Each committee shall keep a
    complete record of all committee action which shall include--

          (A) in the case of any meeting or hearing transcript, a
    substantially verbatim account of remarks actually made during the
    proceedings, subject only to technical, grammatical, and typographical
    corrections authorized by the person making the remarks involved; and

    Sec. 706b.
    Public availability.

          (B) a record of the votes on any question on which a rollcall vote
    is demanded.
    The result of each such rollcall vote shall be made available by the
    committee for inspection by the public at reasonable  times in the offices of the committee.
    Information so available for public inspection shall include a
    description of the amendment, motion, order, or other proposition and
    the name of each Member voting for and each Member voting against such
    amendment, motion, order, or proposition, and the names of those Members
    present but not voting.

    [[Page 459]]
    the House, no Member of the House (other than a member of such
    committee) shall have access thereto without the specific, prior
    approval of the committee.

    Sec. 706c. Committee files.

      (2)  All committee hearings,
    records, data, charts, and files shall be kept separate and distinct
    from the congressional office records of the Member serving as chairman
    of the committee; and such records shall be the property of the House
    and all Members of the House shall have access thereto, except that in
    the case of records in the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct
    respecting the conduct of any Member, officer, or employee of

      (3) Each committee shall include in its rules standards for
    availability of records of the committee delivered to the Archivist of
    the United States under rule XXXVI. Such standards shall specify
    procedures for orders of the committee under clause 3(b)(3) and clause
    4(b) of rule XXXVI, including a requirement that nonavailability of a
    record for a period longer than the period otherwise applicable under
    that rule shall be approved by vote of the committee.

      The first sentence of paragraph (e)(1) was rewritten entirely in the
    104th Congress (sec. 206, H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----). Its
    predecessor, requiring a complete record of all committee actions,
    including votes on any question on which a roll call was demanded, was
    enacted as section 133(b) of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946
    (60 Stat. 812) and made part of the standing rules on January 3, 1953
    (p. 24). The requirement that committee roll calls be subject to public
    inspection was added by section 104(b) of the Legislative Reorganization
    Act of 1970 (84 Stat. 1140) and made a part of the rules in the 92d
    Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 22, 1971, p. 144). Effective on January 3,
    1975 (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470), the requirement
    that proxy votes in committee be made available for public inspection
    was eliminated from this paragraph since proxies were prohibited as of
    that date, but in the 94th Congress clause 2(f) of rule XI was amended
    to permit proxies in committee, and this paragraph was likewise amended
    to reinsert the requirement of availability for public inspection (H.
    Res. 5, Jan. 14, 1975, p. 20). When proxy voting was again eliminated in
    the 104th Congress, the reference thereto in the third sentence of
    paragraph (e)(1) was deleted (sec. 104(b), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p.
    ----).

    [[Page 460]]

      Paragraph (e)(2) derives from section 202(d) of the Legislative
    Reorganization Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 812), was made a part of the rules
    in the 83d Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 1953, p. 24), and was amended in
    the 95th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 4, 1977, pp. 53-70) to restrict the
    access of Members to certain records of the Committee on Standards of
    Official Conduct. Paragraph (e)(3) was added in the 101st Congress (H.
    Res. 5, Jan. 3, 1989, p. 72).

      A Member's right to access to committee records under this clause does
    not entitle him to make photostatic copies of such records (Speaker
    Rayburn, Aug. 14, 1957, pp. 14737-39), and such records may not be
    brought into the well of the House if the committee has not authorized
    such action (Speaker Rayburn, June 3, 1960, p. 11820). Furthermore, such
    access allows a Member to examine executive session materials only in
    committee rooms and does not permit a Member to copy or to take personal
    notes from such materials, to keep such notes or copies in his personal
    office files, or to release such materials to the public without the
    consent of the committee or subcommittee under clause 2(k)(7) of rule XI
    (Speaker O'Neill, Dec. 6, 1977, pp. 38470-73). This clause allowing all
    Members access to committee records and materials which are the property
    of the House does not necessarily apply to records within the possession
    of the executive branch which the members of the committee have been
    allowed to examine under limited conditions at the discretion of the
    executive agency in possession of such materials (Speaker O'Neill, July
    31, 1980, p. 20765). Compare this clause with clause 7(c) of rule
    XLVIII, which only permits access of non-members of the Select Committee
    on Intelligence to classified information in the possession of that
    committee when authorized by that committee.

      While all Members have access to committee records under this clause,
    testimony or evidence taken in executive sessions of a committee is
    under the control and subject to the regulation of the committee and,
    under clause 2(k)(7) of rule XI (Sec. 712, infra), cannot be released
    without the consent of the committee (Speaker pro tempore Mills, June
    26, 1961, p. 11233; see also Procedure, ch. 17, sec. 15).

    Prohibition against proxy voting
      In implementing clause 2(e)(2), committees may prescribe regulations
    to govern the manner of access to their records, such as requiring
    examination only in committee rooms. See the rules of the Committees on
    the Budget, International Relations, and National Security, as compiled
    by the Committee on Rules.

    707. Ban on proxies.

      (f)  No vote by any member of any
    committee or subcommittee with respect to any measure or matter may be
    cast by proxy.

      The 104th Congress adopted paragraph (f) in this form (sec. 104, H.
    Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----). An earlier form of the provision was
    enacted as section 106(b) of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970
    (84 Stat. 1140) and made part of the standing rules in the 92d Congress
    (H. Res. 5, Jan. 22, 1971, p. 144).

    [[Page 461]]
    them and specifying the measures or matters to which they applied.
    Effective January 3, 1975 (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p.
    34470), proxies in committee were prohibited, but in the 94th Congress
    (H. Res. 5, Jan. 14, 1975, p. 20), the rule was amended to permit
    proxies in committees with additional restrictions requiring an
    assertion that the grantor was absent on official business or otherwise
    unable to attend, requiring the Member to sign and date the proxy, and
    permitting general proxies for procedural matters.
    Open meetings and hearings
      The original form of this paragraph permitted committees to adopt
    written rules permitting proxies in writing, designating the persons to
    execute

    [[Page 462]]

    708.

      (g)(1)  Each meeting for the transaction of business,
    including the markup of legislation, of each standing committee or
    subcommittee thereof shall be open to the public, including to radio,
    television, and still photography coverage, except as provided by clause
    3(f)(2), except when the committee or subcommittee, in open session and
    with a majority present, determines by rollcall vote that all or part of
    the remainder of the meeting on that day shall be closed to the public
    because disclosure of matters to be considered would endanger national
    security, would compromise sensitive law enforcement information, would
    tend to defame, degrade or incriminate any person, or otherwise would
    violate any law or rule of the House: Provided, however, That no person
    other than members of the committee and such congressional staff and
    such departmental representatives as they may authorize shall be present
    at any business or markup session which has been closed to the public.
    This paragraph does not apply to open committee hearings which are
    provided for by clause 4(a)(1) of rule X or by subparagraph (2) of this
    paragraph.

      (2) Each hearing conducted by each committee or subcommittee thereof
    shall be open to the public, including to radio, television, and still
    photography coverage, except when the committee or subcommittee, in open
    session and with a majority present, determines by rollcall vote that
    all or part of the remainder of that hearing on that day shall be closed
    to the public because disclosure of testimony, evidence, or other
    matters to be considered would endanger the national security, would
    compromise sensitive law enforcement information, or would violate any
    law or rule of the House of Representatives. Notwithstanding the
    requirements of the preceding sentence, a majority of those present,
    there being in attendance the requisite number required under the rules
    of the committee to be present for the purpose of taking testimony,

              (A) may vote to close the hearing for the sole purpose of
    discussing whether testimony or evidence to be received would endanger
    the national security, would compromise sensitive law enforcement
    information, or violate clause 2(k)(5) of rule XI; or

    [[Page 463]]
    series of hearings on a particular article of legislation or on a
    particular subject of investigation, to close its hearings to Members by
    the same procedures designated in this subparagraph for closing hearings
    to the public: Provided, however, That the committee or subcommittee may
    by the same procedure vote to close one subsequent day of hearing except
    that the Committee on Appropriations, the Committee on National
    Security, and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the
    subcommittees therein may, by the same procedure, vote to close up to
    five additional consecutive days of hearings.
              (B) may vote to close the hearing, as provided in clause
    2(k)(5) of rule XI.
    No Member may be excluded from nonparticipatory attendance at any
    hearing of any committee or subcommittee, with the exception of the
    Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, unless the House of
    Representatives shall by majority vote authorize a particular committee
    or subcommittee, for purposes of a particular

      (3) The chairman of each committee of the House (except the Committee
    on Rules) shall make public announcement of the date, place, and subject
    matter of any committee hearing at least one week before the
    commencement of the hearing. If the chairman of the committee, with the
    concurrence of the ranking minority member, determines there is good
    cause to begin the hearing sooner, or if the committee so determines by
    majority vote, a quorum being present for the transaction of business,
    the chairman shall make the announcement at the earliest possible date.
    Any announcement made under this subparagraph shall be promptly
    published in the Daily Digest and promptly entered into the committee
    scheduling service of the House Information Systems.

    [[Page 464]]
    of his or her appearance) a written statement of the proposed testimony
    and to limit the oral presentation at such appearance to a brief summary
    of his or her argument.
      (4) Each committee shall, insofar as is practicable, require each
    witness who is to appear before it to file with the committee (in
    advance

      (5) No point of order shall lie with respect to any measure reported
    by any committee on the ground that hearings on such measure were not
    conducted in accordance with the provisions of this clause; except that
    a point of order on that ground may be made by any member of the
    committee which reported the measure if, in the committee, such point of
    order was (A) timely made and (B) improperly overruled or not properly
    considered.

      (6) The preceding provisions of this paragraph do not apply to the
    committee hearings which are provided for by clause 4(a)(1) of rule X.

    [[Page 465]]
    3, 1983, p. 34). In the 104th Congress subparagraphs (1) and (2) were
    amended to require that meetings and hearings open to the public also be
    open to broadcast and photographic media; subparagraph (1) was further
    amended to permit closed meetings only on specified conditions and to
    delete an exception for meetings relating to internal budget or
    personnel matters; and subparagraph (2) was further amended to specify a
    new condition (sensitive law enforcement information) for closing
    hearings (sec. 105, H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----). Subparagraph (2)
    was also amended to reflect the new name of the Committee on National
    Security (sec. 202(b), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----).
      Subparagraphs (1) and (2) relating to open committee meetings and
    hearings, were first made part of the rules on March 7, 1973 (H. Res.
    259, 93d Cong., pp. 6713-20). They were amended in the 94th Congress (H.
    Res. 5, Jan. 14, 1975, p. 20), to limit to one day (in case of a
    committee meeting) or to one day plus one subsequent day (in the case of
    a hearing) the period during which a committee may close its session.
    They were again amended in the 95th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 4, 1977,
    pp. 53-70), to require that a majority (rather than a quorum) be present
    when a committee or subcommittee votes to close a meeting or hearing and
    to provide that a non-committee Member cannot be excluded from a hearing
    except by a vote of the House. However, subparagraph (2) was amended in
    the 96th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 15, 1979, p. 8) to permit a majority
    of those present under the rules of the committee for the purpose of
    taking testimony (not less than two Members as provided in clause
    2(h)(1) of rule XI) to vote to close a hearing either to discuss whether
    the testimony would endanger national security or would violate clause
    2(k)(5) of this rule, or to proceed to close the hearing as provided by
    clause 2(k)(5). In the 98th Congress subparagraph (2) was amended
    further to permit the Committees on Appropriations, Armed Services (now
    National Security), and Intelligence and their subcommittees, when
    voting in open session with a quorum present, to close a hearing on that
    particular day and for up to five additional days, for a total of not to
    exceed six days (H. Res. 5, Jan.

      Subparagraphs (3)-(6) derive from sections 111(b), 113(b), 115(b), and
    242(c) respectively of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 (84
    Stat. 1140) and became part of the rules in the 92d Congress (H. Res. 5,
    Jan. 22, 1971, p. 144). Effective January 3, 1975 (H. Res. 988, 93d
    Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470), these provisions were inadvertently
    omitted from the rules, and were therefore reinserted in the 94th
    Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 14, 1975, p. 20). Subparagraph (3) was amended
    in the 97th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 1981, pp. 98-113) to add the
    requirement of prompt entering of public notice of committee meetings
    into the committee scheduling service of the House Information Systems.
    Subparagraph (3) was again amended in the 104th Congress to permit the
    calling of a hearing on less than seven days' notice upon a
    determination of good cause either by the committee or subcommittee or
    by its chairman, with the concurrence of its ranking minority member (H.
    Res. 43, Jan. 31, 1995, p. ----).
    Quorum for taking testimony and certain other action-

    709. Quorum of two; of onethird.

      (h)(1)  Each committee may
    fix the number of its members to constitute a quorum for taking
    testimony and receiving evidence which shall be not less than two.

      (2) Each committee (except the Committee on Appropriations, the
    Committee on the Budget, and the Committee on Ways and Means) may fix
    the number of its members to constitute a quorum for taking any action
    other than the reporting of a measure or recommendation which shall be
    not less than one-third of the members.

    [[Page 466]]
    pp. 53-70) subparagraph (2) was added to authorize committees to fix a
    quorum less than a majority for certain other action. Under clause 2(g)
    of this rule, a majority of a committee or subcommittee must be present
    when a committee or subcommittee votes to close a meeting or hearing,
    under clause (m) of this rule a majority of a committee or subcommittee
    must be present to authorize and issue a subpoena, and under clause
    2(l)(2)(A) of this rule, a majority of a committee or subcommittee must
    be present to order a measure or recommendation reported.
      This paragraph when adopted on March 23, 1955, pp. 3569, 3585, only
    related to the authority of a committee to fix quorum of not less than
    two for taking testimony. In the 95th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 4, 1977,

      By unanimous consent the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct
    was authorized to receive evidence and take testimony before a quorum of
    one of its Members for the remainder of the second session of the 100th
    Congress (Oct. 13, 1988, p. 30467).
    Limitation on committees' sittings

    710. Committees not to sit.

      (i)(1)  No committee of the
    House (except the Committee on Appropriations, the Committee on the
    Budget, the Committee on Rules, the Committee on Standards of Official
    Conduct, and the Committee on Ways and Means) may sit, without special
    leave, while the House is reading a measure for amendment under the
    five-minute rule. For purposes of this paragraph, special leave will be
    granted unless ten or more Members object; and shall be granted upon the
    adoption of a motion, which shall be highly privileged if offered by the
    majority leader, granting such leave to one or more committees.

      (2) No committee of the House may sit during a joint session of the
    House and Senate or during a recess when a joint meeting of the House
    and Senate is in progress.

    [[Page 467]]
    nization Act of 1970 (sec. 117(b); 84 Stat. 1140) and this revision was
    made part of the standing rules in the 92d Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 22,
    1971, p. 14). Effective January 3, 1975 (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8,
    1974, p. 34470), the committees exempted from this clause were
    Appropriations, Budget, and Rules; and in the 95th Congress (H. Res. 5,
    Jan. 4, 1977, pp. 53-70), the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct
    was also exempted. The Committee on Ways and Means was traditionally
    permitted to sit during proceedings under the five-minute rule by
    unanimous consent granted each Congress (Jan. 29, 1975, p. 1677) until
    it was exempted from the rule in the 97th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 5,
    1981, pp. 98-113). A provision that special leave to sit be granted if
    ten Members did not object was added to the clause in the 95th Congress
    (H. Res. 5, Jan. 4, 1977, pp. 53-70). An exemption for the Committee on
    House Administration and the prohibition against committee meetings
    during joint meetings or joint sessions were added in the 101st Congress
    (H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 1989, p. 72). In the 103d Congress the prohibition
    against sitting during proceedings under the five-minute rule was
    stricken altogether (H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 1993, p. ----), but in the 104th
    Congress the former rule was reinstated with exemptions for the
    Committees on Appropriations, the Budget, Rules, Standards of Official
    Conduct, and Ways and Means, and also with the provision for a
    privileged motion by the Majority Leader (sec. 208, H. Res. 6, Jan. 4,
    1995, p. ----). The majority leader controls one hour of debate on the
    privileged motion provided under this rule (Jan. 23, 1995, p. ----).
      A clause regulating when committees could sit had its origin in 1794.
    It was omitted from rule XI in the adoption of rules for the 80th
    Congress but remained effective as part of the Legislative
    Reorganization Act of 1946, the applicable provisions of which were
    continued as a part of the rules of the House. While the rule formerly
    prohibited committees from sitting at any time when the House was in
    session, it was narrowed to proscribe sittings during the five-minute
    rule by the Legislative Reorga

      At the organization of the 104th Congress, the Speaker reiterated
    policies first enunciated on March 3, 1983, concerning the entertainment
    and disposition of requests for leave to sit under this paragraph, to
    wit: (1) unanimous consent is required to grant permission for a day for
    which the legislative program has not been announced; (2) no request is
    entertained on a day when no vote is scheduled except one for hearings
    only, by unanimous consent, and with the concurrence of the ranking
    minority member; (3) no request is entertained during the 1-minute
    period except with the concurrence of the ranking minority member; (4)
    no request is entertained after the completion of legislative business
    for the day, i.e., after leaves of absence have been laid down or
    unanimous consent requests from the majority and minority tables have
    been entertained at the end of the day; and (5) after objection by 10
    Members, a request may not be renewed on the same day without assurance
    that the objections have been withdrawn (Speaker Gingrich, Jan. 4, 1995,
    p. ----).

    [[Page 468]]

    Calling and interrogation of witnesses
      Leave for a committee to sit during sessions of the House does not
    release its members from liability to arrest during a call of the House
    (IV, 3020). 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 (Apr. 20, 1934, p.7057).

    711.

      (j)(1)  Whenever any hearing is conducted by any
    committee upon any measure or matter, the minority party Members on the
    committee shall be entitled, upon request to the chairman by a majority
    of them before the completion of the hearing, to call witnesses selected
    by the minority to testify with respect to that measure or matter during
    at least one day of hearing thereon.

      (2) Each committee shall apply the five-minute rule in the
    interrogation of witnesses in any hearing until such time as each member
    of the committee who so desires has had an opportunity to question each
    witness.

      Paragraph (j)(1) was contained in section 114(b) of the Legislative
    Reorganization Act of 1970 (84 Stat. 1140) and was made a part of the
    rules in the 92d Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 22, 1971, p. 144). Paragraph
    (j)(2) was added to the rules on that latter date. While a majority of
    the minority members of a committee are entitled to call witnesses
    selected by the minority for at least one day of hearings, no rule of
    the House requires the calling of witnesses on opposing sides of an
    issue (Oct. 14, 1987, p. 27921).
    Investigative hearing procedures

    712.

      (k)(1)  The chairman at an investigative hearing shall
    announce in an opening statement the subject of the investigation.

      (2) A copy of the committee rules and this clause shall be made
    available to each witness.

    [[Page 469]]

      (3) Witnesses at investigative hearings may be accompanied by their
    own counsel for the purpose of advising them concerning their
    constitutional rights.

      (4) The chairman may punish breaches of order and decorum, and of
    professional ethics on the part of counsel, by censure and exclusion
    from the hearings; and the committee may cite the offender to the House
    for contempt.

      (5) Whenever it is asserted that the evidence or testimony at an
    investigatory hearing may tend to defame, degrade, or incriminate any
    person,

              (A) such testimony or evidence shall be presented in executive
    session, notwithstanding the provisions of clause 2(g)(2) of this rule,
    if by a majority of those present, there being in attendance the
    requisite number required under the rules of the committee to be present
    for the purpose of taking testimony, the committee determines that such
    evidence or testimony may tend to defame, degrade, or incriminate any
    person; and

              (B) the committee shall proceed to receive such testimony in
    open session only if a majority of the members of the committee, a
    majority being present, determine that such evidence or testimony will
    not tend to defame, degrade, or incriminate any person.
    In either case the committee shall afford such person an opportunity
    voluntarily to appear as a witness, and receive and dispose of requests
    from such person to subpoena additional witnesses.

    [[Page 470]]
    shall dispose of requests to subpoena additional witnesses.
      (6) Except as provided in subparagraph (5), the chairman shall receive
    and the committee

      (7) No evidence or testimony taken in executive session may be
    released or used in public sessions without the consent of the
    committee.

      (8) In the discretion of the committee, witnesses may submit brief and
    pertinent sworn statements in writing for inclusion in the record. The
    committee is the sole judge of the pertinency of testimony and evidence
    adduced at its hearing.

      (9) A witness may obtain a transcript copy of his testimony given at a
    public session or, if given at an executive session, when authorized by
    the committee.

    [[Page 471]]

    Committee procedures for reporting bills and resolutions
      The provisions of paragraph (k) were first incorporated into the rules
    on March 23, 1955, pp. 3569, 3585. The requirement of paragraph (k)(2)
    that a copy of committee rules be furnished to each witness was added in
    the 92d Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 22, 1971, p. 144), and the former
    requirement of paragraph (k)(9) that a witness must pay the cost of a
    transcript copy of his testimony was eliminated under the Committee
    Reform Amendments of 1974, effective January 3, 1975 (H. Res. 988, 93d
    Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470). Paragraph (k)(5) was amended in the 96th
    Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 15, 1979, pp. 7-16) to permit a committee to
    hear testimony asserted to be defamatory in executive session upon a
    determination by a majority of those present that such testimony is
    indeed defamatory, degrading, or incriminating. The requirements of
    clause 2(g)(1) and (2) and of 2(m)(2)(A) of this rule that a majority of
    the committee or subcommittee shall constitute a quorum for the purposes
    of closing meetings or hearings or issuing subpoenas have been construed
    to require, under clause 2(k)(7) of this rule, that a majority shall
    likewise constitute a quorum to release or make public any evidence or
    testimony received in any closed meeting or hearing and any other
    executive session record of the committee or subcommittee. See also
    clauses 3(a) and 7(c)(2) of rule XLVIII, which provide that executive
    session material transmitted by the Intelligence Committee to another
    committee of the House becomes the executive session material of the
    recipient committee by virtue of the nature of the material and the
    injunction of clauses 7(c), (d), and (e) of that rule which prohibit
    disclosure of information provided to committees or Members of the House
    except in a secret session.

    713a. Chairman's duty.

      (l)(1)(A)  It shall be the duty of
    the chairman of each committee to report or cause to be reported
    promptly to the House any measure approved by the committee and to take
    or cause to be taken necessary steps to bring the matter to a vote.

    Sec. 713b. Filing by majority of Committee.

      (B)  In any
    event, the report of any committee on a measure which has been approved
    by the committee shall be filed within seven calendar days (exclusive of
    days on which the House is not in session) after the day on which there
    has been filed with the clerk of the committee a written request, signed
    by a majority of the members of the committee, for the reporting of that
    measure. Upon the filing of any such request, the clerk of the committee
    shall transmit immediately to the chairman of the committee notice of
    the filing of that request. This subdivision does not apply to a report
    of the Committee on Rules with respect to the rules, joint rules, or
    order of business of the House or to the reporting of a resolution of
    inquiry addressed to the head of an executive department.

    [[Page 472]]
    section 307 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (88 Stat. 313),
    requiring the Committee on Appropriations to strive to complete
    committee action on all regular appropriation bills before reporting any
    of them to the House, and to submit a report comparing specified
    spending levels, but was repealed by section 232(e) of the Balanced
    Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (P.L. 99-177, Dec. 12,
    1985). An obsolete reference in subdivision (B) to the former
    subdivision (C) was deleted in the 104th Congress (sec. 223(f), H. Res.
    6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----).
      Subdivision (1)(A) is from section 133(c) of the Legislative
    Reorganization Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 812) and was made a part of the
    standing rules on January 3, 1953 (p. 24). It is sufficient authority
    for the chairman to call up a bill on Calendar Wednesday (Speaker
    Rayburn, Feb. 22, 1950, p. 2162). Subdivision (1)(B) is derived from
    section 105 of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 (84 Stat.
    1140) and was made part of the rules in the 92d Congress (H. Res. 5,
    Jan. 22, 1971, p. 144). A subdivision (1)(C) was added by the Committee
    Reform Amendments of 1974, effective Jan. 3, 1975 (H. Res. 988, 93d
    Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470), to incorporate

      Committee reports must be submitted while the House is in session
    (with the exception of reports on certain budget resolutions under
    section 310(a) of the Congressional Budget Act (Sec. 1007, infra), and
    that requirement may be waived by unanimous consent only, and not by
    motion (Dec. 17, 1982, p. 31951).

    Sec. 713c. Requirement of quorum.

      (2)(A)  No measure or
    recommendation shall be reported from any committee unless a majority of
    the committee was actually present.

    Sec. 713d. Vote on reporting.

      (B)  With respect to each
    rollcall vote on a motion to report any measure or matter of a public
    character, and on any amendment offered to the measure or matter, the
    total number of votes cast for and against, and the names of those
    members voting for and against, shall be included in the committee
    report on the measure or matter.

    [[Page 473]]
    (H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 1993, p. ----), but in the 104th Congress both of
    those features were deleted from the rule (sec. 207, H. Res. 6, Jan. 4,
    1995, p. ----).
      Subparagraph (2)(A) is from section 133(d) of the Legislative
    Reorganization Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 812) and was made a part of the
    rules on January 3, 1953 (p. 24). The point of order that a bill was
    reported from a committee without a formal meeting and a quorum present
    comes too late if debate has started on a bill in the House (VIII, 2223;
    Feb. 24, 1947, p. 1374). No committee report is valid unless authorized
    with a quorum of the committee actually present at the time the vote is
    taken (IV, 4584; VIII, 2211, 2212, 2221, 2222), and while Speakers have
    indicated that committee members may come and go during the course of
    the vote if the roll call indicates that a quorum was present (VIII,
    2222), where it is admitted that a quorum was not in the room at any
    time during the vote and the committee transcript does not show a quorum
    acting as a quorum, the Chair will sustain the point of order (VIII,
    2212). In the 103d Congress, clause 2(l)(2)(A) was amended to provide
    that responses to roll calls in committee be deemed contemporaneous and
    to require that a point of no quorum with respect to a committee report
    be timely asserted in committee or considered waived

      Where the committee transcript was not conclusive and the manager of
    the bill gave absolute assurance that a majority of the full committee
    was actually present when the bill was ordered reported the Speaker
    overruled a point of order made under subparagraph (2)(A) (Oct. 22,
    1987, p. 28807). A point of no quorum pending a committee vote on
    ordering a measure reported may provoke a quorum call requiring a
    majority of the committee to be present in the committee room. A
    committee may act only when together, nothing being the report of the
    committee except what has been agreed to in committee actually assembled
    (see Jefferson's Manual at Sec. 407, supra).

      The requirement of subparagraph (2)(B) was contained in section 104(b)
    of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 (84 Stat. 1140), was
    incorporated into the rules in the 92d Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 22,
    1971, p. 144), and was restated in the 104th Congress to require that
    reports also reflect the total number of votes cast for and against any
    public measure or matter and any amendment thereto and the names of
    those voting for and against (sec. 209, H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----
    ). If the accompanying report erroneously reflects information required
    by this paragraph, a bill would be subject to a point of order against
    its consideration; however, a point of order would not lie if the error
    was introduced by the Government Printing Office (Jan. 19, 1995, p. ----
    ).

    [[Page 474]]
    the total estimated funding level for the relevant program (or
    programs) to the appropriate levels under current law; (C) the estimate
    and comparison prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget
    Office under section 403 of such Act, separately set out and clearly
    identified, whenever the Director (if timely submitted prior to the
    filing of the report) has submitted such estimate and comparison to the
    committee; and (D) a summary of the oversight findings and
    recommendations made by the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight
    under clause 4(c)(2) of rule X separately set out and clearly identified
    whenever such findings and recommendations have been submitted to the
    legislative committee in a timely fashion to allow an opportunity to
    consider such findings and recommendations during the committee's
    deliberations on the measure.

    Sec. 713e. Content of reports.

      (3)  The report of any
    committee on a measure which has been approved by the committee shall
    include (A) the oversight findings and recommendations required pursuant
    to clause 2(b)(1) of rule X separately set out and clearly identified;
    (B) the statement required by section 308(a)(1) of the Congressional
    Budget Act of 1974, separately set out and clearly identified, if the
    measure provides new budget authority (other than continuing
    appropriations), new spending authority described in section 401(c)(2)
    of such Act, new credit authority, or an increase or decrease in
    revenues or tax expenditures, except that the estimates with respect to
    new budget authority shall include, when practicable, a comparison of

    [[Page 475]]

      The provisions of subparagraph (3) became effective January 3, 1975
    (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470). The subparagraph was
    amended in the 95th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 4, 1977, pp. 53-70), to
    correct a cross-reference, and in the 103d Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 5,
    1993, p. ----) to correct the typographical transposition of a phrase.
    Subdivisions (B) and (C) are requirements of sections 308(a) and 403 of
    the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (88 Stat. 297). Subdivision (B) was
    amended in the 99th Congress by section 232(f) of the Balanced Budget
    and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (P.L. 99-177, Dec. 12, 1985)
    to include new entitlement and credit authority in conformity with
    section 308(a)(1) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, as amended by
    that law. It was again amended in the 104th Congress to require
    estimates of new budget authority, when practicable, to compare the
    total estimated funding for the program to the appropriate level under
    current law (sec. 102(a), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----). At the same
    time it was also amended to reflect the new name of the Committee on
    Government Reform and Oversight (sec. 202(b), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995,
    p. ----).

    Sec. 713f. Inflationary impact.

      (4)  Each report of a
    committee on each bill or joint resolution of a public character
    reported by such committee shall contain a detailed analytical statement
    as to whether the enactment of such bill or joint resolution into law
    may have an inflationary impact on prices and costs in the operation of
    the national economy.

      Subparagraph (4) became a part of the rules under the Committee Reform
    Amendments of 1974, effective January 3, 1975 (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong.,
    Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470). If a point of order were sustained under this
    paragraph, the measure would be recommitted to the reporting committee
    (Feb. 13, 1995, p. ----).

    Sec. 713g. Application of laws to Legislative
    branch.

      Under  the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995, each report
    accompanying a bill or joint resolution relating to terms and conditions
    of employment or access to public services or accommodations must
    describe the manner in which the provisions apply to the Legislative
    branch or a statement of the reasons the provisions do not apply, and
    any Member may raise a point of order against the consideration of a
    bill or joint resolution not complying with this requirement (sec.
    102(b)(3), P.L. 104-1; 109 Stat. 6).

    Sec. 713h. Unfunded mandates.

      The  Unfunded Mandates Reform
    Act of 1995 (P.L. 104-4; 109 Stat. 48 et seq.) added a new part B to
    title IV of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 658-658g)
    that, effective on January 1, 1996, or 90 days after appropriations are
    made available to the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to the 1995
    Act (whichever is earlier), imposes several requirements on committees
    with respect to measures effecting ``Federal mandates'' (secs. 423-424;
    2 U.S.C. 659b-c) and establishes points of order to enforce those
    requirements (sec. 425; 2 U.S.C. 658d). See Sec. 1007, infra.

    [[Page 476]]
    Sundays, and legal holidays) in which to file such views, in writing
    and signed by that member, with the clerk of the committee. All such
    views so filed by one or more members of the committee shall be included
    within, and shall be a part of, the report filed by the committee with
    respect to that measure or matter. The report of the committee upon that
    measure or matter shall be printed in a single volume which--

    Sec. 714. Minority views.

      (5)  If, at the time of approval of
    any measure or matter by any committee, other than the Committee on
    Rules, any member of the committee gives notice of intention to file
    supplemental, minority, or additional views, that member shall be
    entitled to not less than three calendar days (excluding Saturdays,

              (A) shall include all supplemental, minority, or additional
    views which have been submitted by the time of the filing of the report,
    and

              (B) shall bear upon its cover a recital that any such
    supplemental, minority, or additional views (and any material submitted
    under subdivisions (C) and (D) of subparagraph (3)) are included as part
    of the report.
    This subparagraph does not preclude--

              (i) the immediate filing or printing of a committee report
    unless timely request for the opportunity to file supplemental,
    minority, or additional views has been made as provided by this
    subparagraph; or

              (ii) the filing by any such committee of any supplemental
    report upon any measure or matter which may be required for the
    correction of any technical error in a previous report made by that
    committee upon that measure or matter.

    [[Page 477]]
    (B) was added under the Committee Reform Amendments of 1974, effective
    January 3, 1975 (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470).

    -  (6) <> A measure or matter
    reported by any committee (except the Committee on Rules in the case of
    a resolution making in order the consideration of a bill, resolution, or
    other order of business), shall not be considered in the House until the
    third calendar day, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays on
    which the report of that committee upon that measure or matter has been
    available to the Members of the House, or as provided by section
    305(a)(1) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 in the case of a
    concurrent resolution on the budget: Provided, however, That it shall
    always be in order to call up for consideration, notwithstanding the
    provisions of clause 4(b) of rule XI, a report from the Committee on
    Rules specifically providing for the consideration of a reported measure
    or matter notwithstanding this restriction. If hearings have been held
    on any such measure or matter so reported, the committee reporting the
    measure or matter shall make every reasonable effort to have such
    hearings printed and available for distribution to the Members of the
    House prior to the consideration of such measure or matter in the House.
    This subparagraph shall not apply to--
      Subparagraph (5) was originally included in section 107 of the
    Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 (84 Stat. 1140) and was
    incorporated into the rules in the 92d Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 22,
    1971, p. 144). Subdivision

              (A) any measure for the declaration of war, or the declaration
    of a national emergency, by the Congress; or

    [[Page 478]]
    come or continue to be, effective unless disapproved or otherwise
    invalidated by one or both Houses of Congress.
    For the purposes of the preceding sentence, a Government agency includes
    any department, agency, establishment, wholly owned Government
    corporation, or instrumentality of the Federal Government or the
    government of the District of Columbia.

              (B) any decision, determination, or action by a Government
    agency which would be

      Subparagraph (6) was originally contained in section 108 of the
    Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 (84 Stat. 1140) and was
    incorporated into the rules in the 92d Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 22,
    1971, p. 144). The rule was amended on October 13, 1972 (H. Res. 1153,
    92d Cong., pp. 36013-23), on January 3, 1975 (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong.,
    Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470), and in the 94th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 14,
    1975, p. 20). In the 94th Congress it was amended to require that
    reports and reported measures be available for two hours but to permit
    the immediate consideration of a resolution reported from the Committee
    on Rules waiving this layover requirement (H. Res. 868, Feb. 26, 1976,
    p. 4625). In the 95th Congress it was amended to permit consideration of
    a measure on the third day of availability rather than on the third day
    following availability (H. Res. 5, Jan. 4, 1977, pp. 53-70). In the 96th
    Congress it was amended to require that copies of a committee report be
    available for three calendar days rather than two hours before the
    beginning of consideration of the reported measure (H. Res. 5, Jan. 15,
    1979, p. 8). In the 102d Congress it was amended to clarify the
    availability requirements for reported measures, including concurrent
    resolutions on the budget (H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 1991, p. ----).

    [[Page 479]]
    pursuant to legislative veto provisions in laws having the effect of
    approving or invalidating the actions of any government agency (and not
    just agencies of the executive branch). That exception allows the
    consideration of a measure disapproving an executive branch decision
    pursuant to statute within three days of the expiration of the
    congressional review period, notwithstanding the three-day availability
    requirement (concurrent resolution disapproving a regulation of the
    Federal Trade Commission pursuant to the Federal Trade Commission
    Improvements Act, P.L. 96-252) (May 26, 1982, pp. 12027-30). A report
    from a committee which raises a question of the privileges of the House,
    such as a report relating to the contemptuous conduct of a witness
    before the committee, may be considered notwithstanding the availability
    requirements of this clause (Speaker Albert, July 13, 1971, pp. 24720-
    23; see also Deschler's Precedents, vol. 3, ch. 14, sec. 7.4, fn. 10,
    with respect to impeachment reports).

    -  With <> respect to the committee
    expense resolutions reported by the Committee on House Oversight
    pursuant to clause 5 of rule XI, the requirement of that clause for the
    one-day availability of printed copies, rather than the three-day
    requirement of this rule, is applicable, but other privileged
    resolutions reported from that committee are now subject to this clause
    (Speaker Albert, Mar. 6, 1975, p. 5537).

      The availability requirement is not applicable to privileged reports
    from the Committee on Rules or to bills before the House which have not
    been reported from committee (Speaker Albert, Aug. 10, 1976, p. 26793),
    and the exception from the three-day availability requirement for
    certain reports from the Committee on Rules must be read in light of the
    broader authority, contained in clause 4(b) of this rule, conferred on
    that committee to call up other reports after one day of availability.
    The Committee on Rules has the authority under clause 4(a) of rule XI to
    report a special order making in order the text of an introduced bill as
    a substitute original text for a reported bill, and no point of order
    lies that such introduced text has not been available for three days
    under this rule, which only applies to the consideration of reported
    measures themselves (Oct. 9, 1986, p. 29973). The exceptions from the
    three-day layover requirement provided in the last two sentences of this
    paragraph were expanded in the 97th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 1981,
    p. 98) to include resolutions called up

    Sec. 717.

      (7)  If, within seven calendar days after a measure
    has, by resolution, been made in order for consideration by the House,
    no motion has been offered that the House consider that measure, any
    member of the committee which reported that measure may be recognized in
    the discretion of the Speaker to offer a motion that the House shall
    consider that measure, if that committee has duly authorized that member
    to offer that motion.

    [[Page 480]]

    Power to sit and act; subpoena power
      Subaragraph (7) was contained in section 109 of the Legislative
    Reorganization Act of 1970 (84 Stat. 1140) and became part of the rules
    in the 92d Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 22, 1971, p. 144). This
    subparagraph should be read in light of clause 1(b) of rule XXIII, which
    provides for the House resolving into the Committee of the Whole by
    declaration of the Speaker pursuant to a special order of business
    rather than by adoption of a motion.

    718. Administration of oaths to witnesses.

      (m)(1)  For the
    purpose of carrying out any of its functions and duties under this rule
    and rule X (including any matters referred to it under clause 5 of rule
    X), any committee, or any subcommittee thereof, is authorized (subject
    to subparagraph (2)(A) of this paragraph)--

              (A) to sit and act at such times and places within the United
    States, whether the House is in session, has recessed, or has adjourned,
    and to hold such hearings, and

              (B) to require, by subpoena or otherwise, the attendance and
    testimony of such witnesses and the production of such books, records,
    correspondence, memorandums, papers, and documents
    as it deems necessary. The chairman of the committee, or any member
    designated by such chairman, may administer oaths to any witness.

    [[Page 481]]

      (2)(A) A subpoena may be authorized and issued by a committee or
    subcommittee under subparagaph (1)(B) in the conduct of any
    investigation or series of investigations or activities, only when
    authorized by a majority of the members voting, a majority being
    present. The power to authorize and issue subpoenas under subparagraph
    (1)(B) may be delegated to the chairman of the committee pursuant to
    such rules and under such limitations as the committee may prescribe.
    Authorized subpoenas shall be signed by the chairman of the committee or
    by any member designated by the committee.

      (B) Compliance with any subpoena issued by a committee or subcommittee
    under subparagraph (1)(B) may be enforced only as authorized or directed
    by the House.

      Prior to the adoption of clause 2(m) under the Committee Reform
    Amendments of 1974, effective January 3, 1975 (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong.,
    Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470), only the Committees on Appropriations, the
    Budget, Government Operations, Internal Security, and Standards of
    Official Conduct were permitted by the standing rules to perform the
    functions as specified in subparagraphs (1)(A) and (1)(B), and other
    standing and select committees were given those authorities by separate
    resolutions reported from the Committee on Rules each Congress. In the
    94th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 14, 1975, p. 20), subparagraph (2)(A) was
    amended to require authorized subpoenas to be signed by the chairman of
    the full committee or any member designated by the committee; and in the
    95th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 4, 1977, pp. 53-70) the clause was
    altered to permit subcommittees, as well as full committees, to
    authorize subpoenas and to allow the delegation of such authority to the
    chairman of the full committee. A subpoena issued under this clause need
    only be signed by the chairman of the committee or by any member
    designated by the committee, whereas when the House issues an order or
    warrant the Speaker must under clause 4 of rule I issue the summons
    under his hand and seal, and it must be attested by the Clerk pursuant
    to clause 3 of rule III (III, 1668; see H. Rept. 96-1078, p. 22).
    Pursuant to 2 U.S.C. 191, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of
    the House of Representatives, or a chairman of any joint committee
    established by a joint or concurrent resolution of the two Houses of
    Congress, or of a committee of the whole, or of any committee of either
    House of Congress, is empowered to administer oaths to witnesses in any
    case under their examination, and any member of either House of Congress
    may administer oaths to witnesses in any matter depending in either
    House of Congress of which he is a Member, or any committee thereof.

    [[Page 482]]

    Use of committee funds for travel
      While under this clause the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct
    may issue subpoenas in investigating the conduct of a Member, officer or
    employee of the House (the extent of the committee's jurisdiction under
    rule X), where the House mandates a possible investigation by that
    committee of other persons not directly associated with the House, the
    committee's jurisdiction is thereby enlarged and a broader subpoena
    authority must be conferred on the committee (Mar. 3, 1976, p. 5165).
    Subparagraph (2)(B) has been interpreted to require authorization by the
    full House before a subcommittee chairman could intervene in a law suit
    in order to gain access to documents subpoenaed by the subcommittee. In
    re Beef Industry Antitrust Litigation, 589 F.2d 786 (5th Cir. 1979).

      (n)(1) Funds authorized for a committee under clause 5 are for
    expenses incurred in the committee's activities; however, local
    currencies owned by the United States shall be made available to the
    committee and its employees engaged in carrying out their official
    duties outside the United States, its territories or possessions. No
    appropriated funds, including those authorized under clause 5, shall be
    expended for the purpose of defraying expenses of members of the
    committee or its employees in any country where local currencies are
    available for this purpose; and the following conditions shall apply
    with respect to travel outside the United States or its territories or
    possessions:

    Sec. 719a. Committee Travel.

          (A)  No member or employee
    of the committee shall receive or expend local currencies for
    subsistence in any country for any day at a rate in excess of the
    maximum per diem set forth in applicable Federal law, or if the Member
    or employee is reimbursed for any expenses for such day, then the lesser
    of the per diem or the actual, unreimbursed expenses (other than for
    transportation) incurred by the Member or employee during that day.

    [[Page 483]]
    pended for any other official purpose and shall summarize in these
    categories the total foreign currencies and/or appropriated funds
    expended. All such individual reports shall be filed no later than sixty
    days following the completion of travel with the chairman of the
    committee for use in complying with reporting requirements in applicable
    Federal law and shall be open for public inspection.

    Sec. 719b. Travel reports.

          (B)  Each member or employee
    of the committee shall make to the chairman of the committee an itemized
    report showing the dates each country was visited, the amount of per
    diem furnished, the cost of transportation furnished, any funds ex

      (2) In carrying out the committee's activities outside the United
    States in any country where local currencies are unavailable, a member
    or employee of the committee may not receive reimbursement for expenses
    (other than for transportation) in excess of the maximum per diem set
    forth in applicable Federal law, or if the member or employee is
    reimbursed for any expenses for such day, then the lesser of the per
    diem or the actual, unreimbursed expenses (other than for
    transportation) incurred, by the Member or employee during any day.

      (3) A member or employee of a committee may not receive reimbursement
    for the cost of any transportation in connection with travel outside of
    the United States unless the member or employee has actually paid for
    the transportation.

    [[Page 484]]
    vision of these Rules of the House of Representatives.
      (4) The restrictions respecting travel outside of the United States
    set forth in subparagraphs (2) and (3) shall also apply to travel
    outside of the United States by Members, officers, and employees of the
    House authorized under clause 8 of rule I, clause 1(b) of this rule, or
    any other pro

      (5) No local currencies owned by the United States may be made
    available under this paragraph for the use outside of the United States
    for defraying the expenses of a member of any committee after--

              (A) the date of the general election of Members in which the
    Member has not been elected to the succeeding Congress; or

              (B) in the case of a Member who is not a candidate in such
    general election, the earlier of the date of such general election or
    the adjournment sine die of the last regular session of the Congress.

      Prior to the adoption of clause (n) and of clause 1(b) of rule XI
    under the Committee Reform Amendments of 1974, effective January 3, 1975
    (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470), each committee was
    given separate authority to incur expenses in connection with their
    investigations and studies, and certain committees were authorized to
    use local currencies for foreign committee travel, in resolutions
    reported from the Committee on Rules in each Congress. This clause was
    amended in the 95th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 4, 1977, pp. 53-70) to
    clarify the availability of local currencies for travel outside the
    United States and its territories and possessions, to require reports
    within 60 days for use in complying with statutory reporting
    requirements, and to authorize the Committee on House Administration
    (now House Oversight) to recommend in expense resolutions expenses for
    foreign as well as domestic travel. Clause (n)(1)(A) was further amended
    on March 2, 1977 (H. Res. 287, 95th Cong., pp. 5933-53) to limit all
    travel expenses to the maximum per diem rate or actual, unreimbursed
    expenses, whichever is less. As indicated in clause 1(b), the authority
    to incur expenses (including travel expenses) is subject to the adoption
    of expense resolutions reported from the Committee on House Oversight as
    required by clause 5 of rule XI.

    [[Page 485]]
    terly basis, and individual reports required within 30 days after the
    travel involved, must be forwarded to the Clerk of the House and
    published in the Congressional Record.

      Under section 502(b) of the Mutual Security Act of 1954 (22 U.S.C.
    1754, as amended by sec. 22, P.L. 95-384), foreign local currencies
    owned or purchased by the United States may be used for foreign travel
    expenses by members or employees of standing or select committees when
    authorized by the chairman thereof, and by other Members or employees
    when authorized by the Speaker. Consolidated committee reports prepared
    on a quar

                       Broadcasting of Committee Hearings

    Sec. 720.

      3.  (a) It is the purpose of this clause to provide
    a means, in conformity with acceptable standards of dignity, propriety,
    and decorum, by which committee hearings, or committee meetings, which
    are open to the public may be covered, by television broadcast, radio
    broadcast, and still photography, or by any of such methods of
    coverage--

          (1) for the education, enlightenment, and information of the
    general public, on the basis of accurate and impartial news coverage,
    regarding the operations, procedures, and practices of the House as a
    legislative and representative body and regarding the measures, public
    issues, and other matters before the House and its committees, the
    consideration thereof, and the action taken thereon; and

          (2) for the development of the perspective and understanding of
    the general public with respect to the role and function of the House
    under the Constitution of the United States as an organ of the Federal
    Government.

    [[Page 486]]

      (b) In addition, it is the intent of this clause that radio and
    television tapes and television film of any coverage under this clause
    shall not be used, or made available for use, as partisan political
    campaign material to promote or oppose the candidacy of any person for
    elective public office.

    Sec. 721. Media coverage.

      (c)  It is, further, the intent of
    this clause that the general conduct of each meeting (whether of a
    hearing or otherwise) covered, under authority of this clause, by
    television broadcast, radio broadcast, and still photography, or by any
    of such methods of coverage, and the personal behavior of the committee
    members and staff, other Government officials and personnel, witnesses,
    television, radio, and press media personnel, and the general public at
    the hearing or other meeting shall be in strict conformity with and
    observance of the acceptable standards of dignity, propriety, courtesy,
    and decorum traditionally observed by the House in its operations and
    shall not be such as to--

          (1) distort the objects and purposes of the hearing or other
    meeting or the activities of committee members in connection with that
    hearing or meeting or in connection with the general work of the
    committee or of the House; or

          (2) cast discredit or dishonor on the House, the committee, or any
    Member or bring the House, the committee, or any Member into disrepute.

    [[Page 487]]

      (d) The coverage of committee hearings and meetings by television
    broadcast, radio broadcast, or still photography shall be permitted and
    conducted only in strict conformity with the purposes, provisions, and
    requirements of this clause.

    Sec. 722. When permitted.

      (e)  Whenever a hearing or meeting
    conducted by any committee or subcommittee of the House is open to the
    public, those proceedings shall be open to coverage by television,
    radio, and still photography, except as provided in paragraph (f)(2). A
    committee or subcommittee chairman may not limit the number of
    television or still cameras to fewer than two representatives from each
    medium (except for legitimate space or safety considerations, in which
    case pool coverage shall be authorized).

    Sec. 723. Committee rules.

      (f)  The written rules which may
    be adopted by a committee under paragraph (e) of this clause shall
    contain provisions to the following effect:

          (1) If the television or radio coverage of the hearing or meeting
    is to be presented to the public as live coverage, that coverage shall
    be conducted and presented without commercial sponsorship.

    [[Page 488]]

          (2) No witness served with a subpoena by the committee shall be
    required against his or her will to be photographed at any hearing or to
    give evidence or testimony while the broadcasting of that hearing, by
    radio or television, is being conducted. At the request of any such
    witness who does not wish to be subjected to radio, television, or still
    photography coverage, all lenses shall be covered and all microphones
    used for coverage turned off. This subparagraph is supplementary to
    clause 2(k)(5) of this rule, relating to the protection of the rights of
    witnesses.

          (3) The allocation among the television media of the positions of
    the number of television cameras permitted by a committee or
    subcommittee chairman in a hearing or meeting room shall be in
    accordance with fair and equitable procedures devised by the Executive
    Committee of the Radio and Television Correspondents' Galleries.

          (4) Television cameras shall be placed so as not to obstruct in
    any way the space between any witness giving evidence or testimony and
    any member of the committee or the visibility of that witness and that
    member to each other.

          (5) Television cameras shall operate from fixed positions but
    shall not be placed in positions which obstruct unnecessarily the
    coverage of the hearing or meeting by the other media.

          (6) Equipment necessary for coverage by the television and radio
    media shall not be installed in, or removed from, the hearing or meeting
    room while the committee is in session.

    [[Page 489]]
    erage of the hearing or meeting at the then current state of the art of
    television coverage.
          (7) Floodlights, spotlights, strobelights, and flashguns shall not
    be used in providing any method of coverage of the hearing or meeting,
    except that the television media may install additional lighting in the
    hearing or meeting room, without cost to the Government, in order to
    raise the ambient lighting level in the hearing or meeting room to the
    lowest level necessary to provide adequate television cov

    Sec. 724. Press photographers.

          (8)  In the allocation of
    the number of still photographers permitted by a committee or
    subcommittee chairman in a hearing or meeting room, preference shall be
    given to photographers from Associated Press Photos and United Press
    International Newspictures. If requests are made by more of the media
    than will be permitted by a committee or subcommittee chairman for
    coverage of the hearing or meeting by still photography, that coverage
    shall be made on the basis of a fair and equitable pool arrangement
    devised by the Standing Committee of Press Photographers.

          (9) Photographers shall not position themselves, at any time
    during the course of the hearing or meeting, between the witness table
    and the members of the committee.

          (10) Photographers shall not place themselves in positions which
    obstruct unnecessarily the coverage of the hearing by the other media.

    Sec. 725. Accreditation.

          (11)  Personnel providing
    coverage by the television and radio media shall be then currently
    accredited to the Radio and Television Correspondents' Galleries.

    [[Page 490]]

          (12) Personnel providing coverage by still photography shall be
    then currently accredited to the Press Photographers' Gallery.

          (13) Personnel providing coverage by the television and radio
    media and by still photography shall conduct themselves and their
    coverage activities in an orderly and unobtrusive manner.

      The rule permitting broadcasting of committee hearings was contained
    in section 116(b) of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 (84
    Stat. 1140) and became part of the rules in the 92d Congress (H. Res. 5,
    Jan. 22, 1971, p. 144). In the 93d Congress (H. Res. 1107, July 22,
    1974, p. 24447), the rule was amended to permit committees to adopt
    rules allowing coverage of committee meetings as well as hearings.
    Paragraphs (e), (f)(3), (f)(5), and (f)(8) of this clause were amended
    in the 99th Congress to remove the limit on the number of television
    cameras (previously four) and press photographers (previously five)
    covering committee proceedings, and to provide the committee or
    subcommittee chairman with the discretion to determine the appropriate
    number (H. Res. 7, Jan. 3, 1985, p. 393). In the 104th Congress
    paragraph (d) was amended to delete the former characterization of
    broadcast and photographic coverage of committee meetings and hearings
    as ``a privilege made available by the House,'' and paragraph (e) was
    amended to eliminate the requirement that a committee vote to permit
    broadcast and photographic coverage of open hearings and meetings and to
    prohibit chairmen from limiting coverage to less than two
    representatives from each medium, except where space or safety
    considerations warrant pool coverage (sec. 105, H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995,
    p. ----).

                        Privileged Reports and Amendments

    [[Page 491]]
    tested elections, and all matters referred to it of printing for the
    use of the House or the two Houses, and on all matters of expenditure of
    the contingent fund of the House, and on all matters relating to
    preservation and availability of noncurrent records of the House under
    rule XXXVI; the Committee on Rules--on rules, joint rules, and the order
    of business; and the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct--on
    resolutions recommending action by the House of Representatives with
    respect to an individual Member, officer, or employee of the House of
    Representatives as a result of any investigation by the committee
    relating to the official conduct of such Member, officer, or employee of
    the House of Representatives.

    Sec. 726.

      4.  (a) The following committees shall have leave
    to report at any time on the matters herein stated, namely: The
    Committee on Appropriations--on general appropriation bills and on joint
    resolutions continuing appropriations for a fiscal year if reported
    after September 15 preceding the beginning of such fiscal year; the
    Committee on the Budget--on the matters required to be reported by such
    committee under Titles III and IV of the Congressional Budget Act of
    1974; the Committee on House Oversight--on enrolled bills, con

    [[Page 492]]
    House records. In the 104th Congress it was amended to reflect the new
    name of the Committee on House Oversight (sec. 202(b), H. Res. 6, Jan.
    4, 1995, p. ----).
      The origins of this rule appear as early as 1812, but it was in 1886
    that the various provisions were consolidated in one rule. The rule was
    amended by the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 812), on
    February 2, 1951 (p. 883), and by the Committee Reform Amendments of
    1974, effective January 3, 1975 (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974,
    p. 34470). On the latter date the privileges given to the Committee on
    Interior and Insular Affairs on bills for the forfeiture of land grants
    to railroad and other corporations, preventing speculation in the public
    lands and reserving public lands for the benefit of actual and bona fide
    settlers, and for the admission of new States, to the Committee on
    Public Works on bills authorizing the improvement of rivers and harbors,
    to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs on general pension bills, and to
    the Committee on Ways and Means on bills raising revenue, were
    eliminated from the rule. In the 94th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 14,
    1975, p. 20), the rule was further amended to reinsert ``contested
    elections'' under the authority of the Committee on House Administration
    (now House Oversight), a matter inadvertently omitted by the 93d
    Congress (H. Res. 988, Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470). The rule was amended in
    the 97th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 1981, pp. 98-113) to permit joint
    resolutions continuing appropriations to be privileged if reported after
    a certain date. In the 101st Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 1989, p. 72),
    the rule was amended to include under the authority of the Committee on
    House Administration (now House Oversight) all matters relating to
    preservation and availability of noncurrent

      At the time these privileges originated all reports were made on the
    floor, and often with great difficulty because of the pressure of
    business (IV, 4621), and by giving this privilege the most important
    matters of business were greatly expedited. In 1890 a rule was adopted
    providing that reports should be made by filing with the Clerk, but
    privileged reports must still be made from the floor (IV, 3146; VIII,
    2230). A privileged report from the Committee on Rules may be filed at
    any time when the House is in session, including during special order
    speeches (Oct. 14, 1986, p. 30861). Prior to the original adoption of
    the provisions contained in clause 2(l)(6) of the rule XI in the 92d
    Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 22, 1971, p. 144), the right of reporting at
    any time was held to give the right of immediate consideration by the
    House (IV, 3131, 3132, 3142-47; VIII, 2291, 2312). However, from that
    date until the effective date of the present provisions of clause
    2(l)(6) on January 3, 1975 (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p.
    34470), only the Committees on House Administration (now House
    Oversight), Rules (subject to the two-thirds vote requirement of clause
    4(b) of rule XI), and Standards of Official Conduct could call up a
    matter in the House for immediate consideration as soon as the report
    was filed. Now only reports from the Committee on Rules on rules, joint
    rules, and the order of business, under clause 4(b) of this rule,
    reports from the Committee on House Oversight on committee expense
    resolutions, under clause 5(a) of this rule, and reports constituting
    questions of privilege (see generally Deschler's Precedents, vol. 3, ch.
    14, sec. 7.4, fn. 10, discussing ruling of Speaker Albert, July 13,
    1971, on a reported contempt) are exempt from the requirements of clause
    2(l)(6) (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470). Other
    committees enumerated in this clause may still utilize the privilege
    after the report on the bill or resolution has been available for at
    least three calendar days (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal
    holidays). Once called up for consideration, the matter so reported
    remains privileged until disposed of (IV, 3145). The House proceeds to
    the consideration of privileged questions only on motion directed to be
    made by the several committees reporting such questions (VIII, 2310).
    Privileged questions reported adversely have the same status so far as
    their privilege is concerned as those reported favorably (VI, 413; VIII,
    2310).

    [[Page 493]]

    Sec. 727. Privileged reports defined.

      The  matters reported
    under the provisions of this clause are denominated ``privileged
    reports'' or ``privileged questions,'' and since the privilege relates
    merely to the order of business under the rules, they must be
    distinguished from ``questions of privilege'' which relate to the safety
    or dignity of the House itself defined in rule IX (III, 2718).
    Therefore, ``questions of privilege'' take precedence over these matters
    which are privileged under the rules (III, 2426-2530; V, 6454; VIII,
    3465).

      Privileged questions interrupt the regular order of business as
    established by rule XXIV, but when they are disposed of it continues on
    from the point of interruption (IV, 3070, 3071). But the Speaker has
    declined to allow a call of committees to be interrupted by a privileged
    report (IV, 3132). The presence of matter not privileged with privileged
    matter destroys the privileged character of a bill (IV, 4622, 4624,
    4633, 4640, 4643; VIII, 2289; Speaker Rayburn, May 21, 1958, pp. 9212-
    16), or resolution (VIII, 2300), and when the text of a bill contains
    nonprivileged matter, privilege may not be created by a committee
    amendment in the nature of a substitute not containing the nonprivileged
    matter (IV, 4623).

      The House may give a committee leave to report at any time only by the
    process of changing the rules (III, 1770).

    [[Page 494]]
    sidered as adopted in the House when the bill is under consideration
    (Feb. 24, 1993, p. ----; July 27, 1993, p. ----). The Committee on Rules
    has also reported as privileged a joint resolution repealing a statutory
    joint rule (mandatory July adjournment, section 132 of the Legislative
    Reorganization Act of 1946) (July 27, 1990, p. ----). The Committee on
    Rules has reported as privileged a special order of business nearly
    identical to one previously rejected by the House, but held not to
    constitute ``another of the same substance'' within the meaning of
    Jefferson's section XLIII (reconsideration) because it provided a
    different scheme for general debate (July 27, 1993, p. ----).

    Sec. 728. The privilege of individual committees for
    reports.

      The  privilege given by this clause to the Committee on Rules is
    confined to ``action touching rules, joint rules, and order of
    business'' and this committee may not report as privileged a concurrent
    resolution providing for a Senate investigating committee (VIII, 2255),
    or provide for the appointment of a clerk (VIII, 2256); but the
    privilege has been held to include the right to report special orders
    for the consideration of individual bills or classes of bills (V, 6774),
    or the consideration of a specified amendment to a bill and prescribing
    a mode of considering such amendment (VIII, 2258). A special rule
    providing for the consideration of a bill is not invalidated by the fact
    that at the time the rule was reported, the bill was not on the Calendar
    (VIII, 2259; Speaker McCormack, Aug. 19, 1964, pp. 20212-13). The
    authority to report special orders of business includes authority to
    recommend consideration of measures and amendments thereto the subject
    of which might be separately pending before a standing committee (Apr.
    15, 1986, p. 7531); to make in order the consideration of the text of an
    introduced bill as original text in a reported bill (Oct. 9, 1986, p.
    29973); to permit consideration of a previously unnumbered and
    unsponsored measure which comes into existence by virtue of adoption by
    the House of the special order (Speaker O'Neill, Apr. 16, 1986, p.
    7610); to recommend a ``hereby'' resolution, e.g., that a concurrent
    resolution correcting the enrollment of a bill be considered as adopted
    by the House upon the adoption of the special order (Speaker Wright, May
    4, 1988, p. 9865), or that a Senate amendment pending at the Speaker's
    table and otherwise requiring consideration in Committee of the Whole
    under clause 1 of rule XX be ``hereby'' considered as adopted upon
    adoption of the special order (Deschler's Precedents, vol. 6, ch. 21,
    sec. 16.11; Feb. 4, 1993, p. ----); to provide that an amendment
    containing an appropriation in violation of clause 5(a) of rule XXI be
    considered as adopted in the House when the reported bill is under
    consideration (Feb. 24, 1993, p. ----); to provide that an amendment
    containing an appropriation in violation of clause 2 of rule XXI be
    considered as adopted in the House when the reported bill is under
    consideration (July 27, 1993, p. ----); and to provide that a nongermane
    amendment otherwise in violation of clause 7 of rule XVI be con

      A resolution consisting solely of privileged matter, albeit in two
    separate jurisdictions empowered to report at any time under clause
    4(a), has been referred to a primary committee, reported therefrom as
    privileged, referred sequentially, and reported as privileged from the
    sequential committee as well (H. Res. 258, 102d Cong., Nov. 8, 1991, p.
    ----, Nov. 19, 1991, p. ----).

      The right of the Committee on Appropriations to report at any time is
    confined strictly to general appropriation bills (IV, 4629-4632; VIII,
    2282-2284) and does not include appropriations for specific purposes
    (VIII, 2285). Before privilege was extended to continuing appropriation
    bills (in 1981), the rule was not construed to extend to resolutions
    extending appropriations (VIII, 2282-2284).

      Reports from the Committee on House Administration (now House
    Oversight) authorizing appropriations from the Treasury directly for
    compensation of employees (IV, 4645) or fixing the salaries of employees
    are not privileged (VIII, 2302).

    [[Page 495]]
    fully disposed of. The Committee on Rules shall not report any rule or
    order which provides that business under clause 7 of rule XXIV shall be
    set aside by a vote of less than two-thirds of the Members present; nor
    shall it report any rule or order which would prevent the motion to
    recommit from being made as provided in clause 4 of rule XVI, including
    a motion to recommit with instructions to report back an amendment
    otherwise in order (if offered by the minority leader or a designee),
    except with respect to a Senate bill or resolution for which the text of
    a House-passed measure has been substituted.

    Sec. 729a. Reports from Committee on Rules.

      (b)  It shall
    always be in order to call up for consideration a report from the
    Committee on Rules on a rule, joint rule, or the order of business
    (except it shall not be called up for consideration on the same day it
    is presented to the House, unless so determined by a vote of not less
    than two-thirds of the Members voting, but this provision shall not
    apply during the last three days of the session), and, pending the
    consideration thereof, the Speaker may entertain one motion that the
    House adjourn; but after the result is announced the Speaker shall not
    entertain any other dilatory motion until the report shall have been

      The Committee on Rules, ``by uniform practice of the House,''
    exercised the privilege of reporting at any time as early as 1888. The
    right to report at any time is confined to privileged matters (VIII,
    2255). This was probably the survival of a practice which existed as
    early as 1853 of giving the privilege of reporting at any time to this
    committee for a session (IV, 4650). In 1890 the committee was included
    among the committees whose reports were privileged by rule. The present
    rule was adopted in 1892 (IV, 4621), amended on March 15, 1909, the
    matter in parentheses was adopted January 18, 1924 (pp. 1139, 1141), and
    the rule was further amended by the Committee Reform Amendments of 1974,
    effective January 3, 1975 (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p.
    34470), to limit its application to reports from the Committee on Rules
    on rules, joint rules and orders of business. In the 104th Congress the
    last sentence of paragraph (b) was amended to restrict the authority of
    the Committee on Rules to recommend a rule or order that would prevent a
    motion by the Minority Leader or his designee to recommit with
    instructions to report back an amendment otherwise in order to the case
    of a Senate bill or resolution for which the text of a House-passed
    measure is being substituted (sec. 210, H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----
    ). For rulings under the earlier form of the rule, see Sec. 729c, infra.

    [[Page 496]]
    and then meets again that day, or convenes for two legislative days on
    the same calendar day, any report filed on the first legislative day may
    be called up on the second without the question of consideration being
    raised (Speaker O'Neill, Dec. 16, 1985, p. 36755; Speaker Wright, Oct.
    29, 1987, p. 29937). This paragraph does not require that a privileged
    resolution, and the report thereon, from the Committee on Rules be
    printed before it is called up for consideration (Speaker O'Neill, Feb.
    2, 1977, p. 3344).
      Pursuant to this clause, a privileged report from the Committee on
    Rules may be considered on the same legislative day only by a two-thirds
    vote, but a report properly filed by the committee at any time prior to
    the convening of the House on the next legislative day may be called up
    for immediate consideration without the two-thirds requirement (Speaker
    Albert, July 31, 1975, p. 26243), including a report filed during
    special order speeches after legislative business on that prior
    legislative day (Oct. 14, 1986, p. 30861), and if the House continues in
    session into a second calendar day

      In the case of certain resolutions reported from the Committee on
    Rules, the two-thirds vote requirement for consideration on the same day
    reported does not apply. Clause 2(l)(6) of rule XI provides for the
    immediate consideration of a resolution from the Rules Committee waiving
    the requirement that copies of reports and reported measures be
    available for three days before their consideration, and clauses 2(a)
    and (b) of rule XXVIII provide for the immediate consideration of a
    resolution from the Rules Committee waiving the requirement that copies
    of conferences reports or amendments reported from conference in
    disagreement be available for two hours before their consideration (see
    Aug. 10, 1984, p. 23978).

      Although highly privileged, a report from the Committee on Rules
    yields to questions of privilege (VIII, 3491; Mar. 11, 1987, p. 5403),
    and is not in order after the House has voted to go into Committee of
    the Whole (V, 6781). Also a conference report has precedence of it, even
    when the yeas and nays and previous question have been ordered (V,
    6449). Formerly if a report from the Committee on Rules contained
    substantive propositions, a separate vote could be had on each
    proposition (VIII, 2271, 2272, 2274, 3167); but these decisions were
    nullified by the adoption of the proviso to clause 6 of rule XVI. A
    report from the Committee on Rules takes precedence over a motion to
    consider a measure which is ``highly privileged'' pursuant to a statute
    enacted as an exercise in the rulemaking authority of the House,
    acknowledging the Constitutional authority of the House to change it
    rules at any time (Speaker Wright, Mar. 11, 1987, p. 5403). Before the
    House adopts rules, the Speaker may recognize a Member to offer for
    immediate consideration a special order providing for the consideration
    of a resolution adopting the rules (V, 5450; Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----).

    [[Page 497]]
    or provides special procedures for its consideration, where no law
    constituting a rule of the House prohibits consideration of such a
    resolution (resolution providing for consideration of a budget
    resolution, where a statute, Public Law 96-389, reaffirmed Congressional
    commitment to balanced Federal budgets but did not dictate what
    legislation could be considered or otherwise constitute a rule of the
    House) (June 10, 1982, p. 13353).
      The Committee on Rules may report and call up as privileged
    resolutions temporarily waiving or altering any rule of the House,
    including statutory provisions enacted as an exercise of the House's
    rule-making authority which would otherwise prohibit the consideration
    of a bill being made in order by the resolution. (Speaker Albert, Mar.
    20, 1975, p. 7676; Mar. 24, 1975, p. 8418), or which would otherwise
    establish an exclusive procedure for consideration of a particular type
    of measure (Speaker O'Neill, Apr. 16, 1986, p. 7610; Speaker Wright,
    Mar. 11, 1987, p. 5403). No rule of the House precludes the Committee on
    Rules from reporting a special order making in order specified
    amendments that have not been preprinted as otherwise required by an
    announced policy of that committee (Oct. 23, 1991, p. ----). No point of
    order lies against a resolution reported from the Committee on Rules
    that waives points of order against a measure

      The Chair has declined to entertain a unanimous consent request to
    alter a special order previously adopted by the House to admit an
    additional (nongermane) amendment during further consideration of a bill
    unless assured of certain clearances, consistent with the Speaker's
    announced policy (see Sec. 757, infra) of conferring recognition for
    unanimous consent requests for the consideration of unreported bills and
    resolutions only when assured that the majority and minority floor and
    committee leaderships have no objection (Nov. 14, 1991, p. ----).

    [[Page 498]]
    day, and debate resumes from the point where interrupted (Sept. 27,
    1993, p. ----; Sept. 28, 1993, p. ----).

    Sec. 729b. Dilatory motions not permitted.

      In  the later
    practice it has been held that the question of consideration may not be
    raised against a report from the Committee on Rules (V, 4961-4963; VIII,
    2440, 2441). The clause forbidding dilatory motions has been construed
    strictly  (V, 5740-5742), and in the later practice the motion to commit
    after the ordering of the previous question has been excluded (V, 5593-
    5601; VIII, 2270, 2750; Feb. 22, 1984, p. 2965), as has an appeal
    (though not a motion to reconsider the vote on ordering the previous
    question) (V, 5739), and the motion to postpone to a day certain (Oct.
    9, 1986, p. 29972). Before debate has begun on a report from the
    Committee on Rules, a question of the privileges of the House takes
    precedence (VIII, 3491; Mar. 11, 1987, p. 5403). In the event that the
    previous question is rejected on a privileged resolution from the
    Committee on Rules, the provisions of clause 4(b) prohibiting
    ``dilatory'' motions no longer strictly apply; the resolution is subject
    to amendment, further debate, or a motion to table or refer, and the
    Member who lead the opposition to the previous question has the prior
    right to recognition (Oct. 19, 1966, pp. 27713, 27725-29; May 29, 1980,
    pp. 12667-78), subject to being preempted by a preferential motion
    offered by another Member (Aug. 13, 1982, pp. 20969, 20975-78). The
    member of the Committee on Rules calling up a privileged resolution on
    behalf of the Committee may offer an amendment, and House rules do not
    require a specific authorization from the Committee (Sept. 25, 1990, p.
    ----). A motion to table such a pending amendment is dilatory and not in
    order under clause 4(b) of rule XI, but the motion to reconsider the
    vote on ordering the previous question on the rule and amendment thereto
    is not (see V, 5739; Sept. 25, 1990, p. ----), and may be laid on the
    table without carrying with it the resolution itself (Sept. 25, 1990, p.
    ----). The motion to adjourn is admissible during the consideration of a
    report from the Committee on Rules, though not when another Member has
    the floor (Sept. 27, 1993, p. ----). Where the House adjourns during the
    consideration of a report from the Committee on Rules, further
    consideration of the report becomes the unfinished business on the
    following

      A motion to recommit a special rule from the Committee on Rules is not
    in order (VIII, 2270, 2753).

    Sec. 729c. Restrictions on authority of Committee on
    Rules.

      From  1934 until the amendment of clause 4(b) in the 104th Congress
    (sec. 210, H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----), it was consistently held
    that the Committee on Rules could recommend a special order that
    limited, but did not totally prohibit, a motion to recommit pending
    passage of a bill or joint resolution, as by precluding the motion from
    containing instructions relating to specified amendments (Speaker
    Rainey, sustained on appeal, Jan. 11, 1934, pp. 479-83); or by omitting
    to preserve the availability of amendatory instructions in the case that
    the bill is entirely rewritten by the adoption of a substitute made in
    order as original text (Speaker Foley, June 4, 1991, p. ----; Speaker
    Foley, Nov. 25, 1991, p. ----); or by expressly allowing only a simple
    (``straight'') motion to recommit (without instructions) (sustained by
    tabling of appeal, Oct. 16, 1990, p. ----; sustained by tabling of
    appeal, Feb. 26, 1992, p. ----; Speaker Foley, sustained by tabling of
    appeal, May 7, 1992, p. ----; Speaker Foley, sustained by tabling of
    appeal, June 16, 1992, p. ----; Nov. 21, 1993, p. ----; Nov. 22, 1993,
    p. ----). A special order providing for consideration of a bill under
    suspension of the rules does not prevent a motion to recommit from being
    made ``as provided in clause 4 of rule XVI,'' i.e., after the previous
    question is ordered on passage, a procedure not applicable to a motion
    to suspend the rules (Speaker Foley, June 21, 1990, p. ----). See
    Deschler's Precedents, vol. 6, ch. 21, sec. 26.11; see generally
    Deschler's Precedents, vol. 7, ch. 23, sec. 25.

      The caveat against including in a special order matter privileged to
    be reported by another committee (Deschler's Precedents, vol. 6, ch. 21,
    sec. 17.13) does not extend to a ``hereby'' resolution (e.g., that a
    concurrent resolution correcting the enrollment of a bill within the
    jurisdiction of another committee be considered as adopted by the House
    upon the adoption of the special order), so long as not precluding the
    motion to recommit a bill or joint resolution (Speaker Wright, May 4,
    1988, p. 9865).

    [[Page 499]]
    mitted the Senate to act first on the conference report, thereby
    denying the minority of the House any opportunity of making a motion to
    recommit (VIII, 2264).
      A special rule providing that a House bill with Senate amendments be
    taken from the Speaker's table, that the Senate amendments be disagreed
    to, that the Senate's request for a conference be agreed to, and that
    the Speaker appoint conferees without intervening motion, is not in
    violation of clause 4(b) of rule XI, since not precluding a motion to
    recommit after the ordering of the previous question on passage of the
    bill, and since the motion to recommit the conference report would
    remain available (VIII, 2266); but where such a resolution provided for
    the appointment of conferees without intervening motion in the case
    where the House is to ask for a conference, giving the Senate the right
    of first acting on the conference report, it was held in contravention
    of the rule because it both precluded a motion to commit the Senate
    amendment before conference and per

      While the Committee on Rules is forbidden to report special orders
    abrogating the Calendar Wednesday rule or excluding the motion to
    recommit after the previous question, a resolution making possible that
    ultimate result by permitting motions to suspend the rules for a week
    was held in order (VIII, 2267).

    Sec. 729d. Unfunded mandates.

      The  Unfunded Mandates Reform
    Act of 1995 (P.L. 104-4; 109 Stat. 48 et seq.) added a new part B to
    title IV of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 658-658g)
    that, effective on January 1, 1996, or 90 days after appropriations are
    made available to the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to the 1995
    Act (whichever is earlier), imposes several requirements on committees
    with respect to ``Federal mandates'' (secs. 423-424; 2 U.S.C. 658b-c),
    establishes points of order to enforce those requirements (sec. 425; 2
    U.S.C. 658d), and precludes the consideration of a rule or order waiving
    such points of order in the House (sec. 426(a); 2 U.S.C. 658e(a)). See
    Sec. 1007, infra.

    [[Page 500]]
    consideration by the House of any public bill or joint resolution, on
    days when it shall be in order to call up motions to discharge
    committees it shall be in order for any Member of the House to call up
    for consideration by the House such adverse report, and it shall be in
    order to move the adoption by the House of such resolution adversely
    reported notwithstanding the adverse report of the Committee on Rules,
    and the Speaker shall recognize the Member seeking recognition for that
    purpose as a question of the highest privilege.

    Sec. 730. Filing reports.

      (c)  The Committee on Rules shall
    present to the House reports concerning rules, joint rules, and order of
    business, within three legislative days of the time when the bill or
    resolution involved is ordered reported by the committee. If any such
    rule or order is not considered immediately, it shall be referred to the
    calendar and, if not called up by the Member making the report within
    seven legislative days thereafter, any member of the Rules Committee may
    call it up as a question of privilege (but only on the day after the
    calendar day on which such Member announces to the House his intention
    to do so) and the Speaker shall recognize any member of the Rules
    Committee seeking recognition for that purpose. If the Committee on
    Rules makes an adverse report on any resolution pending before the
    committee, providing for an order of business for the

      Clause 4(c) was initially adopted January 18, 1924, amended December
    8, 1931 (VIII, 2268), January 3, 1949 (p. 16), January 3, 1951 (p. 18),
    January 4, 1965 (p. 24) (inserting the so-called ``21-day rule''),
    January 10, 1967 (H. Res. 7, p. 28) (deleting the ``21-day rule'' in
    effect in the 89th Congress), January 3, 1975 (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong.,
    Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470). A special order reported from the Committee on
    Rules and not called up within seven legislative days may be called up
    by any member of that Committee, including a minority member (Nov. 13,
    1979, p. 32185; May 6, 1982, p. 8905). In the 100th Congress this
    paragraph was amended to require the member of the Committee on Rules
    calling up a report seven legislative days after its filing to have
    given one calendar day's notice to the House (H. Res. 5, Jan. 6, 1987,
    p. 6).

    Sec. 731. Comparative print.

      (d)  Whenever the Committee on
    Rules reports a resolution repealing or amending any of the Rules of the
    House of Representatives or part thereof it shall include in its report
    or in an accompanying document--

          (1) the text of any part of the Rules of the House of
    Representatives which is proposed to be repealed; and

    [[Page 501]]
    propriate typographical device the omissions and insertions proposed to
    be made.

          (2) a comparative print of any part of the resolution making such
    an amendment and any part of the Rules of the House of Representatives
    to be amended, showing by an ap

      Clause 4(d) was added to the rules under the Committee Reform
    Amendments of 1974, effective January 3, 1975 (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong.,
    Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470), and is similar to the ``Ramseyer Rule''
    requirements of clause 3 of rule XIII relating to bills and joint
    resolutions repealing or amending existing law. This clause is
    applicable to resolutions reported from the Committee on Rules which
    propose direct permanent repeal or amendment of a rule of the House, but
    does not apply to resolutions providing temporary waivers of rules
    during the consideration of particular legislative business (Speaker
    Albert, Mar. 20, 1975, p. 7676; Mar. 24, 1975, p. 8418), or to a special
    order of business resolution providing for the consideration of a bill
    with textual modifications that would effect certain changes in House
    rules on enactment of the bill into law, but not itself repealing or
    amending any rule (May 27, 1993, p. ----).

    Sec. 731a. Specifying waivers.

      (e)  Whenever the Committee on
    Rules reports a resolution providing for the consideration of any
    measure, it shall, to the maximum extent possible, specify in the
    resolution the object of any waiver of a point of order against the
    measure or against its consideration.

      Paragraph (e) was adopted in this form in the 104th Congress (sec.
    211, H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----). In the 95th and 96th Congresses
    clause 4 included a paragraph (e) relating to the Speaker's authority to
    postpone proceedings on reports from the Committee on Rules, but that
    provision was among those consolidated in clause 5(b)(1) of rule I in
    the 97th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 1981, pp. 98-113).

                               Committee Expenses

    [[Page 502]]
    ported by the Committee on House Oversight. Any such
    primary <> expense resolution
    reported to the House shall not be considered in the House unless a
    printed report on that resolution has been available to the Members of
    the House for at least one calendar day prior to the consideration of
    that resolution in the House. Such report shall, for the information of
    the House--

    Sec. 732a. Primary expense resolution.

      5.  (a) Whenever any
    committee, commission, or other entity (except the Committee on
    Appropriations) is to be granted authorization for the payment of its
    expenses (including all staff salaries) for a Congress, such
    authorization initially shall be procured by one primary expense
    resolution re

          (1) state the total amount of the funds to be provided to the
    committee, commission or other entity under the primary expense
    resolution for all anticipated activities and programs of the committee,
    commission or other entity; and

          (2) to the extent practicable, contain such general statements
    regarding the estimated foreseeable expenditures for the respective
    anticipated activities and programs of the committee, commission or
    other entity as may be appropriate to provide the House with basic
    estimates with respect to the expenditure generally of the funds to be
    provided to the committee, commission or other entity under the primary
    expense resolution.

    [[Page 503]]
    on House Oversight, as necessary. Any such supplemental expense
    resolution reported to the House shall not be considered in the House
    unless a printed report on that resolution has been available to the
    Members of the House for at least one calendar day prior to the
    consideration of that resolution in the House. Such report shall, for
    the information of the House--

    Sec. 732c. Additional expense resolution.

      (b) After the date of adoption by the House of any such primary
    expense  resolution
    for any such committee, commission, or other entity for any Congress,
    authorization for the payment of additional expenses (including staff
    salaries) in that Congress may be procured by one or more supplemental
    expense resolutions reported by the Committee

          (1) state the total amount of additional funds to be provided to
    the committee, commission or other entity under the supplemental expense
    resolution and the purpose or purposes for which those additional funds
    are to be used by the committee, commission or other entity; and

          (2) state the reason or reasons for the failure to procure the
    additional funds for the committee, commission or other entity by means
    of the primary expense resolution.

      (c) The preceding provisions of this clause do not apply to--

    [[Page 504]]

    Sec. 732cc. Exception for certain initial
    funding.

          (1) any  resolution providing for the payment from committee salary
    and expense accounts of the House of sums necessary to pay compensation
    for staff services performed for, or to pay other expenses of, any
    committee, commission or other entity at any time from and after the
    beginning of any odd-numbered year and before the date of adoption by
    the House of the primary expense resolution providing funds to pay the
    expenses of that committee, commission or other entity for that
    Congress; or

          (2) any resolution providing in any Congress, for all of the
    standing committees of the House, additional office equipment, airmail
    and special delivery postage stamps, supplies, staff personnel, or any
    other specific item for the operation of the standing committees, and
    containing an authorization for the payment from committee salary and
    expense accounts of the House of the expenses of any of the foregoing
    items provided by that resolution, subject to and until enactment of the
    provisions of the resolution as permanent law.

      Paragraphs (a)-(c) of this clause were originally contained in section
    110(b) of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 (84 Stat. 1140) and
    was added to the rules in the 92d Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 22, 1971, p.
    144). Effective January 3, 1975 (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974,
    p. 34470), the authority of all committees to incur expenses, including
    travel expenses, was made contingent upon adoption by the House of
    resolutions reported pursuant to this clause (clause 1(b) of rule XI).
    The clause was amended in the 95th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 4, 1977,
    pp. 53-70) to extend its applicability to all committees, commissions,
    and entities rather than just to standing committees. Paragraphs (a)-(c)
    were amended in the 104th Congress to institute biennial funding of
    committee expenses and to require that all committee staff salaries and
    expenses (including statutory staff) be authorized by expense resolution
    (sec. 101(c), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----).

      The Committee on Appropriations is not covered by this clause, but is
    reimbursed by funds in appropriation acts for expenses of examinations
    of estimates of appropriations in the field (31 U.S.C. 22a). An
    exemption from this clause for the Committee on the Budget was effective
    from the enactment of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 through the
    103d Congress.

    [[Page 505]]

      Based on the exception stated in paragraph (c), a resolution
    establishing a task force of members of a standing committee and
    providing for the payment of its expenses from the contingent fund of
    the House was held not to be subject to a point of order under clause
    5(a) for lack of report language detailing the funding provided, since
    the resolution was called up at the beginning of the session prior to
    consideration of a primary expense resolution for all committees for
    that calendar year (Feb. 5, 1992, p. ----).

      Under clause 2(d)(2) of rule X, a committee expense resolution, or an
    amendment thereto, is not in order for a committee that has not
    submitted its oversight plans (see Sec. 692b, supra).

    Sec. 732d. Funds for committee staffs; expense
    resolutions.

      (d)  From the funds made available for the appointment of
    committee staff pursuant to any primary or additional expense
    resolution, the chairman of each committee shall ensure that sufficient
    staff is made available to each subcommittee to carry out its
    responsibilities under the rules of the committee, and that the minority
    party is fairly treated in the appointment of such staff.

      Paragraph (d) was adopted in this form in the 104th Congress (sec.
    101(c)(4), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----). The preceding form of the
    paragraph, first adopted in the 94th Congress, authorized the chairman
    and ranking minority member of a subcommittee each to appoint one staff
    member to the subcommittee (H. Res. 5, Jan. 14, 1975, p. 20). As adopted
    in the 93d Congress to take effect on the first day of the 94th
    Congress, the paragraph had required that each standing committee, upon
    request of a majority of its minority members, devote one-third of its
    staffing funds to the needs of the minority (H. Res. 988, Oct. 8, 1974,
    p. 34470). As originally adopted in the 92d Congress, the paragraph had
    required that the minority be accorded fair consideration in the
    appointment of committee staff (H. Res. 5, Jan. 22, 1971, p. 144).

    [[Page 506]]

    Sec. 732e. Travel by members not
    reelected.

      (e) No primary expense resolution or additional expense resolution of
    a committee may provide for the  payment or reimbursement of expenses incurred by any member
    of the committee for travel by the member after the date of the general
    election of Members in which the Member is not elected to the succeeding
    Congress, or in the case of a Member who is not a candidate in such
    general election, the earlier of the date of such general election or
    the adjournment sine die of the last regular session of the Congress.

      Paragraph (e) was adopted on March 2, 1977 (H. Res. 287, 95th Cong.,
    pp. 5933-53).

    Sec. 732f. Interim funding.

      (f)(1)  For continuance of
    necessary investigations and studies by--

          (A) each standing committee and select committee established by
    these rules; and

          (B) except as provided in subparagraph (2), each select committee
    established by resolution;
    there shall be paid out of committee salary and expense accounts of the
    House such amounts as may be necessary for the period beginning at noon
    on January 3 and ending at midnight on March 31 in each odd-numbered
    year.

      (2) In the case of the first session of a Congress, amounts shall be
    made available under this paragraph for a select committee established
    by resolution in the preceding Congress only if--

              (A) a reestablishing resolution for such select committee is
    introduced in the present Congress; and

              (B) no resolution of the preceding Congress provided for
    termination of funding of investigations and studies by such select
    committee at or before the end of the preceding Congress.

    [[Page 507]]
    available under expense resolutions for such committee in the preceding
    session of Congress.
      (3) Each committee receiving amounts under this paragraph shall be
    entitled, for each month in the period specified in subparagraph (1), to
    9 per centum (or such lesser per centum as may be determined by the
    Committee on House Oversight) of the total annualized amount made

      (4) Payments under this paragraph shall be made on vouchers authorized
    by the committee involved, signed by the chairman of such committee,
    except as provided in subparagraph (5), and approved by the Committee on
    House Oversight.

      (5) Notwithstanding any provision of law, rule of the House, or other
    authority, from noon on January 3 of the first session of a Congress,
    until the election by the House of the committee involved in that
    Congress, payments under this paragraph shall be made on vouchers signed
    by--

          (A) the chairman of such committee as constituted at the close of
    the preceding Congress; or

          (B) if such chairman is not a Member in the present Congress, the
    ranking majority party member of such committee as constituted at the
    close of the preceding Congress who is a Member in the present Congress.

      (6)(A) The authority of a committee to incur expenses under this
    paragraph shall expire upon agreement by the House to a primary expense
    resolution for such committee.

          (B) Amounts made available under this paragraph shall be expended
    in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Committee on House
    Oversight.

    [[Page 508]]
    any resolution, reported by the Committee on House Oversight and
    adopted after the date of adoption of these rules.

          (C) The provisions of this paragraph shall be effective only
    insofar as not inconsistent with

      Paragraph (f) was added to this clause in the 99th Congress, to
    provide automatic interim funding for committees at the beginning of a
    Congress (H. Res. 7, Jan. 3, 1985, p. 393). Resolutions providing such
    interim funding had been routinely adopted at the convening of Congress
    before the adoption of this standing authority. In the 100th Congress,
    paragraphs (f)(1) and (2) were amended to make the automatic committee
    funding mechanism applicable to the first three months of the second
    session of a Congress, as well as the first session, and to authorize
    the Committee on House Administration (now House Oversight) to establish
    interim funding for any committee at a percentage lower than 9 percent
    of the total annualized amount (H. Res. 5, Jan. 6, 1987, p. 6). In the
    104th Congress paragraph (f) was amended to reflect the new name of the
    Committee on House Oversight (sec. 202(b), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p.
    ----).

      At its organization the 104th Congress suspended the operation of
    paragraph (f) in favor of special provisions for interim funding in
    light of its abolishment of three standing committees, its reduction in
    the overall number of committee staff, and its institution of biennial
    primary expense resolutions (sec. 101(c)(3), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p.
    ----).

                                Committee Staffs

    Sec. 733a. Thirty professional staff.

      6.  (a)(1) Subject to
    subparagraph (2) and paragraph (f), each standing committee may appoint,
    by majority vote of the committee, not more than thirty professional
    staff members from the funds provided for the appointment of
    committee <> staff pursuant to primary and
    additional expense resolutions. Each professional staff member appointed
    under this subparagraph shall be assigned to the chairman and the
    ranking minority party member of such committee, as the committee
    considers advisable.

    [[Page 509]]
    mittee (except the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct and the
    Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence) so request, not more than
    ten persons (or one-third of the total professional committee staff
    appointed under this clause, whichever is less) may be selected, by
    majority vote of the minority party members, for appointment by the
    committee as professional staff members from among the number authorized
    by subparagraph (1) of this paragraph. The committee shall appoint any
    persons so selected whose character and qualifications are acceptable to
    a majority of the committee. If the committee determines that the
    character and qualifications of any person so selected are unacceptable
    to the committee, a majority of the minority party members may select
    other persons for appointment by the committee to the professional staff
    until such appointment is made. Each professional staff member appointed
    under this subparagraph shall be assigned to such committee business as
    the minority party members of the committee consider advisable.

    Sec. 733c. Minority.

      (2)  Subject to paragraph (f) of this
    clause, whenever a majority of the minority party members of a standing
    com

    [[Page 510]]
    on the Budget was included in section 901 of the Congressional Budget
    Act of 1974 (88 Stat. 330), was later omitted under the Committee Reform
    Amendments of 1974 (H. Res. 988, Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470), and was
    reinserted by the 94th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 14, 1975, p. 20). Also
    added in 1975 was a requirement that staff positions made available to
    subcommittee chairmen and ranking minority members pursuant to former
    provisions of clause 5 of rule XI be provided from staff positions
    available under clause 6 unless provided in a primary or additional
    expense resolution. The 98th Congress added the Permanent Select
    Committee on Intelligence to the exception for the Committee on
    Standards of Official Conduct (H. Res. 58, Mar. 1, 1983, p. 3241). The
    101st Congress added an exemption for the Committee on Rules (H. Res. 5,
    Jan. 3, 1989, p. 72). The Ethics Reform Act of 1989 struck the anti-
    discrimination provisions as redundant (P.L. 101-194, Nov. 30, 1989).
    The 104th Congress eliminated the former distinction between
    professional and clerical staff, set the authorized maximum for
    committee staff under expense resolutions at 30, and set the entitlement
    of the minority within that number at one-third (sec. 101(c)(5), H. Res.
    6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----). The 104th Congress also mandated that the
    total number of staff of House committees be at least one-third less
    than the corresponding total in the 103d Congress (sec. 101(a), H. Res.
    6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----).
      This clause had its origins in section 202 of the Legislative
    Reorganization Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 812), which allocated up to four
    non-partisan professionals to each committee other than Appropriations
    and specifically provided for clerical staff, and which was incorporated
    into the rules on January 3, 1953 (p. 24). Section 302(b) of the
    Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 (84 Stat. 1140), which increased
    the authorized maximum for professional staff from four to six and added
    the concept of minority staffing, was incorporated into the rules in the
    92d Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 22, 1971, p. 144). In the 93d Congress the
    maximum was increased from six to 18, the minority entitlement within
    that number was increased from two to six, a requirement that
    professional staff be appointed without regard to political affiliation
    was eliminated, and prohibitions against consideration of race, creed,
    sex, or age in the appointment of staff were added (H. Res. 988, Oct. 8,
    1974, p. 34470). An exemption for the Committee

       Additional clerks of committees are authorized by the Committee on
    House Oversight and agreed to by the House. There is no legal power to
    fill a vacancy in the clerkship of a committee after one Congress has
    expired and before the next House has been organized (IV, 4539). An
    assault upon the clerk of a committee within the walls of the Capitol
    was held to be a breach of privilege (II, 1629). The pay of clerks has
    been the subject of several decisions (IV, 4536-4538).

    Sec. 734a. Staff duties.

      (b)(1)  The professional staff
    members of each standing committee

              (A) may not engage in any work other than committee business
    during congressional working hours; and

              (B) may not be assigned any duties other than those pertaining
    to committee business.

    [[Page 511]]
    pensation paid by the committee for any such employee is commensurate
    with the work performed for the committee, in accordance with the
    provisions of clause 8 of rule XLIII.

    Sec. 734b. ``Associate'' or
    ``shared'' staff.

      (2) This paragraph does not apply to any staff designated by a
    committee as ``associate''   or ``shared'' staff who are not paid exclusively by
    the committee, provided that the chairman certifies that the com

      (3) The use of any ``associate'' or ``shared'' staff by any committee
    shall be subject to the review of, and to any terms, conditions, or
    limitations established by, the Committee on House Oversight in
    connection with the reporting of any primary or additional expense
    resolution.

      (4) The foregoing provisions of this clause do not apply to the
    Committee on Appropriations.

      The Ethics Reform Act of 1989 prescribed that staff work be confined
    to committee business during congressional working hours but maintained
    exceptions for the Committees on the Budget and Rules (P.L. 101-194,
    Nov. 30, 1989). The 104th Congress eliminated exceptions by committee in
    favor of exceptions for ``associate'' or ``shared'' staff (sec.
    101(c)(5), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----).

    Sec. 735. Pay.

      (c)  Each employee on the professional and
    investigative staff of each standing committee shall be entitled to pay
    at a single gross per annum rate, to be fixed by the chairman, which
    does not exceed the maximum rate of pay, as in effect from time to time,
    under applicable provisions of law.

    [[Page 512]]
    At the beginning of the 101st Congress, the references in clause 6(c)
    to particular levels of the executive schedule were deleted (H. Res. 5,
    Jan. 3, 1989, p. 72). In the 104th Congress paragraph (c) was amended to
    reflect the elimination of the former distinction between
    ``professional'' and ``clerical'' staff (sec. 101(c)(5), H. Res. 6, Jan.
    4, 1995, p. ----).

      This provision was derived from section 477(c) of the Legislative
    Reorganization Act of 1970 (84 Stat. 1140) and was incorporated into the
    rules in the 92d Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 22, 1971, p. 144). Under the
    Committee Reform Amendments of 1974, effective January 3, 1975 (H. Res.
    988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470), the maximum salary was set at
    level V of the Executive Schedule, rather than at the highest rate of
    basic pay under section 5332(a) of Title V, U.S. Code as specified in
    the 1970 Reorganization Act, and effective in the 95th Congress (H. Res.
    5, Jan. 4, 1977, pp. 53-70), the authority for two professional staff to
    be paid at Level IV of the Executive Schedule was added to the clause.
    Under section 311 of the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 1988 (2
    U.S.C. 60a-2a), the maximum salary for staff members is now set by pay
    order of the Speaker.

    Sec. 736. Staff, Committees on Appropriations.

      (d)  Subject
    to appropriations hereby authorized, the Committee on Appropriations may
    appoint such staff, in addition to the clerk thereof and assistants for
    the minority, as it determines by majority vote to be necessary, such
    personnel, other than minority assistants, to possess such
    qualifications as the committee may prescribe.

      Clause 6(d) derives from section 202(b) of the Legislative
    Reorganization Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 812), which was incorporated into
    the rules on January 3, 1953 (p. 24). The exemption was extended to the
    Committee on the Budget by section 901 of the Congressional Budget Act
    of 1974 (88 Stat. 330). The reference to that committee was
    inadvertently omitted by the 93d Congress (H. Res. 988, Oct. 8, 1974, p.
    34470) and reinserted by the 94th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 14, 1975, p.
    20). The 104th Congress deleted the exemption for the Committee on the
    Budget (sec. 101(c)(5), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----).

    Sec. 737.

      (e)  No committee shall appoint to its staff any
    experts or other personnel detailed or assigned from any department or
    agency of the Government, except with the written permission of the
    Committee on House Oversight.

      This clause was contained in section 202(f) of the Legislative
    Reorganization Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 812) and was incorporated into the
    rules on January 3, 1953 (p. 24). In the 104th Congress it was amended
    to reflect the new name of the Committee on House Oversight (sec.
    202(b), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----).

    [[Page 513]]
    nevertheless shall appoint, under paragraph (a), the person selected by
    the minority and acceptable to the committee. The person so appointed
    shall serve as an additional member of the professional staff of the
    committee, and shall be paid from the contingent fund, until such a
    vacancy (other than a vacancy in the position of head of the
    professional staff, by whatever title designated) occurs, at which time
    that person shall be deemed to have been appointed to that vacancy. If
    such vacancy occurs on the professional staff when seven or more persons
    have been so appointed who are eligible to fill that vacancy, a majority
    of the minority party members shall designate which of those persons
    shall fill that vacancy.
      (f) If a request for the appointment of a minority professional staff
    member under paragraph (a) is made when no vacancy exists to which that
    appointment may be made, the committee

      (g) Each staff member appointed pursuant to a request by minority
    party members under paragraph (a) of this clause, and each staff member
    appointed to assist minority party members of a committee pursuant to an
    expense resolution described in paragraph (a) of clause 5, shall be
    accorded equitable treatment with respect to the fixing of his or her
    rate of pay, the assignment to him or her of work facilities, and the
    accessibility to him or her of committee records.

    [[Page 514]]
    graph (a)(1) who are satisfactory to a majority of the minority party
    members, are otherwise assigned to assist the minority party members.

      (h) Paragraph (a) shall not be construed to authorize the appointment
    of additional professional staff members of a committee pursuant to a
    request under such paragraph by the minority party members of that
    committee if ten or more professional staff members provided for in para

    -  (i) <> Notwithstanding paragraph
    (a)(2), a committee may employ non-partisan staff, in lieu of or in
    addition to committee staff designated exclusively for the majority or
    minority party, upon an affirmative vote of a majority of the members of
    the majority party and a majority of the members of the minority party.

      Paragraphs (f)-(h) of this clause are derived from section 302(c) of
    the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 (84 Stat. 1140) and were
    incorporated into the rules in the 92d Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 22,
    1971, p. 144). Effective January 3, 1975 (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct.
    8, 1974, p. 34470), conforming changes were made in paragraphs (f) and
    (h) to reflect increased minority professional and clerical staff
    permitted to committees under paragraphs (a) and (b) of this clause. In
    the 104th Congress paragraphs (f)-(h) were amended to reflect the
    elimination of the former distinction between ``professional'' and
    ``clerical'' staff (sec. 101(c)(5), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----).
    The 104th Congress also mandated that the total number of staff of House
    committees be at least one-third less than the corresponding total in
    the 103d Congress (sec. 101(a), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----).

      Section 202(a) of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (60 Stat.
    812), which was incorporated into the rules on January 3, 1953 (p. 24),
    required committee professional staffs to be appointed on a permanent
    basis without regard to political affiliation. The concept of minority
    staffing was added by section 302(b) of the Legislative Reorganization
    Act of 1970. Under the Committee Reform Amendments of 1974, effective
    January 3, 1975 (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470),
    paragraph (i) was added to permit committees to employ nonpartisan staff
    upon an affirmative vote of the majority of the members of each party.
    In the 104th Congress it was amended to reflect the elimination of the
    former distinction between ``professional'' and ``clerical'' staff (sec.
    101(c)(5), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----).

    [[Page 515]]
    gressional Record, on the names, professions and salaries of committee
    employees.

    Sec. 739. Reports on staff.

      Effective  in the 95th Congress
    (H. Res. 5, Jan. 4, 1977, pp. 53-70), former clause 6(j), which was
    added on January 3, 1953 (p. 24) and which was contained in section
    134(b) of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1945, was deleted; that
    clause required committees to report semiannually to the Clerk, for
    printing in the Con